[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 838 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 838

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary 
    of State should seek to amend Article 22 of the Statute of the 
 International Court of Justice to move the seat of the Court from the 
                              Netherlands.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 19, 2012

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary 
    of State should seek to amend Article 22 of the Statute of the 
 International Court of Justice to move the seat of the Court from the 
                              Netherlands.

Whereas according to the International Labor Organization, nearly 21,000,000 
        men, women, and children are enslaved in human trafficking worldwide at 
        any given time, including 4,500,000 in sexual exploitation;
Whereas the majority of trafficking victims are enslaved in countries with laws 
        in statute prohibiting human trafficking;
Whereas the rule of law, or fair implementation of the law over all to whom the 
        law applies, is essential to securing justice for victims of human 
        trafficking;
Whereas no government official should be above application of and adherence to 
        the rule of law, including laws prohibiting human trafficking;
Whereas government officials who benefit from or otherwise participate in human 
        trafficking are obstacles to rescuing victims and prosecuting 
        traffickers pursuant to the law;
Whereas Joris Demmink, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice in the 
        Netherlands from 2002 to 2012 and the Director General for International 
        Affairs and Immigration in the Netherlands from 1993 to 2002, has been 
        accused by Mr. Osman of rape in Edirne, Turkey, in or about 1997 when 
        Mr. Osman was 14 years old;
Whereas Mr. Demmink, has been accused by Mr. Mustafa of rape in Istanbul, 
        Turkey, in or about 1995, when Mr. Mustafa was 12 or 13 years old;
Whereas Mr. Demmink has been accused by Mr. Yasin of rape in Bodrum, Turkey, in 
        or about 1995, when Mr. Yasin was an adolescent;
Whereas Korkmaz N. Menzir, Chief of the Istanbul Police Department in the 1990s 
        and former Minister of Transport, affirms that Mr. Demmink visited 
        Turkey numerous times between 1995 and 2000 using a variety of aliases 
        on official and private visits to conduct research on his work 
        responsibilities related to Turkey;
Whereas Officer Mehmet Korkmaz, a Turkish police officer in Istanbul from 1995 
        to 1997, has stated that he was responsible for Mr. Demmink's security 
        on three of Mr. Demmink's alleged visits, and that he brought Mustafa, 
        at that time a street child, as well as other children to Mr. Demmink 
        for Mr. Demmink to sexually abuse;
Whereas Turkish security officer Huseyin Celebi reported to Chief of the General 
        Staff, the Chief of Police, the Attorney-General of the Supreme Council 
        and the Ministry of Justice in Turkey in January 2007 that Mr. Demmink 
        visited Turkey every year between 1995 and 2003, using aliases and 
        attempting to hide his presence in Turkey;
Whereas a participant at the March 1998 K4 Committee meeting in Ankara, Turkey, 
        has come forward to affirm that Mr. Demmink was also present at the 
        meeting in Turkey in 1998;
Whereas a participant at the July 1996 INTERPOL meeting in Antalya, Turkey, has 
        come forward to affirm that Mr. Demmink was also present at the meeting 
        in Turkey in 1996;
Whereas Mr. Demmink has officially denied ever visiting Turkey in the 1990s;
Whereas Mr. Demmink's travel records from 1997 to 2000 were allegedly destroyed, 
        according to the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, 
        Directorate-General for Immigration Affairs;
Whereas in an October 3, 2012, letter from the Minister of Security and Justice, 
        I.W. Opstelten, to the House of Representatives of the States General of 
        the Netherlands, Opstelten indicates that the Netherlands has repeatedly 
        decided against a formal investigation into the allegations against Mr. 
        Demmink;
Whereas without the authority of a formal investigation, the prosecutors lack 
        powers for adequate research or travel to Turkey to interview victims 
        and witnesses;
Whereas the Netherlands has not interviewed alleged victims Mr. Mustafa and Mr. 
        Yasin;
Whereas the Netherlands dismissed the statement of Mr. Osman without explanation 
        or opportunity for the alleged victim to clarify his statement;
Whereas the Netherlands has not interviewed any of the five additional 
        government or former government witnesses;
Whereas Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Osman have pursued every legal option available to 
        secure justice in the Netherlands;
Whereas Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Osman have reported threats against their lives and 
        safety and that of their families in Turkey;
Whereas Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Osman have gone into hiding in order to protect 
        their safety while they seek redress through the justice systems of the 
        Netherlands and Turkey;
Whereas Mr. Osman was reportedly beaten and suffered broken facial bones after 
        leaving an attorney's office in Turkey in November 2012;
Whereas Mr. Demmink's position as the Secretary General of the Ministry of 
        Justice from 2002 to 2012, during the time the alleged victims have been 
        pursuing an investigation and criminal charges in the Dutch courts 
        creates a heightened duty for the Netherlands to thoroughly investigate 
        the charges and avoid the appearance that Mr. Demmink is above the rule 
        of law or is otherwise obstructing justice by virtue of his position;
Whereas the United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report for 
        2012 indicates that, although the law in the Netherlands prescribes 
        maximum sentences ranging from 8 to 18 years imprisonment for 
        individuals convicted of human trafficking, convicted traffickers on 
        average receive a sentence of less than two years in jail, and typically 
        serve little more than 1 year of the sentence in jail;
Whereas the Dutch State Secretary of Justice, Fred Teeven, a lead prosecutor in 
        a child sex trafficking investigation in 1998 which implicated high-
        ranking representatives of the Dutch government, stated under oath in a 
        closed court hearing in the District Court of the Hague in the case of 
        Paul H./OM (09/754023-06) that the 1998 child sex trafficking 
        investigation was blocked and that it has never led to the prosecution 
        of the suspects because of certain contra-actions;
Whereas the international community in 1946 designated The Hague, Netherlands, 
        as the seat of the International Court of Justice;
Whereas the International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of 
        the United Nations to promote the rule of law between nations;
Whereas the inexplicable refusal of the Netherlands to formally investigate the 
        serious allegations against the former Secretary General of the Ministry 
        of Justice, Mr. Demmink, brings into question the rule of law in the 
        Netherlands; and
Whereas the credibility of the International Court of Justice is undermined by 
        its current location in The Hague, Netherlands: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Secretary of State should take the appropriate steps in the United 
Nations to amend Article 22 of the Statute of the International Court 
of Justice to move the seat of the court from the Netherlands to a more 
appropriate venue.
                                 <all>