[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 62 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 62
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
February 12, 2013
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 Necdet 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 journalist Burhan Kazmali, who researched and reported on the alleged
victims' story, was reportedly knocked unconscious on the street in
Yalova, Turkey, in December 2012, after he refused to disclose Mr.
Mustafa's address;
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.
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