[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 106 (Thursday, August 4, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  WHAT ABOUT THE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL?

                                 ______


                          HON. SUSAN MOLINARI

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 4, 1994

  Ms. MOLINARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an issue which the 
administration has not treated with nearly enough seriousness: the U.N. 
War Crimes Tribunal for Yugoslavia.
  The War Crimes Tribunal was organized over 17 months ago to 
investigate and prosecute perpetrators of war crimes in the Balkan 
conflict. In that time, not a single case file has been created, not a 
single defendant named, nor even one investigation completed. Meanwhile 
evidence of these crimes disappears daily and victims scatter across 
the globe.
  This tragedy in the Balkans has thus far led to 187 mass graves 
containing as many as 5,000 total bodies--143 grave sites in Bosnia 
alone. Women and children are still being raped and human rights are 
violated on a daily basis. Bosnian men and women are publicly 
humiliated and forced to perform heinous acts before usually being 
killed or maimed.
  These investigations must be conducted immediately, and with vigor, 
to fulfill the promises our President has made to the helpless victims 
that these crimes would not go unpunished and that justice would be 
served. Otherwise, the cycle of violence will likely continue unabated.
  Last year, the Congress and the administration provided $3 million in 
voluntary contributions directly to the U.N. Tribunal in Yugoslavia. I 
am very disappointed that this year's bill gives no allocation to the 
tribunal. Rather than offering any specific appropriation, the 
committee would have the tribunal raid existing State Department or 
Justice Department accounts for funding. In other words: if you can 
``rob Peter to pay Paul'' for this important project, great.
  Mr. Speaker, by failing to fulfill our obligations to prosecute the 
guilty in Bosnia, we give the go-ahead to genocidal maniacs all over 
the world that they need not fear action from the United States. We 
must recognize that all member nations of the United Nations--including 
our own--bear responsibility for not stopping the war crimes in Bosnia 
sooner. And we certainly bear the responsibility to make those who 
organized these heinous acts pay.
  I call on the administration to correct this terrible oversight by 
providing the voluntary contributions, the necessary resources and the 
strong leadership to successfully prosecute these criminals.

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