[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 59 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E737-E738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 1360--KOSOVA PEACE, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
                              ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 30, 1995
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, recent events in Bosnia have demonstrated 
how little regard the Serbs have for the views of the international 
community. Their complete disregard for the mandates and requirements 
of the U.N. Security Council, and indeed for the norms of civilized 
behavior as they carry out their plan for an ethnically cleansed 
Greater Serbia raises concern for the region of Kosova with its 
population of nearly 2 million ethnic Albanians.
  Prior to 1989, under the constitutional arrangements of the former 
Yugoslavia Kosova enjoyed an autonomous status in which the Albanian 
majority enjoyed many of the fruits of self-government. Public 
institutions such as schools, hospitals, and the police were controlled 
by the local population. In 1989, however, as Serbian President 
Milosevic sought to consolidate his grasp on power he exploited ancient 
Serbian sensitivities on the status of Kosova as an excuse for 
annulling Kosova's autonomous status by illegally altering the Yugoslav 
Constitution, and subsequently replacing Albanian personnel in the 
educational, health, and law enforcement systems in Kosova with Serbs.
  Almost 2 years ago, Serbian authorities refused to renew visas for a 
team of CSCE monitors that had been dispatched to Kosova to keep an eye 
on human rights abuses committed by the Serbian authorities. The Serbs 
have remained intransigent in refusing to grant visas for human rights 
monitors despite urgent appeals from the United States and most members 
of the European Union and other concerned countries. They have also 
refused to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 855 which 
required Serbia to permit international human rights monitors into 
Kosova. Since the departure of international monitors last summer human 
rights abuses have nearly doubled, according to reports from the 
Kosovar Albanian community, with a number of its leading personalities 
driven into exile for fear for their lives.
  Accordingly, on behalf of the gentlemen and gentlelady from New York, 
Mr. Engel, Ms. Molinari and Mr. King, the gentleman from California, 
Mr. Rohrabacher, and the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Smith, I am 
today introducing H.R. 1360, entitled the ``Kosova Peace, Democracy and 
Human Rights Act of 1995.'' This bill links lifting of the U.N. 
economic sanctions against Serbia--to a resolution of the deplorable 
human rights situation in Kosova, and requests the administration to 
submit a report within 60 days of enactment on its recommendations on 
ways to implement international protection for the rights of the 
majority of the Kosovar population. In so doing, I do not believe that 
this is an issue in which the United States should seek to act alone. 
We should consult with our allies in Europe and with other members of 
the Security Council because this is an issue in which they too have an 
important stake. I do hope that this measure will help to focus the 
administration on the issue of Kosova as it seeks to bring the conflict 
in Bosnia to conclusion. I do not believe that ignoring or omitting the 
situation in Kosova, wherein millions of people are daily subject to 
harsh and brutal denial of the most basic and fundamental human rights, 
will contribute to long-term stability in the Balkans.
  I want to acknowledge with deep appreciation the role of my 
colleagues, Mr. Engel and Ms. Molinari, cofounders of the Albanian 
Issues Caucus, who have done so much to keep the issue of Kosova before 
the Congress and the American people. This bill reflects their efforts, 
and support for the rights of the citizens of Kosova, and I am pleased 
to be able to introduce this measure on their behalf.
  Mr. Speaker, I hereby request that the full text of H.R. 1360, the 
Kosova Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights Act of 1995, be included at 
this point in the Record.
                               H.R. 1360

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Kosova Peace, Democracy, and 
     Human Rights Act of 1995''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of 
     Yugoslavia, adopted in 1946, and the amended Constitution of 
     Yugoslavia, adopted in 1974, described the status of Kosova 
     as one of the eight constituent territorial units of the 
     Yugoslav Federation.
       (2) The political rights of the Albanian majority in Kosova 
     were curtailed when the Government of Yugoslavia illegally 
     amended the Constitution of Yugoslavia without the consent of 
     the people of Kosova on March 23, 1989, revoking the 
     autonomous status of Kosova.
       (3) In 1990, the Parliament and Government of Kosova were 
     abolished by further unlawful amendments to the Constitution 
     of Yugoslavia.
       (4) In September 1990, a referendum on the question of 
     independence for Kosova was held in which 87 percent of those 
     eligible to participate voted and 99 percent of those voting 
     supported independence for Kosova.
       (5) In May 1992, a Kosovar national parliament was elected 
     and Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was overwhelmingly elected President 
     of the Republic of Kosova.
       (6) The Parliament and Government of Kosova were not 
     permitted to assemble in Kosova.
       (7) Credible reports of Serbian ``ethnic cleansing'' in 
     Kosova have been received by the United Nations Special 
     Rapporteur on Human Rights, and in January 1995, Serbia 
     announced a new policy to colonize Albanian land in Kosova.
       (8) Over 100,000 ethnic Albanians in government, police, 
     the judiciary, enterprises, media, educational institutions, 
     and hospitals of Kosova have been removed from their jobs and 
     replaced by Serbians.
       (9) The government in Belgrade has severely restricted the 
     access of ethnic Albanians in Kosova to all levels of 
     education, especially education in the Albanian language, 
     solely on the basis of their ethnicity.
       (10) Reports of arrests and brutal beatings by the mostly 
     Servian police, sometimes leading to the death of ethnic 
     Albanians in Kosova for expressing views in opposition to 
     Servian authorities, are received almost daily.
       (11) Observers of the Organization on Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe dispatched to Kosova in 1991 were 
     expelled by the government in Belgrade in July 1993.
       (12) The Government of Serbia has ignored United Nations 
     Security Council Resolution 855 of August 1993, which calls 
     upon Belgrade to allow the continuation of the mission of the 
     Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe and to 
     guarantee the safety of and unimpeded access for monitors of 
     the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
       (13) Following the departure of such observers, several 
     international human rights 
     [[Page E738]] organizations, including Amnesty International, 
     Human Rights Watch-Helsinki, and the Helsinki Federation for 
     Human Rights have documented an increase in humanitarian 
     abuses in Kosova.
       (14) Congress provided for the opening of United States 
     Information Agency cultural center in Prishtina, Kosova, in 
     section 223 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 
     Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993, but the Department of State has 
     asserted that security conditions have prevented the 
     establishment of such center.
       (15) The President has explicitly warned the Government of 
     Serbia that the United States is prepared to respond in the 
     event of escalated conflict in Kosova caused by Serbia.
       (16) On January 4, 1994, President Clinton stated, ``there 
     are a large number of issues, including Kosova, that I 
     believe must be addressed before Belgrade should be freed of 
     United Nations sanctions and able to return to the 
     international community. . . . As before, our decision of 
     whether to support suspension of any sanctions will be made 
     in close consultation with Congress.''.
       (17) On February 15, 1994, President Clinton announced, 
     without prior consultation with the Congress, a set of 
     conditions, not including improvements in Kosova, which, if 
     met by Serbia and Montenegro, would result in the lifting of 
     international sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.

     SEC. 3. POLICY.

       It is the policy of the United States that--
       (1) the situation in Kosova must be resolved before 
     Belgrade is freed of international sanctions and is able to 
     return to the international community;
       (2) the right of the people of Kosova to govern themselves 
     and to establish a separate identity for Kosova must not be 
     denied;
       (3) international observers should be returned to Kosova;
       (4) the elected Government of Kosova should be permitted to 
     meet and exercise its legitimate mandate as elected 
     representatives of the people of Kosova;
       (5) all individuals whose employment was terminated on the 
     basis of their ethnicity should be reinstated to their 
     previous positions; and
       (6) the education system in Kosova should be reopened to 
     all residents of Kosova regardless of ethnicity and the 
     majority ethnic Albanian population should be allowed to 
     educate its youth in its native tongue.

     SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON THE TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS AGAINST 
                   SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO UNTIL CERTAIN CONDITIONS 
                   ARE MET.

       (a) Restrictions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, no sanction, prohibition, or requirement described in 
     section 1511 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
     Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103-160), with respect to Serbia 
     or Montenegro, may cease to be effective, unless--
       (1) the President first submits to the Congress a 
     certification described in subsection (b); and
       (2) the requirements of section 1511 of that Act are met.
       (b) Certification.--A certification described in this 
     subsection is a certification that--
       (1) there is substantial progress toward--
       (A) the realization of a separate identity for Kosova and 
     the right of the people of Kosova to govern themselves; or
       (B) the creation of an international protectorate for 
     Kosova;
       (2) there is substantial improvement in the human rights 
     situation in Kosova,
       (3) international human rights observers are allowed to 
     return to Kosova; and
       (4) the elected government of Kosova is permitted to meet 
     and carry out its legitimate mandate as elected 
     representatives of the people of Kosova.

     SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

       Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the President shall prepare and transmit to the 
     Congress a report on--
       (1) the situation in Kosova, including the manner in which 
     the policies of Serbia have affected the economic, social, 
     and cultural rights of the majority in Kosova;
       (2) measures to provide humanitarian assistance to the 
     population of Kosova and to Kosovar refugees who have fled 
     Kosova, including the impact of United States sanctions 
     against Serbia and Montenegro upon the delivery of 
     humanitarian assistance to Kosova;
       (3) recommendations (taking into account the views of other 
     United Nations Security Council members and the European 
     Union) on what modalities may be pursued, including the 
     possibility of establishing an international protectorate for 
     Kosova together with other members of the United Nations 
     Security Council and the European Union, to implement 
     international protection of the rights of the people of 
     Kosova, reestablish an international presence in Kosova to 
     monitor more effectively the situation in Kosova, and secure 
     for the people of Kosova their right to democratic self-
     government;
       (4) the current status of United States efforts to 
     establish a United States Information Agency cultural center 
     in Prishtina, Kosova, as provided in section 223 of the 
     Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 
     1993, specifying the security conditions and any other 
     factors preventing establishment of such center; and
       (5) the presence of United States officials in Kosova, 
     prior to establishment of a United States Information Agency 
     cultural center in Prishtina, Kosova, including the number, 
     frequency, and duration of visits of personnel of the United 
     States Embassy in Belgrade to Kosova during the 12-month 
     period ending on the date of the enactment of this Act.
     

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