[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 169 (Monday, October 30, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2066-E2067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NO WELCOME MAT FOR MILOSEVIC
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HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Monday, October 30, 1995
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, instead of rolling out the red
carpet this week for Slobodan Milosevic, the Clinton administration
should hand over the Serbain President to international investigators
for his alleged role in war crimes perpetrated in the former
Yugoslavia. Having ignited the firestorm of extreme Serb nationalism
which has consumed most of Bosnia and part of Croatia, Milosevic is now
being enlisted as a member of the Clinton administration's fire brigade
assembled to douse the smoldering ashes in its aftermath.
Milosevic, who has earned the title ``Butcher of the Balkans,'' has
reincarnated himself, in the eyes of the Clinton administration, as a
peacemaker despite the fact that he was named a suspected war criminal
by Secretary of State Eagleberger during the final days of the Bush
administration, and that he heads a government being sued for genocide
before the International Court of Justice. The Clinton administration
views the Serbian leader as the one who can deliver the Bosnian Serbs
in support of a United States-brokered peace plan which will
effectively divide Bosnian-Herzegovian along ethnic lines.
Is he really a new peacemaker or is he after something else? I fear
the latter is true. Reeling under the devastating impact of economic
sanctions imposed in 1992 by the U.N. on Serbia for its role in the
wars in neighboring Croatia and Bosnia, Milosevic is keen to cut a deal
which will pave the way for the sanctions to be lifted. I am not
convinced he has given up on his dream of creating a ``Greater
Serbia.''
The Clinton administration has embraced Milosevic as part of its
full-court press to conclude a Bosnian peace accord, at almost any
cost, as the presidential campaign season nears. Mr Speaker, I welcome
the fact that the President has finally begun to focus on the crisis in
Bosnia. At the same time, I have reservations about the conduct of the
current negotiations and am vehemently opposed to allowing Mr.
Milosevic into the United States.
Despite the hype and new spins, one fact is abundantly clear--
Milosevic was the mastermind behind extreme Serb nationalism which
spawned mayhem in Bosnia and Croatia and ultimately has led to the
murder of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in these countries.
Warren Zimmerman, the last United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia has
observed ``nobody in Belgrade doubts that the war in Bosnia is being
masterminded by Milosevic in collusion with his Bosnian Serb henchman,
Radovan Karadzic.'' Zimmerman has characterized the Serbian President
as a liar ``almost totally dominated by his dark
[[Page E 2067]]
side.'' The genocidal campaign unleashed by Milosevic has included the
rape of tens of thousands of women, the destruction of thousands of
mosques and Catholic churches, and the forcible expulsion of hundreds
of thousands.
Mr. Speaker, the Bosnian Serb political and military leaders,
Karadzic and Mladic, wouldn't dare step foot on United States soil
following their indictment as war criminals by the U.N. War Crimes
Tribunal in the Hague, earlier this year. There is a cruel irony in the
fact that, with his lieutenants largely out of the picture, Milosevic
has returned to center stage as the perceived linchpin to peace in the
Balkans following a 4-year war of armed aggression and genocide which
he, himself, set in motion.
In a speech launching a week-long commemoration at the University of
Connecticut of the 50th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials, President
Clinton solemnly declared ``there must be peace of justice to prevail,
but there must be justice when peace prevails.'' Apparently, the
Clinton administration is prepared to put justice aside in their quest
for peace in Bosnia which it believes hinges on Milosevic.
Mr. Speaker, I would submit that peace and justice can and should be
pursued simultaneously. I agreed with President Clinton when he said,
``By successfully prosecuting war criminals in the former Yugoslavia *
* * we send a strong signal for those who would use the cover of war to
commit terrible atrocities, that they cannot escape the consequences of
such actions.'' But what signal is the Clinton administration sending
by welcoming Milosevic to the United States?
Even those who accept Milosevic's participation in the current peace
talks--for whatever reason--must acknowledge that the Serbian leader
will garner a degree of credibility and prestige by being allowed to
enter the United States. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, by willingly
admitting Milosevic, the Clinton administration calls into question its
determination to see all war criminals, regardless of rank, brought to
justice.
Mr. Speaker, the arrival of Slobodan Milosevic in the United States
is repugnant to American principles and is an affront to the memory of
the tens of thousands of innocent victims of the Balkan war.
For the Record, Mr. Speaker, I wish also to include a disturbing
article which was published in the Christian Science Monitor on October
24, 1995.
[From the Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 24, 1995]
Serbia Held Responsible for Massacre of Bosnians
(By David Rohde)
Officers from Serbia participated in the attack on the UN-
declared ``safe area'' of Srebrenica, according to credible
eyewitness accounts obtained by the Monitor. And senior
Western diplomats and UN officials say Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic is responsible for the attack and the
subsequent executions of thousands of Muslim civilians.
Muslim witnesses say that an officer from Serbia was
directing the roundup of Muslim prisoners in the village of
Konjevic Polje, and that a Serb officer captured by Muslim
forces was following orders issued from the Serbian capital,
Belgrade.
``The Serb officer said they were under orders from
Belgrade not to allow any men to escape from Srebrenica,''
says Bosnian soldier Dzemal Malvic.
``All Muslim men were to be captured or killed,'' said Mr.
Malovic, one of three Bosnian soldiers who say they spoke to
and looked at identify papers of the captured Serbian
captain.
In a separate interview, a Muslim officer confirmed that
the Serbian officer had been captured. The Serbian officer's
whereabouts are unknown, and he may have been killed later by
Muslim forces.
Western diplomats have long suspected that the Bosnian Serb
attack on Srebrenica in mid-July was approved by Belgrade,
but the government of President Slobodan Milosevic has
vehemently denied it.
Mr. Milosevic's involvement would be an embarrassment for
the Clinton administration, eager to portray Milosevic--who
will be attending peace talks in Ohio next week--as a
peacemaker in the Balkans, not a war criminal.
``Whether by commission or omission, [Milosevic] is
responsible, no question,'' says a senior UN military
official based in Zagreb, Croatia. ``He had plenty of sources
on the ground there. He had to know what was happening, and
either approved of it or did nothing to stop it.''
A senior Western diplomat in Zagreb also says Milosevic is
responsible for what is quickly emerging as one of the
darkest hours of Bosnia's 3\1/2\ year conflict.
``I have no doubt he directly approved or tacitly approved
of the taking of Srebrenica,'' the diplomat says. ``Whether
Milosenic knew [about the executions] or not, he knows what
kind of man [Bosnian Serb Army commander Gen. Ratko] Mladic
is and how he operates.''
reports of mass executions
Over 2,000 Muslim men were executed by Bosnian Serb forces
following the fall of Srebrenica, according to nine survivors
interviewed by the Monitor last month.
War-crimes investigators now have evidence that as many as
3,000 to 4,000 men were executed by the Bosnian Serbs,
according to a senior UN official close to the investigation.
``Wait until everything comes out,'' he says. ``Then, people
will understand how big this is.''
The UN official close to the International War Crimes
Tribunal in The Hague said mass graves ring the area around
Srebrenica, and confirmed the existence of a new set of
United States spy photos showing a new group of apparent mass
graves near the village of Karakaj, as reported by the Boston
Globe on Oct. 3.
The photos confirm the accounts of five men interviewed by
the Monitor who say over 2,000 Muslim prisoners were executed
near the town of Karakaj on July 18. The photos may be the
basis for new indictments against General Mladic expected to
be issued by the Tribunal.
Bosnian Serb officials have said that mass graves in the
village of Nova Kasaba captured in US spy photos and visited
by the Monitor in August contain the bodies of Muslim
soldiers who were killed in combat and not executed.
But the Karakaj site is too far from the route that Muslim
men would have followed to escape from Srebrenica, according
to the UN official.
Mevludin Oric, a survivor of the Karakaj execution, said in
an interview that one of the officers directing the roundup
of prisoners in Konjevic Polje was a 40- to 45-year-old
officer from Serbia. Mr. Oric is considered by war-crimes
investigators to be one of their most credible witnesses. The
Serbian officer was not present at the later execution, Oric
added.
Who gave the order to execute thousands of prisoners
remains unknown.
But evidence of Milosevic's involvement in Srebrenica has
been mounting for months, and it is not known if Mladic would
execute such a large number of men without at least the tacit
approval of Serbian leaders in Belgrade.
Mladic, who eyewitnesses interviewed by the Monitor said
was at Karakaj and three other executions sites during or
just before executions began, had been visiting Belgrade
regularly for weeks prior to the attack.
Dutch peacekeepers reported seeing members of paramilitary
groups from Serbia, and Muslims say they saw Belgrade-based
paramilitary leader Zeljko ``Arkan'' Raznjatovic in
Srebrenica.
The Washington Post reported seeing Muslim soldiers driving
a jeep with Yugoslav Army license plates on July 17. The
Muslims said they had captured the jeep from forces involved
in the attack on Srebrenica.
New York Newsday reported on Aug. 12 that Western
intelligence officials captured radio intercepts of Yugoslav
Army chief Gen. Momcilo Perisic, directing Mladic on how to
attack Srebrenica during the offensive.
Serb denials
Yugoslav officials have strenuously denied the accounts,
but the Yugoslav Army and Arkan are believed to be tightly
controlled by Milosevic, who holds an iron grip over Serbia's
military.
Despite the growing evidence, Srebrenica survivors remain
skeptical that Milosevic--whom the Clinton administration is
depending on to force the Bosnian Serbs to agree to a peace
deal--will be tied to or punished for Europe's worst massacre
since World War II.
``It all depends on the politicians,'' Malovic says. ``They
could punish them, or reward them, for doing this.''
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