[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 112 (Friday, August 1, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 GILMAN SPONSORS LEGISLATION URGING WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL AGAINST SADDAM 
                HUSSEIN, HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 137

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to inform my 
colleagues that today, on behalf of myself and the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Porter], I am introducing legislation that calls for the 
formation of an international criminal tribunal against Saddam Hussein 
and other members of his despotic and cruel Iraqi regime.
  The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein has created an environment of fear 
and terror within Iraq and throughout the region, with its gross 
violations of international law and human rights. The people of Iraq 
are subject to summary and arbitrary execution, torture, and repression 
of the freedom of speech.
  Saddam Hussein is reported to have used chemical weapons to 
annihilate entire Kurdish villages. Over 182,000 Kurdish civilians 
disappeared, and over 400 villages have been destroyed in these 
attacks, known as the Anfal campaigns. The Iraqi use of chemical 
weapons is the most severe use of such inhumane devices since the First 
World War. The United States cannot allow such atrocities to go 
unpunished if we want to prevent the proliferation of these weapons of 
mass destruction.
  Under Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi Government has been particularly 
active in its persecution of indigenous minority groups. Members of 
Shiite Muslim groups along with members of the Turkomen minority have 
been massacred and arrested. Assyro-Chaldean churches have also been 
destroyed.
  A war crimes tribunal will go a long way to eliminate such flouting 
of international law and treaties. The tribunal would bring Saddam 
Hussein to justice as well as his henchmen, by prosecuting them for 
their crimes against humanity. Because the Republic of Iraq is a 
signatory to both the Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration 
on Human Rights, it should be compelled to comply with these 
obligations.
  Moreover, over 600 Kuwaitis who were taken prisoner by Iraqi soldiers 
during the Persian Gulf war remain unaccounted for. It has been 6 years 
since the war, and the families of these MIA's deserve answers and the 
return of their loved ones. Iraq must be made to account for these 
individuals under the terms of the Geneva Convention.
  Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, it is clear that a war crimes tribunal is 
necessary. I urge my colleagues to join Congressman Porter and me by 
cosponsoring this measure, House Concurrent Resolution 137.

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