[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 21 (Thursday, March 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  INTRODUCTION OF H. CON. RES. 235 CALLING FOR AN END TO THE VIOLENT 
      REPRESSION OF THE LEGITIMATE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF KOSOVA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 5, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the savagery that the Serbs have unleashed 
upon innocent men, women and children of the province of Kosova in 
Serbia since the beginning of this month has surpassed the level of 
brutality that we have become all too accustomed to in the Balkans. In 
response to an attack by unknown persons in late February on Serbian 
police in Kosova that left four of the officers dead, the Serbian 
authorities conducted a series of large paramilitary sweeps utilizing 
helicopter gunships and armored personnel carriers throughout several 
rural villages. During the course of these operations they rounded up 
male citizens and savagely beat them in front of their terrorized 
relatives. Scores of people have been reported to be killed or injured.
  When 30,000 Kosovars marched peacefully in the streets of Pristina, 
Kosova's capital, to protest the outrageous behavior of the Serbian 
authorities, the police again overreacted, wading into the crowd and 
beating anyone they could. Later they attacked newspaper offices and 
journalists.
  The Congress has called for a non-violent resolution of the situation 
in Kosova since the current crack-down began ten years ago, and urged 
our government to keep pressure on Serbia until the government of 
Serbia improved conditions in Kosova. President Milosevic, who bears 
personal responsibility for the policies that have now led to the 
current violence, has been repeatedly warned by our government and 
other members of the international community that we would not tolerate 
a massive outbreak of violence. These warnings have apparently gone 
unheeded, and it is now time to demonstrate our strong resolve not to 
allow the Serbs to continue brutalizing the Albanian majority in 
Kosova.
  I hereby introduce H. Con. Res. 235 and ask that the text be included 
at this point in the Record:

                            H. Con Res. 235

       Whereas the Albanian people of Kosova constitute more than 
     90 percent of the total population of Kosova;
       Whereas the political rights of the Albanian people of 
     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;
       Whereas in 1990, the Parliament and Government of Kosova 
     were abolished by further unlawful amendments to the 
     Constitution of Yugoslavia;
       Whereas the State Department's 1997 Country Report on Human 
     Rights in Serbia notes violations of civil liberties in 
     Kosova particularly in the following categories: 
     political and other extra-judicial killing; torture and 
     other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; 
     arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; denial of fair 
     public trial; and arbitrary interference with privacy, 
     family, home, or correspondence;
       Whereas on the night of February 28, 1998, Serbian 
     paramilitary policy units, reported to number in excess of 
     25,000 men, swept through the Drenica region of Kosova 
     killing more than 20 Albanian citizens, many of whom died 
     from being beaten to death;
       Whereas on March 2, 1998, 30,000 demonstrators peacefully 
     marched in Pristina to protest the massacre of February 28 
     and were brutally attacked by Serbian police;
       Whereas a group calling itself the Liberation Army of 
     Kosova has threatened to retaliate against the atrocities 
     committed by Serbian authorities;
       Whereas new elections in Kosova have been scheduled for 
     March 22, 1998; and
       Whereas the President of the United States and other 
     officials have warned the Government of Serbia that there 
     would be serious consequences if Serbian policies led to an 
     escalation of violence in Kosova: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) efforts of the international Contact Group (the United 
     States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and Italy) 
     in support of a resolution of the conflict in Kosova are to 
     be commended and intensified;
       (2) no international or United States sanctions currently 
     in force against the Government of Serbia and Montenegro 
     should be terminated at this time, unless such termination 
     serves to support a peaceful resolution to the repression in 
     Kosova;
       (3) the United States should consult with its allies and 
     other members of the United Nations on reimposing those 
     sanctions against Serbia-Montenegro that were terminated 
     following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 
     if Serbian authorities continue to use unlawful violence 
     against the Albanian people of Kosova;
       (4) the United States should acknowledge recent 
     developments in the Republic of Montenegro that indicate that 
     the new leadership of the Republic is seeking a peaceful 
     resolution to the repression in Kosova, particularly the 
     statement by Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic that 
     Kosova must receive a certain degree of autonomy, and his 
     call for a dialog between the Government of Serbia and 
     Montenegro and ethnic Albanians in Kosova;
       (5) the United States should, to be extent practicable, 
     recognize positive actions by the Government of the Republic 
     of Montenegro with regard to repression in Kosova through 
     exclusion from those sanctions that may be applied to the 
     Government of Serbia;
       (6) the elections in Kosova scheduled on March 22, 1998, 
     should be allowed to proceed unimpeded by Belgrade, as they 
     represent the opportunity for a peaceful expression of the 
     political will of the Albanian people of Kosova;
       (7) all parties should refrain from acts that could lead to 
     heightened tensions in Kosova;
       (8) the agreement on education in Kosova should be 
     implemented immediately, including at the university level, 
     allowing all residents of Kosova regardless of ethnicity to 
     receive education in their native tongue; and
       (9) that the elected leaders of Kosova should begin a 
     dialog with the authorities in Belgrade to resolve the 
     present situation, and to provide for the exercise of the 
     legitimate civil and political rights of the Albanian people 
     of Kosova.

     

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