[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 96 (Thursday, July 1, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S8144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION--CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE THREE 
                   HUMANITARIAN WORKERS IN YUGOSLAVIA

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. Leahy) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 135

       Whereas Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace are 
     three humanitarian workers employed in Yugoslavia by CARE 
     International, the relief and development organization, 
     providing food, medicines and fuel to more than 50,000 
     Serbian refugees in Serbia and to displaced ethnic Albanians 
     in Kosovo;
       Whereas Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, two Australian 
     nationals, were detained on March 31, 1999, and later accused 
     of operating and managing a spy ring and being employed by a 
     spy ring, and Branko Jelen, a Yugoslav, was arrested one week 
     later on the same charges;
       Whereas on March 30, the organization CARE International 
     had received a letter of commendation from the Yugoslavian 
     government about CARE International's humanitarian work in 
     Yugoslavia;
       Whereas one of the three humanitarian workers, Steve Pratt, 
     appeared on Serbian television on April 11, and he was 
     coerced into saying that he had performed covert intelligence 
     activities;
       Whereas the three humanitarian workers were held without 
     access to outsiders for 20 days;
       Whereas on May 29 a military court dismissed every element 
     of the original indictment, but then proceeded to convict the 
     three CARE International workers on an entirely new charge of 
     passing on information to a foreign organization, namely CARE 
     International, and sentenced Pratt to 12 years, Jelen to six, 
     and Wallace to four;
       Whereas this last charge was introduced at the reading of 
     the verdict, denying lawyers for the three any opportunity to 
     mount an appropriate defense;
       Whereas it appears these humanitarian workers were 
     convicted of providing ``situation reports'' to their head 
     office and other CARE International offices around the world, 
     based on legitimately gathered information, necessary to 
     enable CARE International management to plan their 
     humanitarian assistance in a rapidly changing context and to 
     inform CARE International management of the security 
     situation in which their staff were working;
       Whereas the convictions of these three humanitarian workers 
     raise serious questions regarding the ability of humanitarian 
     aid organizations to operate in Yugoslavia, with implications 
     for their operations in other areas of conflict around the 
     world;
       Whereas the three humanitarian workers are innocent, 
     committed no crime, and are being held prisoner unjustly;
       Whereas Yugoslavia needs humanitarian workers who feel 
     secure enough to do their work and who are not at risk of 
     going to prison on false charges; and
       Whereas many leaders around the world have raised the issue 
     and sought to free the captives, including Kofi Annan, Nelson 
     Mandela, Marti Ahtisaari, Mary Robinson, and Jesse Jackson; 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) urges the Government of the United States and the 
     United Nations to undertake urgent and strenuous efforts to 
     secure the release of the three CARE International 
     humanitarian workers; and
       (2) calls upon the Government of the Federal Republic of 
     Yugoslavia to send a positive signal to the international 
     humanitarian community and to give these workers their 
     freedom without further delay.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am joining with Senator Leahy to 
introduce a resolution calling for the immediate release of three CARE 
International workers in Yugoslavia. The three humanitarian workers 
committed no crime and are being held prisoner unjustly. Coercion was 
used in extracting a televised ``confession'' from one of the workers 
and the judicial proceedings held against them were a sham, preventing 
them from mounting a serious defense.
  The men, Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace, are three 
humanitarian workers employed in Yugoslavia by CARE International, 
which has been providing food, medicines and fuel to more than 50,000 
Serbian refugees in Serbia and to displaced ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
  On March 31, 1999, Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, two Australian 
nationals, were arrested and later accused of operating a spy ring. 
Branko Jelen, a Yugoslav, was arrested a week later on the same 
charges. Yugoslav officials forced Steve Pratt to appear on Serbian 
television on April 11, when he was coerced into saying that he had 
performed covert intelligence activities. The three were held without 
access to outsiders for 20 days.
  On May 29 a military court dismissed the original indictment, but 
then convicted the three CARE International workers on an entirely new 
charge of passing on information to a foreign organization, their 
employer, CARE International! This charge was introduced at the reading 
of the verdict, denying lawyers for the three any opportunity to mount 
an appropriate defense. Pratt was sentenced to 12 years, Jelen to 6 
years, and Wallace to 4 years in prison.
  These humanitarian workers apparently were convicted of providing 
``situation reports'' to their head office and other CARE International 
offices around the world, based on legitimately gathered information. 
Such reports are necessary to enable CARE International management to 
plan their humanitarian assistance and to inform CARE International 
management of the rapidly changing security situation faced by their 
staff.
  The convictions of these three humanitarian workers raise serious 
questions regarding the ability of humanitarian aid organizations to 
operate in Yugoslavia, with implications for their operations in other 
areas of conflict around the world. Humanitarian workers must feel 
secure enough to do their work and must not be at risk of going to 
prison on false charges. Since that is not now the case in Serbia, CARE 
International regretfully was forced to stop its operations there.
  The resolution we introduce today urges the United States and the 
United Nations to try to secure the release of the three humanitarian 
workers and calls on the Yugoslavia government to release them. I urge 
my colleagues to support this resolution.

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