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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1360

To establish United States policy conditioning the lifting of sanctions against

Serbia and Montenegro upon improvements in Kosova, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 30, 1995

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. ROHRABACHER,

Mr. KING, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To establish United States policy conditioning the lifting

of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro upon improvements in Kosova, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kosova Peace, Democ5 racy, and Human Rights Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Constitution of the Socialist Federal

9 Republic of Yugoslavia, adopted in 1946, and the
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1 amended Constitution of Yugoslavia, adopted in

2 1974, described the status of Kosova as one of the

3 eight constituent territorial units of the Yugoslav

4 Federation.

5 (2) The political rights of the Albanian majority

6 in Kosova were curtailed when the Government of

7 Yugoslavia illegally amended the Constitution of

8 Yugoslavia without the consent of the people of

9 Kosova on March 23, 1989, revoking the autono10 mous status of Kosova.

11 (3) In 1990, the Parliament and Government of

12 Kosova were abolished by further unlawful amend13 ments to the Constitution of Yugoslavia.

14 (4) In September 1990, a referendum on the

15 question of independence for Kosova was held in

16 which 87 percent of those eligible to participate

17 voted and 99 percent of those voting supported inde18 pendence for Kosova.

19 (5) In May 1992, a Kosovar national par20 liament was elected and Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was

21 overwhelmingly elected President of the Republic of

22 Kosova.

23 (6) The Parliament and Government of Kosova

24 were not permitted to assemble in Kosova.
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1 (7) Credible reports of Serbian ‘‘ethnic cleans2 ing’’ in Kosova have been received by the United

3 Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and

4 in January 1995, Serbia announced a new policy to

5 colonize Albanian land in Kosova.

6 (8) Over 100,000 ethnic Albanians in govern7 ment, police, the judiciary, enterprises, media, edu8 cational institutions, and hospitals of Kosova have

9 been removed from their jobs and replaced by Ser10 bians.

11 (9) The government in Belgrade has severely

12 restricted the access of ethnic Albanians in Kosova

13 to all levels of education, especially education in the

14 Albanian language, solely on the basis of their eth15 nicity.

16 (10) Reports of arrests and brutal beatings by

17 the mostly Serbian police, sometimes leading to the

18 death of ethnic Albanians in Kosova for expressing

19 views in opposition to Serbian authorities, are re20 ceived almost daily.

21 (11) Observers of the Organization on Security

22 and Cooperation in Europe dispatched to Kosova in

23 1991 were expelled by the government in Belgrade

24 in July 1993.
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1 (12) The Government of Serbia has ignored

2 United Nations Security Council Resolution 855 of

3 August 1993, which calls upon Belgrade to allow the

4 continuation of the mission of the Organization on

5 Security and Cooperation in Europe and to guaran6 tee the safety of and unimpeded access for monitors

7 of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in

8 Europe.

9 (13) Following the departure of such observers,

10 several international human rights organizations, in11 cluding Amnesty International, Human Rights

12 Watch-Helsinki, and the Helsinki Federation for

13 Human Rights have documented an increase in hu14 manitarian abuses in Kosova.

15 (14) Congress provided for the opening of a

16 United States Information Agency cultural center in

17 Prishtina, Kosova, in section 223 of the Foreign Re18 lations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and

19 1993, but the Department of State has asserted that

20 security conditions have prevented the establishment

21 of such center.

22 (15) The President has explicitly warned the

23 Government of Serbia that the United States is pre24 pared to respond in the event of escalated conflict in

25 Kosova caused by Serbia.
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1 (16) On January 4, 1994, President Clinton

2 stated, ‘‘there are a large number of issues, includ3 ing Kosova, that I believe must be addressed before

4 Belgrade should be freed of United Nations sanc5 tions and able to return to the international commu6 nity. . . . As before, our decision of whether to sup7 port suspension of any sanctions will be made in

8 close consultation with Congress.’’.

9 (17) On February 15, 1994, President Clinton

10 announced, without prior consultation with the Con11 gress, a set of conditions, not including improve12 ments in Kosova, which, if met by Serbia and

13 Montenegro, would result in the lifting of inter14 national sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.

15 SEC. 3. POLICY.

16 It is the policy of the United States that—

17 (1) the situation in Kosova must be resolved be18 fore Belgrade is freed of international sanctions and

19 is able to return to the international community;

20 (2) the right of the people of Kosova to govern

21 themselves and to establish a separate identity for

22 Kosova must not be denied;

23 (3) international observers should be returned

24 to Kosova;
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1 (4) the elected Government of Kosova should be

2 permitted to meet and exercise its legitimate man3 date as elected representatives of the people of

4 Kosova;

5 (5) all individuals whose employment was termi6 nated on the basis of their ethnicity should be rein7 stated to their previous positions; and

8 (6) the education system in Kosova should be

9 reopened to all residents of Kosova regardless of eth10 nicity and the majority ethnic Albanian population

11 should be allowed to educate its youth in its native

12 tongue.

13 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON THE TERMINATION OF SANC14 TIONS AGAINST SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

15 UNTIL CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET.

16 (a) RESTRICTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro17 vision of law, no sanction, prohibition, or requirement de18 scribed in section 1511 of the National Defense Authoriza19 tion Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103–160), with

20 respect to Serbia or Montenegro, may cease to be effective,

21 unless—

22 (1) the President first submits to the Congress

23 a certification described in subsection (b); and

24 (2) the requirements of section 1511 of that

25 Act are met.
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1 (b) CERTIFICATION.—A certification described in this

2 subsection is a certification that—

3 (1) there is substantial progress toward—

4 (A) the realization of a separate identity

5 for Kosova and the right of the people of

6 Kosova to govern themselves; or

7 (B) the creation of an international protec8 torate for Kosova;

9 (2) there is substantial improvement in the

10 human rights situation in Kosova;

11 (3) international human rights observers are al12 lowed to return to Kosova; and

13 (4) the elected government of Kosova is per14 mitted to meet and carry out its legitimate mandate

15 as elected representatives of the people of Kosova.

16 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

17 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the President shall prepare and transmit

19 to the Congress a report on—

20 (1) the situation in Kosova, including the man21 ner in which the policies of Serbia have affected the

22 economic, social, and cultural rights of the majority

23 in Kosova;

24 (2) measures to provide humanitarian assist25 ance to the population of Kosova and to Kosovar
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1 refugees who have fled Kosova, including the impact

2 of United States sanctions against Serbia and

3 Montenegro upon the delivery of humanitarian as4 sistance to Kosova;

5 (3) recommendations (taking into account the

6 views of other United Nations Security Council

7 members and the European Union) on what modali8 ties may be pursued, including the possibility of es9 tablishing an international protectorate for Kosova

10 together with other members of the United Nations

11 Security Council and the European Union, to imple12 ment international protection of the rights of the

13 people of Kosova, reestablish an international pres14 ence in Kosova to monitor more effectively the situa15 tion in Kosova, and secure for the people of Kosova

16 their right to democratic self-government;

17 (4) the current status of United States efforts

18 to establish a United States Information Agency cul19 tural center in Prishtina, Kosova, as provided in sec20 tion 223 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act,

21 Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993, specifying the security

22 conditions and any other factors preventing estab23 lishment of such center; and

24 (5) the presence of United States officials in

25 Kosova, prior to establishment of a United States
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1 Information Agency cultural center in Prishtina,

2 Kosova, including the number, frequency, and dura3 tion of visits of personnel of the United States Em4 bassy in Belgrade to Kosova during the 12-month

5 period ending on the date of the enactment of this

6 Act.

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