IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 181

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to war crimes against

United States military personnel and their families, and in particular

to the war crimes committed in El Salvador against United States

Army pilots David H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 8, 1999

Mr. BRYANT submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred

to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to war

crimes against United States military personnel and their

families, and in particular to the war crimes committed

in El Salvador against United States Army pilots David

H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr.

Whereas in 1991, David H. Pickett was a lieutenant colonel

and Earnest Dawson, Jr., was a private first class in the

United States Army;

Whereas on January 2, 1991, David H. Pickett and Earnest

Dawson, Jr., along with Chief Warrant Officer Daniel

Scott, were on official business when their helicopter was

shot down over El Salvador by Marxist guerrillas of the

Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN);
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Whereas in the helicopter crash Daniel Scott died and David

H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr., were wounded;

Whereas David H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr., were

captured and promptly murdered by FMLN guerrillas,

including Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes;

Whereas after the murders of David H. Pickett and Earnest

Dawson, Jr., were investigated by the Federal Bureau of

Investigation, the Department of Justice sought and obtained a warrant for the arrest of Ferman Hernandez

from the United States District Court in Washington,

DC;

Whereas the Department of State directed that Ferman Hernandez be detained if he entered the territory of the

United States;

Whereas the United Nations brokered a peace agreement that

ended the civil war in El Salvador in January 1992 and

resulted in the Government of El Salvador signing a comprehensive peace accord with the FMLN;

Whereas the FMLN surrendered Ferman Hernandez and

Serveriano Fuentes to the Government of El Salvador on

March 17, 1992;

Whereas Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes confessed to the murders of David H. Pickett and Earnest

Dawson, Jr., and were detained by Salvadoran authorities;

Whereas a commission of the United Nations found, on April

1, 1993, that David H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr.,

while wounded and defenseless, had been executed by

Ferman Hernandez, who was acting on the orders of

Serveriano Fuentes;
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Whereas the commission found that the actions of Ferman

Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes were in violation of

international humanitarian law;

Whereas the Government of El Salvador enacted a general

amnesty law in May 1993, and released Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes in accordance with that

law;

Whereas the failure and refusal of the Government of El Salvador to bring Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano

Fuentes to trial violates the Geneva Convention and

other international agreements to which the Government

of El Salvador is a signatory;

Whereas the United States has made diplomatic efforts toward the Government of El Salvador, but has failed to

persuade the Government of El Salvador to comply with

the Geneva Convention and other international human

rights agreements by bringing Ferman Hernandez and

Serveriano Fuentes to trial;

Whereas the United States has also failed to obtain from the

Government of El Salvador the extradition of Ferman

Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes to the United States;

Whereas the Constitution of El Salvador prohibits the extradition of Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes to

the United States for trial;

Whereas there has been preliminary legislative action in El

Salvador to amend the Constitution to permit extradition

under certain circumstances, but further legislative action

is necessary to ratify the amendment, and the amendment in its present form is not retroactive and therefore

would not apply to Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano

Fuentes;
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Whereas the inability of the United States to meaningfully

address the murder of two members of the United States

Armed Forces in this instance raises concerns about the

effectiveness of legal protections for the men and women

of the United States Armed Forces who serve in foreign

lands and for their families;

Whereas the United States has more than 350,000 military

personnel deployed in over 120 foreign countries;

Whereas tragic and wrongful acts against United States military personnel may occur in the future, and the United

States should not again be unable to obtain redress, as

in the case of the deaths of David H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr.; and

Whereas the 104th Congress enacted the War Crimes Act of

1996, which provided by law for criminal penalties for

certain war crimes and for certain grave breaches of the

Geneva Convention, and the 105th Congress strengthened and improved those provisions: Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. EXPRESSION OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO

4 THE DEATHS OF DAVID H. PICKETT AND EAR5 NEST DAWSON, JR.

6 The Congress expresses—

7 (1) sincere appreciation for the military service

8 of Lieutenant Colonel David H. Pickett, Private

9 First Class Earnest Dawson, Jr., and Chief Warrant

10 Officer Daniel Scott;
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1 (2) deepest sympathy to the families of David

2 H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr., for their tragic

3 and wrongful deaths; and

4 (3) profound regret that the available remedies

5 have failed to bring Ferman Hernandez and

6 Serveriano Fuentes to justice and thereby bring clo7 sure to this tragedy.

8 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO WAR

9 CRIMES.

10 It is the sense of the Congress that—

11 (1) the United States should improve the legal

12 protections for its military personnel who serve in

13 foreign lands and the families of such military per14 sonnel;

15 (2) the Government of El Salvador should

16 amend its Constitution to permit the extradition of

17 Ferman Hernandez and Serveriano Fuentes to the

18 United States for trial; and

19 (3) the President of the United States should—

20 (A) make vigorous and continuing efforts

21 to obtain the extradition of Ferman Hernandez

22 and Serveriano Fuentes to the United States;

23 (B) initiate changes to the Geneva Conven24 tion and other relevant international agree25 ments that would prevent amnesty from being
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1 used to deny redress for grave breaches of the

2 Geneva Convention;

3 (C) initiate other changes to the Geneva

4 Convention and other relevant international

5 agreements as appropriate to ensure and im6 prove the legal protections for United States

7 military personnel who serve in foreign lands

8 and the families of such military personnel;

9 (D) examine all status-of-forces agree10 ments and similar agreements and obtain revi11 sions as appropriate to ensure that the legal

12 protections for United States military personnel

13 will not suffer another failure, as in the case of

14 David H. Pickett and Earnest Dawson, Jr.;

15 (E) encourage other countries to enact

16 laws substantially similar to the War Crimes

17 Act of 1996; and

18 (F) report to the Congress at least annu19 ally regarding the actions taken and progress

20 made by the President in connection with the

21 matters set forth in this resolution.

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