H. Con. Res. 144 Agreed to July 12, 1999

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

Concurrent Resolution

Urging the United States Government and the United Nations to undertake urgent

and strenuous efforts to secure the release of Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and

Peter Wallace, three humanitarian workers employed in the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia by CARE International, who are being unjustly held as prisoners

by the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Whereas Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace are three

humanitarian workers employed in the Federal Republic of 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 citizen of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,

was arrested 1 week later on the same charges;

Whereas on March 30, 1999, CARE International received a letter

of commendation from the Government of the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia relating to CARE International’s humanitarian

work in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;

Whereas one of the three men, Steve Pratt, appeared on Serbian

television on April 11, 1999, and he was coerced into saying

that he had performed covert intelligence activities;

Whereas the three Care International humanitarian workers were

held without access to outsiders for 20 days;

Whereas on May 29, 1999, a Serbian military court dismissed

every element of the original indictment against the three CARE

International humanitarian workers, but then proceeded to convict the three individuals on an entirely new charge of passing

on information to a foreign organization, namely CARE International, and sentenced Pratt to 12 years, Jelen to 6 years,

and Wallace to 4 years;

Whereas this last charge was introduced at the reading of the

verdict, denying lawyers for the three CARE International

humanitarian workers any opportunity to mount an appropriate

defense;

Whereas it appears the three CARE International 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
H. Con. Res. 144—2

CARE International management of the security situation in

which their staff were working;

Whereas the convictions of the three CARE International humanitarian workers raise serious questions regarding the ability of

humanitarian aid organizations to operate in the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia, with implications for their operations in other

areas of conflict around the world;

Whereas the three CARE International humanitarian workers are

innocent, having committed no crime, and are being held as

prisoners unjustly;

Whereas the Federal Republic of 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 United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, former South African President Nelson Mandela, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, United Nations

Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress—

(1) urges the United States Government and the United

Nations to undertake urgent and strenuous efforts to secure

the release of Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace,

three humanitarian workers employed in the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia by CARE International; 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 humanitarian

workers their freedom without further delay.

Attest:

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Attest:

Secretary of the Senate.