III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 134 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the massacre at Srebrenica 

in July 1995. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2005 

Mr. SMITH (for himself and Mr. BIDEN) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the massacre 

at Srebrenica in July 1995.

Whereas, in July 1995, thousands of men and boys who had 

sought safety in the United Nations-designated ‘‘safe 

area’’ of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the 

protection of the United Nations Protection Force 

(UNPROFOR) were massacred by Serb forces operating 

in that country; 

Whereas, beginning in April 1992, aggression and ethnic 

cleansing perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces, while taking control of the surrounding territory, resulted in a 

massive influx of Bosniaks seeking protection in 

Srebrenica and its environs, which the United Nations 

Security Council designated a ‘‘safe area’’ in Security 

Council Resolution 819 on April 16, 1993; 
2

•SRES 134 IS

Whereas the UNPROFOR presence in Srebrenica consisted 

of a Dutch peacekeeping battalion, with representatives 

of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 

the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the 

humanitarian medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) helping to provide humanitarian relief to the displaced population living in 

conditions of massive overcrowding, destitution, and disease; 

Whereas Bosnian Serb forces blockaded the enclave early in 

1995, depriving the entire population of humanitarian aid 

and outside communication and contact, and effectively 

reducing the ability of the Dutch peacekeeping battalion 

to deter aggression or otherwise respond effectively to a 

deteriorating situation; 

Whereas, beginning on July 6, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces attacked UNPROFOR outposts, seized control of the isolated enclave, held captured Dutch soldiers hostage and, 

after skirmishes with local defenders, ultimately took control of the town of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995; 

Whereas an estimated one-third of the population of 

Srebrenica, including a relatively small number of soldiers, made a desperate attempt to pass through the lines 

of Bosnian Serb forces to the relative safety of Bosnianheld territory, but many were killed by patrols and ambushes; 

Whereas the remaining population sought protection with the 

Dutch peacekeeping battalion at its headquarters in the 

village of Potocari north of Srebrenica but many of these 

individuals were randomly seized by Bosnian Serb forces 

to be beaten, raped, or murdered; 
3

•SRES 134 IS

Whereas Bosnian Serb forces deported women, children, and 

the elderly in buses, held Bosniak males over 16 years of 

age at collection points and sites in northeastern Bosnia 

and Herzegovina under their control, and then summarily 

murdered and buried the captives in mass graves; 

Whereas approximately 20 percent of Srebrenica’s total population at the time—at least 7,000 and perhaps thousands 

more—was murdered; 

Whereas the United Nations and its member states have 

largely acknowledged their failure to take actions and decisions that could have deterred the assault on Srebrenica 

and prevented the subsequent massacre, including the 

lengthy report issued by the Government of the Netherlands on April 10, 2002, entitled ‘‘Srebrenica, a ‘safe’ 

area—Reconstruction, background, consequences and 

analyses of the fall of a safe area’’; 

Whereas Bosnian Serb forces, hoping to conceal evidence of 

the massacre at Srebrenica, subsequently moved corpses 

from initial mass grave sites to many secondary sites 

scattered throughout parts of northeastern Bosnia and 

Herzegovina under their control; 

Whereas the massacre at Srebrenica was among the worst of 

many horrible atrocities to occur in the conflict in Bosnia 

and Herzegovina from April 1992 to November 1995, 

during which the policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing pursued by Bosnian Serb forces with the direct support of authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 

(Serbia and Montenegro) ultimately led to the displacement of more than 2,000,000 people, an estimated 

200,000 killed, tens of thousands raped or otherwise tortured and abused, and the innocent civilians of Sarajevo 
4

•SRES 134 IS

and other urban centers repeatedly subjected to shelling 

and sniper attacks; 

Whereas Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and 

Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, done at Paris December 9, 1948, and entered into force January 12, 

1951, defines genocide as ‘‘any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or 

mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring 

about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the 

group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to 

another group’’; 

Whereas, on May 25, 1993, the United Nations Security 

Council adopted Security Council Resolution 827, establishing the world’s first international war crimes tribunal, 

the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague, the Netherlands, and 

charging the ICTY with responsibility for investigating 

and prosecuting individuals suspected of committing war 

crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and grave 

breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the territory 

of the former Yugoslavia since 1991; 

Whereas numerous members of the Bosnian Serb forces and 

political leaders at various levels of responsibility have 

been indicted for grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva 

Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war, 

crimes against humanity, genocide, and complicity in 

genocide associated with the massacre at Srebrenica, 

some of whom have been tried and sentenced while oth-
5

•SRES 134 IS

ers, including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remain at large; and 

Whereas the international community, including the United 

States, has continued to provide personnel and resources, 

including through direct military intervention, to prevent 

further aggression and ethnic cleansing, to negotiate and 

help ensure the full implementation of the General 

Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and 

Herzegovina, initialled at Dayton, Ohio, November 21, 

1995, and done at Paris December 14, 1995, including 

cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for 

the former Yugoslavia: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the thousands of innocent people murdered 

3 at Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 

4 1995, along with all individuals who were victimized 

5 during the conflict and genocide in Bosnia and 

6 Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, should be solemnly 

7 remembered and honored; 

8 (2) the policies of aggression and ethnic cleans9 ing as implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and 

10 Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 meet the terms de11 fining the crime of genocide in Article 2 of the Con12 vention on the Prevention and Punishment of the 

13 Crime of Genocide, done at Paris December 9, 1948, 

14 and entered into force January 12, 1951; 

15 (3) foreign nationals, including United States 

16 citizens, who have risked, and in some cases lost, 
6

•SRES 134 IS

1 their lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina while working 

2 toward peace should be solemnly remembered and 

3 honored; 

4 (4) the United Nations and its member states 

5 should accept their share of responsibility for allow6 ing the Srebrenica massacre and genocide to occur 

7 in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 by 

8 failing to take sufficient, decisive, and timely action, 

9 and the United Nations and its member states 

10 should constantly seek to ensure that this failure is 

11 not repeated in future crises and conflicts; 

12 (5) it is in the national interest of the United 

13 States that those individuals who are responsible for 

14 war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and 

15 grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions 

16 committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be 

17 held accountable for their actions; 

18 (6) all persons indicted by the International 

19 Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 

20 should be apprehended and transferred to The 

21 Hague without further delay, and all countries 

22 should meet their obligations to cooperate fully with 

23 the ICTY at all times; and 

24 (7) the United States should continue to sup25 port— 
7

•SRES 134 IS

1 (A) the independence and territorial integ2 rity of Bosnia and Herzegovina; 

3 (B) peace and stability in southeastern Eu4 rope as a whole; and 

5 (C) the right of all people living in south6 eastern Europe, regardless of national, racial, 

7 ethnic or religious background— 

8 (i) to return to their homes and enjoy 

9 the benefits of democratic institutions, the 

10 rule of law, and economic opportunity; and 

11 (ii) to know the fate of missing rel12 atives and friends.

Æ