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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 35

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to BosniaHercegovina.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 1993

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and Mr. MCCLOSKEY)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with

respect to Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Whereas Bosnia-Hercegovina is a sovereign and independent

state, a member of the United Nations, a participating

state of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe;

Whereas the leaders of Bosnia-Hercegovina have committed

themselves to practice tolerance and to live together in

peace with neighboring states in keeping with the Charter

of the United Nations and to promote human rights and

democracy pursuant to the Helsinki Final Act of the

Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;
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Whereas the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina have been and remain the target of armed aggression by Serbia and Serbian-backed forces;

Whereas the loss of life and human suffering in BosniaHercegovina has reached an unprecedented scale in postWorld War II Europe;

Whereas the war and ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ in BosniaHercegovina has uprooted more than 1,500,000 people,

contributing to the largest refugee problem in Europe

since World War II;

Whereas the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina have been subjected to organized, systematic, and premeditated war

crimes and genocide, including willful killings, rape,

forced impregnation, abuse of civilians in detention centers, deliberate attacks on noncombatants, ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ through forcible expulsion and deportation of civilians, and torture of prisoners;

Whereas the United Nations Security Council has reaffirmed

that persons who commit or order the commission of

grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions are individually responsible in respect to such breaches;

Whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross and

other international humanitarian organizations have not

been granted unimpeded and continuous access to all

camps, prisons, and detention centers in BosniaHercegovina as called for by the United Nations Security

Council;

Whereas efforts by United Nations humanitarian organizations and others to secure the effective and unimpeded

delivery of humanitarian supplies to all victims of the war

in Bosnia-Hercegovina have been repeatedly blocked;
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Whereas numerous diplomatic efforts to achieve a peaceful

solution to the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina have failed to

bring about a cessation of hostilities;

Whereas the United Nations Security Council has demanded

that neighboring states respect the territorial integrity of

Bosnia-Hercegovina;

Whereas irregular forces have failed to disband, disarm, or

place their weapons under effective international monitoring;

Whereas Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations provides for the right of individual and collective self-defense

if an armed attack occurs against a member state;

Whereas Bosnia-Hercegovina’s right to defend itself against

attack by well armed forces has been thwarted by the existing international arms embargo;

Whereas incursions of the airspace of Bosnia-Hercegovina by

hostile military aircraft continue to occur in violation of

the establishment of a ‘‘no-fly’’ zone by the United Nations Security Council; and

Whereas United Nations Security Council resolutions on a

‘‘no-fly’’ zone, the transfer of all heavy weapons to international control, the delivery of humanitarian assistance,

and access to all camps, prisons, and detention centers

in Bosnia-Hercegovina have not been fully implemented

or enforced: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) the United States should act, without delay,

4 to uphold Bosnia-Hercegovina’s right to self-defense

5 as provided for under Article 51 of the Charter of
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1 the United Nations and to seek the immediate lifting

2 of the international arms embargo as it applies to

3 that country, thus enabling Bosnia-Hercegovina to

4 obtain defensive weapons;

5 (2) the United States should assemble a multi6 national coalition—

7 (A) to enforce immediately the United Na8 tions ‘‘no-fly’’ zone over the territory of Bosnia9 Hercegovina, including through the use of mili10 tary air force if required;

11 (B) to ensure that irregular forces in

12 Bosnia-Hercegovina either withdraw, be subject

13 to the authority of the Government of Bosnia14 Hercegovina, or be disbanded and disarmed

15 with their weapons placed under effective inter16 national monitoring (and in the event that such

17 steps are not taken by irregular forces imme18 diately, every effort, including the use of mili19 tary air force, should be made to neutralize

20 heavy arms in the hands of such forces);

21 (C) to ensure the immediate, effective, and

22 unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance

23 to all civilian populations in Bosnia24 Hercegovina, in keeping with international com-
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1 mitments, including through the use of military

2 force, if required; and

3 (D) to ensure unimpeded access to all

4 camps, prisons, and detention centers in

5 Bosnia-Hercegovina by the International Com6 mittee of the Red Cross and other international

7 humanitarian organizations, and facilitate the

8 release of all detainees from such facilities;

9 (3) the United States should seek an increase

10 in the number of refugees from Bosnia-Hercegovina

11 permitted to enter the United States and other Eu12 ropean countries; and

13 (4) the United States should work to ensure

14 that those responsible for war crimes and crimes

15 against humanity in Bosnia-Hercegovina are held

16 accountable by an international criminal tribunal.

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