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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1377

To authorize the provision of assistance for the victims of torture, including

rape and other war crimes, in the former Yugoslavia, and for the families

of such victims.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1993

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. DELAURO, and Mr. MCCLOSKEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To authorize the provision of assistance for the victims of

torture, including rape and other war crimes, in the

former Yugoslavia, and for the families of such victims.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) the loss of life and human suffering in

6 Bosnia-Herzegovina has reached an unprecedented

7 scale in post-World War II Europe;

8 (2) war and ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ in Bosnia9 Herzegovina has uprooted more than 1,500,000 indi-
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1 viduals, contributing to the largest refugee problem

2 in Europe since World War II;

3 (3) the people of the former Yugoslavia, espe4 cially those of Bosnia-Herzegovina have been sub5 jected to organized, systematic, and premeditated

6 war crimes and genocide, including willful killings,

7 rape, forced impregnation, abuse of civilians in de8 tention centers, deliberate attacks on noncombat9 ants, ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ through the forcible expul10 sion and deportation of civilians, and torture of pris11 oners; and

12 (4) there has been no concerted and coordi13 nated effort to provide assistance for the victims of

14 these acts and for their families to meet their short15 term and long-term needs.

16 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.

17 (a) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.—The President is

18 authorized to provide assistance under this section for the

19 victims of torture, including rape and other war crimes,

20 in the former Yugoslavia, and for the families of such vic21 tims, especially children with a particular focus on victims

22 of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

23 (b) DESCRIPTION OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance au24 thorized by subsection (a) includes activities such as—
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1 (1) the provision of medical, psychological, and

2 psychiatric care and crisis counseling for victims of

3 war crimes stemming from the conflict in the former

4 Yugoslavia, whether provided in the United States

5 or abroad;

6 (2) the training of individuals in the former

7 Yugoslavia, including individuals who have been the

8 victims of torture and individuals of the Moslem

9 faith, to provide medical, psychological, and psy10 chiatric care and crisis counseling; and

11 (3) the procurement of necessary medical and

12 training supplies.

13 (c) COORDINATION OF ASSISTANCE EFFORTS.—As14 sistance authorized by subsection (a) shall be coordinated

15 by the Administrator of the Agency for International De16 velopment and channeled through such governments,

17 international organizations, and nongovernmental organi18 zations as the Administrator determines appropriate to

19 reach individuals in need.

20 SEC. 3. FORMER YUGOSLAVIA DEFINED.

21 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘former Yugo22 slavia’’ means the territory covered by the former Socialist

23 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, consisting of the republics

24 of Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and
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1 Bosnia-Herzegovina, without regard to diplomatic recogni2 tion by the United States of any republic.

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