IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 20 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the executionstyle murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi 

in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2017 

Mr. ZELDIN (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ENGEL, and Ms. 

MENG) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens 

Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999. 

Whereas brothers Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were citizens of the United States, born in Chicago, Illinois, to 

ethnic Albanian parents from what is today the Republic 

of Kosovo, and who subsequently lived in Hampton Bays, 

New York; 

Whereas the three Bytyqi brothers responded to the brutality 

of the conflict associated with Kosovo’s separation from 

the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of which Serbia was a constituent republic by joinVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Feb 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC20.IH HC20

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•HCON 20 IH 

ing the so-called ‘‘Atlantic Brigade’’ of the Kosovo Liberation Army in April 1999; 

Whereas a Military-Technical Agreement between the Government of Yugoslavia and the North Atlantic Council came 

into effect on June 10, 1999, leading to a cessation of 

hostilities; 

Whereas the Bytyqi brothers were arrested on June 23, 

1999, by Serbian police within the Federal Republic of 

Yugoslavia when the brothers accidently crossed what 

was then an unmarked administrative border while escorting an ethnic Romani family who had been neighbors 

to safety outside Kosovo; 

Whereas the Bytyqi brothers were jailed for 15 days for illegal entry into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 

Prokuplje, Serbia, until a judge ordered their release on 

July 8, 1999; 

Whereas instead of being released, the Bytyqi brothers were 

taken by a special operations unit of the Serbian Ministry 

of Internal Affairs to a training facility near Petrovo 

Selo, Serbia, where all three were executed; 

Whereas at the time of their murders, Ylli was 25, Agron was 

23, and Mehmet was 21 years of age; 

Whereas Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was removed 

from office on October 5, 2000, following massive demonstrations protesting his refusal to acknowledge and accept election results the month before; 

Whereas in the following years, the political leadership of 

Serbia has worked to strengthen democratic institutions, 

to develop stronger adherence to the rule of law, and to 

ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 


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•HCON 20 IH 

evolved into a State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 

February 2003, which itself dissolved when both republics proclaimed their respective independence in June 

2006; 

Whereas the United States Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, was 

informed on July 17, 2001, that the bodies of Ylli, 

Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were found with their hands 

bound and gunshot wounds to the back of their heads, 

buried atop an earlier mass grave of approximately 70 

bodies of murdered civilians from Kosovo; 

Whereas Serbian authorities subsequently investigated but 

never charged those individuals who were part of the 

Ministry of Internal Affairs chain of command related to 

this crime, including former Minister of Internal Affairs 

Vlajko Stojilkovic, Assistant Minister and Chief of the 

Public Security Department Vlastimir Djordjevic, and 

special operations training camp commander Goran 

‘‘Guri’’ Radosavljevic; 

Whereas Vlajko Stojilkovic died of a self-inflicted gunshot 

wound in April 2002 prior to being transferred to the 

custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the 

former Yugoslavia where he had been charged with 

crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or 

customs of war during the Kosovo conflict; 

Whereas Vlastimir Djordjevic was arrested and transferred to 

the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for 

the former Yugoslavia in June 2007, and sentenced in 

February 2011 to 27 years imprisonment (later reduced 

to 18 years) for crimes against humanity and violations 

of the laws or customs of war committed during the 

Kosovo conflict; 


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•HCON 20 IH 

Whereas Goran ‘‘Guri’’ Radosavljevic is reported to reside in 

Serbia, working as director of a security consulting firm 

in Belgrade, and is a prominent member of the governing 

political party; 

Whereas two Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs officers, 

Sretan Popovic and Milos Stojanovic, were charged in 

2006 for crimes associated with their involvement in the 

detention and transport of the Bytyqi brothers from 

Prokuplje to Petrovo Selo, but acquitted in May 2012 

with an appeals court confirming the verdict in March 

2013; 

Whereas no individual has ever been found guilty for the 

murders of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi or of any 

other crimes associated with their deaths; and 

Whereas no individual is currently facing criminal charges regarding the murder of the Bytyqi brothers despite many 

promises by Serbian officials to resolve the case: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) those individuals responsible for the mur4 ders in July 1999 of United States citizens Ylli, 

5 Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in Serbia should be 

6 brought to justice; 

7 (2) it is reprehensible that no individual has 

8 ever been found guilty for executing the Bytyqi 

9 brothers, or of any other crimes associated with 

10 their deaths, and that no individual is even facing 

11 charges for these horrible crimes; 


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•HCON 20 IH 

1 (3) the Government of Serbia and its relevant 

2 ministries and offices, including the Serbian War 

3 Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, should make it a priority 

4 to investigate and prosecute as soon as possible 

5 those current or former officials believed to be re6 sponsible for their deaths, directly or indirectly; 

7 (4) the United States should devote sufficient 

8 resources fully to assist and properly to monitor ef9 forts by the Government of Serbia and its relevant 

10 ministries and offices to investigate and prosecute as 

11 soon as possible those individuals believed to be re12 sponsible for their deaths, directly or indirectly; and 

13 (5) progress in resolving this case, or the lack 

14 thereof, should remain a significant factor deter15 mining the further development of relations between 

16 the United States and the Republic of Serbia. 

Æ 


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