105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 235

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Calling for an end to the violent repression of the

legitimate rights of the people of Kosova.
105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 235

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas the Albanian people of Kosova constitute more than

90 percent of the total population of Kosova;

Whereas the political rights of the Albanian people of Kosova

were curtailed when the Government of Yugoslavia illegally amended the Constitution of Yugoslavia without the

consent of the people of Kosova on March 23, 1989, revoking the autonomous status of Kosova;
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Whereas in 1990, the Parliament and Government of Kosova

were abolished by further unlawful amendments to the

Constitution of Yugoslavia;

Whereas the Mission of Long Duration to Kosova, the

Sandzak and Vojvodina, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) deployed in

1992, eased local tensions through objective human

rights monitoring and facilitating dialogue between authorities and the various communities before the authorities of Serbia-Montenegro expelled the Mission in 1993;

Whereas the State Department’s 1997 Country Report on

Human Rights in Serbia notes violations of civil liberties

in Kosova particularly in the following categories: political and other extra-judicial killing; torture and other

cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; denial of fair public

trial; and arbitrary interference with privacy, family,

home, or correspondence;

Whereas on the night of February 28, 1998, Serbian paramilitary policy units, reported to number in excess of

25,000 men, swept through the Drenica region of Kosova

killing more than 20 Albanian citizens, many of who died

from being beaten to death;

Whereas on March 2, 1998, 30,000 demonstrators peacefully

marched in Pristina to protest the massacre of February

28 and were brutally attacked by Serbian police;

Whereas a group calling itself the Liberation Army of Kosova

has threatened to retaliate against the atrocities committed by Serbian authorities;

Whereas new elections in Kosova scheduled for March 22,

1998, have now been postponed; and
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Whereas the President of the United States and other officials have warned the Government of Serbia that there

would be serious consequences if Serbian policies led to

an escalation of violence in Kosova: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

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

3 (1) the violent repression carried out by the

4 Serbian police and paramilitary forces against the

5 ethnic Albanian population of Kosova should be con6 demned by the United States and the international

7 community;

8 (2) efforts of the international Contact Group

9 (the United States, United Kingdom, France, Ger10 many, Russia, and Italy) in support of a resolution

11 of the conflict in Kosova are to be commended and

12 intensified;

13 (3) no international or United States sanctions

14 currently in force against the Government of Serbia

15 and Montenegro should be terminated at this time,

16 unless such termination serves to support a peaceful

17 resolution to the repression in Kosova;

18 (4) the United States should consult with its al19 lies and other members of the United Nations on re20 imposing those sanctions against Serbia-Montenegro

21 that were terminated following the signing of the

22 Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 if Serbian au-
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1 thorities continue to use unlawful violence against

2 the Albanian people of Kosova;

3 (5) the United States should acknowledge re4 cent developments in the Republic of Montenegro

5 that indicate that the new leadership of the Republic

6 is seeking a peaceful resolution to the repression in

7 Kosova, particularly the statement by Montenegrin

8 President Milo Djukanovic that Kosova must receive

9 a certain degree of autonomy, and his call for a dia10 log between the Government of Serbia and Montene11 gro and ethnic Albanians in Kosova;

12 (6) the United States should, to the extent

13 practicable, recognize positive actions by the Govern14 ment of the Republic of Montenegro with regard to

15 repression in Kosova through exclusion from those

16 sanctions that may be applied to the Government of

17 Serbia;

18 (7) the elections in Kosova originally scheduled

19 for March 22, 1998, and now postponed, should be

20 allowed to proceed unimpeded by Belgrade whenever

21 they take place, as they represent the opportunity

22 for a peaceful expression of the political will of the

23 Albanian people of Kosova;

24 (8) all parties should refrain from acts that

25 could lead to heightened tensions in Kosova;
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1 (9) international and nongovernmental organi2 zations that provide medical assistance should be

3 permitted immediate and unrestricted access to

4 Kosova and all of its citizens;

5 (10) international investigators of serious

6 breaches of international humanitarian law should

7 be granted immediate and unimpeded access to all

8 parts of Kosova and to its citizens;

9 (11) the agreement on education in Kosova

10 should be implemented immediately, including at the

11 university level, allowing all residents of Kosova re12 gardless of ethnicity to receive education in their na13 tive tongue;

14 (12) the elected leaders of Kosova should begin

15 a dialog without preconditions with the authorities

16 in Belgrade to resolve the present situation, and to

17 provide for the exercise of the legitimate civil and

18 political rights of all the people of Kosova;

19 (13) inasmuch as the Belgrade regime led by

20 the last Communist dictator in Europe, Slobodan

21 Milosevic, continues to abuse democratic norms and

22 the rights of all its citizens, threatening general re23 gional stability, the United States should undertake

24 determined measures and provisions designed to pro-
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1 mote human rights and democratic government

2 throughout Serbia and Montenegro;

3 (14) the authorities of Serbia-Montenegro

4 should cooperate fully with efforts and initiatives of

5 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

6 Europe (OSCE) to address the problems in Kosova,

7 including the immediate and unconditional return of

8 a Mission of Long Duration;

9 (15) staff of the United States Information

10 Agency office in Pristina, Kosova, should be aug11 mented; and

12 (16) the United Nations Security Council

13 should consider the question of restoration of the

14 human and political rights of the people of Kosova

15 and actions to halt Belgrade’s violent repression of

16 the region’s population.

Passed the House of Representatives March 18,

1998.

Attest:

Clerk.