III

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 315

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 24, 1998

Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress condemning the atrocities by Serbian police and military forces against Albanians in Kosova and urging that blocked assets of the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)

under control of the United States and other governments be used to compensate the Albanians in Kosova

for losses suffered through Serbian police and military

action.

Whereas the ethnic Albanian population of the province of

Kosova, which makes up the overwhelming majority of

the population of that area, has been denied internationally recognized human rights and political rights, including the protection of life, freedom of speech, freedom of

assembly, and freedom of the press;
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HCON 315 RFS

Whereas Serbian police and military forces have engaged in

brutal suppression of the Albanian people, and the number of Serbian police and military forces which have been

deployed in Kosova is estimated at some 50,000 men;

Whereas human rights groups have reported and documented

instances of Serbian forces conducting abductions and

summary executions of innocent ethnic Albanian civilians

in reprisal killings that are similar to those conducted by

Nazi forces during World War II and are similar to the

ethnic cleansing which was carried out by ethnic Serbian

troops in Bosnia;

Whereas Serbian forces have indiscriminately shelled and

burned villages, reducing them to rubble, in order to

drive out the ethnic Albanian inhabitants, inflicting heavy

material losses upon the ethnic Albanians in Kosova;

Whereas hundreds of ethnic Albanians, including women and

children, have been killed and over 200,000 ethnic Albanians have been forced to flee and have become refugees

as a result of this Serbian military action;

Whereas the stubborn denial of human rights and political

rights to the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosova by the

Government of Serbia has been the major factor in the

radicalization of the political situation in the province

and made the prospects of a peaceful resolution of the

conflict there difficult if not impossible;

Whereas the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia (SFRY) resulted in 5 independent states and

the ownership of the blocked assets of the SFRY has yet

to be determined and apportioned among the successor

states; and
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Whereas the United States and the governments of other

countries have blocked the assets of the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) as part of the

blocked assets of the SFRY: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) deeply deplores and strongly condemns the

4 appalling loss of life and the extensive destruction of

5 property in Kosova that is the consequence of the

6 brutal actions of Serbian police and military forces

7 against the ethnic Albanian population of the prov8 ince;

9 (2) believes that the Government of Serbia is

10 primarily responsible for the loss of life and destruc11 tion of property, and thus Serbia should bear the

12 principal burden of providing compensation for the

13 loss of life and for the costs of rebuilding areas

14 which its forces have devastated;

15 (3) urges the President and officials he des16 ignates to work with the Congress to draft legisla17 tion and regulations which will permit the claims of

18 ethnic Albanians from Kosova who have suffered as

19 a consequence of the brutal actions of Serbian police

20 and military forces in Kosova to be considered, with21 out prejudice to the claims of United States nation22 als, when claims settlement negotiations involving
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1 the assets of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

2 (Serbia and Montenegro) which the United States

3 has blocked or asserted control over takes place;

4 (4) urges that, in drafting such legislation and

5 implementing regulations, special consideration be

6 given to the circumstances of the Government of the

7 Republic of Montenegro and to persons located in

8 and organized under the laws of the Republic of

9 Montenegro;

10 (5) urges the President and the Secretary of

11 State to urge all other countries to follow a policy

12 which permits ethnic Albanians who have suffered as

13 a consequence of the brutal actions of Serbian police

14 and military forces in Kosova to make claims

15 against the assets of the Federal Republic of Yugo16 slavia (Serbia and Montenegro) which are in the

17 control of the respective country; and

18 (6) requests that a copy of this resolution be

19 transmitted to the President and the Secretary of

20 State by the Clerk of the House of Representatives

21 and the Secretary of the Senate.

Passed the House of Representatives September 23,

1998.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.