Calling for the end of impunity of unpunished Serbian sexual war crimes during the 1999 Kosovo war in the case of United States citizen and sexual war crime survivor Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman and other survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

Subjects: International Affairs


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 36 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 36

Calling for the end of impunity of unpunished Serbian sexual war crimes 
  during the 1999 Kosovo war in the case of United States citizen and 
sexual war crime survivor Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman and other survivors 
                  of sexual and gender-based violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2023

Mr. Allred (for himself, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Vargas, and Mr. 
  Torres of New York) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Calling for the end of impunity of unpunished Serbian sexual war crimes 
  during the 1999 Kosovo war in the case of United States citizen and 
sexual war crime survivor Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman and other survivors 
                  of sexual and gender-based violence.

Whereas Vasfije Krasniqi was 16 years old during the 1999 Kosovo war and living 
        in Stanofc i Poshtem, Kosovo, then under the control of the Republic of 
        Serbia, which was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and led by 
        President Slobodan Milosevic;
Whereas, on April 14, 1999, a Serbian police officer entered Ms. Krasniqi's 
        family home in Stanofc i Poshtem, Kosovo, looking for all male 
        occupants, and ordered Ms. Krasniqi to go to the police station to give 
        a statement about her father and brothers, who were not present;
Whereas the Serbian police officer threatened to shoot everyone present, 
        including Ms. Krasniqi and her mother, before forcibly removing Ms. 
        Krasniqi from the house and taking her to a Serbian village nearby;
Whereas the Serbian police officer forced Ms. Krasniqi into an empty house off 
        the main road and threw her onto dried corn stacks before taking her to 
        his car, where he started raping her despite her yelling and screams for 
        him to stop;
Whereas Ms. Krasniqi was held at gunpoint and raped repeatedly before losing 
        consciousness;
Whereas, once Ms. Krasniqi regained consciousness, she begged the Serbian police 
        officer to kill her, and the Serbian police officer responded by saying, 
        ``No, I won't because you will suffer more this way'', and threatened to 
        take her to an area full of Serbian forces where more people would rape 
        her;
Whereas the Serbian police officer later went into a local store in the same 
        village, from where an older, crippled Serbian man emerged and forced 
        Ms. Krasniqi out of the car and took her to an unfinished house where he 
        raped her;
Whereas, a few hours later, Ms. Krasniqi was taken back to her village where she 
        was left out on the street and told not to tell anyone about what had 
        transpired;
Whereas Ms. Krasniqi did not want to go home having to explain to anyone what 
        had happened to her, but instead walked through the village cemetery and 
        hoped that her life would come to an end then and there;
Whereas, upon arriving at her uncle's house hours after the assault, Ms. 
        Krasniqi did not have to say a word, as everyone knew what had happened, 
        witnessing her scratches, bruises, cuts, and torn clothes;
Whereas Ms. Krasniqi reported her case to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) the 
        day after she was raped on April 15, 1999;
Whereas, in March 1999, with the support of the United States, NATO began a 78-
        day air campaign against Serbian forces in Kosovo after efforts to 
        negotiate an end to the Kosovo war collapsed, leading to Serbia's 
        agreement to cease all military activity in Kosovo and to facilitate the 
        withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo, and the deployment of a NATO-
        led Kosovo Force (KFOR);
Whereas the United Nations Security Council then passed Resolution 1244 on June 
        10, 1999, which established the United Nations Interim Administration 
        Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as a temporary government until Kosovo's own 
        institutions had developed and demonstrated the capacity to self-govern, 
        which included various powers, such as the authority to administer 
        justice in Kosovo and the ability to investigate and prosecute serious 
        crimes committed during the war;
Whereas Ms. Krasniqi reported her case to UNMIK on September 10, 1999, with no 
        outcome, as well as to the French KFOR on April 21, 2004, but inaction 
        of both these bodies caused additional difficulties and delays in her 
        case;
Whereas Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008, and has since 
        received the recognition of over 100 states, including the United States 
        and 23 of the 28 European Union member states, though Serbia still 
        rejects such claim;
Whereas the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) was launched in 
        2008 as a civilian mission to support rule-of-law institutions, 
        accountability, and compliance with international human rights standards 
        in Kosovo within the framework of United Nations Security Council 
        Resolution 1244, as well as to support the Specialist Chambers and 
        Specialist Prosecutor's Office in line with relevant Kosovo legislation;
Whereas Ms. Krasniqi moved to the United States in 2001, naturalized as a 
        citizen in 2006, and now lives in Rowlett, Texas, with her husband and 
        two children, each of whom are also United States citizens, and she has 
        also taken the last name Goodman;
Whereas Ms. Krasniqi Goodman reported her case to EULEX authorities and gave 
        five interviews from August 2010 to July 2012, and witnesses gave 
        several testimonies from February 2011 to August 2012;
Whereas, on November 12, 2012, the Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of 
        Kosovo (SPRK) filed the indictment PPS nr. 89/2012 against the 
        perpetrators Jovica Dejanovic (DOB 09/11/1954), the Serbian police 
        officer, and Djordje Bojkovic (DOB 11/13/1940), the older and crippled 
        Serbian man, with the then-District Court of Mitrovica, which was 
        amended on November 30, 2012;
Whereas the main trial was held between April 4 to 15, 2013, and on April 17, 
        2013, the Basic Court of Mitrovica announced the judgment that both 
        perpetrators were acquitted of the charge of war crime against the 
        civilian population (rape), punishable under Articles 22 and 142 CC 
        SFRY;
Whereas, on October 31, 2013, the SPRK Prosecutors submitted a joint appeal 
        proposing that the judgment of the first instance court be modified and 
        Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Bojkovic be convicted of the criminal 
        offense of war crime against civilian population, or in the alternative, 
        to return the case to the court of first instance for a retrial;
Whereas the Appellate Public Prosecutor moved the Court of Appeals to grant the 
        appeal of the Special Prosecutors, and the Court of Appeals rendered its 
        judgment on May 27, 2014, and found both Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje 
        Bojkovic guilty and convicted them of the war crime against civilians 
        under Article 142 CC SFRY (now Article 153 CCRK), sentencing them to 12 
        years and 10 years of imprisonment, respectively;
Whereas, on July 2014, Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Bojkovic filed their appeals 
        against the judgment of the Court of Appeals PaKr 503/13 dated May 27, 
        2014, and the Supreme Court of Kosovo rendered a ruling for the 
        immediate release of Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Bojkovic from the 
        detention on remand;
Whereas Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Bojkovic were released, and nobody has been 
        held responsible for the sexual war crimes committed against Vasfije 
        Krasniqi Goodman;
Whereas all prior mechanisms for pursuing accountability for war crimes in 
        Kosovo have fallen short in bringing perpetrators of sexual violence to 
        justice, including the International Criminal Tribunal for the former 
        Yugoslavia, UNMIK, EULEX, and the Kosovo judicial system;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 
        approximately 20,000 individuals were the victims of conflict-related 
        sexual violence during the Kosovo war, and Human Rights Watch reports 
        that rape was used as a weapon of war and instrument of ethnic cleansing 
        by Serbian forces during the Kosovo war;
Whereas 20 years later and after approximately 20,000 individuals raped, there 
        has only been one perpetrator brought to justice, Zoran Vukotic, by the 
        Prishtina Basic Court on July 5, 2021;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 was unanimously 
        adopted on June 19, 2008, condemning the use of sexual violence as a 
        tool of war, and declared that ``rape and other forms of sexual violence 
        can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act 
        with respect to genocide'';
Whereas the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2467 was adopted on April 
        23, 2019, ``recalling the responsibilities of States to end impunity and 
        to prosecute those responsible for crimes of genocide, crimes against 
        humanity, and war crimes, perpetrated against civilians'';
Whereas Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman testified before the Committee on Foreign 
        Affairs of the House of Representatives on April 30, 2019, in a hearing 
        titled ``Kosovo's Wartime Victims: The Quest for Justice'', testifying 
        for justice on behalf of her case and the 20,000 individuals raped 
        during the Kosovo war;
Whereas the Republic of Kosovo marked for the first time on April 14, 2023, the 
        Day of Survivors of Sexual Violence During the War in Kosovo that 
        coincides with the date Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman was abducted by Serbian 
        police and subsequently sexually assaulted; and
Whereas the United States recognizes that preventing and responding to gender-
        based violence around the world is not only a matter of human rights, 
        justice, equity, and equality, but is also a moral imperative and the 
        strategic national interest of the United States and its global 
        partners: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) finds it reprehensible that no individuals have been 
        found guilty for the sexual war crimes against Ms. Krasniqi 
        Goodman;
            (2) strongly condemns the use of rape and other forms of 
        sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war;
            (3) underscores the importance of transparent, accountable, 
        and independent investigations into gender-based war crimes and 
        atrocities;
            (4) commends the Government of the Republic of Kosovo for 
        taking a tangible and multisectoral approach to address the 
        sexual violence during the war in the country;
            (5) calls on the Government of the Republic of Kosovo to 
        uphold commitments expressed and agreed to in the ``Protocol 
        for the Treatment of Sexual Violence Cases in Kosovo'', and 
        prioritize and expedite cases of rape and sexual assault from 
        the 1999 Kosovo War;
            (6) calls on the Government of the Republic of Serbia to--
                    (A) bring individuals who are responsible for the 
                sexual war crimes on April 14, 1999, of United States 
                citizen Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman in Kosovo before 
                justice pursuant to United Nations Security Council 
                Resolutions 1820 and 2467;
                    (B) cease the protection and glorification of any 
                individuals who were involved in war crimes during the 
                Kosovo conflict and make it a priority to investigate 
                and prosecute any such individuals;
                    (C) enforce laws to ensure that known perpetrators 
                of sexual gender-based violence are held accountable 
                and are brought before justice; and
                    (D) prioritize the creation and sustainment of 
                appropriate tracking and investigative mechanisms to 
                extradite known perpetrators and convicted offenders of 
                sexual gender-based violence during the Kosovo war in 
                1999 to Kosovo to be brought to justice according to 
                all conventions; and
            (7) calls on the United States Government to--
                    (A) uphold and strengthen its commitments to 
                counter and prevent the practice of gender-based 
                violence in accordance with the ``United States 
                Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based 
                Violence Globally'';
                    (B) elevate the case of Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman in 
                future bilateral engagements with the Government of 
                Serbia, especially in terms of accountability for war 
                crimes committed against women and youth;
                    (C) identify the specific factors that increase the 
                risks of gender-based violence and undermine access to 
                services and safety;
                    (D) monitor efforts by the Government of Serbia and 
                its relevant ministries and offices to investigate and 
                prosecute cases of sexual violence during the Kosovo 
                war; and
                    (E) devote sufficient funding to implement a 
                variety of educational, research, and advocacy projects 
                in Kosovo, including the training of judiciary and law 
                enforcement, as well as funding for a rehabilitation 
                center focusing on physical and psychological 
                rehabilitation from war trauma and sexual and domestic 
                violence, and vocational training and job integrating 
                opportunities.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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