IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 143
Relating to the prosecution of Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials, 
military leaders, and citizens who may be responsible for crimes against 
humanity, attempted genocide, and war crimes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 9, 2003
Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Relating to the prosecution of Saddam Hussein and other 
Iraqi officials, military leaders, and citizens who may 
be responsible for crimes against humanity, attempted 
genocide, and war crimes.
Whereas the Congress recognizes the necessity of ensuring a 
rapid and orderly transition from conflict to peace and 
from tyranny to freedom and of establishing and main-
taining international peace and security in the country of 
Iraq and the Persian Gulf region; 
Whereas the Armed Forces of the United States and Great 
Britain, with the assistance of allied coalition nations, 
have engaged in military operations against the leader-
ship of Iraq to disarm that regime of weapons of mass 
destruction;
•HCON 143 IH 
Whereas the Republic of Iraq is a party to the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on 
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 
and other human rights instruments, and the Geneva 
Conventions of 1949, and is obligated to comply with 
these international agreements; 
Whereas the regime of Saddam Hussein has perpetrated a 
litany of human rights abuses against the citizens of Iraq 
and other peoples of the region, including summary and 
arbitrary executions, torture, cruel and inhumane treat-
ment, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, disappearances, 
and the repression of freedom of speech, thought, expres-
sion, assembly, and association; 
Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime have systematically 
attempted to destroy the Kurdish population in Iraq 
through the use of chemical weapons against civilian 
Kurds, the Anfal campaigns of 1987–1988 that resulted 
in the disappearance of more than 182,000 persons and 
the destruction of more than 4,000 villages, the place-
ment of more than 10 million landmines in Iraqi 
Kurdistan, and the continued ethnic cleansing of the city 
of Kirkuk; 
Whereas the Iraqi Government, under Saddam Hussein’s 
leadership, has repressed the Sunni tribes in western 
Iraq, destroyed Assyro-Chaldean churches and villages, 
deported and executed Turkomen, massacred Shiites, and 
destroyed the ancient Marsh Arab civilization through a 
massive act of environmental destruction; 
Whereas the Armed Forces of the United States and Great 
Britain have gathered evidence of, been witness to, and 
endured, clear and irrefutable violations of the laws of
•HCON 143 IH 
war perpetrated by the Saddam Hussein regime and loy-
alists of that regime; and 
Whereas upon the complete and unconditional surrender of 
the Iraqi Government, those officers and members of the 
Saddam Hussein regime who have been responsible for or 
have taken a consenting part in those atrocities, mas-
sacres, and executions should be subject to prosecution 
by a special court, and suspects of crimes committed 
against citizens in countries that were victims of Iraqi 
aggression can participate in the judgment and punish-
ment of those individuals: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) recognizes the necessity to pursue justice 
and national reconciliation in order to achieve sta-
bility, peace, and security in the region; 
(2) believes a special court, established in Iraq, 
should adjudicate the cases of those accused of bear-
ing greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes 
against humanity; 
(3) calls on other states in the region to sup-
port the efforts of a special court in combating im-
punity and addressing accountability for the atroc-
ities that have been committed in Iraq; 
(4) considers the International Criminal Court 
not to be a suitable forum for the prosecution of 
such crimes because that court only has jurisdiction
•HCON 143 IH 
to hear cases relating to crimes committed after 
July 1, 2002; 
(5) calls upon the President, in consultation 
with the Secretaries of Defense and State and the 
Attorney General, to create a special court or other 
appropriate tribunal or commission for the purpose 
of prosecuting Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi offi-
cials, military leaders, and citizens who may be re-
sponsible for crimes against humanity, including un-
lawful use of force against civilians, internal minori-
ties, and of crimes committed in contravention of the 
Hague and Geneva Conventions on the laws of war; 
(6) calls upon the Secretary of Defense and the 
Secretary of State to notify the Congress of the 
steps the United States and allied coalition nations 
are taking to seek justice for the violations of inter-
national law against—
(A) the Iraqi people; 
(B) the people of the countries that were 
victims of the aggression of the regime of Sad-
dam Hussein; 
(C) the military forces who liberated the 
Iraqi people in order to disarm the regime; and 
(D) the military and civilian personnel of 
countries that were victims of Iraqi military ac-