IV
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 137
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the urgent
need for an international criminal tribunal to try members of the Iraqi
regime for crimes against humanity.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 31, 1997
Mr. GILMAN (for himself and Mr. PORTER) submitted the following concurrent
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives con-
cerning the urgent need for an international criminal
tribunal to try members of the Iraqi regime for crimes
against humanity.
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 associates have systemati-
cally attempted to destroy the Kurdish population in Iraq
through the use of chemical weapons against civilian
HCON 137 IH
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 ten 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 Shi-ites,
and destroyed the ancient Marsh Arab civilization
through a massive act of ecocide;
Whereas the status of more than six hundred Kuwaitis who
were taken prisoner during the Gulf War remain un-
known and the whereabouts of these persons are unac-
counted for by the Iraqi Government, Kuwait continues
to be plagued by unexploded landmines six years after
the end of the Gulf War, and the destruction of Kuwait
by departing Iraqi troops has yet to be redressed by the
Iraqi Government;
Whereas the Republic of Iraq is a signatory to the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights, the International Cov-
enant 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
Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War of Au-
gust 12, 1949, and is obligated to comply with these
international agreements;
Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime have created an en-
vironment of terror and fear within Iraq and throughout
the region through a concerted policy of violations of
international customary and conventional law; and
HCON 137 IH
Whereas the Congress is deeply disturbed by the continuing
gross violations of human rights by the Iraqi Government
under the direction and control of Saddam Hussein: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the Congress—
(A) deplores the Iraqi Government’s pat-
tern of gross violation of human rights which
has resulted in a pervasive system of repression,
sustained by the widespread use of terror and
intimidation;
(B) condemns the Iraqi Government’s re-
peated use of force and weapons of mass de-
struction against its own citizens, as well as
neighboring states;
(C) denounces the refusal of the Iraqi Gov-
ernment to comply with international human
rights instruments to which it is a party and
cooperate with international monitoring bodies
and compliance mechanisms, including account-
ing of missing Kuwaiti prisoners; and
(2) the President and the Secretary of State
should—
HCON 137 IH
(A) endorse the formation of an inter-
national criminal tribunal for the purpose of
prosecuting Saddam Hussein and all other Iraqi
officials who are responsible for crimes against
humanity, including unlawful use of force,
crimes against the peace, crimes committed in
contravention of the Geneva Convention on
POW’s and the crime of genocide; and
(B) work actively and urgently within the
international community for the adoption of a
United Nations Security Council resolution es-
tablishing an International Criminal Court for
Iraq.
Æ