IV
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 35
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to Bosnia-
Hercegovina.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 21, 1993
Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and Mr. MCCLOSKEY)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with
respect to Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Whereas Bosnia-Hercegovina is a sovereign and independent
state, a member of the United Nations, a participating
state of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe;
Whereas the leaders of Bosnia-Hercegovina have committed
themselves to practice tolerance and to live together in
peace with neighboring states in keeping with the Charter
of the United Nations and to promote human rights and
democracy pursuant to the Helsinki Final Act of the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;
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Whereas the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina have been and re-
main the target of armed aggression by Serbia and Ser-
bian-backed forces;
Whereas the loss of life and human suffering in Bosnia-
Hercegovina has reached an unprecedented scale in post-
World War II Europe;
Whereas the war and ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ in Bosnia-
Hercegovina has uprooted more than 1,500,000 people,
contributing to the largest refugee problem in Europe
since World War II;
Whereas the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina have been sub-
jected to organized, systematic, and premeditated war
crimes and genocide, including willful killings, rape,
forced impregnation, abuse of civilians in detention cen-
ters, deliberate attacks on noncombatants, ‘‘ethnic cleans-
ing’’ through forcible expulsion and deportation of civil-
ians, and torture of prisoners;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council has reaffirmed
that persons who commit or order the commission of
grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions are individ-
ually responsible in respect to such breaches;
Whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross and
other international humanitarian organizations have not
been granted unimpeded and continuous access to all
camps, prisons, and detention centers in Bosnia-
Hercegovina as called for by the United Nations Security
Council;
Whereas efforts by United Nations humanitarian organiza-
tions and others to secure the effective and unimpeded
delivery of humanitarian supplies to all victims of the war
in Bosnia-Hercegovina have been repeatedly blocked;
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Whereas numerous diplomatic efforts to achieve a peaceful
solution to the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina have failed to
bring about a cessation of hostilities;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council has demanded
that neighboring states respect the territorial integrity of
Bosnia-Hercegovina;
Whereas irregular forces have failed to disband, disarm, or
place their weapons under effective international monitor-
ing;
Whereas Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations pro-
vides for the right of individual and collective self-defense
if an armed attack occurs against a member state;
Whereas Bosnia-Hercegovina’s right to defend itself against
attack by well armed forces has been thwarted by the ex-
isting international arms embargo;
Whereas incursions of the airspace of Bosnia-Hercegovina by
hostile military aircraft continue to occur in violation of
the establishment of a ‘‘no-fly’’ zone by the United Na-
tions Security Council; and
Whereas United Nations Security Council resolutions on a
‘‘no-fly’’ zone, the transfer of all heavy weapons to inter-
national control, the delivery of humanitarian assistance,
and access to all camps, prisons, and detention centers
in Bosnia-Hercegovina have not been fully implemented
or enforced: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the United States should act, without delay,
to uphold Bosnia-Hercegovina’s right to self-defense
as provided for under Article 51 of the Charter of
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the United Nations and to seek the immediate lifting
of the international arms embargo as it applies to
that country, thus enabling Bosnia-Hercegovina to
obtain defensive weapons;
(2) the United States should assemble a multi-
national coalition—
(A) to enforce immediately the United Na-
tions ‘‘no-fly’’ zone over the territory of Bosnia-
Hercegovina, including through the use of mili-
tary air force if required;
(B) to ensure that irregular forces in
Bosnia-Hercegovina either withdraw, be subject
to the authority of the Government of Bosnia-
Hercegovina, or be disbanded and disarmed
with their weapons placed under effective inter-
national monitoring (and in the event that such
steps are not taken by irregular forces imme-
diately, every effort, including the use of mili-
tary air force, should be made to neutralize
heavy arms in the hands of such forces);
(C) to ensure the immediate, effective, and
unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance
to 
all 
civilian 
populations 
in 
Bosnia-
Hercegovina, in keeping with international com-
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mitments, including through the use of military
force, if required; and
(D) to ensure unimpeded access to all
camps, prisons, and detention centers in
Bosnia-Hercegovina by the International Com-
mittee of the Red Cross and other international
humanitarian organizations, and facilitate the
release of all detainees from such facilities;
(3) the United States should seek an increase
in the number of refugees from Bosnia-Hercegovina
permitted to enter the United States and other Eu-
ropean countries; and
(4) the United States should work to ensure
that those responsible for war crimes and crimes
against humanity in Bosnia-Hercegovina are held
accountable by an international criminal tribunal.
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