IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 312
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the right of the Albanian
People of Kosova to self-determination and independence from the repres-
sive, authoritarian, and barbaric Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 28, 1998
Mr. TRAFICANT submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the right
of the Albanian People of Kosova to self-determination
and independence from the repressive, authoritarian, and
barbaric Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic, and for
other purposes.
Whereas the United States and the international community
recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a
fundamental right of all people, as set forth in numerous
United Nations instruments of which the United States
is a signatory;
Whereas international law recognizes a right to self-deter-
mination as a right that must be recognized when a
group or a people are subjected to persistent and system-
•HCON 312 IH
atic denials of political and social equality and severe
deprivations of fundamental human rights;
Whereas in 1987, Slobodan Milosevic came to power on a
platform of extreme nationalism, advocating violence and
hatred and specifically targeting the Albanians of Kosova,
whose self-rule he stripped in violation of the former
Yugoslavia’s 1974 constitution;
Whereas the Albanians of Kosova satisfy the objective re-
quirements for self-determination, in that they comprise
more than 90 percent of the total population of Kosova;
share a common language of Albanian; are descendants
of the Illyrians, the first group to inhabit the Balkans
well before the Common Era; share a common ethnicity,
and are generally referred to as ethnic Albanians; share
a common history in the Kosova region of the Balkans;
and share a common cultural identity as ethnic Albanians
with an unbroken historic bond in the region;
Whereas the Albanians of Kosova satisfy the subjective re-
quirements for self-determination, in that their desire to
secede is predicated on the longstanding principles of
self-rule and is exhibited in their collective overwhelming
belief that they are a people and a nation of Kosovar Al-
banians; have their own government, manifest their de-
sire to regain self-rule in the form of independence; seek
a democratic form of government with ‘‘free and fair’’
elections; have a defined territory, with a continuous
nexus to the territory, and have established a proven his-
tory of self-government prior to the Milosevic regime;
Whereas there is a cognizable connection between human
rights and international peace and security and the right
to self-determination where severe deprivations of fun-
damental human rights occur, and the loss of any
•HCON 312 IH
participatory role in their governance, coupled with well-
documented human rights violations tantamount to war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (as set
forth in the Statute of the International Criminal Tribu-
nal for the former Yugoslavia) that have been per-
petrated against the Albanians of Kosova by the repres-
sive and barbaric Milosevic regime is dispositive of the
Kosovar’s right to self-determination;
Whereas the Albanians of Kosova enjoyed the right to partici-
pate with a legal and political status equal to the other
6 Republics within the former Federal Republic of Yugo-
slavia, and an equal right to participate in the rotating
presidency of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
until they were stripped of their self-rule, in violation of
the former Yugoslavia Constitution of 1974;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia,
Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with sep-
arate and distinct financial institutions, police force, gov-
ernment (municipal and federal), school system, judicial/
legal system, hospital and other such independent organi-
zations, and as the other former Republics declared their
independence, Kosova was forcibly absorbed into Serbia;
Whereas there is reason to believe that independence is the
only viable option for the Albanians of Kosova after au-
tonomy failed time and time again, and only the
Kosovars have the right to determine their legal and po-
litical destiny as a people;
Whereas at the onset of the war in Bosnia, the other former
Republics, with equal political and legal status as Kosova
were granted independence, and Kosova’s claims were
summarily and unfairly rejected, in violation of the recog-
nized principles of international law; and
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Whereas the Dayton Accords failed to address the issue of
Kosova and the legal and political rights of the Albanians
of Kosova, the third largest ethnic group in the Balkans,
and that a lasting and secure peace in the Balkans is un-
likely unless the question of Kosova’s independence is le-
gitimately addressed: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the United States should publicly declare
that the Albanians of Kosova have a legal right to
self-determination and that independence is the only
political solution acceptable to the Kosovars;
(2) the United States should, in conformity
with its principles and beliefs, support and sponsor
the right of self-determination for the Albanians of
Kosova and this should be a high priority for restor-
ing peace and security to the region;
(3) the United States should provide its share
of any financial or other resources necessary to fa-
cilitate the independence for Kosova;
(4) the United States, in conjunction with
members of the United Nations and other multilat-
eral organizations, should convene a working group
that deals with the specifics of secession in order to
prevent future civil conflict from rising to the level
of a breach of international peace and security and
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that facilitates constructive dialogue in order to pre-
vent violence; and
(5) the United States and others should use
any and all means necessary to remove impediments
to the Kosovar Albanian’s right to self-determina-
tion.
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