IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 118
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the culpability of Slobodan
Milosevic for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in
the former Yugoslavia, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 1999
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. GILMAN, Mr.
PORTER, Mr. HOYER, Mr. FORBES, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. GREENWOOD, Ms.
SLAUGHTER, Mr. KING, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr.
HEFLEY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, and Mr. OLVER) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the culpa-
bility of Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and genocide in the former Yugoslavia,
and for other purposes.
Whereas there is reason to mark the beginning of the conflict
in the former Yugoslavia with Slobodan Milosevic’s rise
to power beginning in 1987, when he whipped up and ex-
ploited extreme nationalism among Serbs, and specifically
in Kosovo, including support for violence against non-
Serbs who were labeled as threats;
Whereas there is reason to believe that as President of Ser-
bia, Slobodan Milosevic has been responsible for the con-
• HCON 118 IH
ception and direction of a war of aggression, the deaths
of hundreds of thousands, the torture and rape of tens
of thousands and the forced displacement of as many as
4,000,000 people, and that mass rape and forced impreg-
nation were among the tools used to wage this war;
Whereas ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ has been carried out in the
former Yugoslavia in such a consistent and systematic
way that it had to be directed by the senior political lead-
ership in Serbia, and Slobodan Milosevic has held such
power within Serbia and is therefore responsible for the
conception and direction of this policy;
Whereas, as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro), Slobodan Milosevic is respon-
sible for the conception and direction of the massive as-
saults by Yugoslavian and Serbian military, security, spe-
cial police, and other forces on innocent civilians in
Kosovo;
Whereas this assault on the people of Kosovo includes forced
expulsions, looting and burning, detentions, summary
executions, rape, violations of medical neutrality and the
destruction of personal documents and registration
records, all with a high degree of premeditation and per-
sistence;
Whereas the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide defines ‘‘genocide’’ as ‘‘any of
the following acts committed with the intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or reli-
gious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members
of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group con-
ditions of life calculated to bring about its physical de-
struction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures in-
• HCON 118 IH
peace and instead decided for war, who has had the
power to minimize illegal actions by subordinates and al-
lies and hold responsible those who committed such ac-
tions, but did not, and who is once again directing a cam-
paign of ethnic cleansing against innocent civilians in
Kosovo while treating with contempt international efforts
to achieve a fair and peaceful settlement to the question
of the future status of Kosovo, and who permits other
persons indicted by the Tribunal to be protected from ap-
prehension and to commit further crimes;
Whereas the 105th Congress adopted Senate Concurrent Res-
olution 105 regarding the culpability of Slobodan
Milosevic for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
genocide in the former Yugoslavia;
Whereas there remain concerns that, in order to reach a po-
litical settlement regarding Kosovo, the United States
and the international community might not be fully pro-
viding information which can be used as evidence of the
culpability of Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and genocide; and
Whereas the withholding of information which can be used as
evidence to indict and prosecute a person responsible for
such crimes is morally reprehensible: 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 it considers the assault on the people of Kosovo
to meet the definition of genocide as defined by the
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Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide;
(2) the United States should publicly declare
that it considers that there is reason to believe that
Slobodan Milosevic, President of the Federal Repub-
lic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), has com-
mitted war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
genocide;
(3) the United States should make collection of
information that can be supplied to the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for use
as evidence to support an indictment and trial of
President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and genocide a higher priority;
(4) any such information concerning President
Slobodan Milosevic already collected by the United
States should be provided to the Tribunal as soon as
possible;
(5) the United States should provide a fair
share of any additional financial or personnel re-
sources that may be required by the Tribunal in
order to enable the Tribunal to adequately address
preparation for, indictment of, prosecution of, and
adjudication of allegations of war crimes and crimes
against humanity posed against President Slobodan
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Milosevic and any other person arising from the con-
flict in the former Yugoslavia, including in Kosovo;
(6) the United States should engage with other
member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organi-
zation (NATO) and other interested states in a dis-
cussion of information any such state may hold re-
lating to allegations of war crimes and crimes
against humanity or genocide posed against Presi-
dent Slobodan Milosevic and any other person aris-
ing from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, in-
cluding in Kosovo, and press such states to promptly
provide all such information to the Tribunal;
(7) the United States should engage with other
member states of NATO and other interested states
in a discussion of measures to be taken to appre-
hend indicted war criminals and persons indicted for
crimes against humanity with the objective of con-
cluding a plan of action that will result in these
indictees’ prompt delivery into the custody of the
Tribunal; and
(8) the United States should urge the Tribunal
to promptly review all information relating to Presi-
dent Slobodan Milosevic’s possible criminal culpa-
bility for conceiving, directing, and sustaining a vari-
ety of actions in the former Yugoslavia, including
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Kosovo, that constitute genocide, crimes against hu-
manity, or war crimes, with a view toward prompt
issuance of a public indictment of Milosevic.
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