I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1360
To establish United States policy conditioning the lifting of sanctions against
Serbia and Montenegro upon improvements in Kosova, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 30, 1995
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. ROHRABACHER,
Mr. KING, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To establish United States policy conditioning the lifting
of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro upon im-
provements in Kosova, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kosova Peace, Democ-
racy, and Human Rights Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Constitution of the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, adopted in 1946, and the
amended Constitution of Yugoslavia, adopted in
1974, described the status of Kosova as one of the
eight constituent territorial units of the Yugoslav
Federation.
(2) The political rights of the Albanian majority
in Kosova were curtailed when the Government of
Yugoslavia illegally amended the Constitution of
Yugoslavia without the consent of the people of
Kosova on March 23, 1989, revoking the autono-
mous status of Kosova.
(3) In 1990, the Parliament and Government of
Kosova were abolished by further unlawful amend-
ments to the Constitution of Yugoslavia.
(4) In September 1990, a referendum on the
question of independence for Kosova was held in
which 87 percent of those eligible to participate
voted and 99 percent of those voting supported inde-
pendence for Kosova.
(5) In May 1992, a Kosovar national par-
liament was elected and Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was
overwhelmingly elected President of the Republic of
Kosova.
(6) The Parliament and Government of Kosova
were not permitted to assemble in Kosova.
(7) Credible reports of Serbian ‘‘ethnic cleans-
ing’’ in Kosova have been received by the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and
in January 1995, Serbia announced a new policy to
colonize Albanian land in Kosova.
(8) Over 100,000 ethnic Albanians in govern-
ment, police, the judiciary, enterprises, media, edu-
cational institutions, and hospitals of Kosova have
been removed from their jobs and replaced by Ser-
bians.
(9) The government in Belgrade has severely
restricted the access of ethnic Albanians in Kosova
to all levels of education, especially education in the
Albanian language, solely on the basis of their eth-
nicity.
(10) Reports of arrests and brutal beatings by
the mostly Serbian police, sometimes leading to the
death of ethnic Albanians in Kosova for expressing
views in opposition to Serbian authorities, are re-
ceived almost daily.
(11) Observers of the Organization on Security
and Cooperation in Europe dispatched to Kosova in
1991 were expelled by the government in Belgrade
in July 1993.
(12) The Government of Serbia has ignored
United Nations Security Council Resolution 855 of
August 1993, which calls upon Belgrade to allow the
continuation of the mission of the Organization on
Security and Cooperation in Europe and to guaran-
tee the safety of and unimpeded access for monitors
of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in
Europe.
(13) Following the departure of such observers,
several international human rights organizations, in-
cluding Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch-Helsinki, and the Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights have documented an increase in hu-
manitarian abuses in Kosova.
(14) Congress provided for the opening of a
United States Information Agency cultural center in
Prishtina, Kosova, in section 223 of the Foreign Re-
lations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and
1993, but the Department of State has asserted that
security conditions have prevented the establishment
of such center.
(15) The President has explicitly warned the
Government of Serbia that the United States is pre-
pared to respond in the event of escalated conflict in
Kosova caused by Serbia.
(16) On January 4, 1994, President Clinton
stated, ‘‘there are a large number of issues, includ-
ing Kosova, that I believe must be addressed before
Belgrade should be freed of United Nations sanc-
tions and able to return to the international commu-
nity. . . . As before, our decision of whether to sup-
port suspension of any sanctions will be made in
close consultation with Congress.’’.
(17) On February 15, 1994, President Clinton
announced, without prior consultation with the Con-
gress, a set of conditions, not including improve-
ments in Kosova, which, if met by Serbia and
Montenegro, would result in the lifting of inter-
national sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.
SEC. 3. POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States that—
(1) the situation in Kosova must be resolved be-
fore Belgrade is freed of international sanctions and
is able to return to the international community;
(2) the right of the people of Kosova to govern
themselves and to establish a separate identity for
Kosova must not be denied;
(3) international observers should be returned
to Kosova;
(4) the elected Government of Kosova should be
permitted to meet and exercise its legitimate man-
date as elected representatives of the people of
Kosova;
(5) all individuals whose employment was termi-
nated on the basis of their ethnicity should be rein-
stated to their previous positions; and
(6) the education system in Kosova should be
reopened to all residents of Kosova regardless of eth-
nicity and the majority ethnic Albanian population
should be allowed to educate its youth in its native
tongue.
SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON THE TERMINATION OF SANC-
TIONS AGAINST SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
UNTIL CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET.
(a) RESTRICTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, no sanction, prohibition, or requirement de-
scribed in section 1511 of the National Defense Authoriza-
tion Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103–160), with
respect to Serbia or Montenegro, may cease to be effective,
unless—
(1) the President first submits to the Congress
a certification described in subsection (b); and
(2) the requirements of section 1511 of that
Act are met.