IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 838 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary 
of State should seek to amend Article 22 of the Statute of the Inter-
national Court of Justice to move the seat of the Court from the 
Netherlands. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2012 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Secretary of State should seek to amend Article 
22 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice 
to move the seat of the Court from the Netherlands. 
Whereas according to the International Labor Organization, 
nearly 21,000,000 men, women, and children are 
enslaved in human trafficking worldwide at any given 
time, including 4,500,000 in sexual exploitation; 
Whereas the majority of trafficking victims are enslaved in 
countries with laws in statute prohibiting human traf-
ficking; 
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•HRES 838 IH 
Whereas the rule of law, or fair implementation of the law 
over all to whom the law applies, is essential to securing 
justice for victims of human trafficking; 
Whereas no government official should be above application 
of and adherence to the rule of law, including laws pro-
hibiting human trafficking; 
Whereas government officials who benefit from or otherwise 
participate in human trafficking are obstacles to rescuing 
victims and prosecuting traffickers pursuant to the law; 
Whereas Joris Demmink, the Secretary General of the Min-
istry of Justice in the Netherlands from 2002 to 2012 
and the Director General for International Affairs and 
Immigration in the Netherlands from 1993 to 2002, has 
been accused by Mr. Osman of rape in Edirne, Turkey, 
in or about 1997 when Mr. Osman was 14 years old; 
Whereas Mr. Demmink, has been accused by Mr. Mustafa of 
rape in Istanbul, Turkey, in or about 1995, when Mr. 
Mustafa was 12 or 13 years old; 
Whereas Mr. Demmink has been accused by Mr. Yasin of 
rape in Bodrum, Turkey, in or about 1995, when Mr. 
Yasin was an adolescent; 
Whereas Korkmaz N. Menzir, Chief of the Istanbul Police 
Department in the 1990s and former Minister of Trans-
port, affirms that Mr. Demmink visited Turkey numerous 
times between 1995 and 2000 using a variety of aliases 
on official and private visits to conduct research on his 
work responsibilities related to Turkey; 
Whereas Officer Mehmet Korkmaz, a Turkish police officer 
in Istanbul from 1995 to 1997, has stated that he was 
responsible for Mr. Demmink’s security on three of Mr. 
Demmink’s alleged visits, and that he brought Mustafa, 
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•HRES 838 IH 
at that time a street child, as well as other children to 
Mr. Demmink for Mr. Demmink to sexually abuse; 
Whereas Turkish security officer Hu¨seyin Celebi reported to 
Chief of the General Staff, the Chief of Police, the Attor-
ney-General of the Supreme Council and the Ministry of 
Justice in Turkey in January 2007 that Mr. Demmink 
visited Turkey every year between 1995 and 2003, using 
aliases and attempting to hide his presence in Turkey; 
Whereas a participant at the March 1998 K4 Committee 
meeting in Ankara, Turkey, has come forward to affirm 
that Mr. Demmink was also present at the meeting in 
Turkey in 1998; 
Whereas a participant at the July 1996 INTERPOL meeting 
in Antalya, Turkey, has come forward to affirm that Mr. 
Demmink was also present at the meeting in Turkey in 
1996; 
Whereas Mr. Demmink has officially denied ever visiting Tur-
key in the 1990s; 
Whereas Mr. Demmink’s travel records from 1997 to 2000 
were allegedly destroyed, according to the Dutch Ministry 
of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Directorate-Gen-
eral for Immigration Affairs; 
Whereas in an October 3, 2012, letter from the Minister of 
Security and Justice, I.W. Opstelten, to the House of 
Representatives of the States General of the Netherlands, 
Opstelten indicates that the Netherlands has repeatedly 
decided against a formal investigation into the allegations 
against Mr. Demmink; 
Whereas without the authority of a formal investigation, the 
prosecutors lack powers for adequate research or travel 
to Turkey to interview victims and witnesses; 
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•HRES 838 IH 
Whereas the Netherlands has not interviewed alleged victims 
Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Yasin; 
Whereas the Netherlands dismissed the statement of Mr. 
Osman without explanation or opportunity for the alleged 
victim to clarify his statement; 
Whereas the Netherlands has not interviewed any of the five 
additional government or former government witnesses; 
Whereas Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Osman have pursued every 
legal option available to secure justice in the Netherlands; 
Whereas Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Osman have reported threats 
against their lives and safety and that of their families 
in Turkey; 
Whereas Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Osman have gone into hiding 
in order to protect their safety while they seek redress 
through the justice systems of the Netherlands and Tur-
key; 
Whereas Mr. Osman was reportedly beaten and suffered bro-
ken facial bones after leaving an attorney’s office in Tur-
key in November 2012; 
Whereas Mr. Demmink’s position as the Secretary General of 
the Ministry of Justice from 2002 to 2012, during the 
time the alleged victims have been pursuing an investiga-
tion and criminal charges in the Dutch courts creates a 
heightened duty for the Netherlands to thoroughly inves-
tigate the charges and avoid the appearance that Mr. 
Demmink is above the rule of law or is otherwise ob-
structing justice by virtue of his position; 
Whereas the United States Department of State Trafficking 
in Persons Report for 2012 indicates that, although the 
law in the Netherlands prescribes maximum sentences 
ranging from 8 to 18 years imprisonment for individuals 
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•HRES 838 IH 
convicted of human trafficking, convicted traffickers on 
average receive a sentence of less than two years in jail, 
and typically serve little more than 1 year of the sentence 
in jail; 
Whereas the Dutch State Secretary of Justice, Fred Teeven, 
a lead prosecutor in a child sex trafficking investigation 
in 1998 which implicated high-ranking representatives of 
the Dutch government, stated under oath in a closed 
court hearing in the District Court of the Hague in the 
case of Paul H./OM (09/754023-06) that the 1998 child 
sex trafficking investigation was blocked and that it has 
never led to the prosecution of the suspects because of 
certain contra-actions; 
Whereas the international community in 1946 designated The 
Hague, Netherlands, as the seat of the International 
Court of Justice; 
Whereas the International Court of Justice is the principal 
judicial organ of the United Nations to promote the rule 
of law between nations; 
Whereas the inexplicable refusal of the Netherlands to for-
mally investigate the serious allegations against the 
former Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Mr. 
Demmink, brings into question the rule of law in the 
Netherlands; and 
Whereas the credibility of the International Court of Justice 
is undermined by its current location in The Hague, 
Netherlands: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the Secretary of State should take the 
appropriate steps in the United Nations to amend Article 
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