Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Expresses the sense of Congress that:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 20 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 20

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
  execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and 
         Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2017

 Mr. Zeldin (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Engel, and Ms. 
Meng) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
  execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and 
         Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.

Whereas brothers Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were citizens of the United 
        States, born in Chicago, Illinois, to ethnic Albanian parents from what 
        is today the Republic of Kosovo, and who subsequently lived in Hampton 
        Bays, New York;
Whereas the three Bytyqi brothers responded to the brutality of the conflict 
        associated with Kosovo's separation from the Republic of Serbia and the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of which Serbia was a constituent 
        republic by joining the so-called ``Atlantic Brigade'' of the Kosovo 
        Liberation Army in April 1999;
Whereas a Military-Technical Agreement between the Government of Yugoslavia and 
        the North Atlantic Council came into effect on June 10, 1999, leading to 
        a cessation of hostilities;
Whereas the Bytyqi brothers were arrested on June 23, 1999, by Serbian police 
        within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia when the brothers accidently 
        crossed what was then an unmarked administrative border while escorting 
        an ethnic Romani family who had been neighbors to safety outside Kosovo;
Whereas the Bytyqi brothers were jailed for 15 days for illegal entry into the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Prokuplje, Serbia, until a judge 
        ordered their release on July 8, 1999;
Whereas instead of being released, the Bytyqi brothers were taken by a special 
        operations unit of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs to a 
        training facility near Petrovo Selo, Serbia, where all three were 
        executed;
Whereas at the time of their murders, Ylli was 25, Agron was 23, and Mehmet was 
        21 years of age;
Whereas Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was removed from office on October 
        5, 2000, following massive demonstrations protesting his refusal to 
        acknowledge and accept election results the month before;
Whereas in the following years, the political leadership of Serbia has worked to 
        strengthen democratic institutions, to develop stronger adherence to the 
        rule of law, and to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental 
        freedoms, including as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia evolved into a 
        State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003, which itself 
        dissolved when both republics proclaimed their respective independence 
        in June 2006;
Whereas the United States Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, was informed on July 17, 
        2001, that the bodies of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were found with 
        their hands bound and gunshot wounds to the back of their heads, buried 
        atop an earlier mass grave of approximately 70 bodies of murdered 
        civilians from Kosovo;
Whereas Serbian authorities subsequently investigated but never charged those 
        individuals who were part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs chain of 
        command related to this crime, including former Minister of Internal 
        Affairs Vlajko Stojilkovic, Assistant Minister and Chief of the Public 
        Security Department Vlastimir Djordjevic, and special operations 
        training camp commander Goran ``Guri'' Radosavljevic;
Whereas Vlajko Stojilkovic died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April 2002 
        prior to being transferred to the custody of the International Criminal 
        Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia where he had been charged with crimes 
        against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war during the 
        Kosovo conflict;
Whereas Vlastimir Djordjevic was arrested and transferred to the custody of the 
        International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in June 2007, 
        and sentenced in February 2011 to 27 years imprisonment (later reduced 
        to 18 years) for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or 
        customs of war committed during the Kosovo conflict;
Whereas Goran ``Guri'' Radosavljevic is reported to reside in Serbia, working as 
        director of a security consulting firm in Belgrade, and is a prominent 
        member of the governing political party;
Whereas two Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs officers, Sretan Popovic and 
        Milos Stojanovic, were charged in 2006 for crimes associated with their 
        involvement in the detention and transport of the Bytyqi brothers from 
        Prokuplje to Petrovo Selo, but acquitted in May 2012 with an appeals 
        court confirming the verdict in March 2013;
Whereas no individual has ever been found guilty for the murders of Ylli, Agron, 
        and Mehmet Bytyqi or of any other crimes associated with their deaths; 
        and
Whereas no individual is currently facing criminal charges regarding the murder 
        of the Bytyqi brothers despite many promises by Serbian officials to 
        resolve the case: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) those individuals responsible for the murders in July 
        1999 of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi 
        in Serbia should be brought to justice;
            (2) it is reprehensible that no individual has ever been 
        found guilty for executing the Bytyqi brothers, or of any other 
        crimes associated with their deaths, and that no individual is 
        even facing charges for these horrible crimes;
            (3) the Government of Serbia and its relevant ministries 
        and offices, including the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's 
        Office, should make it a priority to investigate and prosecute 
        as soon as possible those current or former officials believed 
        to be responsible for their deaths, directly or indirectly;
            (4) the United States should devote sufficient resources 
        fully to assist and properly to monitor efforts by the 
        Government of Serbia and its relevant ministries and offices to 
        investigate and prosecute as soon as possible those individuals 
        believed to be responsible for their deaths, directly or 
        indirectly; and
            (5) progress in resolving this case, or the lack thereof, 
        should remain a significant factor determining the further 
        development of relations between the United States and the 
        Republic of Serbia.
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