[Pages S7311-S7314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

______

COMMEMORATING THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF SREBRENICA

<bullet> Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today, July 11, marks the
second anniversary of the fall of the so-called safe area of
Srebrenica, one of the three eastern enclaves in Bosnia.
By most estimates, following the fall of Srebrenica over 8,000 Muslim
refugees fleeing the Serb forces simply disappeared. Many of these
refugees were old men, women, and children, killed in acts of inhuman
cruelty.
Even today, 2 years later, the vast majority of these people are
still unaccounted for.
Others from Srebrenica were luckier--forced to flee their homes as
part of a brutal policy of ethnic cleansing.
I am still haunted by an image from a picture that I saw in the
newspaper shortly after the fall of Srebrenica. It was a picture of a
young woman, a refugee from Srebrenica, around 20 years old, who
climbed a tree, tied a rope around her neck, and hung herself. A
photographer captured her lifeless body as it hung from the tree.
Mr. President, I look at that picture and I think: What kind of
nation are we if we can not see to it that the people who practiced
rape, practiced genocide, practiced ethnic cleansing, are not brought
to justice? We know who these people are. We know where they live.
The fact is, of the 74 war criminals indicted by the International
War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague, only 9 have been apprehended.
Where is the conscience of the world?
I first wrote to the President about this issue on September 11 of
last year, following a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, at which administration witnesses provided testimony to the
effect that there were no capable international or national
institutions in Bosnia with both the authority and the ability to
apprehend indicted war criminals.
The President responded to this letter that ``although the peace will
not be complete until indicted war criminals are brought to justice,''
IFOR would not hunt down war criminals, and that U.S. policy would be
to ``continue our efforts to press all parties to turn over indicted
war criminals to the Tribunal.''
In the months since then we have seen how willing the parties to
Dayton have been to turn over indicted war criminals.
When the IFOR mandate ended and IFOR was replaced by SFOR, I took up
this issue with Secretary Perry, writing him on December 4 last year--
again, following a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--
that I believed that it was essential that the follow-on force have
clear, unambiguous authority for apprehending war criminals or to
provide more effective support to other authorities in carrying out
this task.
I received a response from the Department of Defense on February 18
of this year that again stated that the administration shared my
concern on the importance of this issue, but that no additional efforts
to apprehend war criminals would be forthcoming.
I also took this question up with the other Democratic and Republican
women of the Senate. The nine of us sent a letter to the President on
March 3 of this year in which we requested that the President:

. . . look at this problem as a top priority and indicate
to us precisely how the international community might ensure
the arrest and extradition to The Hague of those responsible
for crimes against humanity.

The President responded to us on April 11. His letter stressed the
role of

[[Page S7312]]

the International Tribunal in ``establishing accountability for war
crimes and crimes against humanity . . .'' The President also stated
that:

I share your sense of urgency and my Administration is
committed to assisting the Tribunals in the apprehension and
extradition of those indictees who remain at large. We are
currently examining a variety of options in this regard.

Frankly, I found the President's response to be inadequate. And in
mid-April I wrote to both the President and the Secretary General of
the United Nations urging an aggressive stand to see that indicted war
criminals are brought to justice.
As I stated in my April 21 letter to the President, it is my belief
that:

Unless the United States takes a position of aggressive
leadership on this issue in the international community, we
run the risk that future historians will conclude that the
lessons of current U.S. foreign policy are that crimes
against humanity, genocide, and the use of rape as an
instrument of war are acceptable--and that those who
perpetrate these crimes can do so with impunity.

We would, moreover, put at risk all the gains of the Dayton process
if we do not bring these war criminals to justice.
The President responded to me on June 19, stating that, ``My foreign
policy team is examining several options to assist and enhance the
ability of the Tribunal to bring indicted war criminals into custody.''
Mr. President, I will ask that copies of those portions of this
correspondence that I feel my colleagues will find most useful be
printed in the Record at the end of my remarks.
Finally, to provide additional tools to the administration in the
apprehension of war criminals, in May of this year Senator Lautenberg,
Lugar, Leahy, D'Amato, Mikulski, and myself introduced the War Crimes
Prosecution Facilitation Act of 1997. This legislation, which has since
been included in the committee-passed Senate Foreign Operation
Appropriations bill, conditions United States financial assistance to
the states and entities of the former Yugoslavia with their cooperation
with the war crimes Tribunal.
Mr. President, I do not know what humiliations and deprivations this
woman whose picture I saw in the paper suffered. Perhaps she saw a
loved one killed. Perhaps she was raped. All I know is that she could
take no more.
In the memory of this nameless young woman, and in the memory of the
countless thousands of others who were killed, tortured, and raped, we
must make sure that peace and justice are restored in Bosnia.
And the bottom line is that there can be no peace and justice in
Bosnia without the prosecution of those who committed crimes against
humanity.
What happened in Srebrenica was not unique to the war that tore the
former Yugoslavia apart. In town after town, village after village,
atrocities were committed by all sides in a brutal civil war.
Unlike the countless other villages and towns wiped off the map in
the campaigns of ethnic cleansing, however, the fall of Srebrenica--and
the brutal atrocities carried on while the international community
stood passively by--at long last galvanized the international community
to end the war and bloodshed in Bosnia. What we saw in Srebrenica
shamed the international community to action, and led to the
negotiation of the Dayton accords.
Today, 2 years after Srebrenica and a year-and-a-half since Dayton,
should be a day to look back at our accomplishments of the past 2 years
and say that we have upheld our vow of ``never again.''
Instead, it is a day when we must admit that we have not done enough
to honor the memory of the young women whose photograph I referred to
earlier, or the other victims of ethnic cleansing in the former
Yugoslavia.
The horrors that tore Yugoslavia apart--the ethnic cleansing, the
genocide, the rapes--have been well documented. The perpetrators of
these horrors are well known. Yet only 9 of the 75 indicted war
criminals in the former Yugoslavia have been apprehended and are in
custody.
The rest remain at liberty, their whereabouts known, and many working
in jobs with the police, government, and leading businesses in the
former Yugoslavia. Many live and work within minutes of NATO camps
manned by U.S. troops.
Despite its efforts to amass evidence, lead investigations, and issue
indictments, at almost every turn the Tribunal has been stymied by the
failure of the international community to apprehend indicted war
criminals and bring them to justice.
Estimates are that up to 20,000 women in Yugoslavia were
systematically raped as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing and
genocide. In Srebrenica, for example, one woman told of Serb soldiers,
dressed as U.N. peacekeepers, who came in a factory where refugees were
gathered and dragged away two girls aged 12 and 14 and a 23-year-old
woman. After several hours the three returned. They were crying, naked,
and bleeding. One said, ``We are not girls anymore.''
According to the U.N. Commission of Experts, the victims of rape in
Bosnia included girls as young as 6 and women as old as 81. Many women
and girls were subjected to gang rapes while being held in detention
camps. And, tragically, for many of the women of ex-Yugoslavia rape was
merely a prelude to further torture and then death.
I believe the use of rape as an instrument of genocide and ethnic
cleansing is a war crime of the highest order. And the failure to
assure that those who have been indicted for rape as a war crime are
apprehended, extradited, and made to stand trial, does a grave
injustice not just to the women of Srebrenica, but to women around the
world.
The administration has asserted that rape as a war crime must not be
allowed to stand and that the peace in this troubled area ``will not be
complete until indicted war criminals are brought to justice.''
Ultimately, it would be a hollow and cynical gesture to claim outrage
over rape as a war crime but then to act as if the issue is not
important enough to merit the commitment or resources to see that those
who committed these crimes are apprehend and prosecuted.
Our commitment to Bosnia, after all, is not just about Bosnia. It is
also about the principles that guide us and our conduct in the world.
It is about what we, as Americans, value.
Yesterday, with the arrest of one indicted war criminal by SFOR, and
the death of another who resisted arrest, the international community
took a long-delayed step in the right direction in seeing that the
perpetrators of these crimes against humanity are brought to justice.
I hope that the actions of SFOR in Prejidor yesterday sends a clear
signal to those indicted war criminals who remain at large that today,
on the anniversary of the fall of Srebrenica, the international
community is serious about bringing them to justice.
Although I believe that the capture of indicted war criminals is
primarily the responsibility of the governments of the former
Yugoslavia, yesterday's action illustrate the important role that SFOR
has to play in this process as well.
The SFOR mandate clearly states that if SFOR patrols, including U.S.
troops, encounter indicted war criminals and the tactical situation
permits they are to arrest them and extradite them to The Hague.
But we have also heard stories of SFOR commanders telling their
troops that if they encounter an indicted war criminal they should
leave the area immediately and take no action.
I can think of no better way to honor the memory of Srebrenica then
if today SFOR turns over a new leaf, and vows to pursue its mandate
vigorously and to the maximum degree possible.
If indicted war criminals are not brought to justice, the
international community will have betrayed the legacy of Nuremberg, the
victims of the war that tore Yugoslavia apart, and women worldwide.
This will also set a dangerous precedent that will give encouragement
to others elsewhere in the world who may consider the use of rape and
genocide as tools of war.
In the aftermath of the Holocaust 50 years ago, the civilized world
vowed that we would never again allow crimes against humanity to
blacken our history.
In the aftermath of the tragedy of Srebrenica 2 years ago, we vowed
that we would bring peace and justice to Bosnia.
Today, on the second anniversary of the fall of Srebrenica the
international community must vow to redouble its

[[Page S7313]]

commitment to take immediate strong action to see that the indicted war
criminals are brought to justice.
If not, as I stated in my letter to the President on April 21, 1997,
we run the risk that future historians will look back on current U.S.
policy and conclude that the ethnic cleansing and the use of rape as an
instrument of war is acceptable--and that those who perpetrate this
crime can do so with impunity. This would be a tragic betrayal of our
history, our principles, and the people of Srebrenica.
I ask that the correspondence to which I earlier referred be printed
in the Record.
The correspondence follows:

U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC, March 3, 1997.
Hon. William Jefferson Clinton,
President of the United States, The White House, Washington,
DC.
Dear Mr. President: We, the women of the United States
Senate, welcome your recent statement that you believe that
the establishment of a permanent international institution
for the prosecution of those who have committed war crimes
should be a high priority for the international community,
and to express our concern that those indicted for genocide,
systematic rape and other war crimes by the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia are apprehended
and tried.
The Tribunal has clearly established that, for the first
time in history, the organized, systematic rape of thousands
of women was employed as an instrument of war, and that
genocide was used to ``ethnically cleanse'' areas of
conflict. These, we believe, are war crimes of the highest
order.
Investigators have documented rapes of over 50,000 women
and girls and the use of rape as a weapon in a brutal
campaign of ethnic cleansing. The war that tore Bosnia apart
is one more chapter in the reprehensible book of genocide.
Those who ordered and perpetuated these crimes must be
brought to justice. The War Crimes Tribunal has publicly
indicted 75 people, including 5 for genocide, but only 6 of
the indicted suspects are in custody and many war criminals
remain at large.
We understand your decision and concerns about the use of
U.S. troops to apprehend indicted war criminals in the former
Yugoslavia. Like you, we consider the safety of U.S. troops
to be of the highest priority and would not support their
security being compromised. We are sure that you will also
agree that, to ensure the peace they have worked so hard to
preserve does not dissolve as soon as they depart, it is
critical that the international community take action to
assure that war criminals not be allowed to continue to elude
justice.
We, the women of the Senate, ask that you look at this
problem as a top priority and indicate to us precisely how
the international community might ensure the arrest and
extradition to the Hague of those responsible for crimes
against humanity. We believe that it is critically important
that the United States aggressively exercise its leadership
in the international community to ensure that the indicted
are brought to justice.
We look forward to hearing your thinking and plans on this
very important matter.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Mary L. Landrieu, Carol
Moseley-Braun, Olympia J. Snow, Susan M. Collins, Kay
Bailey Hutchison, Barbara A. Mikulski, Patty Murray.
____

U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC, April 21, 1997.
Hon. William Jefferson Clinton,
President of the United States, The White House, Washington,
DC.
Dear Mr. President, Thank you for your letter of April 11
regarding the deep concern shared by the women of the Senate
that only 7 of the 75 indicted war criminals in the former
Yugoslavia have been arrested and extradited to The Hague to
stand trial. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed with
the substance of your response.
In our March 3 letter, the women of the Senate asked that
you view this issue as a priority and that the United States
provide leadership in ensuring that the international
community take steps to secure the necessary trials. The
essence of your response appears to be that the
administration continues to examine ``a variety of options.''
As you may recall, in an October 10, 1996, letter you
assured me that the administration ``will continue to assist
the War Crimes Tribunal and we will continue to look at all
other possible ways to help detain and deliver war criminals
to The Hague . . . the peace will not be complete until
indicted war criminals are brought to justice.''
In the seven months that have passed between your letter to
me of October 10 and your letter of April 11, not one
additional indicted war criminals has been arrested or
extradited to The Hague, and the United States has undertaken
no concrete steps to see that they are brought to justice.
The failure of U.S. leadership makes a mockery of the
Tribunal's efforts, and continued procrastination and
obstruction in bringing indicted war criminals to justice
threaten to undermine both the Tribunals effectiveness and
the Dayton peace process as well. Mr. President, justice
delayed is justice denied.
If, as you stated to me in your letter last October 10,
``We cannot tolerate genocide, ethnic cleansing and the use
of rape as instruments of war,'' then it would appear that
current U.S. policy regarding the apprehension of indicted
war criminals in the former Yugoslavia is woefully
inadequate. In fact, current U.S. policy not only allows
those who perpetuated genocide, ethnic cleansing, and rape
to remain at liberty, but, as a recent Human Rights Watch/
Helsinki report notes, it allows them to occupy positions
of authority in running police forces, towns, and
businesses in former Yugoslavia.
The International War Crimes Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia has clearly established that, for the first time
in history, the organized, systematic rape of thousands of
women was employed as an instrument of war, and that genocide
was used to ``ethnically cleanse'' areas of conflict during
the tragic conflict in ex-Yugoslavia.
Between 1991 and 1993, the United Nations Commission of
Experts documented 800 victims of rape by name, 1,673 who
were referred to but not named, and 500 cases of rape with an
unspecified number of victims. The youngest documented victim
was 5 years old, the oldest 81. The Commission also noted
that, due to the social stigma of rape, investigation and
documentation were difficult, and estimates are that up to
50,000 women in ex-Yugoslavia were systematically raped as
part of a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The use of
rape as an instrument of genocide and ethnic cleansing, I
believe, are war crimes of the highest order. Those
responsible must be apprehended and tried.
Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the
Security Council established the ad hoc International
Tribunal in 1993 to prosecute violations of international law
in the territories of the former Yugoslavia. This Tribunal
was an innovation that renewed the hope that, after the many
conflicts during the past half-century in which international
law was routinely flouted and justice was denied to the
victims of crimes against humanity, the legacy of Nuremberg
would be fulfilled.
Instead, the Tribunal has been stymied by the international
community's failure to arrest war criminals. Today only seven
of the seventy-five indicted individuals are in custody. The
Office of the Prosecutor continues to amass evidence, lead
investigations, conduct searches, issue indictments, and hold
in absentia hearings. But the failure of the international
community to take action to arrest those indicted and bring
them to trial in The Hague puts at risk not only the
credibility and effort of the Tribunal, but the concept of
international law and justice as well.
The failure of the international community to take actions,
moreover, has not been caused by any difficulty in locating
the indicted war criminals, or, even, in many cases, any
potential danger in making arrests.
In fact, it is my understanding that the whereabouts of
over 40 of the 68 unextradited indicted war criminals are
well known. Let me present several examples:
The camp commanders of the Omarska concentration camp,
where systematic rape of Bosnian women was a regular part of
a campaign of oppression, were working openly last year in
the local police force in Prijedor in Republika Srpska.
(Source: Coalition for International Justice (CIJ),
Washington Post)
Zeljko Mejakic, the commander of the Omarska camp indicted
for rape and crimes against humanity was the deputy commander
of the Omarska police station for much of last year. (Source:
Boston Globe)
Predrag Kostic, a camp guard at Omarska indicted for crimes
against humanity, is frequently sighted at the ``Express''
restaurant in Prijedor (Source: CIJ, New York Times).
Radovan Karadzic, indicted for genocide following the Serb
attack on Srebrenica and whose current home in Pale is well
known, is building a house in Koljani (near Banja Luka) and,
according to stories in the Associated Press, ``makes little
effort to conceal his daily movements.'' (Source: Human
Rights Watch, AP)
Stevan Todorovic, indicted for a series of atrocities,
lives in Donja Slatina, a three-minute drive away from Camp
Colt--a 1,000-troop, U.S.-manned SFOR base. To commute to his
job with Bosnian state security, Todorovic drives past the
base on a road regularly traveled by NATO patrols. (Source:
Washington Post)
Drago Josipovic, indicted for his role in the execution of
Muslim civilians, is a chemical engineer at the local Vitezit
explosives factory and lives in his family house in the
village of Santici. (Source: CIJ)
Radovan Stankovic, a member of the Serb paramilitary unit
Pero Elez, and who was in charge of a detention facility
where women were regularly raped, works as a policeman in
northwest Bosnia. According to a story in Reuters, his
whereabouts are well-known to the International Police Task
Force and U.N. officials. (Source: Reuters)
Blagoje Simic, who has been indicted for failing to halt
the torture and abuse of Muslim and Croat civilians,
continues to serve as municipal president in Bosanski Samac.
Simic was quoted in a Boston Globe article as saying, ``I'm
not uncatchable. But I think that someone important still
hasn't ordered those arrests to be done.'' Asked who that
might be by the Globe reporter, Simic replied ``President
Clinton.'' (Source: Boston Globe)
These are but a handful of the indicted war criminals who
have been regularly seen by credible journalists,
representatives of non-

[[Page S7314]]

governmental organizations, and others throughout the former
Yugoslavia. In fact, the U.S. State Department spokesperson
commented on March 14 of this year that: ``There are a number
of indicted war criminals who live in Croatia who have not
been turned over to the War Crimes Tribunal. And there are
certain individuals that we're watching very closely. We've
told the Croatian government that we know who these people
are. They've been named by the tribunal as indicted war
criminals. We know where they live.''
It has become clear that neither Serb authorities within
Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina nor Croat
authorities in the Federation are meeting their obligations
to hand over indicted war criminals--and that the United
States is doing very little to force them to meet these
obligations.
Regular reports about the whereabouts of several indicted
war criminals indicate that many lead remarkably open lives.
Last fall the Coalition for International Justice published a
comprehensive report on the whereabouts, jobs, and everyday
habits of 37 of the indicted war criminals. Earlier this
year, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki issued a report documenting
that many of the people running the towns, police forces and
businesses of the Serbian portion of Bosnia are the same
people who orchestrated the horrors of ethnic cleansing. In
case you have not had the opportunity to see them, I have
attached copies of both these reports.
The United States, unfortunately, must bear a large share
of the blame for the fact that indicted war criminals remain
at large in the former Yugoslavia.
In the letter to my office last October 10, you stated that
``IFOR will detain indicted war criminals and hand them over
to the International Tribunal if they are encountered by IFOR
personnel during the normal course of their duties and the
tactical situation permits.'' (This mandate regarding war
criminals, I understand, has been subsequently extended to
SFOR.) Even if we rule out some of the reported war
criminal sightings as false, it defies credulity to
suggest that so many people in the former Yugoslavia
except for SFOR have had regular contact with indicted war
criminals.
The SFOR rules of engagement regarding war criminals appear
to be interpreted so narrowly that it seems that an indicted
war criminal would, in effect, have to actively seek out and
surrender to SFOR if SFOR troops were to arrest them.
Indicted war criminals must be arrested and brought to
trial if the Tribunal is to have meaning as the ultimate
international arbiter of guilt or innocence in the commission
of war crimes. If indicted war criminals are not brought to
justice, the international community will have betrayed both
the legacy of Nuremberg and the victims of the war that tore
Yugoslavia apart. This failure will also set a dangerous
precedent that will give encouragement to others elsewhere in
the world who may consider the use of rape and genocide as
tools of war.
In addition, it is my firm belief that the continued
presence of indicted war criminals in former Yugoslavia will
set the stage for the renewal of violence, bloodshed, and
civil war when SFOR departs next year. We will have
sacrificed all the gains of the Dayton process because we
will have chosen to compromise with war criminals.
I once again call upon you to take an aggressive stand to
see that the indicted war criminals are brought to justice.
Specifically, I encourage you to:
Examine the feasibility of the United States and SFOR
taking a more active role to apprehend indicted war criminals
still at large as well as cooperating more closely with the
United Nations, the International Civilian Police Task Force,
and civilian authorities in the former Yugoslavia on this
issue;
Investigate appropriate additional sanctions, which can be
enforced either unilaterally or through the United Nations
system for the Republika Srpska and Croatia, unless and until
they cooperate fully with the Tribunal;
Explore the necessity of any additional U.S. assistance to
the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia; and,
Move quickly to implement the permanent international body
with the power, authority, and resources to investigate,
apprehend, and bring war criminals to trial that you spoke of
earlier this year.
I would also appreciate your clarification of the SFOR
rules of engagement for detaining war criminals.
Mr. President, you have been called upon to serve the
United States at a time of great international change and
uncertainty. Unless the United States takes a position of
aggressive leadership on this issue in the international
community, we run the risk that future historians will
conclude that the lessons of current U.S. foreign policy are
that crimes against humanity, genocide, and the use of rape
as an instrument of war are acceptable--and that those who
perpetrate these crimes can do so with impunity. Mr.
President, I know that you share my belief that leaving such
a legacy would be unacceptable.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and plans on this
very important matter.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senator.
____

The White House,

Washington, June 19, 1997.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Dianne: Thank you for writing again regarding indicted
war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. I continue to share
your concerns. My foreign policy team is examining several
options to assist and enhance the ability of the Tribunal to
bring indicted war criminals into custody.
We are increasing pressure on the parties by linking
multilateral and bilateral economic assistance to their
compliance with their obligation under the Dayton Accords to
turn over indicted war criminals. In addition, we have begun
working with the UN and its International Police Task Force
(IPTF) in Bosnia to improve the performance of the IPTF in
identifying indictees and their whereabouts.
We continue to work closely with the Tribunal, especially
the Office of the Chief Prosecutor, by providing a wide range
of assistance, including legal and investigative support. The
United States also provides the Tribunal intelligence and
information pursuant to Section 555 of the Foreign
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act of 1997. On May 2 we contributed $450,000
to the Tribunal's forensic exhumations program in the former
Yugoslavia.
I have also nominated David Scheffer as Ambassador-at-Large
for War Crimes Issues. If confirmed, Mr. Scheffer will
coordinate our work in this area and focus on the tasks that
are critical to the success of both the Yugoslav and Rwanda
War Crimes Tribunals. Finally, knowing our mutual concern for
this grave issue, I have asked Robert Gelbard, my Special
Representative for Implementation of the Dayton Accords, to
give you a confidential briefing as soon as possible on our
specific plans to re-energize this critical component of the
Dayton peace process.
Thanks again for your letter and your continuing support
for our efforts to bring peace and justice to the people of
the Balkans.
Sincerely,
Bill.

____________________