S 735 Session 109 (1991-1992)
S 0735 Concurrent Resolution, By I.E. Lourie, M.T. Rose and Wilson
A Concurrent Resolution to request the Allied Nations or the United Nations
Security Council, or both, to try Saddam Hussein and his soldiers who
participated in war crimes as war criminals.
03/06/91 Senate Introduced SJ-4
03/06/91 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-5
A CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
TO REQUEST THE ALLIED NATIONS OR THE UNITED NATIONS
SECURITY COUNCIL, OR BOTH, TO TRY SADDAM HUSSEIN
AND HIS SOLDIERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN WAR CRIMES AS
WAR CRIMINALS.
Whereas, a Saudi general has reported from Kuwait that Iraqi soldiers
under the direction of Saddam Hussein have tortured and killed civilians,
raped and mutilated women, hung people in the streets, and urged
younger Iraqi soldiers to kill children; and
Whereas, other bloodcurdling reports, still unconfirmed, have leaked
from Kuwait from the day of Iraq's invasion; and
Whereas, those atrocities, if confirmed, are war crimes:
(1) Iraq has fired dozens of Scud missiles at civilian populations
in Saudi Arabia as well as at Israel, a noncombatant. Each of those
firings is a war crime.
(2) Iraqis forced battered and bruised prisoners of war to appear
on television. Beating prisoners of war and displaying them on
television are war crimes, as is the use of prisoners of war as human
shields; and
Whereas, Saddam and his commanders have been warned repeatedly
that they are accountable; and
Whereas, these atrocities are not the inevitable result of war. They do
not equate with the accidental killing of civilians by allied bombs. They
are not the acts of honorable men in combat; and
Whereas, confronted with people who could not protect themselves, the
Iraqi army has killed, maimed, raped, and tortured innocents; and
Whereas, now that the war is over, Saddam Hussein and his soldiers
must be tried for their crimes; and
Whereas, war-crimes trials will serve justice and uphold the fragile
framework civilization has developed to reduce the horror of war; and
Whereas, from the first Geneva Convention in 1864 through the four
international gatherings in 1949, the world gradually has developed rules
to protect civilians, prisoners of war, and the wounded; and
Whereas, Iraq signed the 1949 agreements, one of one hundred sixty-four nations to do so. Yet Saddam Hussein has treated the 1949
agreements with disdain, as have other Iraqi leaders and soldiers; and
Whereas, they all must be held accountable. To let them go would invite
future atrocities by forsaking the few rules we have for the conduct of
war. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly request that the Allied
Nations or the United Nations Security Council, or both, try Saddam
Hussein and his soldiers who participated in war crimes as war
criminals.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the
President of the United States, members of the South Carolina
Congressional Delegation, and United Nations Security Council.
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