[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 38 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 38
Expressing the sense of Congress 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
May 2, 2023
Mr. LaLota submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress 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 the Secretary of State designated Goran Radosavljevic of Serbia under
section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2018 as ineligible for entry into
the United States due to his involvement in gross violations of human
rights;
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 the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic promised several high ranking
United States officials to deliver justice in the cases of the deaths of
Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi;
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 to
fully assist and properly 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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