MASS GRAVES AND OTHER ATROCITIES IN BOSNIA
US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, DC
Wednesday, DECEMBER 6, 1995
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. STENY H. HOYER
Mr. HOYER. Thank you very much, Chairman Smith. I want to thank you
for having these hearings. They are very important and they are very timely.
It is a sad task before us today, but one that must be undertaken: the
examination of testimony about genocide, mass graves, rape, executions-
unspeakable and unacceptable atrocities. The past 4 years in Bosnia have seen
the recurrence of a European nightmare that we all thought had ended 50 years
ago. We have before us a distinguished panel of witnesses, all who have seen
firsthand the results of unbridled ethnic hatred. Mr. Rohde himself was
captured by the Bosnian Serb militants for daring to bare to the world the
gruesome killing fields of Srebrenica, where as many as possibly 8,000 Muslim
men were summarily executed following the overrunning of that safe haven.
Those killing fields were not limited, of course, to Srebrenica and Zepa, but
are found throughout Croatian and Bosnian territory overrun by the militants.
On October 16, 1995, a USA Today article detailed the exhumation of a mass
grave in the recently liberated Krajina region of Croatia-a site of much of
Dr. Wolf's work, as we will hear shortly from her testimony. According to
that article, dozens of family members gathered in the morgue of Split
Clinical Hospital to try to identify remains of loved ones, including
watches, crucifixes, and pieces of clothing found with the bodies. The
article reveals, and I quote, "A BMW car key found on Body Number 28 was
given to a woman who claims her husband, hotel manager Mate Steko, age 33,
had a similar car. The woman, who was Bozana Steko, 32 years of age, races
home to see if the car starts. It does." Mr. Chairman, this tragic story and
hundreds like it will be retold in the weeks, months, and perhaps years
ahead. We must listen to the painful testimony. We must record with the
utmost care and attention. We must continue to investigate, and we must bring
to justice those responsible for these crimes. Fifty years after the cry,
"Never again," rang out from the death camps of Europe, we are again exhuming
bodies from mass graves in Europe and recording atrocities committed against
innocent people simply because of their ethnic or national background. Mr.
Chairman, we as members of the international community, not just as
Americans, not just as members of Congress who are this Commission, but as
members of the international community, must recommit ourselves to that
haunting phrase. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that the goal of
justice before vengeance enshrined in Nuremberg is, in fact, achieved.
Justice before vengeance. Now, many of us traveled throughout Europe and
heard about things that needed to be redressed that occurred 50 years ago,
100 years ago, and 200, 300, 400years and centuries ago. But those who feel
aggrieved saw their grievances never redressed. Therefore, the cycle of
vengeance and terror and atrocities and killings go on. We have witnessed the
conclusion of the long-awaited and strenuously-achieved peace agreement among
the parties to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Plans to implement that
agreement are underway. However, Mr. Chairman, I'm convinced that a lasting
resolution of this conflict requires breaking the cycle of violence and
vengeance that has racked this region, not just in this century, but as I
said, in centuries past. This goal can only be achieved through the
administration of justice by an impartial International Tribunal, which is
already moving forward with its work. The United States, Mr. Chairman- and I
hope our Commission is in the forefront of urging it to do so- must continue
to take the lead in strongly supporting the efforts of the War Crimes
Tribunal. We must undertake this effort because where there is not justice,
vengeance will most certainly reside and flourish and continue. The people of
the former Yugoslavia must have both the satisfaction and the deterring
example of justice now. If not, we can be virtually assured that there will
be more violence, more killings, and more atrocities. Mr. Chairman, we cannot
allow this to happen. This hearing, I think, is an important element in
continuing to educate us as members of Congress, the American public, and the
international community on what, in fact, has happened. I want to
congratulate all three witnesses for the work that they have undertaken; in
some cases, the risks that they have taken as well, for a better
understanding of what's going on, and as to what has happened in the region,
and hopefully a heightening of the consciousness of the world that we will
never again stand idly by while hundreds of thousands of people are killed
and millions of people are displaced from their homes. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
