CLINTON STATEMENT: SERBIAN CAMP KILLINGS

 

Article 4407 of alt.politics.clinton:

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Subject: CLINTON STATEMENT: SERBIAN CAMP KILLINGS

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Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago

Date: Monday, 17 Aug 1992 17:29:33 CDT

From: Mary Jacobs <U45301@uicvm.uic.edu>

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Statement By Governor Bill Clinton on killings in Serbian camps

August 4, 1992

     I am outraged by the revelations of concentration camps in

Bosnia and urge immediate action to stop this slaughter.

     For months, unverified reports have circulated about

atrocities, secret detention camps, torture and murder.  Now,

confirmed reports indicate that thousands of Croats and Slavic

Muslims have been tortured and killed.  Survivors report of brutal

executions, as well as prisoners held in metal cages without

sanitation or adequate food.

     The United States and the international community must take

action.  If the horrors of the Holocaust taught us anything, it is

the high cost of remaining silent and paralyzed in the face of

genocide.

     We must discover who is responsible for these actions and take

steps to bring them to justice for these crimes against humanity.

     The United States should take the lead in calling on the

United Nations Security Council to convene immediately in emergency

session.  It should call for access by the International Committee

of the Red Cross to all detention camps and to initiate a relief

effort.  The UN should demand the release of all non-combatants

into the custody of the ICRC and the immediate closing of any

detention centers.  Military prisoners of war, if any, should be

held under conditions defined by international law, including

access for the ICRC.

     The United Nations demands should be backed up by collective

action, including the use of force, if necessary.  The United

States should be prepared to lend appropriate support, including

military, to such an operation.

     The United States and the world community must come together

in this crisis.  All Americans must be united across party lines on

this matter of simple human decency.  I will strongly support

urgent and appropriate action to stop the killing.