Why H. Con. Res. 20

In 1999, three American brothers were kidnapped, tortured, executed, and dumped into a mass grave by Serbian special forces.

17 years later, there has been no credible investigation or prosecution.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and other Serbian leaders keep breaking promises to our highest leaders.

Mr. Vucic promised progress by the end of Summer 2014 and again by the end of March 2015 before promising to resolve it: “very soon or much sooner than anybody might expect” in June 2015.
He has made similar promises to Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, and National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

Despite these promises, a main suspect, Goran “Guri” Radosavljevic, remains a close advisor to PM Vucic and President Tomislav Nikolic.
Serbia won’t resolve the Bytyqi case on its own.

European Union progress reports, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, and an OSCE report each document Serbia’s failings on war crimes accountability.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Humanitarian Law Center each cite the Bytyqi case as a prime example of such failures.
Just last week, there was a 30 minute debate on Serbian national television on whether the U.S. has the moral authority to press the Bytyqi case.

H. Con. Res. 20 was introduced by Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Eliot Engel (D-NY), & Grace Meng (D-NY) – all members of the House Foreign Relations Committee.