119-hconres41

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 41 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. CON. RES. 41

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

 July 10, 2025

 Mr. LaLota (for himself, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Malliotakis, 
Mr. Lawler, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Latimer, Mr. 
Morelle, Ms. Omar, and Mr. McGovern) 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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