BOSNIA: Statement (Clinton) - 8/4/92 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.