S/PV.3208 Security Council

It is with great sorrow that the members of the Security Council have learned of the tragic death on Saturday, 1 May 1993, of the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Ranasinghe Premadasa. President Premadasa was deeply committed to the ideals of the United Nations and the cause of world peace. His loss will be deeply mourned by the international community. On behalf oE the Security Council, I wish to express profound condolences to the Government and the people of Sri Lanka and heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved family. I now invite members of the Council to stand and observe a minute of silence. The members of the Council observed a minute of silence . meeting of the Security Council for the month of May, I should like to take this opportunity to pay a tribute, on behalf of the Council, to Mr. Jamsheed IC. A. Marker, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of April 1993. I am sure I speak for all members of the Security Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Marker for the great diplomatic skill and unfailing courtesy with which he conducted the Council's business last month. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA The asenda was adonted. THE SITUATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA REPORT OF THE SECURITY COUNCXL MISSION ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION 819 (1993) (S/25700)

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council's agenda. In accordance with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Sacirbev (Bosni a) took a place at the Council table. will now begin its coxisideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Security Council mission established pursuant to resolution 819 (1993), document S/25700. Members of the Council also have before them document S/25722, which contains the text of a draft resolution which was prepared in the course of the Council's prior consultations. I should like to draw the attention of members of the Council to the following documents: S/25710, letter dated 30' April 1993 from the Charge d'affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of Yugoslavia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council; S/25714, letter dated 30 April 1993 from the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General; S/25718, S/25728 and 5125730, letters dated 4 and 5 May respectively, from the Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council. Members of the Council have also received photocopies of a letter dated 6 May 1993 from the Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, which will be issued as document S/25731. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to vote on the draft resolution before it. If I hear no objection, I shall take it that that is the case. There being no objection, it is so decided. Before putting the draft resolution to the vote, I shall call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting. extend to you, Sir, the congratulations of my delegation on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. My delegation also wholeheartedly endorses the compliments ycu addressed to Ambassador Marker, our President last month. The draft resolution before us today is intended to convey the feelings and concern of our Council in the face of what must be considered a further deterioration in the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a growing threat to the security of the civilian populations in a number of communities, particularly in the eastern part of the country. True, the information at our disposal is fragmentary, but the Council's concern is heightened by the fact that the military observers whom the United Nations Protection Force tried to send to Zepa to gain an overview of the.situation were prevented from reaching thei.r destination. In requesting all the parties concerned henceforth to treat the cities of Zepa, Gorazde, Tuzla, Bihac and Sarajevo as safe areas, free from armed attacks and from any other hostile acts likely to endanger the well-being and the safety of their inhabitants, the Security Council intends first and foremost to send the clearest and most humanitarian signal to the fighting parties: The civilian populations must no longer'be made to bear the consequences of the Bosnian conflict, In that regard, the example of the city of Srebrenica has given us valuable experience by showing us both the limits and advantages arising from the establishment of a safe area. The most important thing is protection, to save the human lives seriously threatened by the extension of the conflict. France, heavily represented at the military level in Bosnia and Herzegovina under United Nations auspices, is already fulfilling its duty to protect the safe areas in the Bihac region and in Sarajevo itself. I should like to make an urgent appeal to the United Nations Member States that are parties to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe - major guarantors of international peace and security - to contribute as soon as possible to assuming and protecting other safe areas. Their participation in this humanitarian mission would be an increased guarantee of protection for the unfortunate civilian populations Of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose lives we all wish to save and whose hardships we all wish to lighten. representative of France for the kind words he addressed to me. I shall now put the draft resolution contained in document S/25722 to the vote. A vote was taken bv show of hands. In favour: Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Djibouti, France, Hungary, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has therefore been adopted unanimously as resolution 824 (1993). I shall call now on those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Mrs. ALBRIGHT (United States of America): Let me congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council in what clearly promises to be another very eventful month. I also offer our deepest thanks to the representative of Pakistan, who brilliantly carried out the very difficult job of President during the month of April, We had hoped to be able to vote in the Council today on a draft resolution that would at long last have begun the long road back to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Instead we have voted on a resolution to halt Serbian aggression. Once again the Bosnian Serb leader'ship has thumbed its nose at the values that everyone in this room holds dear. As United States Secretary of State Christopher said in Brussels earlier today, the decision of the so-called Bosnian Serb parliament has made a mockery of the signatures in Athens. We are not inclined to invest the proposed referendum with legitimacy, as it appears to be another cynical ploy to delay while the Bosnian Serbs continue to roll up additional territory. As a result, our focus will continue to be on the new, stronger measures on which President Clinton has decided. I ask my fellow Council members to reflect briefly on the irony of what has transpired over the past week. On Sunday in Athens the self-styled leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, signed the remaining portions of the Vance-Owen agreements. He conditioned his signature, however, on the approval of the so-called Bosnian Serb parliament. This unelected group of dubious characters declined to ratify the agreements, instead calling for them to be put to a referendum at some point later this month. We are thus faced with the self-declared parliament of a self-declared leader stating that it needs the agreement of the "people" to stop the killing for which they are themselves to blame. We have not doubt that those responsible for war crimes will be allowed to participate in the referendum if it ever occurs. We doubt, however, that those who have been forced from their homes at gunpoint will be allowed to participate. We know that those who now enjoy the peace of the grave will not participate. This is not democracy in action: this is simply a ruse to buy time for further territorial conquest. Let us be honest: the current resolution is a palliative. The only solution is for the Bosnian Serbs to agree to peace, to live in tolerance of their neighbours and to give up for judgement those who have plunged their country into war and fouled the good name of the Serbian people. Let me remind the Bosnian Serb leadership that my Government has in recent days made it clear that we are consulting with our allies about new, stronger and tougher measures. Their implementation, or lack thereof, of this and all other relevant Council resolutions in the next days will determine whether we and the rest of the international community decide that the use of force is inevitable.

I thank the representative of the United States for the kind words she addressed to me. Sir David HANNAY (United Kingdom): Let me welcome your accession to the Chair, Sir, and congratulate Ambassador Marker on the remarkable work he did last month, the successes he chalked up, and the way in which he led our work, which was really splendid. I should like to make a very few remarks. In the first of them, I would like to salute the men and officers of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPR~FOR), and particularly the Canadian troops, as well as the officials of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies, who have helped give effect to Security Council resolution 819 (1993), which set up a safe area at Srebrenica. They have worked under truly appalling conditions, and they have achieved what they have achieved against all the odds. I think we owe them a great debt for that. It is really deplorable that we are here again today confronted with attacks against civilian population centres - population centres which are very frequently crowded with refugees - and that these attacks are being carried out by the Bosnian Serbs in many different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, some of which are listed in the resolution the Council has just adopted. This is being done in complete disregard for the professed desire to seek peace. If the Bosnian Serbs have any wish at all to be considered sincere in their desire for peace, they will heed the terms of today's resolution. If they do not heed those terms, they will sacrifice and forfeit any sympathy whatsoever. From a wider point of view, my Government deplores, and expresses its deep regret at, the failure of the Bosnian Serbs last night to endorse the agreements reached at Athens and signed by their representative. This act of folly cannot be justified. But we believe that this Council should not take no for an answer. We must now keep up the pressure by all means to get back on the path to peace, which is represented by.the plan and the process into which so much effort has gone on the part of the representatives of the Secretary-General and of the European Community.

I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for the kind words he addressed to me. Mr. MARKER (Pakistan): Allow me to begin by extending my delegation's congratulations to you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month. We are confident that under your distinguished, experienced and able leadership the Council will adopt well-considered and effective measures on many of the important issues with which it is confronted. I would also wish to associate my delegation with the profound condolences expressed by you, Sir, on behalf of the Council, on the tragic demise of President Premadasa of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, We share the grief of the family of President Premadasa and of the people of Sri Lanka at their tragic bereavement. My delegation is pleased at the unanimous adoption of resolution 824 (1993). We are deeply concerned at the escalation in armed hostilities by the Bosnian Serbs against several towns in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are particularly alarmed at the mounting Serbian armed attacks on civilian populations in many threatened areas, in particular the towns of Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zepa and Goradze and their surrounding areas. We believe that the adoption of the present resolution declaring these threatened areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina as safe areas will go a long way to ensuring the safety of civilian populations in these regions. The international community is witnessing escalating defiance of its will by the Bosnian Serbs. In total disregard of the mandatory resolutions of the Security Council, the Bosnian Serbs have persisted in their repulsive policy of "ethnic cleansing" and genocide. The time has come for the Council to act rapidly and firmly to compel the Serbian side to accept the Vance-Owen peace plan. We believe that the Security Council must take immediate appropriate measures, including the authorization of the use of force under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, to ensure: the placing of all heavy weapons in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under effective international physical control or neutralizing them to render them inoperative: the interdiction of all arms supplies to the Bosnian Serbs; the institution of appropriate measures for reparations for the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Serbia and Montenegrof that Serbia and Montenegro is liable, under international law, for any direct loss or damage, including environmental damage, or injury to foreign Governments, nationals and corporations as a result of its aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the effective imposition of a complete and comprehensive economic and financial blockade against Serbia and Montenegro. We also believe that States Members of the United Nations should extend their cooperation to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the exercise of its inherent right of individual and collective self-defence in accordance with Article 51 of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, including the supply of arms to enable them to defend themselves.

I thank the representative of Pakistan for the kind words he addressed to me. Mr. YA%ZZ BARNUEVO (Spain) (interpretation from Spanish): As this is the first time that my delegation has spoken this month, we should like to express to you, Sir, our congratulations and our admiration for the job that you are doing. I should also like to join you, Mr. President, and other delegations in expressing thanks to our outgoing President, Ambassador Marker of Pakistan. The delegation of Spain not only joined in the adoption of the resolution but also considers this resolution extremely timely and important. The situation continues to deteriorate in various areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, requiring, in our opinion, determined action by the United Nations in order to protect the civilian population of those towns and areas that are currently most exposed to the consequences of the armed conflict. We are indebted to the mission sent by the Security Council - coordinated by Ambassador Arria of Venezuela and composed of representatives of Russia, France, Hungary, New Zealand and Pakistan - for the detailed report on the general situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, more specifically, on those regions and towns most affected. The report also includes recommendations on the establishment of safe areas, which requires the cooperation of the parties. In addition, the cooperation of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) is anticipated within its mission of humanitarian protection. This task - protecting individuals threatened by the conflict - has been a priority at all times, but now more so than ever. This can no longer suffice, however. We must go further in order to bring peace to the entire Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to put an end to the threat to that entire region. For that reason, we are convinced that we must, come what may, put into effect the peace plan developed as a result of the great efforts by Mr. Owen and Mr. Vance and,, now, with the cooperation of Mr. Stoltenberg and with the support of the European Community and the United Nations. We would like to point out that this resolution - as the text itself states, both in the preamble and in the operative part - falls within the framework of what has been provided for in the peace plan. That is to say, it is not a question of finditlg an alternative way, but of anticipating certain aspects of the implementation of the peace plan along the lines laid down by the Security Council and with the use of UNPROFOR and the other means made available by the United Nations Secretariat. We are convinced that it will be necessary to keep up the pressure, especially on the Bosnian Serbs, without ruling out other measures in the coming days and weeks, in crder to ensure that the Bosnian Serbs will ratify the signature of the peace plan. This has not been confirmed, but confirmation must be explicitly made. In particular, the various provisions of the peace plan must be implemented fully and in good faith. In conclusion, the Government of Spain wishes to emphasize the need for unanimity among the members of the international community in the difficult course of action that lies ahead of us. The Security Council has set an example today by acting swiftly and unanimously. We hope that in the coming days - tomorrow if necessary - we will continue in the same spirit and with the same unanimity. ,The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Russian): I thank the representative of Spain for the kind words he addressed to me, Mr. ERDOS (Hungary) (interpretation from French): I should like to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council, and I should also like to thank Ambassador Marker for the outstanding work he did during the previous month. Hungary voted in favour of resolution 824 (1993) on safe areas because this resolution underlines, with a force that everyone can see, the concern of the Security Council and the international community with regard to the fate of the towns and areas that have been threatened and besieged in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This resolution also reaffirms the inadmissibility of any acquisition of territory by force. Hungary believes that the resolution we have just adopted can be seen, on the one hand, as part of the process of implementation of the Vance-Owen plan, a plan whose implementation is still our basic objective, and, on the other, as a follow-up on the preventive diplomacy efforts which are of crucial importance in today's world. We hope that the towns and villages mentioned in the resolution - Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde and other areas - will not meet the same fate as so many other cities and villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and will be saved from destruction and "ethnic cleansing". In the light of the alarming news coming to us from the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially from Zepa, the Council must constantly remain on guard and must remain prepared, if need be, to consider immediately the necessary steps to ensure implementation of resolution 824 (1993).

I thank the representative of Hungary for the kind words he addressed to me. Mr. ARRIA (Venezuela) (interpretation from Spanish): I am very pleased to join in the congratulations that have been extended to you, Sir, by my colleagues. My delegat:on will remain at your disposal throughout this month, which is beginning to look like a very complex one indeed. We should like to reiterate our admiration and respect to Ambassador Marker of Pakistan and to his delegation for the extraordinary leadership they provided this past April. My country is a friend of Sri Lanka, and we would also like to join in the expressions of sympathtt that have been offered to the family of the President and the people 05 that country. Venezuela had the privilege to act as coordinator of the mission sent by the Security Council to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 28 April. In this light we are especially pleased that the report submitted by our mission to the Council has been incorporated into this resolution and that today the Council has begun to act on some of its recommendations, in particular those pertaining to the declaration of safe areas. The resolution just adopted is akin to resolution 819 (1993), which declared the city of Srebrenica a safe area. By its timeliness, that resolution prevented the mdssacre of the people of Srebrenica, who have lived and suffered under siege for more than a year; Today's resolution is aimed at anticipating the same kind of extreme situation as that experienced by the people of Srebrenica, where conditions still do not exist for it to be considered a safe area, as was the intention of the Security Council. Today I can affirm that, after our visit, the city of Srebrenica remains a sort of open jail, subjected to the effective control of Serbian paramilitary forces, which keep it at their mercy, controlling and obstructing the provision of essential services such as water, electricity and medical attention. In this regard we reiterate - lest it be forgotten - that these acts constitute crimes of genocide for which, some day, those responsible will have to answer. Only the presence in Srebrenica of the noble and brave Canadian battalion separates its people from greater tragedy. My delegation once again voices appreciation for that battalion and the personnel of the United Nations Protection Force, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (WNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, who in the most perilous conditions are making extraordinary efforts in that long-suffering community. The information coming out of UNHCR indicates that disease in Srebrenica - a city that we have designated a safe area - continues to spread, especially among its children, in what our report refers to as a "slow-motion process of genocide". (S/25700, para. 19) Without the slightest doubt, the situation in these cities, under attack and siege by Serbian paramilitary forces for a year, casts a shadow on the political will and credibility of this Council. Today we have limited ourselves to a political and moral declaration centred on humanitarian aspects. There seems, however, to be no doubt that the international community still faces even greater challenges and provocations that will demand farther-reaching action than what the Security Council is today able to adopt and, above all, implement. Nor is there any doubt that the Council will have to exert every possible effort to make all of the former Yugoslavia a safe area. This is the responsibility of the international community, and especially of the permanent members of the Security Council, which are called upon to contribute extraordinary efforts and resources and, of course, enormous sacrifices for a solution to this horrible conflict. According to our Charter, that is the reponsibility of the great nations, whose actions are especially appreciated and valued by my delegation. We, the non-permanent members of the Security Council, in solidarity with the cause of countries such as the former Yugoslavia, whose rights have been so dreadfully trampled on, support the full implementation of this Council's decisions. Finally, we wish - as Ambassador Madeline Albright, representative of the United States, said so aptly - that we were meeting today to adopt a resolution to start the implementation of a peace plan; but the Serbian party's intolerance and its disrespect for the international community has once again stood in the way. It is clear that it is now up to the international community to make the appropriate response to this decision.

I thank the representative of Venezuela for the kind words he addressed to me. Mr, O'BRIEN (New Zealand): Congratulations, Mr. President, on assuming the helm of this Council. I am confident that this ship is in good hands this month. My heartiest congratulations go also to my neighbour, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan, who conducted the Council's deliberations with exemplary distinction last month. As others have remarked, this resolution has its origins in the mission that the Security Council sent to Bosnia 10 days ago, The decision we have taken here illUStrateS, I think, the usefulness of such missions, which give the Council some better insight into the complexity and challenge that confront our Organization in the area of former Yugoslavia in these times. New Zealand was privileged to be represented on the mission. However, the measures endorsed in this resolution are in no sense a complete answer to the suffering and outrageous aclts that are occurring, especially, but not only, in eastern Bosnia. They are intended, none the less, to send a direct, unambiguous political message: that the well-being and safety of populations in the regions concerned are and will remain a legitimate concern of the Council. New Zealand calls upon the Bosnian Serbs to take very careful heed of the present decisions of the Council and to implement and observe the safe areas forthwith in the places enumerated in the resolution. This resolution is one which we expect will stand alongside other decisions that the Council will take shortly in response to the outcome of the Athens meeting of last weekend and the totally unacceptable and cynical reaction to the outcome of that meeting by the Bosnian Serbs. The Council must not now relent in its pursuit of peace and stability in Bosnia.

I thank the representative of New Zealand for the kind words he addressed to me. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as representative of the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation is deeply concerned over reports of continuing hostilities in various parts of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report of the Security Council mission that recently visited that Republic sheds further light on the tragic situation that has come about there, especially in the humanitarian sphere. The report clearly shows that the continuing cruel war has brought untold suffering to the civilian population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russian leaders have repeatedly said that there is no alternative to the Vance-Owen plan and have pointed out that any party to the conflict that does not adopt it bears heavy responsibility for not doing so. I should like to recall the statement of the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, on 27 April of this year, which emphasized that, "Russia will not condone those who defy the world community. The Serbian nationalists and any ether parties to the conflict relying on force will meet with the stern rebuff of the United Nations." We proceed from the premise that now, after the talks in Athens, there should be no further obstacles to the implementation of the Vance-Owen plan. If this plan is not adopted and carried out, we are prepared to discuss further, harsher steps. In this connection, no steps have been pre-determined, nor have any been excluded from discussion. In the present circumstances, an end must be put immediately to any attempts to attain further territorial gains by military force, to any actions that result in suffering for the Bosnian people and in violations of humanitarian law. The Security Council must send a clear signal to all the parties to the Bosnian conflict that such activities are inadmissible. In this connection, we believe that the decisions adopted by the Security Council on Srebrenica have turned out to be positive steps that have saved the lives of hundreds of Bosnians, The Russian Federation, on the basis of its policy of principle in this regard, supports the creation of additional safe areaa in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In fact, that is why we voted in favour of the draft resolution in do&meat S/25722. We believe that the creation of safe areasI with the presence there of United Nations personnel, will help to improve the humanitarian situation in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to achieve a peaceful settlement in that long-suffering country. I now resume my functions as President of the Security Council. There are no other names on ,the list of speakers. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. me meewose at 6.30 p.m.