Written Answers. - Bosnian Crisis.
Desmond J. O'Malley
Question:
33
Mr. O'Malley
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs
the steps, if any, he and the Government propose to take to ensure that the Security Council Resolutions of the United Nations designed to ensure the delivery of aid and the protection of the safe areas in Bosnia will be implemented and enforced in view of the continuing attacks on Sarajevo and other Bosnian towns and the virtual starvation of the people living there.
[11722/95]
The Government is gravely concerned at the deterioration in the situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina following the failure of the Bosnian Government and Bosnian-Serbs to agree to a renewal of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement which expired on 1 May. The continuing rejection by the Bosnian-Serbs of the Contact Group's plan and the drift into generalised hostilities has increased the plight of the inhabitants of Sarajevo and the five other designated safe areas. The Bosnian-Serbs have reacted to Government offensives from some of these towns by attacking military targets located in the safe areas. They have also initiated unprovoked bombardments — more than 70 people were killed by a shell in Tuzla recently.
The safe-areas regime was established as a temporary measure by the Security Council in 1993. With some 40 people dying daily in Srebrenica from military actions and starvation, the Council's Resolution 819 demanded that Srebrenica be treated as a safe area. Subsequently, by Resolution 824, the Council declared that Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde and Bihac should also be treated as safe areas by all the parties concerned.
These Resolutions demanded that all parties should ensure that the designated towns be free from any armed attack; that Bosnian-Serb military units be withdrawn from these areas; and that all parties should allow UNPROFOR and the international aid agencies unimpeded access to the safe-areas. In Resolution 836, the Security Council further expanded UNPROFOR's mandate to enable it to protect the safe areas, including to deter attacks against them. In this regard, the Security Council defined the parameters for the use of force as being in self-defence. UNPROFOR was therefore authorised, acting in self-defence, to take the necessary measures including the use of force in reply to bombardments against the safe-areas or armed incursions into them, or in the event of deliberate obstruction of UNPROFOR's freedom of movement or that of protected aid convoys.
UNPROFOR's ability to discharge its mandate has been circumscribed by the limited resources with which it operates. To deter aggression through strength at the safe-areas would have required a very much larger force than the 7,600 additional troops which were authorised by the Security Council in 1993.
UNPROFOR has also been severely constrained by the military activities of the Bosnian-Serbs and the Bosnian Government. The Secretary General has underlined that unprovoked attacks launched from within the safe-areas are inconsistent with the basic concept which underlies that regime.
Notwithstanding these severe constraints, UNPROFOR has achieved some successes which have contributed to the improvement of the desperate living conditions in the safe areas. The presence of UN observers, including from our Defence Forces, has enabled it to monitor ceasefires, stabilise confrontation lines and improve security by resolving local disputes; to arrange medical evacuations and humanitarian aid deliveries to the extent that circumstances permitted; and to broker local agreements. Also, the presence of even limited UN forces has enhanced the security of aid workers in these towns.
In the light of events following the hostage crisis, it is vital that UNPROFOR must be able to recover its freedom of movement and to fulfil its tasks more effectively, notably to ensure the safety of the civilian population of the safe areas. The Government therefore welcome the Security Council's recent decision to authorise an increase in UNPROFOR's strength by up to 12,500 additional troops so as to enable it to discharge its existing mandate more effectively. Units of UNPROFOR's new rapid reaction capacity are now being deployed.
The Security Council also underlined the need for a mutually agreed demilitarisation of the safe areas. This would bring an end to attacks on these towns and to the launching of military operations therefrom. The Secretary General has been asked to intensify his efforts to secure demilitarisation, taking account of the need to ensure the safety of the civilian inhabitants of the safe areas.
UNPROFOR will continue to be a peace-keeping mission. Its ability to carry out its tasks will continue to be influenced by the degree of co-operation which it receives from the parties. It is clear that the use of force against only one party would lead to UNPROFOR to be perceived as a party to the war and thus as a legitimate military target, precipitating its withdrawal from Bosnia.
A negotiated political settlement remains the key to ensuring the safety and security of all of Bosnia's peoples, not least the inhabitants of the designated safe-areas. We, with our EU partners, are continuing to work to this end.
