Vol. 468 No. 2
3 Mr. O'Malley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps, if any, he proposes to take, as President of the Council of Ministers, to secure the arrest and charging with war crimes before the War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague of Mr. Radovan Karadzic, General Mladic and of the various other persons indicted and sought by The Hague Tribunal for War Crimes. [14645/96]
13 Mr. O'Malley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps, if any, he proposes to take, as President of the Council of Ministers, to ensure free and fair elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina; whether he has satisfied himself that there is freedom of movement for all Bosnian citizens to all parts of that country; and his views on whether there is any point in having elections unless they can be guaranteed to be fair and democratic. [14646/96]
26 Mr. Foley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he has, during Ireland's Presidency of the EU, to establish conditions for the holding of elections in Bosnia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14723/96]
41 Kathleen Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to concerns regarding the operation of the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia; if, his attention has further been drawn to concerns regarding the operation of Rule 61 which excludes defence counsel from hearings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14642/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 13, 26 and 41 together.
As I have said publicly on a number of occasions recently, the situation in former Yugoslavia is a priority foreign policy issue for the European Union during Ireland's Presidency. In relation to Bosnia Herzegovina in particular, our efforts will be directed towards ensuring an effective EU contribution to the international effort to assist the parties in fully implementing the General Framework Agreement which was concluded at Dayton.
One of the cornerstones of the peace process will be the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will take place on 14 September. The responsibility for ensuring that conditions exist for the organisation of free and fair elections lies with the parties themselves — this is clearly stated in the peace agreement. As regards international assistance, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, was requested by the parties to supervise the preparation and conduct of such elections. The task of determining if and when conditions exist for elections to be held in a free, fair and democratic manner was also given to the OSCE and its chairman-in-office, currently the Swiss Foreign Minister, Mr. Cotti.
On 25 June Mr. Cotti announced that the elections will go ahead in September, but also made clear his assessment that conditions for the holding of free and fair elections were far from ideal. However, having weighed all factors carefully, Mr. Cotti came to the conclusion that there were no convincing alternatives to the holding of elections and that these should go ahead.
In reply to Deputy O'Malley's question as to whether there is any point in holding elections unless they can be guaranteed to be fair and democratic, I refer to the statement made by Mr. Cotti on 25 June that, "the question of whether or not it is opportune to hold the elections should not be seen only from the short-term point of view of prerequisite election conditions. It must be placed in a more global context". The elections are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end, a step on the road towards stability and reconciliation. Mr. Cotti's overall assessment is that postponing the elections would have put the process in reverse and had the effect of causing a deterioration in the conditions stipulated for polling and an acceleration of the trend which exists towards political separation. It is also fair to say that the elections represent the only hope for the reconstruction of ethnically-mixed communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Forty-nine political parties and 33 independent candidates have registered to participate in the elections. This reflects the interest which the Bosnian people have in the electoral process, and demonstrates the progress being made in the establishment of democratic institutions.
As the House will be aware, elections took place in Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 30 June — the first elections in that country since the outbreak of the war. The assessment of those who were present on polling day was that the elections were generally well conducted and the turnout — in the region of 60 per cent — was high. More than 8,000 refugees exercised their right to vote in the elections in third countries. I hope that the successful holding of the Mostar elections will be a positive indicator for the general elections in September. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina need our support for their efforts to organise those elections.
The OSCE is fulfilling its tasks with the assistance of the European Union and its member states. The European Community Monitor Mission ECMM, of which Ireland has now assumed the leadership, is providing invaluable assistance to the OSCE throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU has also responded positively to an OSCE request to adopt a joint action to contribute to the OSCE's election supervision mission. All EU member states, including Ireland, will contribute significant numbers of personnel to this effort in advance of elections and the EU will make available some three million ECU from Community funds in support of this effort.
In addition, EU member states have also contributed nationally to the voluntary fund established by the OSCE to finance the OSCE electoral programme — Ireland has donated more than IR £200,000. The EU and its member states are also contributing to various initiatives aimed at promoting the independent media in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the work of other international organisations, such as the UN and its various agencies, which are involved in the effort to improve conditions for elections.
Notwithstanding these efforts, there is no doubt that much hard work remains to be done to improve conditions between now and polling day. The human rights situation is still a cause for concern, particularly in the Republica Srpska. While physical obstacles to freedom of movement have been removed, groups within the population feel that they cannot exercise free movement, particularly across the inter-entity boundary line, IEBL, because of the risk of intimidation and aggression. This situation must be addressed by the parties who have an obligation to ensure such freedom.
One of the most serious threats to the electoral process is the continued liberty of indicted war crimes suspects. It will be recalled that, under the terms of the Dayton Agreement, no individual indicated by the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague can hold, or seek to hold, public office. As part of their commitments under the agreement it is the responsibility of the parties to co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal and to ensure that such suspects are handed over.
Ireland, with its European partners, is monitoring compliance in this area very closely. I have always strongly supported the activities of the tribunal and will continue, in my capacity as President of the Council of Ministers, to urge the parties to co-operate fully.
I am greatly concerned that the Bosnian Serb entity, the Republica Srpska, continues to disregard the demands of the international community to abide by its commitments under the peace agreements. In particular, Radovan Karadzic has persistently refused to deliver himself, or any other indicated person, to the tribunal.
The European Union supports the efforts of the High Representative, Carl Bildt, who is working for Karadzic's withdrawal from public life. Ireland and its European partners will continue to emphasise to the leaders of the Republica Srpska that indicted war criminals must be extradited to The Hague to stand trial.
The International Criminal Tribunal has been attempting to fulfil its mandate under difficult circumstances, in which it has only recently seen a number of successes. Under its statute, it is not permitted to try suspects in absentia. However, under Rule 61, where there has been a failure after some time to execute arrest warrants, such as in the case of Karadzic and Mladic, the tribunal has the opportunity to review its indictment against the suspect. A Rule 61 hearing is not a trial, merely a review by the judges of the evidence before the tribunal and a chance for it to respond to the failure by the parties to comply with the arrest warrant. If the judges decide that the indictment was correct, they must issue an international warrant of arrest, which binds all states. Rule 61 hearings also permit public exposure of the evidence which supports the indictment, allowing victims of vicious and horrific crimes against humanity a chance to tell their story.
Once a defendant is brought or voluntarily appears before the tribunal, to answer to the charges made against him, he is allowed a full defence. Until that time no trial may be held of the charges against him and, therefore, no person is required to appear in his defence. Mr. Karadzic has the same right to a defence as any other individual, but he must first present himself before the tribunal in order to exercise that right.
I will visit the region of former Yugoslavia next week in my capacity as President of the Council of Ministers. The issues addressed in this response, namely the progress towards establishment of proper conditions for elections and compliance with the International Criminal Tribunal, will be among those which I will raise in my discussions there.
Is the Minister aware that the proposed elections on 14 September will be based on the electoral register of some date in 1991 before the worst of the conflict arose in Bosnia and that a very high proportion of the people registered in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the early part of 1991 now live outside Bosnia or in a different part of the country and almost certainly do not have access to their former homes, particularly if they lived in the Serboccupied part of the country? How is it considered possible to have normal, free, fair or democratic elections when it is impossible for a significant proportion of the electorate to travel to vote and there is, apparently, no arrangement for any form of postal or proxy voting?
Is the Minister further aware that the election held in Mostar during the past week or so is not in any sense an example of what the position might be in Bosnia?
Is he aware that Mostar is a relatively small city divided by a river with the Muslims on one side and the Croats on the other, that there are no Serbs and there are 2,500 heavily armed IFOR troops in the city who do not let anything untoward happen? The conditions which existed in Mostar on polling day could not be replicated in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a whole and particularly could not be replicated in the Serb occupied part. Will he comment on the difficulties which have arisen and say how in the circumstances elections can be held?
I understand the Deputy's concerns. They are concerns we have voiced from time to time. The Dayton Agreement set out a certain scenario including elections, the OSCE was charged with assessing whether the election should take place and Mr. Cotti, President of the OSCE, spent a great deal of his time and energy over a period of months assessing the election process. It is worth reflecting on what Mr. Cotti said given the amount of time and effort he and the OSCE team spent in assessing whether the elections should go ahead. We have to accept that the situation is far from perfect. I would not attempt to equate Mostar, which as the Deputy rightly said is a small city with clear divisions, with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The elections were devised to cater for those divisions. My brief informs me that there Muslims, Croats and Serbs voted in the city of Mostar and the elections were considered to be generally satisfactory. I agree there was a heavy presence of IFOR troops. Elections are scheduled for 12 September where on the balance of probabilities it is considered by international agencies and by most Governments who have expressed views on it that it is the correct procedure. I would not attempt to suggest, on the basis of the Mostar elections, that success is guaranteed in terms of free and fair elections or democratic procedures in respect of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The alternative is so bleak we should get on with the elections in the best possible way and ensure we keep moving on the Dayton Ohio agreement. If we were to lose the momentum of the Dayton agreement I fear the future would be bleak in the region.
In view of the failure of Mr. Karadzic to deliver himself or Mladic or any of the other 50, approximately, Serb people who have been indicated for war crimes of a serious nature will the Tánaiste in his capacity as President of the Council of Ministers advocate the reimposition of sanctions not only against the self-declared Republic of Srpska within Bosnia but against Serbia? Experience has shown that those sanctions were effective against Serbia and are the only means likely, short of full scale military intervention, to bring the Bosnian Serbs to their senses.
Under the terms of the relevant security council resolutions, sanctions against the Republic of Srpska or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can be reimposed by the UN Security Council if this is recommended by the high representative. In the event of such non-compliance with the terms of the peace agreement such a decision would have the support of the European Union. We want to be clear about that. There is no doubt that sanctions had the desired effect in the past. We are close to a situation where sanctions will have to be reimposed and I would support that.
I am very glad to hear that.
The time for dealing with priority questions is clearly exhausted but I shall deal with priority Questions Nos. 4 and 5 in accordance with the revised Standing Orders of the House.
I wish to register my protest. I have adhered to the procedure and although I have a question on the Order Paper, it has been taken in such a form that I do not have an opportunity to ask a supplementary. This is the second time I have protested to the Department and the same Minister. I appreciate this is outside your control and I appreciate being given an opportunity to have my protest registered.
I do not think the Irish people will suffer unduly because of that.
As a Member of this House the Deputy is entitled to ask his question and to receive an answer. It certainly does not deserve the smart ass remark we got from the Minister.
I am happy to deal with the Deputy's questions at any time, inside or outside the House.
Question No. 4 is being called in ordinary time and supplementary questions may be put by Members other than the Member who has tabled the question, including Deputy Callely.
