YouSaid · the spoken record

Sacirbey

lines on the record: 379
first: 1992-11-13
most recent: 2000-10-26
sittings or episodes: 32
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We must sadly state that the so-called certifications from the Co-Chairmen of the ICFY Steering Committee, along with their reports, sanitized or not, did not fill us with confidence when compared to the mountain of independent evidence to the contrary. We request that the Security Council, the Secretariat and the ICFY Mission take note that, after all, this monitoring Mission is along the border of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this context, we welcome the overdue provision contained in paragraph 16 of draft resolution S/1995/319, which calls upon the ICFY Mission to provide the relevant Government with its observations and findings - and, we must assume, without manipulation of such information.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“If the international community and certain world Powers are sincerely of the View that new weapons and strategic material add fuel to the fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then they must first, and strictly, apply this policy - for practical, psychological, moral and legal reasons - to the arsonists, those that originally set the fire, including the aggressor across the border. The Secretary General, the Co-Chairmen and other members of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia (ICFY) Mission, the members of the Security Council and others must be vigilant in ensuring that the Mission is effective and that the resources are adequate, in providing independent evidence of violations, and in making other necessary adjustments, including the potential deployment of more experts and troops, along the border.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“With this well-based and healthy skepticism we therefore welcome today's draft resolution as clearly trumpeting "no more business as usual": no more illusion and concealing. The new mechanisms and reporting systems should all help us advance towards the desired result. In addition, we must emphasize the essential ingredient in the hoped-for success for this refurbished system: Member States must provide - and I emphasize "must provide" - all the necessary resources for this new system to be effective. We have all too painfully learned that preventive measures faithfully undertaken are much more effective, efficient and ultimately economical than corrective steps taken after the damage is done.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“The leadership of the Belgrade regime - or more accurately, the one dictatorial leader - maintains the duplicitous confidence that he is the grand matador, who on the one hand, feints - projects to the world the cape of his innocence and disarmed ambitions - while on the other hand keeping his sword discreetly hidden behind the cape. One would be almost tempted to exclaim a cynical "Ole'" if it were not for the carnage and for the fact that this is not entertainment. National sovereignty and territorial integrity, regional stability, international peace and security and, most important, human life - Bosnian, Croatian, Serb, French, British, Pakistani, Malaysian, Bangladeshi, Dutch and many others - are very much at stake, as we have all come to learn painfully over the last three years.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“Without the efforts of those States, the Council today probably would be engaged in an exercise of fatalism and of legitimizing fictions. To be sure, we still have a long way to go before we can ascertain, much less herald, that the new border- sealing and monitoring system is effective. And we certainly cannot be satisfied that the Belgrade regime continues to refuse to recognize its neighbours, including the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina; that this regime has failed to cease its ideological and material support for an ethnically homogeneous and dictatorial "Greater Serbia"; and that this regime therefore still reneges on making a sincere commitment for peace.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“The lack of decisive measures and the continuation of the war and "ethnic cleansing" against our citizens and our Republic indicate amply that it is not that we do not know how to be appreciative, but ultimately that the bottom line has left us with little to be appreciative about except the humanitarian assistance and good wishes of the international community and our own determination and sacrifices for survival. It does indeed give us satisfaction today to thank the Council for its efforts to tighten the effectiveness of the border-sealing regime and, in particular, to thank those Member States that have striven for this objective and that have been diligent and credible in alerting us to the violations and flaws in the system.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“Let me welcome you, Sir, to the Council on this most notable occasion. It is a pleasure to have you in our midst today. Let me also take this opportunity to personally congratulate my colleague from the Central European Initiative, His Excellency Ambassador Karel Kovanda, on the most capable and elegant manner in which he has managed the tumultuous work - if you will, the April storms - of the Security Council. I would also extend my sincere appreciation to His Excellency Ambassador Li Zhaoxing and the entire Chinese delegation for their efforts during the month of March. Although frequently the subject of debate within the Council, unfortunately Bosnia and Herzegovina has not had the opportunity to be frequently thankful for the results of those debates.”
1995-04-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3522 (1995) · source
“While those that have fashioned this peace plan shy away from any compulsion to press the Serbians to accept the Contact Group peace plan, it is our own will, sacrifices and capacity to defend our Republic that are the most effective modalities for shaking the Pale and Belgrade Serbs from their intransigence and convincing them to accept even the minimum of compromise demanded of them by the international community. It is our country, our territorial integrity, our sovereignty and the lives of our citizens that are at stake. It is your Council's, Contact Group peace plan. We have the unabridgeable right and responsibility to defend the former and the sincere desire to realize the latter. We have made our choices and have supported them with words and deeds. Council members have also expressed their choices with words.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“Confronted by a toothless international Contact Group, unwilling Western Powers, a muzzled NATO and UNPROFOR tactics promoting the status quo, it is no wonder that the Pale Serbs believe that their reality of conquest, "ethnic cleansing" and occupation on the ground will prevail over the paper maps, documents and words of the Contact Group peacemakers. This is the plan of the Contact Group. We have not fashioned it or trumpeted it, nor are we enthusiastic about it. None the less, we have compromised, and accepted this plan. We are sober about its mixed consequences and the reality of the long struggle before us to reintegrate our Republic and to bring a real peace to our people. It also seems, unfortunately, that the Bosnians are once again the truest of believers, the most committed to this peace plan.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“More disconcerting, the tactics of UNPROFOR commanders are too frequently not consistent with the dynamics that are necessary to bring about forward momentum in pressing the Pale Serbs to accept the international Contact Group peace plan. Instead, UNPROFOR tactics are designed to promote the status quo, but they also have the effect of helping assure the Pale Serbs that they can freeze the situation on the ground. The United Nations mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it currently stands, can be only a temporary substitute for a real, comprehensive and durable peace in our country.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“We request that these illegal weapons within our borders be removed, or neutralized. We continue to believe that those most urgent issues should be addressed immediately as the initial part of a more comprehensive review. We remain of the firm View that modalities and a time-frame must be established for the review. Most importantly, the review should incorporate the contributions of the Security Council, of the troop contributors, of interested regional organizations and Member States, of the Secretariat, and of the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The efforts and tactics of UNPROFOR must be better coordinated with the strategy of the peace process and with peacemaking. Unfortunately, UNPROFOR's vulnerability - perceived or real - is manipulated by the Serbians to undermine the peace effort.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“Our regret is further amplified by the fact that we are deemed to be subject to an international arms embargo de facto restricting our capacity for self-defence and making us even more dependent upon the international community's responsibility for preserving international peace and security. As already outlined in our letter to the Secretary- General dated 28 March 1995, the recent Serbian deployment of new anti-aircraft systems through much of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a direct challenge to the United Nations and its mandate in our Republic, and a threat to the individuals executing that mandate. It is the most serious factor, causing the greatest deterioration in the humanitarian, military and political environment in our Republic over the last year.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“Efforts to date have not been adequate, and a more effective strategy must be devised to stop these crimes. That is the political, legal and moral responsibility of this institution. Once again according to the Secretary General's report of 22 March 1995, the so-called Krajina Serbs continue to violate our international border, as well as the status of the United Nations Protected Areas within the Republic of Croatia, by their direct involvement in the assault upon Bihac. We request that modalities be established to stop these violations of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, emanating across our international border from areas ostensibly under United Nations control. We support the efforts of the Republic of Croatia to have these borders sealed.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“The Serbians hope to accomplish their crime by cutting down snippets of human life not noticeable to an increasingly disengaged international community until the entire tree of human life in places such as Srebrenica has been eradicated. We demand a response to this dastardly practice of human pruning through a more responsive and resolute plan - as has been already authorized by the Council - which should include, of course, the resort to air-drops and force if necessary. Despite the numerous reminders citing the Geneva Conventions and the calls upon the Serbian military and political leadership to halt and reverse their practice of "ethnic cleansing", these crimes continue, abated only by the rapidly decreasing number of potential human victims - as is, in fact, pointed out in the Secretary- General's report of 22 March 1995.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“Of course, the authority already also exists for the siege of Sarajevo to be truly lifted. I say to the members of the Council that "your tolerance, even institutionalization, of this siege can no longer be justified". The civilian populations of the Srebrenica, Zepa, Gorazde and Bihac safe areas are systematically deprived of the essentials of life by the besieging Serbian forces. According to the United Nations own reports, 20 per cent of the population of Bihac is at risk of starvation. Furthermore, while some food is allowed to pass, the Serbians have resorted to selectively denying certain less prominent essentials, such as vitamins, mineral nutrients, medicines and even soap and toothpaste. This is a strategy of committing genocide by the pruning method.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“T0 at least mitigate the symptoms of this siege, the lifeline to Sarajevo, the "Blue Route", must be taken under United Nations protection; the Sarajevo airport access routes must be freed of illegal Serbian roadblocks; and Sarajevo citizens must be liberated from the snipers and those once again raining shells upon them, who use human prey to promote the goal of political intimidation. This is not something new that we request of UNPROFOR or something that requires fresh Security Council action. The Security Council authority already exists. All that is needed is the will to carry it out. These are also essential steps for the efforts of Mr. William Eagleton, the Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for Sarajevo, to really move ahead with his responsibilities for the rebuilding of Sarajevo.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“UNPROFOR's limited success in providing humanitarian assistance is gradually sinking ever lower and, as critically, UNPROFOR's mission is actually being brought into contradiction with the overall efforts to bring about peace within our country. For this reason, we have requested that UNPROFOR's mandate - and, in particular, its implementation - be comprehensively reviewed. In the performance of its humanitarian mission, UNPROFOR must strive to ascend to the level of its mandate, as given by the Security Council, in order to escape the downward spiral in which it is now caught. The three-year siege of Sarajevo has now become the longest siege in modern history. It has become an institution, one that is both lamented and, unfortunately, tolerated by the Powers.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“Moreover, those behind the strategy of usurping UNPROFOR for the purpose of substituting it for peacemaking must be judged guilty also of allowing aggression and genocide to continue, of endangering international peace and security, and of betraying their responsibilities to this institution, the United Nations. The betrayal of the League of Nations was unprecedented. The dangers to the United Nations, on the other hand, we cannot claim are unforeseen. The same apocalyptic mistake repeated again in the twentieth century could be judged only in the harshest of terms, including selfishness, prejudice and demagoguery. Unfortunately, it appears that we have still not reached the bottom rung of Dante's Inferno in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“On the other hand, each one of you members of the Security Council must judge for yourself as to whether the response of your countries, your Governments, is consistent with the principles that you promote. Clearly, as a union of nations, this Organization, the United Nations, must be viewed as politically weaker, legally violated and morally weakened by what has been allowed to be waged upon our Republic. UNPROFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been usurped. It has become a substitute for real peacemaking. After three years of this imposed role, UNPROFOR, as this substitute, must be judged a failure.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“Excuse us if we do not seem adequately grateful for the food that we are given, but after three years of sieges that the world Powers could have confronted and lifted by now, we believe the members of the Council should be thankful to us for, while our physical existence resembles that of livestock held in pens, fed but none the less surrounded and awaiting our fate, we in Sarajevo and elsewhere within our nation have continued to be the true believers in and the practitioners of the principles that members here preach from the comforts of their unaffected lifestyles. We have had our commitments to tolerance, coexistence, human rights and democracy tested, and we have passed - not always without danger or setbacks, but we have passed.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“It must be clear to all of us that we cannot hope to keep a people alive indefinitely through delivery of food if they are targeted for eradication by all means available, from starvation and nutrient deprivation to sniping and shelling. Similarly, food delivered free cannot be a substitute for people's opportunities to earn their own food, to raise their families, to pursue their professional goals, and to see their society prosper.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“We wish once again to express our appreciation to all those individuals and those nations that have volunteered their young men and women sincerely to serve the cause of humanity and peace in our country. If we are to judge the United Nations mission in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis of its fulfilment of humanitarian goals, then the verdict is unfortunately inconclusive. While we are truly thankful for every single life that has been saved, we must be bitter about all the lives that have not been reached to be rescued and, most critically today, about all the lives that, after three years of systematic human rights abuses, deprivation and sieges, continue to be endangered and subject to the whims of those who have proven their disregard for human life.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“At the outset, let me take the opportunity to commend the fashion in which the delegation of China has held the presidency of the Security Council, and in particular to thank Mr. Li Zhaoxing. Let me also take the opportunity to commend and thank the Permanent Representative of Botswana for the excellent fashion in which his delegation led the work of the Security Council last month, and in particular to point out the excellent efforts and work of Mr. Legwaila Joseph Legwaila. If we are to judge the United Nations mission in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the commitment, courage and character of the individuals involved, then it must be ruled a success. The sacrifices that many have made, including the ultimate sacrifice, of life, amply support this conclusion, and we are not insensitive to it.”
1995-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3512 (1995) · source
“No matter what delusions may have been behind the course set out by resolution 943 (1994), and no matter what faults may endanger the very seaworthiness of the vessel, it is a ship that has been set sailing by the Security Council and therefore on which we are passengers, unwitting or otherwise. We therefore do not look to drill holes in the hull of this ship. On the contrary, we will look, as any passenger would, to bale out water, plug the leaks and keep the course steady. However, the Security Council must take the responsibility of ensuring that the objectives of resolution 943 (1994) are being advanced and that the holes are being adequately plugged, or the ship must reverse course, with the realization that this effort by the Council was at least premature.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“The so-called Croatian and Bosnian Serbs could not have executed their coordinated assault against the Bihac safe area and region without the fuel and other supplies that were transported to the attackers as part of the misuse of the monitoring mission established pursuant to resolution 943 (1994) or, in fact, in direct avoidance of it. Certainly, one must also wonder to what extent we are to be led to further delusions in believing that the so- called Croatian Serbs could have become full accomplices in the coordinated assault on Bihac without at least the acquiescence, if not the outright support, of Belgrade.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“Failure to recognize its neighbours and continue the status quo indefinitely allows the Belgrade regime to plead one case to the international audience, but, in fact, to maintain its ultra-nationalist credentials and still fuel the vision of a Greater Serbia. Finally, the overall peace process that is in theory to be supported by the draft resolution is moribund as long as the so-called Croatian Serbs continue to conduct cross- border aggression against, and to occupy parts of, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Bihac region. This violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been directly facilitated by the misuse of resolution 943 (1994) and the delusions that led to its adoption.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“Secondly, the Security Council cannot continue 100 days hereafter to further reward the Belgrade regime with another easing of sanctions, unless the Belgrade regime takes the most basic step to start to reverse the perverse ideology of a Greater Serbia, which it has initiated and still nurtures. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) should not be allowed in the future to benefit from the self-serving claim that it is promoting peace with its neighbours until it recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours - the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the other former Yugoslav Republics.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“The current methodology established to deter violations of the Bosnian border with Serbia is nonsensical. It is analogous to allowing the rats to guard the cheese from the mice while a near-sighted cat is asked to report as to how much cheese is being taken and who is stealing it. The logic of this methodology only becomes clear once we understand that it is the rat who is dictating the terms to provide an alibi and demonstrate his innocence. Although the effectively blind cat can even smell the cheese on the rat's breath, it cannot report that it has actually seen the rat stealing the cheese. The Security Council really should not be brought to the level of being dictated to by the rat, who has already even admitted previous treachery, and it can certainly afford to ensure that the cat at least has glasses.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“Although we can endorse the stated objectives behind the resolution, we must continue to question its application. Therefore, we recommend that the next time the methodology comes before the Council for review - on or before 21 April 1995 - the Council should establish a new methodology that: first, no longer monitors the Serbians that are supposed to be monitoring the border, but actually monitors the border; secondly, provides the international monitoring force with adequate resources and manpower, certainly more than the couple of hundred people now lightly equipped to actually observe a border of approximately 500 kilometres; and, thirdly, is properly delegated under an appropriate command structure and authority consistent with a mandate designed to truly seal or monitor the border.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“This would appear to be a most basic element of respect for international law, but apparently not for those who have placed their persona above the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the two Republics as well as the authority of the Security Council's resolutions, in particular resolution 820 (1993). With respect to the language in the draft resolution, we would like to clarify that our Republic concurs with all shipments of essential humanitarian supplies consistent with our territorial integrity and sovereignty. Unfortunately, though, our endorsement of the changes and improvements on resolution 943 (1994) must be tempered by the following factors. First, can the methodology of border monitoring - or, more accurately, reporting on border monitoring - be corrected, if in fact, there is a most basic design flaw?”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“Effectively, a Security Council resolution has been hijacked to subvert its own stated objectives, to undermine other Security Council resolutions and mandates and to endanger the security of United Nations personnel. None the less, we do not wish to associate only negative and subversive motives to resolution 943 (1994), for we believe that many who supported its adoption did so sincerely. It is in this spirit that we welcome the elements of the draft resolution that are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the border monitoring mission and its reporting methodology. We also welcome the most obvious - but apparently not to all - clarification requiring that any transshipment of goods or personnel through or to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia requires the approval of their respective Governments.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“As a consequence, the Belgrade regime could usurp over-extended international observers to continue to echo its claim of no responsibility, while in fact continuing to fuel the fire that it had started in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the way, I do not use the word "fuel" here just as an analogy. It was the very fuel transported under the blind supervision of the Co-Chairmen of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia (ICFY) that allowed the allied so-called Croatian and Bosnian Serbs to carry out their aggression against the Bihac region, occupy its safe area and cause danger, suffering and even death to United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) personnel.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“In fact, on the contrary, there is evidence that there are counter-productive consequences. The reasons for this are many. Certainly, we can argue that the motivations of some who supported resolution 943 (1994), and, most importantly, the methodology established under it, were not consistent with the stated goals and objectives. The mechanisms established pursuant to resolution 943 (1994) to monitor the border and implement the resolutions's stated objectives were flawed and inadequate from their inception. These established mechanisms ensured compliance by their inadequacy to witness and report non-compliance.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“Resolution 943 (1994) was adopted, by less than a unanimous vote, to achieve at least the following stated goals: First, to encourage the so-called Bosnian Serbs to accept the Contact Group peace plan by rewarding the Belgrade regime for perceived steps to cut off and further isolate the so-called Bosnian or Pale Serbs. Secondly, to limit the resources available to the so-called Bosnian Serbs to continue their military campaigns and aggression in lieu of accepting this peace. Thirdly, to encourage the Belgrade regime to take further steps to create an environment suitable for a durable and just peace and reverse the consequences of Belgrade's pivotal role as an aggressor against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am afraid that we can all agree that none of those objectives have been realized.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“The Security Council has before it a draft resolution, contained in document S/ 1995/21, to extend for another hundred days the easing of sanctions methodology adopted under resolution 943 (1994), of 23 September 1994, with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). The lessons of the last one hundred days compel us not to repeat the same mistakes, for none of the stated objectives behind resolution 943 (1994) have been realized. At the same time, unfortunately, resolution 943 (1994) has set in motion a course that today is most difficult to reverse. Our attempt will be not to acquiesce in this course, or the mistakes, but to maximize what can be salvaged from what is clearly an effort that is quickly taking on water.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“First, Mr. President, let me welcome you to your new position, and extend to you our warmest wishes for a successful month and our full cooperation in the endeavours of the Security Council under your leadership. Let me also acknowledge the capable and faithful commitment of the Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the position of the President of the Security Council for the previous month, and let me finally acknowledge the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, a country that is a neighbour and friend of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and welcome him to this Chamber.”
1995-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3487 (1995) · source
“Finally, I believe it to be most absurd to suggest that any defensive action by the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within its own Republic can in any way justify a cross-border attack, an act of aggression from the United Nations protected areas in a neighbouring country.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“I believe that this member's comments would have been more accurate if the denial of this humanitarian assistance and the refusal of the Serbian party to accept the Contact Group peace plan had been defined as provocative acts, now persisting for over two and a half years. We, the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cannot shoulder the responsibility of the Contact Group - in particular, some members of the Contact Group - to bring the Serbian side to accept the plan. We continue to do our part to defend our territorial integrity and sovereignty and still maintain, no matter how difficult it may be, our commitment to the Contact Group peace plan.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“I am sure that this Council member would not wish to have his statement before the Council today understood as either usurping the current draft resolution in an attempt to abridge our Republic's territorial integrity and sovereignty, in a manner most inconsistent with the United Nations Charter, or as an attempt to mitigate the responsibility for these attacks of those who have targeted civilians with artillery, helicopters, aircraft, ground-to-ground missiles and even napalm and cluster bombs. Anyway, the blocking of humanitarian supplies to the Bihac area has taken place since May 1994 - well before any so-called provocative actions.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“This would be to reverse the entire concept of neutrality and peace- keeping - effectively, to serve the purposes of the status quo, the maintenance of the barbaric sieges and inhumane partition. On the basis of efforts in this regard, in respect of Sarajevo, we are prepared sincerely to evaluate other options for other safe areas that would not undermine our territorial integrity or sovereignty, United Nations Security Council resolutions and the peace process. One member of the Security Council has suggested that the attacks upon the civilian population of the Bihac area were somehow provoked by defensive actions of the army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina against other military elements invading or carrying out aggression against our country.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“As for the issue of Sarajevo, we have all along proposed to the Council and all who would listen that we favour the demilitarization of Sarajevo - that is, a demilitarization consistent with the Contact Group peace plan, with the opening up of the city from within and without, and as a united city, and not demilitarization that would impose on Sarajevo the shame of being divided in the same way as Berlin was divided in the post-Second- World-War era. We remain prepared to move ahead, but we must not delude ourselves into taking a course of action that has as its underlying basis that we shall do only that which is neutral - that is, that which is consistent with the desires of the besieger and the partitioner.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“Some may also - though I hope not - have the cynical expectation that the draft resolution before the Council will be inappropriately usurped not only to revise the definition of safe areas in a manner inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and various Security Council resolutions - in particular, resolutions 824 (1993) and 836 (1993) - but also as a way to nullify any UNPROFOR and/or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) action to protect the safe areas by, in fact, making the definition of safe areas unattainable and unrealistic. It would be most inappropriate and sad if some argued that the mandated response was not forthcoming because the safe area had once again not met the ever-moving and elusive standards defining what is a safe area.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“Until such time as the so-called Bosnian Serbs, their sponsors and their allies accept the Contact Group peace plan, until there is a comprehensive effort at peacemaking, the safe areas concept can be viewed only as a very helpful and appreciated, but, unfortunately, inadequate, tool secondary to our Government's responsibilities and efforts at defence and peacemaking. We understand that some may attempt to use this draft resolution as a means of undermining our Government's rights and responsibilities in such efforts. We remind them that they must also confront the reality of the United Nations Charter, as well as the reality of the current inadequate efforts at peacemaking in our country.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“We understand that the draft resolution before the Security Council is designed to facilitate the efforts of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) under its peace- keeping mandate. We support all such efforts consistent with our territorial integrity and sovereignty and the interests and well-being of all our citizens. I believe that all of us also understand the most critical role of the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with regard to these efforts and in peacemaking.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3462 (1994) · source
“This fuel is sufficient for both the so-called Bosnian Serbs and Krajina Serbs to carry out the very military attacks that the Council is seeking to confront with the draft resolution before us.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3461 (1994) · source
“This is blatantly a violation not only of the Council's own resolution 820 (1993) but also of the peace process. The recent Bihac experience has clearly shown us that the so-called Krajina Serbs are acting as one with the so-called Bosnian Serbs in pursuing the war and rejecting peace. It is estimated that the Serbian forces within the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina need anywhere from 5 to 15 truckloads of fuel per day to pursue their war effort. According to the reports of the Border Monitoring Mission of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, anywhere from 15 to 20 fuel trucks are in fact being allowed every day across the Serbian and Montenegrin border.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3461 (1994) · source
“Thirdly, we strongly urge that the Council adopt further measures that may be necessary to improve the situation, provide the necessary practical support for UNPROFOR forces already within the Bihac area, and put an end to measures inconsistent with the peace process. To this end, consistent with resolutions 770 (1992), 824 (1993) and 836 (1993), the Council should ensure that measures are followed through to stop the blockage by the so-called Krajina Serbs of humanitarian assistance and of UNPROFOR reinforcements and supplies. The Council should also foreclose all flows of fuel to the Krajina Serbs from the border of Serbia and Montenegro through the occupied areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3461 (1994) · source
“3) Thus, it is clear that it was the Council's intention to defend civilian centres and their surrounding areas, and not to have resolutions 824 (1993) and 836 (1993) interpreted as demarcating, within Bihac and_ its surrounding areas, a small part of the city that is protected, while surrounding villages and towns are implicitly made fair game. We have been informed today by the Secretary- General's representatives that today's plane attack against Cazin would in fact be covered by the current draft resolution. We welcome that view and express our confidence that other United Nations representatives on the ground will not engage in the arbitrary drawing of lines to define the blessed and the damned of the civilian population. The intent of the Security Council is clear here.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3461 (1994) · source
“Secondly, consistent with those legal principles, we must understand that any cross-border attack against any civilian or UNPROFOR target within the Bihac region would be responded to under the draft resolution before the Council. Let me hark back to the language of resolution 824 (1993), in which the Council "Declares that the capital city of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, and other such threatened areas, in particular the towns of Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde, Bihac, as well as Srebrenica, and their surroundings" - I. stress "their surroundings" - "should be treated as_ safe areas ...". (resolution 824 (1993), para.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3461 (1994) · source
“On this last point, an attack on UNPROFOR, our civilian population, our army, or anywhere within the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be, in every instance, a violation of our territorial integrity requiring the necessary response to such aggression as a threat to international peace and security, regardless of whether or not it involved a safe area. The present draft resolution cannot be interpreted as tolerating cross-border attacks against our Republic by focusing only on violations of - that is attacks upon - the boundaries of a safe area. The international boundaries of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be given lesser legal priority under the Charter of the United Nations than the boundaries of a safe area.”
1994-11-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3461 (1994) · source