PRESS CONFERENCE BY HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

4 April 1996

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

19960404 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Carl Bildt, High Representative for the Implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, began a Headquarters press conference yesterday afternoon, 3 April, by expressing deep condolences to the Government of the United States for the loss of Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and his party in a plane crash yesterday.

"They were in Bosnia for a mission of peace, a mission for the future, bringing business and bringing hope to the peoples of the region", Mr. Bildt said. That made the accident particularly tragic and demonstrated the need to move forward in the region.

Mr. Bildt said he had just finished briefing the Security Council on his report to the Secretary-General (document S/1996/190 of 14 March, annex) on the implementation of the Bosnian peace agreement. He had talked about the three "r's" that were necessary.

The first "r" was reconstruction, he said. That was the immediate focus of his activities at the moment, including the preparations for the ministerial-level donors conference, which he hoped would be held next weekend. There was a need to mobilize an additional $1.2 billion for immediate reconstruction needs in the current year. From New York, he would go to Kuala Lumpur to talk to representatives of the Malaysian Government, which played a significant role in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). He would then go to Tokyo to talk with Japanese officials. Following that, he would go to Sarajevo to see the situation on the ground and from there to Brussels, where he hoped the conference would be held.

He had stressed to Council members that it was vitally important that the civilian implementation efforts, including reconstruction, were properly funded. That was not yet the case, he added.

The second "r" was reintegration, he continued. Economic aid played an important part in reintegration. That had to do with the return of the refugees. It was also a question of building political bridges in a political system that had come apart in a brutal way.

The third "r" was reconciliation, which was the key to building a stable peace after a bitter war, he said. An important element of reconciliation was justice. The work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in making those who were responsible for war crimes to pay for them was a crucial element in the process of reconciliation.

He stressed the importance of the United Nations continued efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were absolutely central as regards the International Police Task Force (IPTF), which was gradually building up, and the humanitarian efforts, which were led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the area of refugee return. The knowledge of United Nations civil affairs officers of the area and of its problems was an essential contribution to his work, he added.

A correspondent referred to a statement by Mr. Bildt, according to which he said when the Implementation Force (IFOR) left his operation should be going with it. What would then be left there? he asked. Mr. Bildt said that everything had been done under the authority of the Security Council, including IFOR activities, the office of the High Representative and the IPTF. As they had been established by Council resolutions late last year, they would have to be reconsidered, reconfirmed or reassessed during the latter part of this year.

Concerning the continued security presence, he expressed the hope that by the end of the year there would be as little need as possible for that. There would be a need for the continuation of the IPTF, and perhaps some type of back-up to it, he added. However, he could not foresee a scenario with a need for an IFOR-structure or an IFOR-size force. The civilian structure, including the office of the High Representative, would have to be reassessed as well, and he might have a strong opinion on that at some point.

Asked about difficulties in establishing IPTF and how many men he had already, Mr. Bildt said he had none. The United Nations was running the police operation. Roughly a third of those mandated were in place. There was a fundamental difference between military and police officers. The military operated as units. Policemen were recruited individually and were a scarce commodity, especially experienced police officers. There was a requirement of eight years experience of active duty to be part of a United Nations CIVPOL operation. As they operated alone, sometimes with one interpreter, they had to be very competent. That had been one of the problems in building up the IPTF. He added that the creation of that Force would not have been possible without the efforts of the United Nations, which included transferring CIVPOL officers from the operation in Croatia into Bosnia.

Had he been in contact in the past with Secretary Brown and could he describe how important a role he had been playing in trying to encourage investments in Bosnia? a correspondent asked. Mr. Bildt said he had met with him prior to his own appointment as High Representative. However, his staff was supposed to have met with him today -- 4 April -- in Sarajevo. He had a personal interest. He was not just being sent off to do something.

He was doing something extremely important, Mr. Bildt continued. He was making sure that the image of Bosnia shown on television was not only of

Carl Bildt Briefing - 3 - 4 April 1996

soldiers, tanks and burning houses, but also the image of a country coming back, with businesses, employment and opportunities that required assistance from the outside world, not only from intergovernmental organizations and donor countries, but from the private sector, as well. That was very significant and made his death even more tragic.

Replying to a question on his authority to report to the Council "failures" by the parties to implement the Peace Agreement on Bosnia Herzegovina, and whether failing to deliver a person indicted by the Tribunal would be considered a failure in that regard, Mr. Bildt said that persons indicted for war crimes were running loose everywhere, in all the entities and all the countries. Particularly provocative was the fact that two of them were continuing to hold public office in violation of the Peace Agreement -- Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic in the Republika Srpska. He had made clear to those concerned that he had the authority to report those failures to the Council, when the question of reimposition of sanctions was considered. However, it would be unwise for him to discuss those matter publicly.

Concerning prisoners of war, he said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had stated yesterday, 3 April, that at least 88 were still being held. That was the most obvious case of deliberate non-compliance with the Peace Agreement. All of them should have been released by 19 January. Two weeks ago 220 had been released. He had said in a meeting in Geneva with those concerned that "You have to do it. You have to release them".

One of the key things that must be achieved was freedom of movement, so people could move without fear of being detained, he said. However, some persons were being detained, because those doing the detaining wanted to have something with which to trade. That was having a very detrimental effect on the climate of trust necessary to make freedom of movement a reality, and that was critical to refugee returns and to the holding of a free and fair election. That was why the POW issue was so important. The three armies were holding prisoners. Reviewing attempts to try to have prisoners released, he said that different ways of handling the situation were being currently discussed and he hoped there would be a solution within the next 24 hours.

Asked about the present state of his relations with the United States administration, he said there had been a perception in the United States media, in particular, that the operation was a military one, but that was not the case. Then there was a perception that a civilian implementation structure was required. It was true that such a structure was not there in the beginning, because the structure that had been there, the United Nations structure, had been disbanded due to a political decision taken by the Security Council.

Carl Bildt Briefing - 4 - 4 April 1996

His operation then had started literally from scratch, he continued. He was given a Council resolution endorsing his appointment and managed to get some money from the European Parliament with that text. He then went to Sarajevo and started to open his office, which was fully deployed before IFOR was fully deployed. He had just spent two days in Washington in consultations with senior American officials and had now a very good and close relationship with the United States administration.

Who would pay the $1.2 billion that would be used for the reconstruction? a correspondent asked. "I wish I knew", he said. Adding the contributions he was aware of, two thirds of that amount were already available. So one third was still required and much work needed to be done in that regard.

Was it true that he wanted to leave his job and what were the chances of the elections taking place in September as scheduled? a correspondent asked. Mr. Bildt said his job would disappear at the end of the year, as all the operations had one-year mandates. Asked whether it should be renewed, he said that remained to be seen, although he felt the one-year mandate was positive. There was a tendency for peace-keeping operations to continue for very long periods. The Bosnia operation was unique and would have to be reassessed by the Council. He did not have an assessment of the needs and of the situation at this point.

As for the election, scheduled for September, he said it involved extremely complex issues, such as voters registration and absentee balloting, as well as freedom of the press.

A correspondent said that the Bosnian Serb Parliament had decided that Mr. Karadzic would be its representative for international affairs. Did that mean that Mr. Bildt would meet with an indicted war criminal? he asked. Mr. Bildt said he would not. He said he would welcome Mr. Karadzic taking a plane to somewhere else, adding that he would not have to worry about buying a return ticket.

Although the forces of ethnic separation were still far stronger than those of ethnic reintegration, Mr. Bildt seemed to be optimistic, a correspondent said. Mr. Bildt said it was because he felt it was possible to stop and reverse the process. There was fear fuelled by extremist elements driven by hatred. That would take some time to overcome, but he was confident that it could and must be done.

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