bosnet-digest V5 #72 / Tuesday, 20 February 1996
Subject: bosnet-digest V5 #72 / Tuesday, 20 February 1996
CONTENTS
[01] Dole/Lieberman/Helms/Hatch Letter to Clinton
[02] Tribunal Watch: Rome Summit -- War Crimes Issues
[03] Sarajevo job.
[01] Dole/Lieberman/Helms/Hatch Letter to Clinton
Sender: Tribunal Watch List <[email protected]>
UNITED STATES SENATE
Office of the Republican Leader
Washington, DC 20610-7010
February 13, 1996
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to express our outrage at press reports that indicted
war criminal Radovan Karadzic and his motorcade passed through several NATO
checkpoints -- two of which were manned by American soldiers -- last
weekend. According to these reports NATO officials, when asked about this
incident, stated that troops at these checkpoints have not been provided
with a list of names of those indicted by the International Tribunal on War
Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia, nor with any photographs of these indicted
individuals. They added that NATO's Implementation Force (IFOR) is
focusing on military tasks. While we do not advocate IFOR getting into the
business of hunting down war criminals, such a "see no evil" policy is
unconscionable and contrary to Admiral Leighton Smith's pledge to provide
assistance in the detention and capture of indicted war criminals.
Specifically, we would like to know what the NATO investigation into
this weekend's incident has revealed. Furthermore, we would like to know
what U.S. policy is with respect to the apprehension of war criminals by
U.S. units in IFOR, if and when they are encountered by them. We would
also like to know whether or not U.S. and other soldiers in IFOR -- in
particular those manning checkpoints -- are being provided with the names
and photographs (where possible) of individuals indicted by the War Crimes
Tribunal.
While we welcome the extradition of General Djukic and Colonel
Krsmanovic, we are concerned about the ramifications of the deal struck by
Assistant Secretary Holbrooke on the future apprehension of suspected war
criminals. Will there be a gap between the Bosnian Government's providing
information to the Tribunal and the Tribunal processing that information?
In addition, we would like to know what procedures are in place for turning
over indicted war criminals to the Hague, including who will escort them,
how they will be transported, and what measures the United States has taken
to ensure that incidents such as this weekend's will not occur again. Are
the procedures used to extradite General Djukic and Colonel Krsmanovic
going to be formalized? Please inform us if there are any disputes among
our NATO allies on how to deal with indicted war criminals. Finally, we
request that you provide us with details regarding Russian contacts with
General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. According to Russian press
reports, General Leontiy Shevtsov, deputy to General Joulwan, has met with
both Karadzic and Mladic.
Mr. President, you pledged that your administration is fully committed to
supporting and cooperating with the War Crimes Tribunal -- a pledge we
fully support. In our view, the U.S. Government's response to the
incidents of the past few days is a true test of that pledge. While we
recognize that freedom of movement is a key objective of the Dayton
agreement, that must not mean that those who committed genocide are given a
free ride. If the United States does not lead and take a firm stand on war
crimes, NATO's implementation efforts will be futile. There cannot be a
genuine and lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina without bringing war
criminals to justice.
The Congress has demonstrated its commitment to upholding the war crimes
process through a number of legislative measures, including legislation to
provide authority to the Justice Department to fully cooperate with the War
Crimes Tribunal and legislation to prohibit assistance to countries that
provide sanctuary to war criminals. We urge you to exercise the leadership
necessary to ensure that indicted war criminals are brought to justice and
that the NATO-led IFOR plays a genuinely supportive role in that effort.
Sincerely,
Joseph Lieberman Bob Dole
Jesse Helms Orrin Hatch
Opinions expressed/published on BosNews/BosNet-B do NOT necessarily
always reflect the views of (all of the members of) Editorial Board,
and/or moderators, nor any of their host institutions.
Murat Erkocevic <[email protected]>
Dzevat Omeragic <[email protected]>
Davor Wagner <[email protected]>
Nermin Zukic <[email protected]>
[02] Tribunal Watch: Rome Summit -- War Crimes Issues
Sender: Tribunal Watch List <[email protected]>
The Rome summit produced essentially the same outcome on war crimes as
produced last week by Holbrooke's shuttle between Sarajevo and Belgrade.
The Bosnian Serbs got a pretty big carrot for their efforts -- relief from
economic sanctions, subject only to a review by an IFOR military leadership
that has not been particularly supportive of actual apprehensions.
One major disappointment was that nothing was said about removal of
indicted war criminals from power. Assistant Secretary of State John
Shattuck said that Karadzic and Mladic were the "big losers" out of Rome,
but, if that's so, it was through something other than the public
documents.
The Rome summit produced these four documents:
o Joint Statement (Tudjman and Milosevic) "to step up the process
of normalization of relations" between Croatia and the FRY.
[Lawyer's quibble: From what does Milosevic, president of Serbia,
have the legal authority to issue such a statement on behalf of
the FRY? If he has the authority under some law or decree to
commit the FRY, does that open him up for responsibility for other
matters?]
o Joint Statement on the Federation (Izetbegovic, Tudjman, Zubak,
Ganic) -- Mostar, customs and tax authorities, cantonal borders,
refugees and freedom of movement, pensions and civil service
salaries, defense ("the lack of a basic defense law creates
uncertainties that are undesirable"), monitoring progress, and
a meeting to commemorate the second anniversary of the founding
of the Federation.
o Rome Statement on Sarajevo (supported by Pres. Izetbegovic,
Pres. Milosevic, PM Muratovic, Pres. Zubak, PM Kasagic).
o Agreed Measures (agreed by Izetbegovic, Tudjman and Milosevic)
-- full cooperation on implementation, military implementation,
Sarajevo, release of prisoners of war and search for missing
persons, cooperation on war crimes and respect for human
rights [see below], economic cooperation and development, and
bilateral relations (the Izetbegovic-Milosevic "hot line").
The full text of the provisions for Cooperation on War Crimes and Respect
for Human Rights:
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As part of their obligation to cooperate fully in the investigation and
proseuction of war crimes and other violations of international
humanitarian law, as provided in Article IX of the General Framework
Agreement, the Parties will provide unrestricted access to places,
including mass grave sites, relevant to such crimes and to persons with
relevant information. IFOR will work to provide a secure environment for
the completion of these tasks.
Persons, other than those already indicted by the International Tribunal,
may be arrested and detained for serious violations of international
humanitarian law only pursuant to a previously issued order, warrant, or
indictment that has been reviewed and deemed consistent with international
legal standards by the International Tribunal. Procedures will be
developed for expeditious decision by the Tribunal and will be effective
immediately upon such action.
The adoption of the Law on Amnesty by the legislature of the central
government is a welcome development. The Federation and the Republika
Srpska will enact similar amnesty laws.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that the second paragraph is, except for the first comma-phrase,
identical to the Declaration of the Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina last
week.
Opinions expressed/published on BosNews/BosNet-B do NOT necessarily
always reflect the views of (all of the members of) Editorial Board,
and/or moderators, nor any of their host institutions.
Murat Erkocevic <[email protected]>
Dzevat Omeragic <[email protected]>
Davor Wagner <[email protected]>
Nermin Zukic <[email protected]>
[03] Sarajevo job.
Sender: Tribunal Watch List <[email protected]>
From: Institute for War & Peace Reporting <[email protected]>
Please post on to anyone you think might be interested, thanks - Jenny
Pearce, IWPR, Lancaster House, 33 Islington High St, London, N1 9LH.
e-mail<[email protected]>
44 171 713 7130 / fax 44 171 713 7140.
Dear Friend:
I am writing to inform you of IWPR=92s exciting new project to support the
elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As you may know, the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting (IWPR), a UK based charity, has for three years performed
intensive information and media training work in the Balkans. We are best
known for our publication War Report and for our visiting journalists
programmes.
As the Dayton peace accord is implemented, of which elections are a central
component, IWPR is launching the Election Media Monitoring Network. In
collaboration with international and Bosnian journalists, media and
electoral specialists and other partner organisations, IWPR will organise a
series of workshops for local journalists and media managers in advance of
the campaign and monitor the media coverage of the elections. This will
include preparing materials for seminars and publishing monitoring reports
during and after the vote. The project will also produce a substantial
report of its findings. In collaboration with the OSCE, all efforts will be
made to reach agreement among local media on guidelines for coverage. The
project is supported by the Open Society Institute.
We believe collaboration is key on this project, and would welcome the
suggestions of our colleagues in the field. We are also looking for various
key staff and trainers to work in the region. For the Sarajevo office we
require an established professional, with language skills and experience
both of the region and electoral or media issues in general. For the
workshops, we are seeking journalists, academics and trainers well-versed in
electoral coverage, to participate in seminars in Bosnia in the next few
months. I enclose further details and hope that you might circulate it as
you see relevant, or offer us suggestions for candidates or other thoughts.
With thanks for your attention, I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Borden
Director
Election Media Monitoring Project.
Project Director: Sarajevo. (9 months)
IWPR are seeking an experienced and mature professional, fluent in the
native language and with an in-depth knowledge of the region. This person
must have media/journalistic experience and ideally electoral or monitoring
expertise. The co-ordinator will set up the Sarajevo office, identify
monitoring partners, liaise with OSCE and all relevant bodies, organise
training workshops, supervise the monitoring programme, conduct interviews
with those involved in campaign, and be the public face of the programme.
They also need experience of coordinating a grant programme.
Duties will include:
setting up and running the Sarajevo office administration (general and
financial) and budget liaison with the London office making contact with
local media, both state and independent, owners, managers and journalists.
Working to ensure effective participation in workshops and appropriate
topics. liaising with the OSCE and local media particularly over role of
media in campaign, guidelines for coverage, and possible self-regulation.
making contact and continuing liaison with all project partners and
relevant NGOs in the region. helping to write regular monitoring reports
and writing the final full-length report.
Media trainers
The Institute of War and Peace Reporting is looking for trainers with
expertise and experience in the areas of political journalism, electoral
coverage and campaigns, media training, and media monitoring, to go to the
region for a two-week period to lead workshops for local journalists and
media managers. The main workshops will focus specifically on election
coverage. In addition there will be some separate media monitor training.
The duties will include: collaboration in curriculum and materials
preparation leading 2 four-day workshops over a period of 2 weeks, in the
region. Is likely to cover interviewing techniques, news vs editorial
coverage, public broadcasting ethics, agenda-setting, production values,
and various forms of election coverage practice e.g. access, paid vs free,
party political broadcasts etc.possible follow-up visitadvise next team
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting:
Election Media Monitoring Network.
The central hope for achieving sustained peace and reconciliation in
Bosnia-Herzegovina rests on the elections to be held in the coming months
under the Dayton peace accord. The extent to which this vote is seen to
provide democratic mandate to political proponents of moderate,
peace-orientated options within and outside Bosnia could largely determine
the prospects for long-term peace in the entire region.
IWPR, in collaboration with Bosnian and international journalists, media
organisations and electoral specialists, will provide pre-campaign training
for journalists and media managers and develop a comprehensive quantitative
and qualitative media monitoring network for the elections called for in the
Dayton peace accord. The training, monitoring and follow-up aspects of the
Programme will provide an independent and credible reference point for
assessing the fairness and accuracy of election coverage and outcome. The
Programme will also measure progress being made towards a more inclusive,
pluralist polity in the region, and assess the development of a critical=
press.
Programme: Activities will be run by the Project Director based in Sarajevo,
in liaison with the Soros Media Center/Sarajevo and IWPR/London office. IWPR
looks forward to wide collaboration on the project with, among others, Open
Media Research Institute (OMRI), the Center for War, Peace and the News
Media/New York, the Electoral Reform Society and the Open Society Institute,
which is supporting the project.
(1) Training: Prior to the election campaign three teams of international
journalists, media and electoral specialists, will run workshops for
indigenous reporters, editors and media managers. These will be held in
Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka, Tuzla, and Zenica. IWPR also intend to work in
concert with the OSCE and local media to build consensus on media
self-regulation.
(2) Monitoring: In collaboration with partner NGOs and monitoring
organisations in the region, IWPR will monitor media coverage of the
election campaign in Bosnia. The aim will be to raise awareness of the media
issue in the campaign, highlight instances of unfair or inflammatory
coverage, and support the development of media debate. The monitoring will
be performed at low-level and intensive stages, preceding and during the
campaign. The Sarajevo office will conduct interviews with all those
involved with the campaign both systematically and in response to specific
violations of reporting guidelines. Selected international coverage of the
elections will also be provided to the indigenous media, for comparative and
news purposes.
Reports will be issued to the OSCE, political parties, candidates,
international and local governmental and nongovernmental organisations, and
media in English and the mother tongue, including a supplement in IWPR=92s
publication WarReport. A summary report detailing the primary project
conclusions will be published shortly after the vote, followed by a
substantial report.
INSTITUTE FOR WAR & PEACE REPORTING <[email protected]>
Opinions expressed/published on BosNews/BosNet-B do NOT necessarily
always reflect the views of (all of the members of) Editorial Board,
and/or moderators, nor any of their host institutions.
Murat Erkocevic <[email protected]>
Dzevat Omeragic <[email protected]>
Davor Wagner <[email protected]>
Nermin Zukic <[email protected]>
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