A 'terrible war' rages on.

The devastating conflict in the former Yugoslavia - which UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali lamented had "spared no one in its violence" - remained, towards the end of 1993, the focus of peacemaking and humanitarian efforts by the UN and the international community.

Another positive international move was the convening for the first time in November 1993 of the new International Tribunal for Crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

Central to finding a solution to the crisis and setting a "new course towards peace and reconciliation" was an end to fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the UN Protected Areas (UNPAs) in Croatia, the Secretary-General said in a message to the 29 November meeting in Geneva of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union, the Co-Chairmen of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, and the parties to the Bosnian conflict.

All the techniques of diplomacy, peace-keeping and post-conflict peace-building, Mr. Boutros-Ghali stated, were at the parties' disposal, "if they can only show the political will to end this terrible war and make it possible for the international community to help them re-establish peace and prosperity in their lands".

It was hard to believe, he said, that Bosnians were being made to "endure another winter of war" when their leaders had reached agreement "on all issues but one" concerning a "small percentage of territory". It was time for the leadership of all sides in Bosnia to "reach out to one another in a spirit of compromise", as "entrenched positions entail costs for everyone", while flexibility would lead to "cooperation for mutual advantage and to international understanding and support".

Throughout October, November and December, the Steering Committee Co-Chairmen - Thorvald Stoltenberg and Sir David Owen - continued contacts with the parties, trying to build upon an agreement negotiated aboard the United Kingdom's HMS Invincible in the Adriatic Sea, off Croatia on 20 September. The package, which had been rejected by the Bosnian Assembly, provided for a constitutional agreement on a Union of the three Republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Muslim-majority Republic having no less than 30 per cent of the Union's entire territory.

A possible territorial exchange between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia - so that Bosnian Muslims could have an outlet to the sea in a deep-water area - was specifically addressed during the talks.

Between 5 October and 31 December, the Security Council met, either formally or in consultations, on three occasions to discuss the former Yugoslavia, adopting one resolution and issuing three statements.

Concerned with the continuing hostilities, the General Assembly adopted resolution 48/88 on 20 December, urging the Council to exempt Bosnia and Herzegovina from the arms embargo imposed on the former Yugoslavia under its resolution 713 (1991). The vote was 109 to none, with 57 abstentions.

The Assembly also: urged international cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina in "exercise of its inherent right of individual and collective self-defence"; condemned the continued violation by Serbian forces of the international border between Bosnia and Croatia; and asked the Council to ensure that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (Serbia and Montenegro) immediately cease the supply of military arms, equipment and services to Bosnian Serb paramilitary units.

The immediate closing of all detention camps in Serbia and Montenegro and in Bosnia and Herzegovina was asked.

The Bosnian Serb party was told to lift the siege of Sarajevo, other "safe areas" and Bosnian towns, as well as withdraw all its heavy weaponry and forces to a safe distance outside those areas, where they would be monitored by UN military observers. The Assembly demanded that all concerned parties facilitate the "unhindered flow of humanitarian assistance".

Condemning (48/153) all human rights violations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro), the Assembly on 20 December also expressed outrage (48/143) that the "systematic practice of rape" was being used as a "weapon of war and an instrument of ethnic cleansing against the women and children", particularly Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In another resolution (48/210), the Assembly on 21 December appealed to all States to aid urgently countries adversely affected by the application of sanctions against the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro).

In a 13 October statement (S/26572), the Council condemned the continued "deliberate and unjustified" blocking of the Danube River by two Serbian non-governmental organizations. It also deplored the acquiescence of FRY authorities in those "acts of interference with the river traffic" of several UN Member States. Expressing concern that those authorities continued to impose tolls on transiting foreign vessels, the Council demanded that such action cease immediately.

In resolution 48/204, adopted on 21 December, the Assembly asked for an assessment of needs for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and development of Croatia, with a view to making an international appeal for aid, if appropriate.

|Determined push'

In their "determined push for a peace agreement", extensive discussions with the three Bosnian sides were held in Geneva, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Zagreb, specifically exploring the issue of access to the sea, the Co-Chairmen of the Steering Committee reported (S/26922) on 23 December.

In that regard, the Bosnian Presidency insisted that Neum - Bosnia's only outlet to the Adriatic Sea - be allocated to the Muslim-majority Republic "on a sovereign basis". However, the Bosnian Croats argued that Neum was an "exclusively Croat area". Croatia proposed to accord the Bosnian Muslims and Serbs each a coastal area in the vicinity of the Prevlaka peninsula, but to incorporate Neum in return.

Stating that the proposed port was "too far away" and "too expensive", the Bosnian Presidency then suggested that Neum and a part of Stolac be held by the Muslim-majority and the Bosnian Croat republics "in condominium" or "joint sovereignty". The Croat side agreed to study the offer, "but only in relation to the Isthmus of Klek", not Neum.

By the end of December, agreement existed among all sides that Bosnia and Herzegovina be organized as a Union of three Republics, with the Muslim-majority Republic having 33.3 per cent and the Bosnian Croats 17.5 per cent of the territory, the Co-Chairmen said. Their appeal to observe a "holiday truce" from 23 December to 15 January had also been accepted by the three leaders, who "undertook to give instructions to their military commanders down to the local level to observe the ceasefire faithfully".

In addition, four working groups had been established to deal with: the definition of the Mostar city area that would be placed under the temporary administration of the European Union; technical arrangements for providing the Muslim-majority Republic with road and rail access to Brcko and the Sava river; access to the sea; and territorial delimitation.

Acting in close contact with the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR), staff of the International Conference sought to normalize the situation in the UNPAs in Croatia, the Secretary-General stated (S/26828) on 1 December. Due account had been taken of the "Peace Initiative" of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. UNPROFOR had helped to develop a "more positive atmosphere for the talks" and reduce tension throughout the UNPAs.

In Council resolution 871 (1993) adopted on 4 October, the Secretary-General had been asked to report within two months on progress towards implementation of the UN peace-keeping plan for Croatia and all relevant Council resolutions, as well as on the outcome of negotiations within the framework of the International Conference. In the light of that report, the Council wanted to review UNPROFOR's mandate.

Although progress was slow in the UN peace-keeping efforts in Croatia - and "quickly halted" if one side attacked territory held by the other - the Secretary-General did not recommend reconsideration of the Force's mandate.

However, the Secretary-General stated, if the international community's "very substantial" commitment to peacemaking and peace-keeping was to be sustained, the Croatian Government and the Krajina Serbs must intensify their efforts towards achievement of a cease-fire agreement, practical measures of economic cooperation, and a "lasting political settlement". They should also "extend their cooperation to UNPROFOR" in its endeavours to improve conditions in the UNPAs.

Since October, there had been moves in all UNPAs towards achieving local cease-fires, he reported. Those ranged "from a signed, formal cease-fire agreement in Sector East to |gentlemen's agreements' - oral and unsigned, but implemented - in the other three sectors".

Such local cease-fires - supported in each sector by the establishment of new observation posts, additional patrols by UN military observers, and the installation of "hot lines" with, and between, the two sides - had led to a "discernible reduction in tension and violations" throughout the UNPAs, the Secretary-General said.

At talks throughout November between the parties, a "three-step strategy" had been accepted, dealing with a cease-fire, economic reconstruction, and political questions.

The parties agreed to establish a military Joint Commission to continue practical work on "outstanding areas of dispute on the lines of separation" to be used once the cease-fire was implemented.

|No excuse'

The "magnitude and complexity" of the humanitarian operation in the former Yugoslavia had "increased dramatically" over the last two years, the Secretary-General pointed out (A/48/690) on 3 December. That was "illustrated by the numerous appeals" that had been launched - "each with a larger target population and a correspondingly greater appeal total". The most recent, seeking some $700 million in emergency aid for more than 4 million people, was launched by the UN on 8 October.

It was the third major effort in two years to mobilize emergency relief resources for the former Yugoslavia. Although humanitarian aid was "not a substitute for peace", it could "mitigate the cruel effects of war", according to Jan Eliasson, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, in a joint introduction to the appeal. Until firm steps were taken in the direction of peace, there was "no recourse but to continue all possible efforts to save the lives of children, women and men now placed at risk by the on-going conflict".

However good the response to the appeals might be, safe and unobstructed delivery of emergency assistance was a matter of growing concern. It was "distressing and shocking" that humanitarian convoys were "blocked from reaching needy people", the Secretary-General stated. There was "no excuse for this kind of behaviour".

Also, deliberate attacks and killings of peace-keeping and humanitarian personnel could not be tolerated, the Secretary-General told the 18 November Humanitarian meeting on Bosnia and Herzegovina, convened in Geneva by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). So far, 59 UNPROFOR members and 10 humanitarian workers had lost their lives assisting "their fellow human beings" in the former Yugoslavia.

On 12 November, it was reported (S/26742) that humanitarian relief convoys had entered Novi Travnik in Central Bosnia on 25 October "unaware that a battle had just begun" between Bosnian and Croatian forces. An UNPROFOR team concluded that the attack on the convoys was deliberate. "With high probability, the responsibility for the attack lies with soldiers of the Bosnian government forces", it stated.

The convoys - suspended on 25 October by the Secretary-General until an investigation of the incident in which a UNHCR staff member was killed and nine UNPROFOR members wounded - were resumed on 19 November.

|Shock, outrage'

Profound shock was expressed by the Security Council over an 8 November incident in which two members of a peace mission to the city of Vares, headed by Archbishop Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo and under UNPROFOR protection, were taken hostage by the Bosnian Serb forces.

On 9 November, the Council called (S/26717) the "outrageous act" a "flagrant challenge" to UNPROFOR's authority and inviolability, and demanded the immediate release of the hostages.

In another statement (S/26716) on the same day, the 15-member Council demanded that all parties concerned refrain from any action threatening the safety and well-being of civilians. All parties must guarantee "unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance", it said.

On 28 October, Council members "unreservedly condemned" (S/26661) the 23 October massacre of civilian population in the village of Stupni Do by Croatian troops, the attacks against UNPROFOR by "armed persons bearing uniforms of the Bosnian Government forces" and a 25 October attack in Central Bosnia on a humanitarian convoy under UNPROFOR protection. "Profound concern" was expressed that "regular and organized armed forces were probably involved". Parties were asked to guarantee the security of personnel responsible for humanitarian assistance.

After the resumption of aid convoys, a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) truck was attacked on 9 December en route to Sarajevo. A bullet-proof UNICEF car, dispatched to rescue the truck driver, also came under heavy sniper fire. That same day, a health centre building was hit by mortar fire, killing the administrator and four other persons, and wounding 11.

Such attacks deprived children in desperate need of relief supplies, UNICEF Executive Director James Grant said on 10 December. "By deliberately targeting UNICEF relief workers clearly recognizable as carrying humanitarian supplies for children, those accountable show cowardice and callousness."

Fuel shortages and difficulties in reaching those in need of emergency food aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the "most serious humanitarian problems" in the former Yugoslavia, the World Food Programme reported on 24 November.

|Deterrence,

Justice, peace'

The International Tribunal - the "creation of the international community as a whole" - was to have a "preventive and deterrent effect in a still ongoing conflict" in the former Yugoslavia, Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali said in his message to the new body at its first session (17-30 November, The Hague).

In establishing the 11-judge Tribunal, the Security Council had demonstrated its determination to achieve three important goals: "deterrence, justice and peace", the Secretary-General stated. It had sought to put an end to crimes, bring to justice those responsible for those crimes, and break the "seemingly endless cycle of ethnic violence and retribution", thereby contributing to the restoration and maintenance of peace.

Basically, those three goals aimed to "bring an end to this long nightmare of human suffering and tragedy", Mr. Boutros-Ghali stressed. Although persons brought before the Tribunal would be held "individually responsible" for their crimes, the "sword of justice must be equally sharp in enforcing the rule of law and in guaranteeing respect for international standards of human rights and due process".

The new judicial body, which had been established under Council resolution 827 (1993) on 25 May to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law, decided to name itself the International Tribunal for Crimes in the former Yugoslavia. Judge Antonio Cassese of Italy was elected President.

Ramon Escovar-Salom of Venezuela was appointed Tribunal Prosecutor by the Council in resolution 877 (1993) of 21 October.

During its two-week session, the Tribunal also considered proposed rules of procedure and evidence. At two more sessions in 1994 (25 April to 29 July, 19 September to 4 November), it is expected to begin hearing cases.

The Tribunal - the first of its kind to be convened since the end of the Second World War - is one of four key pillars in the UN strategy for dealing with the Yugoslav crisis: peace negotiations, humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and judiciary action.

War crime experts

Two sessions were held in October and December in Geneva by the five-member Commission of Experts established under Council resolution 780 (1992) to examine information on violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia.

At its eighth session (27 October), it reviewed progress made in the investigations in Sectors East and West in Croatia (excavations of mass graves), the Medak pocket in Sector South (acts of ethnic cleansing), and in Dubrovnik (unlawful destruction of cultural property). The Commission elaborated plans to investigate detention camps, torture, extra-judicial executions and mass sexual assault.

Despite assurances from Serb authorities in Knin (UNPA Sector East), the Commission's team of forensic experts had been prevented from investigating the site of a mass grave in Ovcara in eastern Croatia. On 22 October, the expert group was told by the local Serb military to postpone all activities in Ovcara, "until an overall political solution" had been found to the situation in the former Yugoslavia.

At the ninth session (13-15 December), Rapporteur William Fenrick of Canada reported on mass graves and the destruction in Dubrovnik.

On 6 October, the Commission had reported (S/26545) on its activities from February to August 1993, among which were database formulation and on-site investigative missions. The database was to assist in Tribunal prosecutions.

Cherif Bassiouni of Egypt was named Commission Chairman on 21 October to succeed Frits Kalshoven of the Netherlands. That vacancy and the one resulting from the death of Torkel Opsahl of Norway in September were filled by Christine Petronella Maria Cleiren of the Netherlands and Hanne Sophie Greve of Norway.

Crimes and abuses of human rights and humanitarian law - including ethnic cleansing, rape, summary executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, restrictions on freedom of movement, and military attacks on civilians - remained widespread in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, reported (S/26765) on 20 November.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the onset of winter presaged a "humanitarian disaster of immense proportions", he reported. Particular attention should be drawn to the "appalling extent of persecution by |ethnic cleansing' against those of Muslim ethnic origin" who were "threatened with extermination".

In Croatia, causes for deep concern included: discrimination against ethnic Serbs and Muslims; media contribution to the "prevailing climate of inter-ethnic hostility through misinformation and indoctrination"; militarization of the population; the collapse of the rule of law; and the absence of conditions for the repatriation of displaced persons in the so-called "Republic of Serbian Krajina".

With regard to the former Republic of Yugoslavia, the Special Rapporteur was particularly concerned with the "articulation of ethnic hatred in public life and in the media", the ensuing "climate in which acts of discrimination are encouraged and condoned"; and abuse of power by the Serbian police, including reports of the deaths of Albanians as a result of injuries sustained while in police detention in Kosovo.

In an effort to obtain first-hand information on the human rights situation in Yugoslavia, two UN officials undertook a two-week mission in October to Serbia and Montenegro, meeting with Federal Government representatives, non-governmental and international organizations, and individuals.

New Special

Representative

Yasushi Akashi of Japan - recently the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Cambodia - was named on 3 December to succeed Thorvald Stoltenberg as Special Representative for the former Yugoslavia and Chief of Mission of UNPROFOR. As Mr. Stoltenberg was "heavily engaged in continuing negotiations", with "insufficient time to carry out in full" his other functions, the Secretary-General felt (S/26838) it was "necessary to separate the functions" of Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee and Special Representative.

From 1 October through 31 December, some 279 violations of the ban on military flights in the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina, imposed under Council resolution 816 (1993), were reported - 22 more than in July, August and September. That brought to 1,160 the total number of apparent violations since monitoring began in November 1992 under Council resolution 781 (1992).