bosnet-digest V5 #72 / Tuesday, 20 February 1996

From: Dzevat Omeragic <dzevat@EE.MCGILL.CA>

Bosnia-Herzegovina News Directory

Subject:   bosnet-digest V5 #72 / Tuesday, 20 February 1996

From: Dzevat Omeragic <dzevat@EE.MCGILL.CA>

CONTENTS

[01] Dole/Lieberman/Helms/Hatch Letter to Clinton

Sender: Tribunal Watch List <TWATCH-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>

From:   Tom Warrick <tom.warrick@HIS.COM>

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 <ErkocevicM@aol.com>

Dzevat Omeragic <Dzevat@ee.mcgill.ca>

Davor Wagner <DWagner@mailbox.syr.edu>

Nermin Zukic <N6Zukic@sms.business.uwo.ca>

[02] Tribunal Watch: Rome Summit -- War Crimes Issues

Sender: Tribunal Watch List <TWATCH-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>

From:   Tom Warrick <tom.warrick@HIS.COM>

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 <ErkocevicM@aol.com>

Dzevat Omeragic <Dzevat@ee.mcgill.ca>

Davor Wagner <DWagner@mailbox.syr.edu>

Nermin Zukic <N6Zukic@sms.business.uwo.ca>

[03] Sarajevo job.

Sender: Tribunal Watch List <TWATCH-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>

From:   Institute for War & Peace Reporting <warreport@GN.APC.ORG>

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<warreport@gn.apc.org> 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 <warreport@gn.apc.org>

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 <ErkocevicM@aol.com>

Dzevat Omeragic <Dzevat@ee.mcgill.ca>

Davor Wagner <DWagner@mailbox.syr.edu>

Nermin Zukic <N6Zukic@sms.business.uwo.ca>