IFOR AFSOUTH TRANSCRIPT Sept 12, 1996

In the interest of speed transcripts of IFOR press briefings are issued in unedited format Transcript of the press Briefing held on 12 September 1996

Colum Murphy: good morning everybody. Two things. First of all a few parish announcements and then a short statement on behalf of the office of the High Representative. Yesterday the High Representative Mr. Karl Bildt was in Belgrade where he met with President Milosevic. I won't go into details of that meeting except to say that they consider the meeting very constructive and President Milosevic gives his support to the electoral process. Secondly, the principles here met yesterday with President Izetbegovic. Mr. Bildt was there, Admiral Lopez, Mr. Rhiza and the message was that the international community going ahead with these elections is being positive and everybody involved is making his or her best effort. Thirdly, Mr. Bildt will go this afternoon to Pale accompanied by Ambassador Frowick of the OSCE and, the message there will be the same. The international community is going ahead of these elections. We expect co-operation from the authorities from the Republika Srpska. We will be very strict with any provocations, and we expect help in the avoidance of any incidents. I will have in a moment a short statement from our office and the copy of that statement will be available after this press conference. Also, there is an ICRC press release on the table outside here, regarding the missing persons meeting yesterday and that is available also after the press conference. Now, as to the comments I would like to make on behalf of the High Representative and his office, I'd like to say this: "In two days Bosnia-Herzegovina goes to the polls in controversial, complex and historic elections, so we are thus embarked upon a troubled but hopeful passage in democracy's direction. It will lead now either toward healing or toward a further fracturing of this war torn land. So it is essential, we think that the international community speaks clearly. It behooves us talk simply. Whatever the outcome of the elections there will be no secession. Secession is not an option, secession is not on the cards, secession is not on the agenda. God knows the international community has made mistakes in the past but it will not make this one. Secession is not going to happen, whatever loud claims for it are made by certain voices. Still we hear day after day that Serbs and Moslems cannot live together, that Croats and Serbs and Moslems cannot live together and do not want to live together. Really, we prefer to say that fascists and democrats do not go well together. We prefer to say that democratic Serbs of whom there are many and democratic Moslems of whom there are many, and democratic Croats of whom there are many, have always lived together. The IEBL is not and will not become an international frontier. It is no kind of new frontier. The only impregnable, internal frontier in this country in the future must be one between fascism and democracy. Between those who glorify war and those who know what war really is. Between extremism and moderation, between hatred and tolerance, between primitives and sophisticates, which is to say ordinary normal people. And between separatists who think of themselves as the chosen people and those, on the other hand, who know that either all of us are chosen or none of us are. Bosnians need not see their motherland destroyed. Formal partition will not be its fate. This lady is not returning. Bosnia has paid in blood already, not the cost of division and hatred, but the high price of and right to eventual reconciliation and harmony. Much is missing: the return of refugees, freedom of movement across the IEBL and elsewhere, a desire for now of both entities to work together. Indicted war criminals are still at large and wielding on unsavory influence. And what of bitter memories that will impede reconciliation. They must be seen in the future as memories of that self same division between fascism and democracy. A struggle in which all liberal and democratic Croats, Moslems and Serbs fought on the same side. And against the common enemy of intolerance, hatred and stupidity. Thus will the healing process be held and historical memory then play not negative, but a positive role. Still it is difficult to see ahead. We perceive the future now only through a glass darkly, but as we approach these elections and their aftermath, we know that there is no going back. It is time for each voter to reflect carefully on the last four years and to ask himself what he really wants for his own or her own children. We also in the international community, like this citizen voter, have here come face to face with our own conscience. That conscience will say, in the name of a merited peace that secession is not permitted, that politics is the only alternative to war, that moderate politics are the only alternative to hate. And that the international community will need to stay on in Bosnia, until the democracy and moderation take full root again, until peace is more then simply the absence of war. Until the long haul unglamorous work of democracy is complete in all parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina and until the job is done." Simon.

Simon Haselock: thank you very much. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Back again to the mundane. Another relatively quiet but busy day across the country and in the last 24 hours. With a full program of ground and air patrols and covering the IEBL, the ZOS and of course, continuing to monitor the factional movement and the canton sites themselves. As you would imagine support for the OSCE and the election in general continues at pace with the delivery to the regions and dissemination of electoral material, not least of which the small voter maps, the 100,000 voter maps. And other electoral material. General Walker, and he chaired a joint meeting with the UNHCR, the IPTF and ohcr and the interior ministers again yesterday to discuss security issues. These meetings continue to be productive , and co-operative and very useful. On to sort of other activity within the area. You heard of the incident in Mostar yesterday which apparently occurred after some Moslems had tried to visit their houses in the Croat part of the city. In response to this and as precautionary measure, MND(SE) deployed 2 platoons into the Croat part of the city to defuse situation and the area was quiet and incident was effectively over by midnight. In MND(SW) early this morning about one o'clock, a convoy of 2 coaches and assorted other vehicles containing about 50 Bosnian special police and 4 Bosnian soldiers was stopped in the area of Bosansko Grahovo. About 20 assorted small arms and magazines and etc. Were confiscated and the 4 ABIH soldiers were actually taken into custody by the local civil police, apparently in connection with an incident which occurred earlier in Tomislavgrad . I understand that 2 of these soldiers have now been released. I don't now about the other two. We think that the convoy was destined for Bihac, but we think also that it's now returned to Sarajevo. Finally a couple of church announcements and what's going over the electoral period. There will be an opportunity for press to visit the Elections Support Coordination Center, the ESOC tomorrow at 1400 hrs for about 30 minutes. Now the trouble is it's a very small operational area, so it'll be limited to about 12 people, so they are on the first come-first served, but if it's too many people we'll have to construct a pool which Tom will sort out and we'll give you the details about it tomorrow. For those who are interested there be list up on the board after this press conference. Similarly on Saturday itself there will be an opportunity to come and see the election response group, actually at Ilidza, where everybody will be and which will be sort of the heart of decision making process for the day, again that'll be limited, and we may have to ask for pool for that day as well. SACEUR is as you know visiting today, General Joulwan. He was due to have a press facility, about 20 past 12. That's now been delayed to 14:20. So 20 past two at the airport until 14:35 for those who want a press opportunity with SACEUR. And finally there is a, I've just been handed you a press release by the World Bank, which they like me to announce has been left behind at the back, and which you can pick up afterwards - a World Bank press release. Thanks very much. Agi. Agi Kuperman: thank you Simon. After Colum's eloquent statement about the elections, the OSCE, which is mandated to supervise the preparation and conduct of these elections, is gearing up for the Saturday election. Which though it is pivotal in this process, I want to emphasise is only the first step in a long democratisation process. We are looking towards also the municipal elections as I have announced before, now we have the contact group... Have agreed to holding the municipal elections, and all three parties have signed on to it. On announcements, today at the Media Centre at 3 pm we will have a session on voter education, and at 3:30 we will have a round table on specifics about the election led by the Director General of Elections Jeff Fischer. At 4:30 we will have another session on mine awareness briefings for those journalists who are new to the country. I urge you to attend. And tonight at midnight begins a 48 hour silence for political campaigning and rallies. Speaking of rallies, I myself attended a couple of yesterday. There have been vigorous rallies throughout the day yesterday without any incidents that I have heard of. Monitors, international monitors, arrived today. From two o'clock on, any of you who would like to interview them or film them are welcome in the OSCE bank building. That's all, thank you very much. C. Murphy: Alex. Alex Ivanko: as Simon has mentioned there was a meeting yesterday chaired by General Walker with the Ministers of Interior. At that meeting the UN Police Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald again raised the issue of the IEBL being completely open, and we understand that Minister Kijac has reiterated that his understanding is that yes, the Inter-Entity Boundary Line will be open although, as he has said previously, he can guarantee the security of those crossing the IEBL outside the 19 voter routes. We finally received the Republika Srpska transportation plan with regard to displaced people and refugees living in Republika Srpska that plan to vote in the federation. 55 buses will be provided and a 140 shuttles run . Republika Srpska does not expect more then 7,000 people to exercise their right to vote in federation territory. There are additional buses also available if there are more people than that of voting in federation territory. Thank you. C. Murphy: a statement now will be made on behalf of UNICEF, Brigitte. Brigitte Duchesne: over the past two weeks, UNICEF together with OSCE, IFOR and NGO's has been carrying out a youth poll, asking three questions: if you had to talk to politicians what would you ask? If you could form a political party what would you name it, and what would you promise? And what would you want to, what do you want for your country or your city? Today, UNICEF is releasing the preliminary results. Bosnia's children are asking for peace for freedom and for no more war. We have found that children have very much asked "is... Is this the real end to the war?" We find this very tragic that children feel that this time of peace is only a temporary stage. Children worry about what caused of the problems in the past and worry even more about their future. Gallup pole has very generously offered to help us analyze further these ballots that have come in, so far we have received 8,000 ballots and they're still arriving. So, sometime next week there will be more in-depth analysis, but I do have press release available for people are interested together with a sample of the ballot in English, in Bosnian and Serbian for those who are interested and also a poster that was running at the same time. Thank you. C. Murphy: Agi. A. Kuperman: sorry, I would like to make just one more comment. The permanent council of the OSCE in Vienna is preparing a statement that firmly supports the work of the OSCE and calls on all parties to fully respect their obligations, to ensure that conditions exist for holding for democratic elections. They also request the parties to fully respect the rules and regulations set down by the Provisional Election Commission to support the work of the OSCE mission and its election supervisors and to cooperate with the international monitors on the authority of the international coordinator. We will have a press release as soon as I get it from Vienna, but they wanted me to tell you that this is in the works right now. C. Murphy: so, questions. Question here. Q: hello, good morning, yes, thank you my name is Tony Borden from IWPR in london. This is a question for OSCE but also for the OHR in light of the very constructive statements made by the High Representative. In the September 10th document from the Election Appeals Sub-Commission, it refers to the fine on the SDS, particularly in reference to statements calling separation of Republika Srpska and challenging the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The statement says quote, "this statement warns that any candidate who continues to make such statements will have his or her candidacy terminated." According to our reports, yesterday radio Prijedor ran this statement from Bijelna Plavsic saying quote, "we have a state. I will continue to speak about Republika Srpska because that is a state. How can I not mention the state when at Dayton, it is said that it was a republic, and a republic is a state." This is a statement that was aired yesterday, September 11 which is one day after the statement. The statement that she made occurred, in fact, on the 10th, the very day the statement was made. However, we have preliminary reports that very similar statements were made by her as of yesterday, and we are seeking to confirm that now. Is this information that could lead to an action resulting in the termination of her candidacy as stated in the September 10th document? And could you explain what kind of procedure might be followed, and could it be followed quickly enough in order to action something very quickly. Thank you. C. Murphy: well, let me make a brief comment on behalf of the High Representative, and then in regard to the details, Agi will take the question as to possible reaction. First of all, the general tenor of your question - Madame Plavsic has made numerous statements that are provocative and frequently not in compliance with the spirit of Dayton. That particular statement in regard to the Republika Srpska being a state is actually correct. It is, under Dayton, a state within the country which we call Bosnia-Herzegovina. But I think an answer to what you mean by your question, she has made statements that make it clear that secessionist rhetoric is not something alien to her and talks about the unity of the Serb people etc. As to the specific reaction to that, I think that's an OSCE question. Q: I'm sorry, sorry Agi. Colum, I'm very sorry, but you should correct yourself. Dayton specifically speaks about entities, not states. State of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from now on named Bosnia and Herzegovina has the full sovereignty, flags, all symbols that have to be approved later through constitutional... C. Murphy: you're absolutely correct. I do correct myself. Did I say state. She has used the word "entity" frequently. The exact terminology of Dayton, yes, is "entity." That's correct. She has made a number of provocative statements. She has made it quite clear that the Republika Srpska seeks to move in the direction of secession. I should have used the word "entity" instead of state, that's correct. Agi. A. Kuperman: I mentioned earlier that the Appeals Sub-Commission will have one more meeting tomorrow. I would like - I know it's late but hurt the Republika Srpska not at all. I think that's not true; I think their economy is in great difficulty. They have sought recognition for the Republika Srpska which they did receive as one of the two entities - to use the correct word - under Dayton. Before that, we always referred to them as the so-called Republika Srpska. Now they are the Republika Srpska as one part of the two parts of this country. It was not a question. You're asking me what will we do about it. This is the... One of the purposes of this meeting this afternoon. The High Representative, accompanied by Ambassador Frowick will make it clear again what this election is about, what it is seeking to achieve, what its purpose is and explain once again what our interpretation of the Dayton Agreement is. And since the High Representative is the one who is the final arbiter of what Dayton is, that is the version that we will tell to Madame Plavsic. As to what would happen in a theoretical case somewhat further down the road, I think it would be improper of me to answer now. We're having an election, and we ought to see what comes out of that. Over here Q: I wanted to know how many busses you actually have to "to and fro" the refugees to the places where they're going to vote. How many people are you expecting, and what kind of traffic jams you're expecting, and if there are too many people, is it true that eight people in a car with four wheels is going to be considered a bus. A. Ivanko: there is... The federation has 730 busses. The expected number of people that will cross from the federation side to the Republika Srpska side is from 30,000 to 150,000. That's the closest we can come. And yes, anything with four wheels and eight passengers is considered a bus and will be allowed to use one of the voter routes. From Republika Srpska to the federation, as I've said, there are 55 busses available in Republika Srpska with a lift capacity of 7,000 people. Republika Srpska does not expect that more people will want to cross the IEBL to vote in the federation. C. Murphy: there's a question from David and then another question over here. Q: Colum... One for Colum, one for Agi. Colum, the Bosnian Serbs have made it clear that after the elections that...they say you imposed on them under international standards under international supervision which you can't turn your back on. If they have a 2/3 majority, they will declare that they are going to secede. We've heard Kornblum make comments about it, we've heard you make comments about it; I think it's not really fair to say that it's not on the agenda; and the question of whether it will happen or not - you have to talk about what sort of sanctions are going to be... Can you make it clear to us now what would be the impact of that sort of a move by the Bosnian Serbs? And Agi, if I could just ask you, I understand OSCE is making commercials to extend voting for another day to run... To explain to the people in the country that voting has been extended for another 24 hours, and you're making TV ads for that. Could you comment on that? C. Murphy: David, I'm sorry to tell you, but I'm not going to answer that at this point. I think it's improper and premature. Mr. Bildt will probably address this press conference on Monday when we are immediately then into the post-election period. We are only two days from an election, and we should not talk about something which is a worst-case scenario at this time. But we will be perfectly frank about that when we see what comes out of this. Agi A. Kuperman: on your question David, definitely not. The... As we announced, the voting is on the 14th. We will make every necessary adjustments to the time of... Polling stations closing at seven. But we are not making any kind of advertisements for a second day. Q: I'm sorry, but I say again you are in fact making advertisements - that's been confirmed. Can you say why you are making these advertisements. A. Kuperman: I cannot confirm something that I haven't heard yet. And I know that at this morning at the election meeting, it was stated again that it is one-day voting. C. Murphy: there's a question at the back there. Q: Jim Fish, BBC World Service. It's one for OSCE. I have here a bill that's apparently been distributed around Sarajevo by the SDA, although it's only considering a very small indication on one corner of it that it's from the SDA. And it says among instructions to voters, "attention, you can vote only for one candidate, alija Izetbegovic." Isn't this grossly misleading to the voters of Sarajevo, and is it not, in fact, a breach of the free and fair election process? A. Kuperman: I checked on that this morning. Unfortunately, I regret to tell you that is not a violation. That is advertisement. Nonetheless, we find it a very unsavory way of advertising, but it is not a violation of the electoral rules. C. Murphy: three's a question here and then Colin... Can you just wait for the microphone? Q: I was just curious for that SDA flyer which has duplicates of ballots. Are those the precise replications of what the ballots actually look like, or are those just facsimiles? I was just curious... On that flyer. A. Kuperman: those are just facsimiles. We could not give out the actual ballots because they are numbered, and we don't have sample, exact ballots. C. Murphy: Colin. Yeah, Eric and then Colin Q: first. Simon, a question for you. I've... As far as I understand, indicted will have indeed the right to vote on election day. What will NATO troops do if, for example, Radovan Karadzic or Radko Mladic show up at some polling booth to vote? Will you move in to take them? Maj. Haselock: the General was quite clear about that yesterday. As far as we're concerned, if they appear in a position where we're able to arrest them, and it's in the course of our duty - they are there - and we're in a position where we can do it, we will arrest them, and we will detain them, yes. C. Murphy: Colin. Q: Agi, on the issue of extension, just looking at the numbers - even that OSCE has provided, even your conservative estimate of the number of people who may cross the IEBL to vote. If even a fraction of these people the numbers just don't add up. It does not appear that at a number of these places - these voter routes - that there's going to be time for these people to vote. And a growing number of people within the OSCE are saying this privately. I don't know a single person from an international organization that the vote can actually be carried out in just one day. When are you going to come out and basically tell us what the... You know, when you're going to extend? A. Kuperman: to the best of my knowledge, we are extending beyond 7 o'clock as long as necessary. But I have not heard anyone in OSCE commit himself to a second day voting. C. Murphy: yes, question from David and then over here at the back. Q: Colum, yesterday at the rally on Titova, Michael Steiner appeared on the stage at the end of that rally for the joint list and was introduced to the crowd and stood there and waved to everyone. Is the High Rep's Office now endorsing candidates for political parties? What was the meaning of his presence there please? C. Murphy: we're going to put out flyers that you may vote only for Ambassador Michael Steiner and nobody else. (laughter) the answer to the question is no. Three's a question at the back over here. Yes, Christine.... He's making a tour of the IEBL. Christine. Q: for Alex. Alex, have you gotten from FRY a train and bus schedule and how many people are coming in? And were they required to do that? A. Ivanko: no, we do not have a train and bus schedule and no, we are not dealing with the movement of refugee voters from FRY or Croatia into Bosnia. Q: but when talking to IFOR people up there, that's going to be their greatest concern - that movement. Who within OSCE or IPTF or... Who is monitoring that number of people? Maj. Haselock: I mean, we are concerned about it clearly. There is no indication of how many there is likely to be. We will monitor it, and it's part of our operations on the day. But as far as a specific plan is concerned, as to which bus is where and when and how, there isn't one. Q: Simon... A. Ivanko: for security reasons, we are mostly concerned with the movement of people across the Inter-Entity Boundary Line, and we will concentrate on that, and the local police will also concentrate on that. C. Murphy: was there a second question from beside you? Yes? No? Anybody else. Yes over here. Q: ...(inaudible) for evidence of the statement that Plavsic made, supposedly made on radio... Surely the OSCE yesterday was monitoring Banja Luka rally or not? Which was broadcast for three hours on Srpska TV. A. Kuperman: our regional center monitors all the rallies, and in Banja Luka, our regional center has monitored it. I haven't seen the reports yet. They usually send them in by mid-day. C. Murphy: yes, anybody else? Yon, sorry. Q: two days ago, we heard from UNHCR that they are very unsatisfied with conduct of Republika Srpska leadership and especially the statement of Madame Plavsic stating that the return of refugees will not take place because there is no space in Republika Srpska and that the Humanitarian Annex is pure theory. It was described by the UNHCR as a clear violation of Dayton Peace Accords. We haven't heard since from other international communities - institutions. Could OHR, OSCE and Alex comment on this? Is it a violation of Dayton, and if yes, what will you do about it? C. Murphy: is it a violation of Dayton? In my view, categorically yes. I'd like to talk to our lawyers. We found this statement, if it's exactly as I remember it, abhorrent and her use of the words "living space" evokes unpleasant memories of lebensraum. Madame Plavsic has an extraordinary interpretation of Dayton, which is not the correct one, and we would condemn it. A. Ivanko: the UN fully supports what Colum said. C. Murphy: Marcus. Q: Agota, does the OSCE know where Radovan Karadzic has registered to vote? A. Kuperman: we don't know whether he registered, but if he does register, he is entitled to vote according to the rules and regulations and the UN charter. C. Murphy: Marcus again, and then Philip. Q: yeah, but I mean, if he registered, you'd know where. A. Kuperman: we don't have a knowledge whether he registered or not at this point. Q: don't you have registration lists? Presumably he would've changed his voting place since 1991. A. Ivanko: well, I can tell you where he's going to vote if he decides to vote if he decides to vote in his old residence because it's a building next to the one I live in, so it's in downtown Sarajevo. Q: for IFOR. If you can go to the files of OSCE and you find out the ballot place of Radovan Karadzic, it's not clear if this is possible; I suppose this is possible. Would you then have a stronger force around there and keep an eye on it and plan to... Maj. Haselock: we can sit and hypothesize about these things all the time. Yes, if he is registered to vote, his name will appeal on a registration document somewhere. If he appears at a voting station and we are in a position to detain him, we will do so. We will do so. We've planned to do so ever since the very beginning in terms of the mandate we've laid down. Q: you just haven't gotten around to it. C. Murphy: one at a time please. Philip is next. Q: Simon, isn't it rather shameful that you always say that, and in fact, Dr. is back working at the famos factory, and you've got an Italian patrol 200 meters from his office, and he's back in action. The last two weeks, he's been back in action, and you guys have done nothing, and yet you continue to sit there ever time on the podium and tell us that you will arrest him if you see him. You guys don't arrest him when you see him, 'cause he drives by you every day. Maj. Haselock: well, first of all, I don't think he does drive by them every day. There was certain amount of evidence before I went away, and I can't account for what's happened in the last two weeks - two months, but certainly there was a lot of view that he had actually gone into hiding and he wasn't moving around openly. He may have even actually gone into residence in the famos factory. Our position has been quite clear about it that if we see him and the position is such that we can arrest him - they have sufficient force, there's no danger to life or limb to the population around it - we will do so. This is a military decision taken on the ground. We've been quite clear about it. We're not going to mount a specific operation. We're not going to go around hunting for war criminals, but we will do what we said all along, that if we see him and the conditions are right, we will pick him up. C. Murphy: there's a question here... Just third row up. Q: for instance, I would guess that General Mladic will probably vote around Han Pijesak or... And I'm sure he also has registered to vote, but I would assume IFOR isn't go look on the list to see if he is registered to vote and probably won't have a presence there around the polling stations there. So it seems that they are stupid enough to stumble into you, they're going to get caught, but otherwise you're going out of your way not to run into them. Maj. Haselock: no, those are your words. You're saying we're going out of our way to do it. We're not going out of our way to mount an operation to do it; we will be in these places. We will be in the areas where there are polling stations. If he turns up at those polling stations and we're in a position to arrest him, we will do that. It's quite clear and unequivocal. C. Murphy: I'll take one last question from David and then we'll end the press conference. Q: for Simon and Agi. Yeah, you are going out of your way - some people could say. Are you saying that you don't know whether Radovan Karadzic has filled in a registration form to change his voting location from Sarajevo up to Pale. First, let me just get an answer to that. Agi? A. Kuperman: David, I have not checked on Radovan Karadzic's registration, but if you would like to have someone check, I will make sure that that's done. Q: I think everyone would be very interested in that. Simon, have you made arrangements the polling stations are clear of IFOR troops so he can vote or would you normally have people there? (laughter) Maj. Haselock: I think I've just already answered that question. You know what our position on all the polling stations are going to be. Security in the polling stations is going to be: first, core of the police. We will be around all the polling stations, available to react and respond if we need to. If they are foolish enough to come to the polling station, and we are in a position to make an arrest, we will do it. C. Murphy: thank you very much everyone.