Press Release (96)60 29 april 1996

NAC Declaration on IFOR's role in the Transition to Peace Four months since signature of the Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) has completed one third of its year-long mandate to implement the provisions of the agreement's military annex. During these four months, IFOR has brought a secure environment to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fighting has stopped and forces are separated. We have now entered a new and critical phase in the transition to peace. To succeed in the transition to peace, the Parties to the Peace Agreement must lend their own vigorous support and honour their commitments in their entirety. To that end we expect the Parties to cooperate fully with IFOR and: to keep their forces out of the Zone of Separation along the Inter-Entity Boundary Line and to complete quickly the movement of air defence weapons, heavy weapons and other forces to sites designated by the IFOR Commander and to demobilize those forces which cannot be accommodated there; to allow the free and safe movement of civilians, including refugees and displaced persons, throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina; unauthorized checkpoints will not be tolerated; to honour their commitments to expel all foreign forces, release all prisoners of war and adhere to the agreements reached at the meeting in Rome on 18th February on the detention of suspected war criminals; to fulfill their confidence- and security-building commitments and to reach agreement on measures for sub-regional arms control, as required by the Peace Agreement; to participate in all meetings of the Joint Military Commission and its subordinate commissions; to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes. D+120 (18th April), which requires the cantonment of heavy weapons and forces or their demobilization, represents the last milestone in the military annex to the Peace Agreement. Full compliance is essential and will contribute to building confidence, increasing security throughout the country and promoting the transition to peace. IFOR will be taking an active approach to ensuring rapid compliance. In the new phase after D+120, IFOR's primary mission will continue. IFOR will pursue its tasks of ensuring respect for the cessation of hostilities and the Zone of Separation. It will strictly hold the Parties to compliance with cantonment and demobilization of forces and will take appropriate action to prevent any new threats to the peace. It will continue to remove impediments to freedom of movement and to project a sense of security throughout the country. As before, all these tasks will be carried out in an even-handed manner. It will remain ready to support the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia. Creating a secure environment and promoting freedom of movement are IFOR's main contributions to the work of other organizations who are primarily concerned with the civil aspects of the Peace Agreement. With D+120 behind us, IFOR is now providing increased support for civil tasks within its existing mandate, so long as this does not detract from its primary military mission. IFOR is working closely with the High Representative, the International Police Task Force, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. IFOR will continue to assist their efforts in such areas as the conduct of elections, the return of refugees and displaced persons, the maintenance of law and order and the investigation of war crimes, tasks which are essential to the long-term consolidation of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.