Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992

Let me begin by expressing my sincere

appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Samir Shihabi for his wise administration

and leadership of the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly. It is also

my great pleasure to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev on his

election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-seventh

session and to wish him a successful term.

I also want you to know that we, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

are deeply grateful to the United Nations for all of its efforts to achieve

peace and for providing humanitarian assistance under very difficult

circumstances. The courageous troops of the United Nations Protection Force

(UNPROFOR), with the tenacious leadership of Secretary-General,

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, deserve special recognition and gratitude.

As is well known, I come from a country besieged by barbaric aggression.

But, I must emphasize, I have come here today not to talk of war but to

offer peace.

It is an offer of a nation born of ethnic coexistence rather than ethnic

cleansing.

It is an offer of a multicultural and multi-religious Bosnia and

Herzegovina in which democracy and tolerance prevail.

It is not an offer of a unitary or ideological State, as some will have

you believe.

Some have said that the killing and destruction have caused so much

hatred that my country's peoples cannot live together in peace any more.

I submit to you that my country has a centuries-old tradition of

tolerance and coexistence among its peoples.

Just one week ago yesterday I celebrated, together with Muslims, Croats

and other groups, the five-hundredth anniversary of the first settlement of

Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Because Muslims, Croats, Serbs, Jews and others have lived together in

Bosnia and Herzegovina for centuries, virtually all of our towns and cities

are mixed in population some more, some less.

It is therefore not possible to draw lines through our Republic to

designate ethnically pure regions. It is not possible to draw lines through

our towns and cities to designate ethnically pure streets or neighborhoods.

I submit to you that we, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, can live

together, and that we must live together, despite what has happened, provided

that equality, justice and freedom are secured for all.

In recent years, people of many nations have chosen democracy as the best

means to secure their rights, to ensure religious and political liberty, to

promote cooperation and mutual advancement, to enjoy the fruits of their

labours and to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.

Their efforts have changed the world: they have opened doors where once

there was an iron curtain.

This guest for democracy has made an old world order crumble and a new

one begin.

So, too, have we, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, turned to

democratic government as the means to assure mutual welfare, regardless of

ethnic, religious or other distinctions.

Consequently we have sought to build a government that represents all of

the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina equally and justly.

I am proposing a constitutional commission for Bosnia and Herzegovina

which includes inter-ethnic and inter-religious representation. The

commission will work with a group of international experts to develop a

constitutional settlement to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will

protect the rights of all citizens. We envision it as encompassing the

following:

First, a State founded on the principles of democracy, individual rights,

tolerance, religious and cultural freedoms and a market economy;

Secondly, a constitutional and administrative framework similar to that

of modern democratic States;

Thirdly, a decentralized State organized on the principles of

parliamentary civil democracy; and

Fourthly, a single legislative, executive and judicial framework for the

whole territory of the Republic, with decentralized administration in all

regions.

We envision the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as consisting of

administrative territorial regions to be formed according to economic,

cultural, historical and ethnic criteria.

We believe it is impractical and immoral to institute administrative

territorial regions on an exclusively ethnic basis. Moreover, it is

impossible, because we are an ethnically mixed, intermingled country: a

living, breathing Jackson Pollack painting.

Government at every level will respect the equal rights of all the

peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Government will be based on the

principle of parity of representation among the three constituent nations.

The legislative branch the Assembly will consist of two chambers: the

Chamber of Peoples will be based on ethnic parity, being made up of

representatives of the three largest constituent peoples of Bosnia and

Herzegovina; the Chamber of Citizens will be based on proportional

representation. All representatives will be elected in free and open

elections.

The Chamber of Peoples and the Presidency will reach key decisions by

consensus, including all decisions that directly affect the equality of the

constituent nations.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will seek to establish good relations with all

neighbouring States, as well as with other States, on the basis of mutual

respect and cooperation.

I have related my offer of peace. I now want to tell the Assembly about

the offer made by the Government in Belgrade and its proxies in Bosnia and

Herzegovina. By their actions and by their statements, they have made an

offer that must be clear to all nations of the world. Their offer is based on

an entirely different view of Bosnia and Herzegovina: a view that is alien to

democracy, but unfortunately familiar in history. It is a view of people

divided, hostile and unequal.

First, they offer "ethnic cleansing", which is the extermination or

elimination of people on the basis of ethnic, national or religious

distinctions.

Secondly, they offer a brutal division of the Republic along spurious

ethnic boundaries created by force and by war. They say that the people

Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot live together in one State. But the only

evidence they have is the false evidence they have manufactured by their own

aggression.

Around the world we see diverse peoples living together. How many

nations represented here have ethnic purity? Look west from this building and

imagine Belgrade's vision applied, for example, to the United States. Imagine

Berlin Walls sprouting in every American neighbourhood, separating the French,

Russian, African-American, Italian, Jewish, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, Korean,

Irish and other groups until all had been moved to ethnically pure

neighbourhoods and separated by barbed wire, armed guards and checkpoints.

Finally, they offer an expanding Serbia. We know that this will be a

Serbia in which those who are not Serbs are denied fundamental freedoms.

Their offer leads to endless insecurity, endless conflict, endless suffering.

The question, then, is which offer the world will accept today.

If it accepts our offer of peace, equality and justice, and if it rejects

the offer of pain and division made by Belgrade and its proxies in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, then I ask the world community to do three things.

First, in front of the entire General Assembly, I ask the members of the

Security Council to implement and enforce fully the existing Security Council

resolutions and the principles and commitments endorsed at the London

Conference.

While we have abided by the confidence- and security-building and

verification agreement of the London Conference, the aggressors have not.

Contrary to their commitments, the aggressors have: failed to place all

mortars and heavy weapons under international supervision; failed to cease

military air attacks; failed to close concentration camps; failed to allow

refugees to return to their homes; failed to allow delivery of relief

supplies; and failed to end "ethnic cleansing".

This record of broken promises shows that implementation and enforcement

must become the next step towards peace. It shows, for example, that a no-fly

zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina is essential for stopping the massive

destruction from air attacks. A no-fly zone should be implemented and

enforced immediately. Implementation and enforcement are absolutely essential

if the Geneva session of the London Conference is to have any chance of

success.

Secondly, I ask the Assembly to set in motion an international war-crimes

tribunal that would work closely with the Geneva Conference. It is essential

that we investigate, prosecute and punish those who have been responsible for

war crimes. Only after the criminals are punished and the victims healed will

we have a true peace. Exonerate the innocent and bring a reconciliation of

our people.

Thirdly, our country has been plundered and razed. Its economic base has

been destroyed. I would like to take this opportunity to request the

establishment of an international fund for the reconstruction and development

of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Considering the massive scale of the destruction,

it is necessary that the world community help us take the first step in

emerging from the ruins.

Finally, if the Security Council cannot implement and enforce fully its

resolutions and if the London Conference cannot implement its principles and

agreements, then I ask the world community to allow us to defend ourselves.

I have offered a vision of a secular and democratic State, a

decentralized State and a multi-ethnic society based on peaceful coexistence

and tolerance. Unfortunately, the offer of peace which I have proposed will

become irrelevant unless this Organization comes resolutely to our defence or,

alternatively, fully enables us to exercise our right to self-defence. The

international community cannot simultaneously sidestep its commitment to

defend us and nullify our means of self-defence. It has become clear that no

one has come resolutely to our aid. We must have the unhindered right of

self-defence.

Article 51 of the United Nations Charter grants us that absolute right.

The present arms embargo ties our hands at a time when our country is being

strangled. It deprives us of the only effective means of self-defence. By

doing so, it helps the aggressor.

The arms embargo against Bosnia and Herzegovina must be voided.