Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
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UNIDIR/96/7 UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Geneva Disarmament and Conflict Resolution Project Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Paper: Barbara Ekwall-Uebelhart and Andrei Raevsky Questionnaire Analysis: LTCol J.W. Potgieter, Military Expert DCR Project Project funded by: the Ford Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace, the Winston Foundation, the Ploughshares Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the governments of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Finland, France, Austria, the Federal Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Argentina, and the Republic of South Africa. UNITED NATIONS New York and Geneva, 1996 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. * * * The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Secretariat. UNIDIR/96/7 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. GV.E.96.0.6 ISBN 92-9045-110-6 Table of Contents Previous DCR Project Publications............................... vii Preface - Sverre Lodgaard .......................................ix Acknowledgements ............................................xi Project Introduction - Virginia Gamba ............................xiii Project Staff ................................................xxi List of Acronyms ...........................................xxiii Part I: Case Study ................................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction B. Ekwall-Uebelhart and A. Raevsky .............. 3 1.1. Background to the Conflict - B. Ekwall-Uebelhart........... 3 1.2. Objectives of the Study - B. Ekwall-Uebelhart ............. 4 1.3. Outline of the Study - B. Ekwall-Uebelhart................ 6 1.4. Conflict in Yugoslavia: The Factions - A. Raevsky ........... 8 1.5. International Peace Negotiations Prior to United Nations (UN) Intervention - B. Ekwall-Uebelhart .......... 18 Chapter 2: Disarmament Operations In Croatia B. Ekwall-Uebelhart ......................... 23 2.1. Introduction ....................................... 23 2.2. Phase I: Disarmament Operations According to the Vance Plan and the Establishment of the United Nations Protection Areas (UNPA's) ..................... 25 2.3. Phase II: Reversal of Disarmament Following Croat Incursion into the United Nations Protection Areas Reveals Weaknesses of the UNPROFOR's Mission ......... 37 2.4. Phase III: Cease-Fire Agreement Gives UNPROFOR an Interposition Role Combined with Disarmament, Demilitarization and Control of Weapons Functions Within the Zone of Separation......................... 44 iii iv Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Chapter 3: Disarmament Operations In Bosnia-Herzegovina B. Ekwall-Uebelhart ......................... 55 3.1. Introduction ....................................... 55 3.2. Phase I: Disarmament and Weapons Control Measures as Facilitators of Humanitarian Aid Deliveries -- The Sarajevo Airport Agreement.......................... 58 3.3. Phase II: Protection of Safe Areas and the Disarmament Components of UN-Brokered Agreements ............... 77 3.4. Phase III: Controlling Heavy Weapons in the Safe Areas and the Disarmament and Demilitarization of Zones Adjacent to the Confrontation Lines ............... 86 Chapter 4: Disarmament Operations in UN Sector West A. Raevsky ................................ 105 4.1. Background ...................................... 105 4.2. Voluntary Disarmament ............................ 106 4.3. First Challenge to the Disarmament of Sector West........ 108 4.4. Second Challenge to the Disarmament of Sector West ..... 109 4.5. Limited Coercive Disarmament....................... 110 4.6. The Collapse of Sector West......................... 112 4.7. Mandate Implementation: UNPROFOR Responsible for the Security of Sector West.......................... 115 4.8. Did UNPROFOR and the Serbs Sacrifice UNPA West to Political Considerations? .......................... 118 Chapter 5: Demilitarization and Disarmament Operations in Srebrenica B. Ekwall-Uebelhart ........................ 121 5.1. Background ...................................... 121 5.2. The Local Agreement.............................. 122 5.3. The Security Council Resolution on Safe Areas .......... 124 5.4. Mandate Interpretation ............................. 125 5.5. Implementation of the Disarmament Elements of the Srebrenica Agreement.............................. 126 5.6. The Parties and Their Motivations..................... 128 5.7. Consequence of the Crisis: Mandate Enlargement......... 129 Table of Contents v 5.8. Options of Intervention and Their Implications........... 130 5.9. Conclusions...................................... 133 Chapter 6: Creating the Heavy Weapons Exclusion Zone of Sarajevo B. Ekwall-Uebelhart ........................ 135 6.1. Background ...................................... 135 6.2. Evolution of the Safe Areas Concept ................... 137 6.3. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Decision . 138 6.4. The Local Cease-Fire Agreement ..................... 139 6.5. Interests of the Parties.............................. 142 6.6. Implementation of the Agreement..................... 145 6.7. Conclusions...................................... 148 Chapter 7: Conclusions B. Ekwall-Uebelhart ........................ 151 Biographical Notes.......................................... 155 Part II Bibliography ............................... 157 Part III Questionnaire Analysis ..................... 193 List of Maps The Former Yugoslavia ................................... 169 Croatia................................................ 170 Bosnia and Herzegovina .................................. 171 UNPROFOR Area of Operations............................ 172 Bosnia-Herzegovina Complex Alliances - 1993 ................. 173 Sarajevo - Heavy Weapons Exclusion Zone .................... 174 Previous DCR Project Publications Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Somalia Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Rhodesia/Zimbabwe vii Preface Under the headline of Collective Security, UNIDIR is conducting a major project on Disarmament and Conflict Resolution (DCR). The project examines the utility and modalities of disarming warring parties as an element of efforts to resolve intra-state conflicts. It collects field experiences regarding the demobilization and disarmament of warring factions; reviews 11 collective security actions where disarmament has been attempted; and examines the role that disarmament of belligerents can play in the management and resolution of internal conflicts. The 11 cases are UNPROFOR (Yugoslavia), UNOSOM and UNITAF (Somalia), UNAVEM (Angola), UNTAC (Cambodia), ONUSAL (El Salvador), ONUCA (Central America), UNTAG (Namibia), UNOMOZ (Mozambique), Liberia, Haiti and the 1979 Commonwealth operation in Rhodesia. Being an autonomous institute charged with the task of undertaking independent, applied research, UNIDIR keeps a certain distance from political actors of all kinds. The impact of our publications is predicated on the independence with which we are seen to conduct our research. At the same time, being a research institute within the framework of the United Nations, UNIDIR naturally relates its work to the needs of the Organization. Inspired by the Secretary General's report on "New Dimensions of Arms Regulation and Disarmament in the Post-Cold War Era",1 the DCR Project also relates to a great many governments involved in peace operations through the UN or under regional auspices. Last but not least, comprehensive networks of communication and co- operation have been developed with UN personnel having field experience. Weapons-wise, the disarmament of warring parties is mostly a matter of light weapons. These weapons account for as much as 90% of the casualties in many armed conflicts. UNIDIR recently published a paper on this subject (Small Arms and Intra-State Conflicts, UNIDIR Paper No 34, 1995). The Secretary General's appeal for stronger efforts to control small arms - to promote "micro disarmament"2 - is one which UNIDIR will continue to attend to in the framework of the DCR Project. This report on the United Nations Protection Force in former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR) deals with one of the most controversial and complex peace operations in the 1990's. No peace operation has been covered by the media and 1 Document A/C.1/47/7, No 31, 23 October 1992. 2 Document 50/60-S/1995/1, 3 January 1995. ix x Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina discussed in public as much as this one. Still, the complexities on the ground and the great variety of interests and perceptions at play have left confusion as much as clarity. The report does not try to simplify things. Thus, it does not make for easy reading. It is thoroughly researched, and hopefully, the interested reader will be left with a clear, albeit complex, picture of what UNPROFOR was and was not about. The report focuses on the demilitarization components of the UNPROFOR peace mission in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Special attention is given to three specific areas of UNPROFOR operations: Sector West in Croatia and