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Letter of Ambassador Steiner to President Izetbegovic
and President Zubak
24 February 1997
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Alija Izetbegovic
Chair of the Presidency
Kresimir Zubak
Member of the Presidency
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dear Presidents,
Please find enclosed an advance copy of the UN IPTF Report in pursuance
of the 12 February Decisions on Mostar. This Report has been submitted
to the Principals of the Major Implementation Agencies in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and the Contact Group today and will form the basis for our
meeting with the Federation partners scheduled for Tuesday, 25 February,
when decisions on the necessary conclusions shall be taken.
Please keep this Report absolutely confidential until after tomorrow
night's meeting.
With the full support of the Principals and the Contact Group, I request
from you the following:
- As you will see from the Report, the UN IPTF Special Investigation
Group has succeeded in establishing the facts related to the intended
Bajram visit to the Kneza Mihajla Humskog/former Liska Street graveyard
on 10 February in full. The Report contains irrefutable proof that
plainclothes and uniformed West Mostar police officers opened fire at
the backs of citizens who had at that moment already given up on
visiting the graveyard and were retreating. One person was killed and at
least 20 persons were wounded.
The investigation did not reveal any provocations justifying the use of
force by police. Instead, the investigation has shown that the West
Mostar Police had received advance notification of the planned visit to
the cemetery, had acknowledged the visit and had assigned police
officers to the route in advance. There was no connection between the
graveyard visit and the festivities on the Rondo. Nevertheless, rather
than performing their duty of protecting the public, the police not only
participated in but instigated the violence.
It is vital now to demonstrate to the citizens of this country that
crimes do not go unpunished. In particular, the following must be
undertaken immediately:
- Ivan Hrkac, Deputy Chief of the West Mostar Police, and Zeljko
Planinic, West Mostar police officer, have been identified as firing
into the retreating marchers on Kneza Mihajla Humskog/former Liska
Street on 10 February. One plainclothes officer, Bozo Peric, was
identified by witnesses and seen firing into the crowd. They must be
dismissed from office and arrested by 26 February, and then prosecuted
to the full extent of the law.
- Police officers Zlatko Pavlovic and Josip Cvitanovic have been
photographed with their weapons drawn during the shooting. They must be
suspended from their duties by 26 February and their actions must be
criminally investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
- Contrary to his obligation to co-operate fully, the Chief of the West
Mostar Police Marko Radic obstructed the UN IPTF investigation. He must
be dismissed from office by 26 February and replaced by a professional
police officer from outside the Mostar region.
Criminal investigations and judicial proceedings relating to all police
officers involved in the 10 February incident must proceed promptly and
be pursued to the full extent of the law with complete international
monitoring.
In addition, as I have announced in Point 11 of the Mostar Decisions, I
will recommend to the EU Governments and to the Steering Board members
to bar those who have been identified in the Reports as perpetrators of
the violence, including Mr. Hrkac, Mr. Planinic and Mr. Peric, from
travelling to Europe and overseas.
- The shooting of 10 February is inexcusable. But it cannot be seen
in a political vacuum. The weeks preceding 10 February saw a sequence of
incidents, including grenade attacks on both sides of the city and on
the Franciscan Monastery located at the Boulevard, without the political
leadership undertaking serious joint efforts to calm down the growing
tensions. It is distressing that neither the Mostar Mayor and his Deputy
nor the Canton Minister of Interior and his Deputy, notwithstanding
their political differences, addressed the public jointly and undertook
all efforts to keep extremists in check. Their political performance and
their efforts to put an end to inflammatory statements issued by public
figures and in the press will have to be monitored closely. I will not
hesitate to request your intervention and action of the EU Governments
regarding travel restrictions against any politician in the
Herzegovina-Neretva Canton who continues to pour oil into the flames.
Additional steps need to be taken to further normalise the situation in
Mostar and other parts of the Federation. The Report states that as
information of the violence of 10 February spread, random and sporadic
attacks on citizens in locations around the city and on routes out and
into Mostar (M 17) were reported. These attacks involved Bosniak
victims, but many of them were also directed against Bosnian Croats. The
Report states that the failure of the police, both in East and West
Mostar, to provide protection to potential and actual victims of the
series of cross-entity attacks both in the incidents prior and after the
10 February event illustrates the serious absence of professional police
leadership throughout the area. Therefore, I request from both of you to
address this issue and to replace the police leadership on both sides of
the Neretva with professional police officers from outside Mostar.
Violence spread beyond Mostar. On 20 February, unknown criminals
attacked the Church and Monastery of St. Anthony in Sarajevo with hand
grenades. This attack - in particular as it was directed against the
Central Bosnian Franciscans who have long stood for tolerance and
multiethnicity - is an assault on these values in Sarajevo, in the
Federation and in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole.
The Principals have requested the UN IPTF and the Human Rights
Coordination Centre of the OHR to submit an additional report detailing
the incidents preceding and following the violence of 10 February for
consideration by the Federation partners. The Federation partners must
commit themselves to draw all necessary conclusions, including personal
consequences for all officials and police officers who have failed to
perform their duties.
- Mostar must be addressed now. But beyond recent events in Mostar,
the Federation as a whole is facing a severe crisis. More radical
efforts must be undertaken to achieve a turning point in the relations
between the peoples of the Federation and their leaders. In particular,
you should now commit yourselves personally to speedy implementation of
the Sarajevo Protocol, the adoption of a first Law on Municipal Reforms,
and further progress in building the Mostar institutions. The Federation
must take a new approach to the media as well. The return of refugees
and displaced persons must also be addressed. It is unacceptable that
three years after the conclusion in Washington and Vienna Agreements,
return of minority areas within the Federation has not yet really
started.
I have enclosed a detailed list of steps to be undertaken following the
UN IPTF Report, and of urgent Federation issues on which I will request
your agreement tomorrow.
Yours sincerely;
Ambassador Michael Steiner
Principal Deputy High Representative
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