HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS SAYS LESSONS LEARNED IN BOSNIA FORGOTTEN IN KOSOVO

HR/99/40
8 May 1999

Mary Robinson Travelling to Montenegro

The crisis in Kosovo is evidence that the international community has forgotten some of the painful lessons learned in Bosnia, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said today in Sarajevo.

Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mrs. Robinson said that although the tragedies in Bosnia and Kosovo were not identical, the similarities between them were more than troubling. There was a similar cast of characters responsible for the ethnic cleansing, she said, while the plot - the methods used to uproot people and destroy life - had been plagiarized.

After the catastrophic war that led to the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, said the High Commissioner, the international community -- through the United Nations human rights programme -- set up an 'early-warning system' in the region precisely to help prevent a recurrence of the atrocities seen between 1991 and 1995.

But, she continued, the findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for the region, and those of the monitors of the Office of the High Commissioner in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, did not lead to the required action. A system of early warning is only as good as the political will that backs it up, said Mrs. Robinson.

Mrs. Robinson said that just as Bosnia and Herzegovina was recovering from the war of the early 1990s, the Kosovo crisis has brought increased pressures. According to Government officials, some 42,000 people have found refuge in the country since the beginning of the bombing in Kosovo. 'It is particularly important now as war rages in Kosovo that we should not turn away from Bosnia and Herzegovina', said Mrs. Robinson.

Although the human rights situation in the country is still delicate, the High Commissioner said, there are a number of positive signs, including improvement in freedom of movement, progress in creating multi-ethnic police forces and a reform of the property laws. She also praised the work of independent human rights institutions, including the Federation Ombudsmen and the Commission on Human Rights created after the Dayton accords.

But the High Commissioner expressed deep concern at a continuing failure to promote tolerance and protect the rights of minorities. This is evidenced, she said, by the low rate of minority returns. She called on the authorities to exercise leadership to guarantee fully the right of return as provided in the Dayton agreement. Steps to bring legislation into line with international standards were encouraging, she added, but further steps were needed for actual implementation.

During her trip, Mrs. Robinson raised such issues as the right to healthcare and trafficking in women. She expressed particular disquiet about reports on the sexual exploitation of women brought to Bosnia from other countries and their reduction to virtual slavery.

In addition to meeting with the collective Presidency of Bosnia and other senior Government officials, Mrs. Robinson held discussions with a broad range of civil society groups, including organizations working for human rights and the rights of women.

The High Commissioner will be in Montenegro tomorrow before travelling to Zagreb. On Tuesday she arrives in Belgrade for a two-day visit.