[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 127 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S11224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           ORDER OF BUSINESS

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                        THE SITUATION IN BOSNIA

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, last week the Senate sent a clear 
message to President Clinton and to our allies that the illegal and 
immoral arms embargo on the Bosnian Government should be lifted so that 
the Government and people of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina can 
exercise their right to defend themselves and their homes. While we 
wait for the lifting to occur, the people of Bosnia remain under 
siege--with suffering, death and destruction an intrinsic part of 
everyday life.
  I am particularly concerned by the tragic developments in the Bihac 
region of Bosnia. While NATO threatens tough action in response to 
attacks on Gorazde--a threat I hope NATO will actually act on--the 
attacks on the Bihac safe area continue. These are coordinated attacks 
by the Bosnian Serbs, the Krajina Serbs from Croatia, and even renegade 
Moslems who have sided with the Serbs. These are concerted attacks 
which, like so much of the fighting in Bosnia, include direct targeting 
of heavy weapons against the civilian population. These are inhumane 
attacks accompanied by efforts to deny food and water to the Bosnians 
in Bihac who are surrounded by Serbs.
  The fall of Bihac--another U.N. safe haven--would result in more 
human tragedy, more ethnic cleansing, more refugees forced from their 
homes. But the consequences of the fall of Bihac would go well beyond 
the immediate tragedy for the Bosnians in the region.
  The fall of Bihac would fundamentally change the strategic balance in 
Bosnia and Croatia to favor victory for the Serbs and the establishment 
of a greater Serbia. The establishment of a greater Serbia with no 
place for Bosnians and Croats of other races and other religions 
clearly remains the objective of the Serbs in Belgrade, Pale and Knin 
alike. For the fall of Bihac would free up Bosnian Serb and Krajina 
Serb troops to continue their campaign of terror elsewhere in Bosnia 
and Croatia.
  The Croatian Government, recognizing these strategic as well as 
humanitarian implications, has agreed with the Bosnian Government to 
come to the aid of Bihac. This may lead to a wider war with renewed 
fighting in Croatia.
  But the fall of Bihac will become imminent, and this safe area 
dependent on Croatian intervention, if the United Nations forces and 
NATO fail to protect the Bosnian people of the Bihac region. The United 
Nations Security Council has declared Bihac a safe haven, but UNPROFOR 
has failed to keep it safe. NATO has declared Bihac a heavy weapons 
exclusion zone, but NATO has not carried out airstrikes to enforce that 
exclusion zone. The dual key arrangement under which the United Nations 
has denied NATO the authority to eliminate the missile threat to NATO 
aircraft has increased the likelihood that Bihac will not be protected. 
The United Nations Security Council has declared Bosnia a no-fly zone, 
but NATO aircraft have
 not been able to prevent Krajina Serb jets from bombing Bihac, because 
United Nations and NATO rules don't allow NATO to pursue these planes 
into Croatian airspace or to hit them on the ground. We need to 
eliminate these rules and the dual key arrangements which stand in the 
way of effective action.

  Mr. President, the United Nations and NATO failed to protect 
Srebrenica. The United Nations and NATO failed to protect Zepa.
  The United Nations and NATO must not fail again in Gorazde. They must 
not fail in Bihac, Tuzla, Sarajevo or other areas where Bosnian 
civilians come under attack. The international community must not fail 
the people of Bosnia.
  Mr. President, last week an important voice spoke out against the 
international failure to halt atrocities in Bosnia. Former Polish Prime 
Minister Mazowiecki resigned his position as the United Nations human 
rights investigator for the former Yugoslavia to protest the United 
Nation's inaction to address the human rights violations he reported 
and the United Nation's failure to protect the United Nations-declared 
safe havens of Srebrenica and Zepa.
  Allow me to read a few passages from Mazowiecki's letter of 
resignation, since his words are surely more eloquent than mine:

       One cannot speak about the protection of human rights with 
     credibility when one is confronted with the lack of 
     consistency and courage displayed by the international 
     community and its leaders.
       Human rights violations continue blatantly. There are 
     constant blockages of the delivery of humanitarian aid. The 
     civilian population is shelled remorselessly and the blue 
     helmets and representatives of humanitarian organizations are 
     dying.
       Crimes have been committed with swiftness and brutality and 
     by contrast the response of the international community has 
     been slow and ineffectual.

  Mr. President, these are not the words of a partisan spokesman. These 
are the words of a statesman who has devoted years to impartially 
investigating human rights abuses for the United Nations. I hope that 
President Clinton, the U.N. Secretary General, the NATO Secretary 
General and other world leaders will hear these words and will heed 
them.


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