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.