B4-0651/95

Resolution on the international women's action against hunger in Bihac following the resumption of fighting in Bosnia

The European Parliament,

- recalling its earlier resolutions, in particular those of 17 November 1994 on the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina ((OJ C 341, 5.12.1994, p. 124.)) and 16 March 1995 on Croatia ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 14.)),

A. having regard to the UN Charter establishing a right of self-defence of Member States and the resolutions of the UN Security Council establishing security zones in the territory of the former Yugoslavia,

B. having regard to the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and the additional 1977 protocols,

C. having regard to the meeting of the experts of the contact group on 27 March 1995,

D. extremely concerned lest the imminent end of the truce between Bosnian and Serb combatants and the actual resumption of hostilities should again degenerate into bloodshed, thereby endangering peace and security in Europe,

E. whereas the majority of the victims of the armed conflict are civilians, most of them women and children, who account for 65% of the refugees and displaced persons, the fate of whom is dependent on international humanitarian aid,

F. recalling that in the Muslim enclave of Bihac in Bosnia the humanitarian convoys have been surrounded and blocked for a whole month by the secessionist Serbs of Krajina and as a result 200 000 civilians are facing hunger and malnutrition, according to the UN World Food Programme, and that it has been possible to convey only 900 of the 2 000 tonnes of food supplies necessary for the month of February 1995 to the enclave, as a result of which the most basic rights of the people to life and survival are being seriously threatened,

G. noting the fact that the 'action against hunger in Bihac' initiative, a humanitarian convoy of 29 lorries and several ambulances organized by the Tresjnevska Women's Group - whose chairwoman, Nina Kadic, revealed that rape had been carried out on a massive and systematic scale - the Zena Bih Association and, for France, by the Alliance des Femmes pour la Démocratie - which has been involved in the action since the beginning - and having received the support of women throughout the world wishing to give help to civilians in Bihac, set off on 25 March 1995 but is still being held up by Serbian forces on the outskirts of the town,

1. Strongly condemns the Bosnian Serbs' practice of systematically obstructing all humanitarian convoys trying to reach civilians in the region, thereby violating the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons and the Protocol on non-international armed conflicts;

2. Points out that humanitarian aid must not be subject to political considerations and calls on the international community to honour its obligations by ensuring compliance with the ceasefire and the security zones and by countering attacks on civilian targets;

3. Demands that the supply of aid, particularly for women and children, should be guaranteed and calls on the World Health Organization, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the other international bodies to fulfil their responsibilities;

4. Hopes that the International Committee of the Red Cross will be able in the very near future to send a mission to ascertain the state of health of the encircled peoples;

5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Government and Parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.