WRITTEN QUESTION E-2564/02

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(16 September 2002)

Subject: Women in black 7th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre

According to the organisation Women in Black, the government of the Bosnian Serb Entity prevented a delegation from the organisation from travelling to Srebrenica to attend the ceremony to mark the 7th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on 11 July 2002 and to pay tribute to the memory of the victims. Moreover, despite the fact that the Stabilisation Force, SFOR, had granted authorisation and promised to escort the buses, it did not keep its word, so that women belonging to 16 peace organisations in Serbia and Montenegro were unable to attend the commemoration.

What measures will the Commission take to compel the governments of present-day Yugoslavia and the Bosnian-Serb Entity (Republika Srpska) and SFOR to respect the right of the women to attend similar events in the future and not to obstruct the free movement of individuals for reasons of political expediency? In addition, what action will the Commission take to put an end to the attempts of chauvinist elements in the Bosnian Serb Entity to undermine peaceful coexistence in Bosnia-Herzegovina?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(22 October 2002)

The Commission is aware of reports suggesting that several parties were prevented from travelling to Srebrenica on 11 July 2002 to mark the anniversary of the 1995 massacre. In one case, 30-40 members of Women in Black who had set off from Belgrade were reportedly stopped by Republika Srpska (RS) police near Bratunac and prevented from proceeding to Srebrenica. Reports suggest that several of the bus passengers concerned were not carrying the required documentation. In a similar case both the Office of the High Representative and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation en Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) expressed concern and called on the RS government to investigate and take any necessary disciplinary action. While SFOR contributes to a secure environment, inter alia through patrols, it cannot provide a blanket security presence.

Although the Commission cannot compel the RS government to allow free movement to such commemorations, the Commission can and does forcefully point out the responsibility of the BiH and Entity authorities to guarantee the full freedom of movement of persons throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article I.4 of the BiH constitution). Any failure to implement this requirement would, if confirmed, be noted in annual reports on the Stabilisation and Association Process and would subsequently be reflected in a delay in BiH's integration into Union structures. In this context, the Commission would also point to its political and financial support for the development of the rule of law in BiH. One part of this agenda is the work of the Union Police Mission; the latter will further combat any excesses. Finally, the Commission wishes to underline that the elimination of chauvinist opposition to peaceful co-existence in BiH require attitude changes across the ethnic divide. The Commission attempts to address this through a wide range of both positive and negative inducements; its final eradication will, however, inevitably take a long time.