B3-1067, 1070, 1073 and 1098/93

Resolution on the human rights situation in the former Yugoslavia

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its previous resolutions concerning the situation in the former Yugoslavia,

A.appalled at the disastrous situation in the besieged towns of Bosnia-Herzegovina,

B.shocked by recent Serbian attempts to cut off all water and energy supplies to Sarajevo and by sharply deteriorating health and sanitary conditions in Bosnia's capital city,

C.having regard to the dramatic appeal made by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, regarding the imminent shortage of food and medical aid in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is threatening the lives of 1 300 000 people who depend exclusively on international aid,

D.whereas the governments of a number of countries are not respecting the commitments made vis-à-vis the international humanitarian aid organizations and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees has so far received only US $ 130 million, whilst the minimum necessary for one year is four times as much,

E.appalled that these disasters are in large part the result of the failure to enforce respect for UN Security Council resolutions for which the Member States of the EC among others must bear a heavy responsibility,

F.remembering the declarations of the Council that military intervention should be avoided as long as humanitarian assistance can be guaranteed; whereas, however, the supply routes to the endangered towns are blocked by Serb and Croat militias,

G.recalling the conclusions of the European Council at Copenhagen that the Member States and the EC should commit more men and money to the UN operations in the former Yugoslavia,

H.taking into account the declarations at the G7 summit at Tokyo, which underline that no agreement will be accepted on Bosnia-Herzegovina which lacks the consent of the legal government of that state,

I.alarmed by the pressure of the representative of the EC, Lord Owen, on the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina to accept the plans of Karadzic and Boban backed by Milosevic and Tudjman for a division of the republic into ethnic entities,

J.having regard to the continued daily violations by the police and military against the rights of the population of Kosovo and having regard to the Serbian request for the withdrawal of the CSCE international observers from the province of Kosovo,

K.appalled by the clandestine conditions under which thousands of illegal aliens and unregistered refugees from former Yugoslavia are obliged to live in the Member States of the EC at present,

1.Believes that the conflict and atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina which have caused the death and/or mutilation of tens of thousands of civilians, including many thousands of children, is the worst violation of human rights in Europe since the Second World War;

2.Condemns Serb attempts to deprive the civilian population of Sarajevo of water and energy;

3.Calls on the Member States and the Commission to respond positively to the request from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and to continue providing humanitarian assistance;

4.Calls upon the Member States to open their borders in a more generous way to refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina;

5.Calls on the Community and its Member States to request the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to carry out without delay the registration of all those potentially eligible for refugee status and to ensure that refugees and displaced persons are fully informed in good time about all the asylum options available, in order to avoid a forced or involuntary dispersal of ethnic communities;

6.Calls upon the Council to take steps in order to guarantee with all means the security of the so-called 'safe havens';

7.Demands that the activities of the representative of the EC be in accordance with the declarations of the Council, the EPC and the European Parliament about respect for the sovereign decisions of the legal government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and requests that Lord Owen gives an account of his policy to the European Parliament or its Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security;

8.Calls on the Member States and CSCE to keep their observers on the territory of Kosovo to avoid a deterioration in the situation;

9.Expresses its solidarity with the winner of the Sakharov Prize, Mr Demaci, who went on hunger strike to obtain the restoration of freedom of the press in Kosovo;

10.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, EPC, the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Parliament of Kosovo, the CSCE and the UNHCR.