op 18 front pages-converted - The Watson Institute for International ...

draws attention to “the appalling extent of persecution by
‘ethnic cleansing’ against those of Muslim ethnic origin.”
His reports also covered other regions of the former Yugoslavia,
documenting violations committed by all parties to the
conflict. One special report was issued on the rape and abuse
of women. The reports were widely considered to provide
objective and reliable information in an environment in which
such information is often distorted for political ends. The
reports were also a source of important recommendations for
enhancing protection, including the creation of security zones
in Bosnia, the deployment of on-site monitors, and the creation
of an expert commission to investigate war crimes. The reports
also made important links between human rights and humanitarian
assistance, demonstrating how denial of food and
other such aid constitute human rights violations.
The Centre for Human Rights, the arm of the U.N. Secretariat
that deals with human rights issues, approved a staff of
five to eight persons in Geneva to assist the Special Rapporteur
and dispatched three to four monitors in the field. The latter,
however, were not deployed until March 1993 because of
financial, administrative, and bureaucratic bottlenecks, and
because no precedent existed for doing so. Although the
Special Rapporteur requested that monitors be deployed in all
parts of the former Yugoslavia, they were found only in
Zagreb. An effort to deploy monitors in Belgrade was rejected
by the federal authorities there; efforts were underway in late
1993 to deploy monitors in Macedonia.
A Commission of Experts was set up under Security
Council Resolution 780 of October 6, 1992 to examine grave
breaches of international humanitarian law in the former
Yugoslavia and to report to the Secretary-General. Security
Council Resolution 808 of February 11, 1993 authorized the
creation of an international tribunal to prosecute persons
charged with serious violations of international humanitarian
law in the former Yugoslavia. In mid-September the General
Assembly elected eleven judges; a prosecutor was appointed
at the end of October.
This constellation of human rights activities were precedents
for the U.N. system. For the first time, the Human Rights
Commission held emergency sessions. The Special Rappor-
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