Speech #1040166780

I want to review specifically what the Dayton Peace Agreement says and how its provisions apply in this situation. so that there can be no misunderstanding of the duties of the parties to the agreement. These provisions now take effect because the agreement was signed in Paris earlier today. The Dayton agreement provides as follows in article VII: "Recognizing that the observance of human rights and the protection of refugees and displaced persons are of vital importance in achieving a lasting peace. the Parties agree to and shall comply fully with the provisions concerning human rights set forth in Chapter One of the Agreement at Annex 6. as well as the provisions concerning refugees and displaced persons set forth in Chapter One of the Agreement at Annex 7." Article VII thus commits all of the parties. including the Bosnian Serbs. to comply fully with the following provision. among others: In particular. annex 6. article XIII. paragraph 4 of the Dayton agreement provides as follows: "All competent authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall cooperate with and provide unrestricted access to the organizations established in this Agreement. any international human rights monitoring mechanisms established for Bosnia and Herzegovina. the supervisory bodies established by any of the international agreements listed in the Appendix to this Annex. the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. and any other organization authorized by the U.N. Security Council with a mandate concerning human rights or humanitarian law." In other words. the Dayton agreement singles out the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia as one of the organizations with which all competent authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina must cooperate. This means that the Bosnian Serbs may not prevent investigators from reaching these mass grave sites or exhuming the remains or doing any of the other tasks necessary to a full and complete investigation of the crimes committed there.