The Vance Plan (UN Plan)
- Country/entity
-
Croatia
Yugoslavia (former) - Region
-
Europe and Eurasia
- Agreement name
- The Vance Plan (UN Plan)
- Date
- 1 Dec 1991
- Agreement status
- Unilateral document
- Interim arrangement
- Yes
- Agreement/conflict level
- Intrastate/intrastate conflict
- Stage
- Pre-negotiation/process
- Conflict nature
- Government/territory
- Peace process
- Croatia negotiation process
- Parties
- Plan devised by Cyrus R. Vance, Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General and Marrack Goulding, Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs, as discussed with Yugoslav leaders
- Third parties
- -
- Description
- The 'Vance Plan' outlines the United Nations peace-keeping operation in Yugoslavia, establishes United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), provides for the organisation and deployment of UN peace-keeping forces, and the demilitarization of these areas.
- Agreement document
- HR_911201_The Vance Plan.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Groups
- Children/youth
No specific mention.
- Disabled persons
No specific mention.
- Elderly/age
No specific mention.
- Migrant workers
No specific mention.
- Racial/ethnic/national group
- Groups→Racial/ethnic/national group→Anti-discriminationPage 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
...The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights...
Page 2-3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 10.
The functions of protecting the inhabitants of the UNPAs would be shared between the United Nations Force's infantry units and its civilian police monitors. The infantry would ensure that the UNPAs remained demilitarized. The police monitors would ensure that the local police carried out their duties without discrimination against any nationality and with full respect for the human rights of all residents of the UNPAs.Groups→Racial/ethnic/national group→SubstantivePage 2, THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTED AREAS, 8.
The UNPAs would be areas in Croatia in which the Secretary-General judged that special
arrangements were required during an interim period to ensure that a lasting ceasefire was
maintained. They would be areas in which Serbs constitute the majority or a substantial minority of the population and where inter-communal tensions have led to armed conflict in the recent past. As already stated, the special arrangements in these areas would be of an interim nature and would not prejudge the outcome of political negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the Yugoslav crisis.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 11.
...Any confirmed violations would be taken up with the offending party and would, if necessary, be reported by the Secretary-General to the Security Council If serious tension were to develop between nationalities in a UNPA, the United Nations Force would interpose itself between the two sides in order to prevent hostilities. - Religious groups
No specific mention.
- Indigenous people
No specific mention.
- Other groups
No specific mention.
- Refugees/displaced persons
- Groups→Refugees/displaced persons→RhetoricalPage 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia,
designated as "United Nations Protected Areas". These areas would be demilitarized; all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded. The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack. The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights. As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), all JNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic. The United Nations Force would also, as appropriated, assist the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
Page 4, RETURN OF DISPLACED PERSONS TO THEIR HOMES, 20.
In accordance with established international principles, the United Nations policy is to facilitate the return to their homes of all persons displaced by the recent hostilities who so desire. The lead in this matter is being taken by he humanitarian agencies of the United Nations. If a United Nations Force were established in Yugoslavia, it would provide all appropriate support to this effort in the UNPAs. The United Nations police monitors would have an especially important role in this regard. - Social class
No specific mention.
Gender
- Women, girls and gender
- Page 6, Appendix: Sarajevo "Blue Route" Concept, Article 1.2.2
All civilians, regardless of sex, age, or ethnic origin, and without weapons or ammunition, will be allowed to use the routes. - Men and boys
No specific mention.
- LGBTI
No specific mention.
- Family
No specific mention.
State definition
- Nature of state (general)
No specific mention.
- State configuration
No specific mention.
- Self determination
No specific mention.
- Referendum
No specific mention.
- State symbols
No specific mention.
- Independence/secession
No specific mention.
- Accession/unification
No specific mention.
- Border delimitation
No specific mention.
- Cross-border provision
No specific mention.
Governance
- Political institutions (new or reformed)
No specific mention.
- Elections
No specific mention.
- Electoral commission
No specific mention.
- Political parties reform
No specific mention.
- Civil society
No specific mention.
- Traditional/religious leaders
No specific mention.
- Public administration
No specific mention.
- Constitution
No specific mention.
Power sharing
- Political power sharing
No specific mention.
- Territorial power sharing
No specific mention.
- Economic power sharing
No specific mention.
- Military power sharing
No specific mention.
Human rights and equality
- Human rights/RoL general
- Page 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia,
designated as "United Nations Protected Areas". These areas would be demilitarized; all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded. The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack. The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights. As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), all JNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic. The United Nations Force would also, as appropriated, assist the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
Page 2-3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 10.
The functions of protecting the inhabitants of the UNPAs would be shared between the United Nations Force's infantry units and its civilian police monitors. The infantry would ensure that the UNPAs remained demilitarized. The police monitors would ensure that the local police carried out their duties without discrimination against any nationality and with full respect for the human rights of all residents of the UNPAs.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 12.
The civilian police monitors would also be deployed throughout the UNPAs. They would be
unarmed. They would have no executive responsibility for the maintenance of public order but they would closely monitor the work of the local police forces. To this end, they would be re-located with police headquarters in each region and opstina and would accompany the local police on their patrols and in their performance of their other duties. They would investigate any complaints of discrimination or other abuse of human rights and would report to the Chief of the United Nations Force any confirmed cases of discrimination or abuses. They would require free and immediate access to all premises and facilities of, or under the control of, the local police forces. - Bill of rights/similar
No specific mention.
- Treaty incorporation
No specific mention.
- Civil and political rights
No specific mention.
- Socio-economic rights
No specific mention.
Rights related issues
- Citizenship
No specific mention.
- Democracy
No specific mention.
- Detention procedures
No specific mention.
- Media and communication
- Rights related issues→Media and communication→Media logisticsPage 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 6.
The operation would be financed collectively by the member States of the United Nations. But the various Yugoslav authorities would be expected to make available to the United Nations, free of charge, as much as possible of the accommodation and other facilities and supplies, such as food and fuel, that would be required by the operation. They would also be asked to conclude with the United Nations agreements concerning the privileges, immunities and facilities which the operation and its members would need in order to carry out their functions, especially complete freedom of movement and communications. - Mobility/access
- Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 6.
The operation would be financed collectively by the member States of the United Nations. But the various Yugoslav authorities would be expected to make available to the United Nations, free of charge, as much as possible of the accommodation and other facilities and supplies, such as food and fuel, that would be required by the operation. They would also be asked to conclude with the United Nations agreements concerning the privileges, immunities and facilities which the operation and its members would need in order to carry out their functions, especially complete freedom of movement and communications. - Protection measures
No specific mention.
- Other
No specific mention.
Rights institutions
- NHRI
No specific mention.
- Regional or international human rights institutions
No specific mention.
Justice sector reform
- Criminal justice and emergency law
No specific mention.
- State of emergency provisions
No specific mention.
- Judiciary and courts
No specific mention.
- Prisons and detention
No specific mention.
- Traditional Laws
No specific mention.
Socio-economic reconstruction
- Development or socio-economic reconstruction
No specific mention.
- National economic plan
No specific mention.
- Natural resources
No specific mention.
- International funds
No specific mention.
- Business
No specific mention.
- Taxation
No specific mention.
- Banks
No specific mention.
Land, property and environment
- Land reform/rights
No specific mention.
- Pastoralist/nomadism rights
No specific mention.
- Cultural heritage
No specific mention.
- Environment
No specific mention.
- Water or riparian rights or access
No specific mention.
Security sector
- Security Guarantees
- Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 11.
The infantry units would be deployed throughout the UNPAs. They would be lightly armed but would use armoured personel carriers and helicopters. They would control access to the UNPAs by establishing check-points on all roads and principal tracks leading into them and at important junctions inside them. At these check-points they would stop and, if necessary, search vehicles and individuals to ensure that no military formations or armed groups entered the UNPAs and that no weapons, ammunition, explosives or other military equipment were brought into them. They would patrol extensively inside the UNPAs on foot, and by vehicle and helicopter. They would also investigate any complaints made to them about violations of the demilitarized status of the UNPAs. Any confirmed violations would be taken up with the offending party and would, if necessary, be reported by the Secretary-General to the Security Council If serious tension were to develop between nationalities in a UNPA, the United Nations Force would interpose itself between the two sides in order to prevent hostilities.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 13.
The United Nations Force would also include a group of military observers. They would be
unarmed, in accordance with normal United Nations practice. They would initially be deployed in the UNPAs to verify the demilitarization of those areas. As soon as demilitarization had been effected, the military observers would be transferred to parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina adjacent to Croatia. Their functions there would be to patrol extensively, to liaise with the local authorities and to warn the Chief of the United Nations Force if inter-communal tension threatened to disturb the peace and tranquillity established by the Force in the UNPAs. Their good offices would be available to help to resolve local difficulties and to investigate allegations of inter-communal tension or
aggression. The exact locations in which the military observers would operate would be decided by the advance party of the United Nations Force, after consulting local authorities. There would also be a small detachment of military observers at Dubrovnik.
Page 4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 16.
It would be the responsibility of each unit, before it withdrew or was disbanded, to remove any mines which it had laid while deployed in the UNPAs.
Page 4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 17.
The implementation of the above arrangements for demilitarization of the UNPAs would be
verified by the United Nations Force. - Ceasefire
- Security sector→Ceasefire→Ceasefire provisionPage 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 2.
The operation would be established by the United Nations Security Council, acting on a recommendation by the Secretary-General. Before making such a recommendation, the Secretary-General would need to be satisfied that all concerned in the conflict were, in a serious and sustained way, abiding by the arrangements, including an unconditional ceasefire, agreed at Geneva on 23 November 1991...
Page 2, THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTED AREAS, 8.
The UNPAs would be areas in Croatia in which the Secretary-General judged that special
arrangements were required during an interim period to ensure that a lasting ceasefire was
maintained. They would be areas in which Serbs constitute the majority or a substantial minority of the population and where inter-communal tensions have led to armed conflict in the recent past. As already stated, the special arrangements in these areas would be of an interim nature and would not prejudge the outcome of political negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the Yugoslav crisis. - Police
- Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 3.
The military and police personnel required for the operation would be contributed, on a voluntary basis in response to a request from the Secretary-General, by the Government of member States of the United Nations. The contributing States would be approved by the Security Council, in the recommendation of the Secretary-General after consultation with the Yugoslav parties.
Page 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia,
designated as "United Nations Protected Areas". These areas would be demilitarized; all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded. The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack. The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights. As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), all JNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic. The United Nations Force would also, as appropriated, assist the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
Page 2-3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 10.
The functions of protecting the inhabitants of the UNPAs would be shared between the United Nations Force's infantry units and its civilian police monitors. The infantry would ensure that the UNPAs remained demilitarized. The police monitors would ensure that the local police carried out their duties without discrimination against any nationality and with full respect for the human rights of all residents of the UNPAs.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 12.
The civilian police monitors would also be deployed throughout the UNPAs. They would be
unarmed. They would have no executive responsibility for the maintenance of public order but they would closely monitor the work of the local police forces. To this end, they would be re-located with police headquarters in each region and opstina and would accompany the local police on their patrols and in their performance of their other duties. They would investigate any complaints of discrimination or other abuse of human rights and would report to the Chief of the United Nations Force any confirmed cases of discrimination or abuses. They would require free and immediate access to all premises and facilities of, or under the control of, the local police forces.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 14.
The military and police personnel of the United Nations Force would arrive in Yugoslavia as soon as possible after the Security Council decided to establish the Force. They would be deployed simultaneously in all three UNPAs. The Force's assumption of responsibility for the protection of these areas would be synchronized with the demilitarization process. To this end, close coordination would be required with the commanders of the forces currently deployed in each of the UNPAs and agreed timetables would be established in order to link deployment of the United Nations Force with the demilitarization of each area.
Page 4, LOCAL POLICE FORCES, 19.
The maintenance of public order in the UNP As would be the responsibility of local police forces who would carry only side-arms. Each of these forces would be formed from residents of the UNPA in question, in proportions reflecting the national composition of the population which lived in it before the recent hostilities. The local police forces would be responsible to the existing opstina councils in the UNPAs. Any existing regional police structures would remain in place, provided that they were consistent with the principle described above concerning the national composition of the local police forces. - Armed forces
- Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 3.
The military and police personnel required for the operation would be contributed, on a voluntary basis in response to a request from the Secretary-General, by the Government of member States of the United Nations. The contributing States would be approved by the Security Council, in the recommendation of the Secretary-General after consultation with the Yugoslav parties.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 13.
The United Nations Force would also include a group of military observers. They would be
unarmed, in accordance with normal United Nations practice. They would initially be deployed in the UNPAs to verify the demilitarization of those areas. As soon as demilitarization had been effected, the military observers would be transferred to parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina adjacent to Croatia. Their functions there would be to patrol extensively, to liaise with the local authorities and to warn the Chief of the United Nations Force if inter-communal tension threatened to disturb the peace and tranquillity established by the Force in the UNPAs. Their good offices would be available to help to resolve local difficulties and to investigate allegations of inter-communal tension or
aggression. The exact locations in which the military observers would operate would be decided by the advance party of the United Nations Force, after consulting local authorities. There would also be a small detachment of military observers at Dubrovnik.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 14.
The military and police personnel of the United Nations Force would arrive in Yugoslavia as soon as possible after the Security Council decided to establish the Force. They would be deployed simultaneously in all three UNPAs. The Force's assumption of responsibility for the protection of these areas would be synchronized with the demilitarization process. To this end, close coordination would be required with the commanders of the forces currently deployed in each of the UNPAs and agreed timetables would be established in order to link deployment of the United Nations Force with the demilitarization of each area.
Page 3-4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 15.
On the basis of the agreed timetables, demilitarization of the UNPAs would be implemented as rapidly as possible, in the following way:
(a) All units and personnel of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and the Croatian National Guard, as well as any Territorial Defence units or personnel not based in the UNPAs, would be withdrawn from them.
(b) All Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be disbanded and demobilized. Disbandment would involve the temporary dissolutions of the units' command structures. Demobilization would mean that the personnel involved would cease to wear any uniform or carry weapons, though they could continue to be paid by the local authorities.
(c) The weapons of the Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be handed over to units of JNA or the Croatian National Guard, as the case might be, before those units withdrew from the UNPAs. Alternatively, they could be handed over to the United Nations Force for safe custody during the interim period, if that arrangement was preferred by the units concerned.
Page 4, ORGANISATION OF A UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 21.
If peace-keeping operation were established to carry out the above-described functions, it would be commanded by a civilian Chief of Mission who would receive his instructions from, and report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. As already stated, the Secretary-General would himself report regularly to the Security Council whose guidance he would seek if any difficulties arose in implementation of the Force's mandate. Under the authority of the Chief of Mission, there would be a Force Commander, with the rank of Major General, who would command the military elements, and a Police Commissioner, who would command the police monitors. The headquarters of the Force would be located at Banja Luka, with sub-offices at Belgrade and Zagreb.
Page 4, ORGANISATION OF A UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 22.
To carry out the functions described above, the Force would require approximately 10 infantry battalions, 100 military observers and 500 police monitors, together with the necessary civilians and military support personnel. This would indicate a strengh of somewhat over 10,000 persons. - DDR
- Security sector→DDR→Demilitarisation provisionsPage 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia,
designated as "United Nations Protected Areas". These areas would be demilitarized; all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded. The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack. The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights. As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), all JNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic. The United Nations Force would also, as appropriated, assist the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
Page 3-4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 15.
On the basis of the agreed timetables, demilitarization of the UNPAs would be implemented as rapidly as possible, in the following way:
(a) All units and personnel of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and the Croatian National Guard, as well as any Territorial Defence units or personnel not based in the UNPAs, would be withdrawn from them.
(b) All Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be disbanded and demobilized. Disbandment would involve the temporary dissolutions of the units' command structures. Demobilization would mean that the personnel involved would cease to wear any uniform or carry weapons, though they could continue to be paid by the local authorities.
(c) The weapons of the Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be handed over to units of JNA or the Croatian National Guard, as the case might be, before those units withdrew from the UNPAs. Alternatively, they could be handed over to the United Nations Force for safe custody during the interim period, if that arrangement was preferred by the units concerned.
(d) All paramilitary, irregular or volunteer units or personnel would either be withdrawn from the UNPAs or, if resident in them, be disbanded and demobilized. - Intelligence services
No specific mention.
- Parastatal/rebel and opposition group forces
- Page 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia,
designated as "United Nations Protected Areas". These areas would be demilitarized; all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded. The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack. The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights. As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), all JNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic. The United Nations Force would also, as appropriated, assist the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
Page 3-4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 15.
On the basis of the agreed timetables, demilitarization of the UNPAs would be implemented as rapidly as possible, in the following way:
(a) All units and personnel of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and the Croatian National Guard, as well as any Territorial Defence units or personnel not based in the UNPAs, would be withdrawn from them.
(b) All Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be disbanded and demobilized. Disbandment would involve the temporary dissolutions of the units' command structures. Demobilization would mean that the personnel involved would cease to wear any uniform or carry weapons, though they could continue to be paid by the local authorities.
(c) The weapons of the Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be handed over to units of JNA or the Croatian National Guard, as the case might be, before those units withdrew from the UNPAs. Alternatively, they could be handed over to the United Nations Force for safe custody during the interim period, if that arrangement was preferred by the units concerned.
(d) All paramilitary, irregular or volunteer units or personnel would either be withdrawn from the UNPAs or, if resident in them, be disbanded and demobilized.
Page 4, DECLARATION OF THE YUGOSLAV NATIONAL ARMY, 18.
In parallel with the assumption by the United Nations Force of its protective functions in the UNPAs, any ]NA units deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated to places outside that republic. A timetable for this relocation would be agreed between the Chief of the United Nations Force and the Federal Secretary for National Defence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. All Serbian teriitory, paramilitary, irregular and volunteer units (other than those disbanded and demobilized in the UNPAs) would similarly withdraw from Croatia. These withdrawals would be verified by the military observers of the United Nations Force. - Withdrawal of foreign forces
- Page 4, DECLARATION OF THE YUGOSLAV NATIONAL ARMY, 18.
In parallel with the assumption by the United Nations Force of its protective functions in the UNPAs, any ]NA units deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated to places outside that republic. A timetable for this relocation would be agreed between the Chief of the United Nations Force and the Federal Secretary for National Defence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. All Serbian teriitory, paramilitary, irregular and volunteer units (other than those disbanded and demobilized in the UNPAs) would similarly withdraw from Croatia. These withdrawals would be verified by the military observers of the United Nations Force. - Corruption
No specific mention.
- Crime/organised crime
No specific mention.
- Drugs
No specific mention.
- Terrorism
No specific mention.
Transitional justice
- Transitional justice general
No specific mention.
- Amnesty/pardon
No specific mention.
- Courts
No specific mention.
- Mechanism
No specific mention.
- Prisoner release
No specific mention.
- Vetting
No specific mention.
- Victims
No specific mention.
- Missing persons
No specific mention.
- Reparations
No specific mention.
- Reconciliation
No specific mention.
Implementation
- UN signatory
- Plan devised by Cyrus R. Vance, Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General and Marrack Goulding, Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs
- Other international signatory
No specific mention.
- Referendum for agreement
No specific mention.
- International mission/force/similar
- Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 1.
A United Nations peace-keeping operation in Yugoslavia would be an interim arrangement to create the conditions of peace and security required for the negotiation of an overall settlement of the Yugoslav crisis. It would not prejudge the outcome of such negotiations.
Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 2.
The operation would be established by the United Nations Security Council, acting on a recommendation by the Secretary-General. Before making such a recommendation, the Secretary-General would need to be satisfied that all concerned in the conflict were, in a serious and sustained way, abiding by the arrangements, including an unconditional ceasefire, agreed at Geneva on 23 November 1991. He would also need to receive, through his Personal Envoy, categorical assurances that all the Yugoslav parties concerned in the conflict accepted the concepts which he intended to recommend to the Security Council and that they would provide all necessary assistance and cooperation to enable the peace-keeping operation to carry out its functions.
Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 3.
The military and police personnel required for the operation would be contributed, on a voluntary basis in response to a request from the Secretary-General, by the Government of member States of the United Nations. The contributing States would be approved by the Security Council, in the recommendation of the Secretary-General after consultation with the Yugoslav parties.
Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 4.
All members of the peace-keeping operation would be under the operational command of the
Secretary-General and would not be permitted to receive operational orders for the national authorities. They would be required to be completely impartial between the various parties to the conflict. Those personnel who were armed would have standing instructions to use force to the minimum extent necessary and normally only in self-defence.
Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 5.
In accordance with its normal practice, the Security Council would probably establish the operation for an initial period of six months. Subject to the Council's agreement, the operation would remain in Yugoslavia until a negotiated settlement of the conflict was achieved. The Secretary-General would submit regular reports to the Security Council, normally every six months. These reports would contain his recommendations on extension of the operation's mandate.
Page 1, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, 6.
The operation would be financed collectively by the member States of the United Nations. But the various Yugoslav authorities would be expected to make available to the United Nations, free of charge, as much as possible of the accommodation and other facilities and supplies, such as food and fuel, that would be required by the operation. They would also be asked to conclude with the United Nations agreements concerning the privileges, immunities and facilities which the operation and its members would need in order to carry out their functions, especially complete freedom of movement and communications.
Page 1-2, BASIC CONCEPT, 7.
United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia,
designated as "United Nations Protected Areas". These areas would be demilitarized; all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded. The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack. The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights. As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), all JNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic. The United Nations Force would also, as appropriated, assist the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
Page 2, THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTED AREAS, 8.
The UNPAs would be areas in Croatia in which the Secretary-General judged that special
arrangements were required during an interim period to ensure that a lasting ceasefire was maintained. They would be areas in which Serbs constitute the majority or a substantial minority of the population and where inter-communal tensions have led to armed conflict in the recent past. As already stated, the special arrangements in these areas would be of an interim nature and would not prejudge the outcome of political negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the Yugoslav crisis.
Page 2, THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTED AREAS, 9.
There would be three UNPAs: Eastern Slavonia, Western Slavonia and Krajina. They would
comprise the following opstina or parts of opstina: Eastern Slavonia: Beli Manastir; Those parts of Osijek which lie east of Osijek City; Vukovar; Certain villages in the extreme eastern part of Vinkovci. Western Slavonia: Grubisno Polje; Daruvar; Pakrac;
The western parts of Nova Gradiska; The eastern part of Novska. Krajina: Kostajnica;
Petrinja; Dvor; Glina; Vrgin Most; Vojnic; Slunj; Titova Korenica; Donji Lapac; Gracac;
Obrovac; Benkovac; Knin. Before deployment of the Force began, the exact boundaries of the UNPAs would be decided by an advance party of the United Nations Force, after consulting local leaders.
Page 2-3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 10.
The functions of protecting the inhabitants of the UNPAs would be shared between the United Nations Force's infantry units and its civilian police monitors. The infantry would ensure that the UNPAs remained demilitarized. The police monitors would ensure that the local police carried out their duties without discrimination against any nationality and with full respect for the human rights of all residents of the UNPAs.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 11.
The infantry units would be deployed throughout the UNPAs. They would be lightly armed but would use armoured personel carriers and helicopters. They would control access to the UNPAs by establishing check-points on all roads and principal tracks leading into them and at important junctions inside them. At these check-points they would stop and, if necessary, search vehicles and individuals to ensure that no military formations or armed groups entered the UNPAs and that no weapons, ammunition, explosives or other military equipment were brought into them. They would patrol extensively inside the UNPAs on foot, and by vehicle and helicopter. They would also investigate any complaints made to them about violations of the demilitarized status of the UNPAs. Any confirmed violations would be taken up with the offending party and would, if necessary, be reported by the Secretary-General to the Security Council If serious tension were to develop between nationalities in a UNPA, the United Nations Force would interpose itself between the two sides in order to prevent hostilities.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 12.
The civilian police monitors would also be deployed throughout the UNPAs. They would be
unarmed. They would have no executive responsibility for the maintenance of public order but they would closely monitor the work of the local police forces. To this end, they would be re-located with police headquarters in each region and opstina and would accompany the local police on their patrols and in their performance of their other duties. They would investigate any complaints of discrimination or other abuse of human rights and would report to the Chief of the United Nations Force any confirmed cases of discrimination or abuses. They would require free and immediate access to all premises and facilities of, or under the control of, the local police forces.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 13.
The United Nations Force would also include a group of military observers. They would be
unarmed, in accordance with normal United Nations practice. They would initially be deployed in the UNPAs to verify the demilitarization of those areas. As soon as demilitarization had been effected, the military observers would be transferred to parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina adjacent to Croatia. Their functions there would be to patrol extensively, to liaise with the local authorities and to warn the Chief of the United Nations Force if inter-communal tension threatened to disturb the peace and tranquillity established by the Force in the UNPAs. Their good offices would be available to help to resolve local difficulties and to investigate allegations of inter-communal tension or
aggression. The exact locations in which the military observers would operate would be decided by the advance party of the United Nations Force, after consulting local authorities. There would also be a small detachment of military observers at Dubrovnik.
Page 3, THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 14.
The military and police personnel of the United Nations Force would arrive in Yugoslavia as soon as possible after the Security Council decided to establish the Force. They would be deployed simultaneously in all three UNPAs. The Force's assumption of responsibility for the protection of these areas would be synchronized with the demilitarization process. To this end, close coordination would be required with the commanders of the forces currently deployed in each of the UNPAs and agreed timetables would be established in order to link deployment of the United Nations Force with the demilitarization of each area.
Page 3-4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 15.
On the basis of the agreed timetables, demilitarization of the UNPAs would be implemented as rapidly as possible, in the following way:
(a) All units and personnel of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and the Croatian National Guard, as well as any Territorial Defence units or personnel not based in the UNPAs, would be withdrawn from them.
(b) All Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be disbanded and demobilized. Disbandment would involve the temporary dissolutions of the units' command structures. Demobilization would mean that the personnel involved would cease to wear any uniform or carry weapons, though they could continue to be paid by the local authorities.
(c) The weapons of the Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be handed over to units of JNA or the Croatian National Guard, as the case might be, before those units withdrew from the UNPAs. Alternatively, they could be handed over to the United Nations Force for safe custody during the interim period, if that arrangement was preferred by the units concerned.
(d) All paramilitary, irregular or volunteer units or personnel would either be withdrawn from the UNPAs or, if resident in them, be disbanded and demobilized.
Page 4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 16.
It would be the responsibility of each unit, before it withdrew or was disbanded, to remove any mines which it had laid while deployed in the UNPAs.
Page 4, DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS, 17.
The implementation of the above arrangements for demilitarization of the UNPAs would be
verified by the United Nations Force.
Page 4, DECLARATION OF THE YUGOSLAV NATIONAL ARMY, 18.
In parallel with the assumption by the United Nations Force of its protective functions in the UNPAs, any ]NA units deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated to places outside that republic. A timetable for this relocation would be agreed between the Chief of the United Nations Force and the Federal Secretary for National Defence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. All Serbian teriitory, paramilitary, irregular and volunteer units (other than those disbanded and demobilized in the UNPAs) would similarly withdraw from Croatia. These withdrawals would be verified by the military observers of the United Nations Force.
Page 4, LOCAL POLICE FORCES, 19.
The maintenance of public order in the UNP As would be the responsibility of local police forces who would carry only side-arms. Each of these forces would be formed from residents of the UNPA in question, in proportions reflecting the national composition of the population which lived in it before the recent hostilities. The local police forces would be responsible to the existing opstina councils in the UNPAs. Any existing regional police structures would remain in place, provided that they were consistent with the principle described above concerning the national composition of the local police forces.
Page 4, RETURN OF DISPLACED PERSONS TO THEIR HOMES, 20.
In accordance with established international principles, the United Nations policy is to facilitate the return to their homes of all persons displaced by the recent hostilities who so desire. The lead in this matter is being taken by he humanitarian agencies of the United Nations. If a United Nations Force were established in Yugoslavia, it would provide all appropriate support to this effort in the UNPAs. The United Nations police monitors would have an especially important role in this regard.
Page 4, ORGANISATION OF A UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 21.
If peace-keeping operation were established to carry out the above-described functions, it would be commanded by a civilian Chief of Mission who would receive his instructions from, and report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. As already stated, the Secretary-General would himself report regularly to the Security Council whose guidance he would seek if any difficulties arose in implementation of the Force's mandate. Under the authority of the Chief of Mission, there would be a Force Commander, with the rank of Major General, who would command the military elements, and a Police Commissioner, who would command the police monitors. The headquarters of the Force would be located at Banja Luka, with sub-offices at Belgrade and Zagreb.
Page 4, ORGANISATION OF A UNITED NATIONS FORCE, 22.
To carry out the functions described above, the Force would require approximately 10 infantry battalions, 100 military observers and 500 police monitors, together with the necessary civilians and military support personnel. This would indicate a strengh of somewhat over 10,000 persons. - Enforcement mechanism
No specific mention.
- Related cases
No specific mention.
- Source
- University of Liverpool, David Owen Papers
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/library/sca/colldescs/owen/
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1. A United Nations peace-keeping operation in Yugoslavia would be an interim arrangement to create the conditions of peace and security required for the negotiation of an overall settlement of the Yugoslav crisis.
It would not prejudge the outcome of such negotiations.
2. The operation would be established by the United Nations Security Council, acting on a recommendation by the Secretary-General.
Before maldng such a recommendation, the Secretary General would need to be satisfied that all concerned in the conflict were, in a serious and
sustained way, abiding by the arrangements, including an unconditional ceasefire, agreed at Geneva on 23 November 1991.
He would also need to receive, through his Personal Envoy, categorical assurances that all the Yugoslav parties concerned in the conflict accepted the concepts
which he intended to recommend to the Sernrity Council and that they would provide all necessary assistance and cooperation to enable the peace-keeping operation to carry out its functions.
3. The military and police personnel required for the operation would be contributed, on a voluntary basis in response to a request from the Secretary-General, by the Government of member States of the United Nations.
The contributing States would be approved by the Security Council, in the recommendation of the Secretary-General after consultation with the Yugoslav parties.
4. All members of the peace-keeping operation would be under the operational command of the Secretary-General and would not be permitted to receive operational orders for the national authorities.
They would be required to be completely impartial between the various parties to the
conflict.
Those personnel who were armed would have standing instructions to use force to the minimum extent nocessary and normally only in self-defence.
5. In accordance with its normal practice, the Security Council would probably establish the operation for an initial period of six months.
Subject to the Council's agreement, the operation would remain in Yugoslavia until a negotiated settlement of the conflict was achieved.
The
Secretary-General would submit regular reports to the Security Council, mrmally every six months.
These reports would contain his recommendations on extension of the operation's mandate.
6. The operation would be financed collectively by the member States of the United Nations.
But the various Yugoslav authorities would be expected to make available to the United Nations, free of charge, as much as possible of the accomodation and other facilities and supplies, such as food and fuel, that would be required by the operation.
They would also be asked to condude with the United Nations agreements concerning the previleges, immunitites and facilities which the operation and its members would need in order to carry out their functions, especially complete freedom of movement and communications.
BASIC CONCEPT
7. United Nations troops and police monitors would be deployed in certain areas in Croatia, designated as "United Nations Protected Areas".
These areas would be demilitarized;
all armed forces in them would be either withdrawn or disbanded.
The role of the United Nations troops would be to ensure that the areas remained demilitarized and that all persons residing in them were protected from fear of armed attack.
The role of the United Nations police monitors would be to ensure that the local police forces carried out their duties without discrimination against persons of any nationality or abusing anyone's human rights.
As the United Nations Force assumed its responsibilities in the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs), allJNA forces deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated outside that republic.
The United Nations Force would also, as
appropriated, assist the lrumanitarian agencies of the United Nations in the return of all displaced persons who so desired to their homes in the UNPAs.
THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTED AREAS
8. The UNPAs would be areas in Croatia in which the Secretary-General judged that special arrangements were required during an interim period to ensure that a lasting ceasefire was maintained.
They would be areas in which Serbs constitute the rmjority or a substantial minority of the population and where inter-communal tensions have led to armed conflict in the recent past.
As already stated, the special arrangements in these areas would be of an interim nature and would not prejudge the outcome of political negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the Yugoslav
crisis.
9. There would be three UNPAs:
Eastern Slavonia, Western Slavonia and Krajina.
They would comprise the following opstina or parts of opstina:
Eastern Slavonia:
Beli Manastir;
Those parts of Osijek which lie east of Osijek City;
Vukovar;
Certain villages in the extreme eastern part of Vinkovci.
Western Slavonia:
Grubisno Polje;
Daruvar;
Pakrac;
The western parts of Nova Gradiska;
The eastern part of Novska.
Krajina:
Kostajnica;
Petrinja;
Dvor;
Glina;
Vrgin Most;
Vojnic;
Slunj;
Titova Korenica;
Donji Lapac;
Gracac;
Obrovac;
Benkovac;
Knin.
Before deployment of the Force began, the exact boundaries of the UNPAs would be decided by an advance party of the United Nations Force, after consulting local leaders.
THE DEPLOYMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORCE
10. The functions of protecting the inhabitants of the UNPAs would be shared between the United Nations Force's infantry units and its civilian police monitors.
The infantry would ensure that the UNPAs remained demilitarized.
The police monitors would ensure that the local police carried out their duties without discrimination against any nationality and with full respect for the human rights of all residents of the UNPAs.
11. The infantry units would be deployed throughout the UNPAs.
They would be lightly armed but would use armoured personel carriers and helicopters.
They would control access to the UNPAs by establishing check-points on all roads and principal tracks leading into them and at important junctions inside them.
At these check-points they would stop and, if necessary, search vehicles and individuals to ensure that no military formations or armed groups entered the UNPAs and that no weapons, ammunition, explosives or other military equipment were brought into them.
They would patrol extensively inside the UNPAs on foot, and by vehicle and helicopter.
They would also investigate any complaints made to them about violations of the demilitarized status of the UNPAs.
Any confirmed violations would be taken up with the offending party and would, if necessary, be reported by the Secretary-General to the Security Council If serious tension were to develop between nationalities in a UNPA, the United Nations Force would interpose itself between the two sides in order to prevent hostilities.
12. The civilian police monitors would also be deployed throughout the UNPAs.
They would be unarmed.
They would have no executive responsibility for the maintenance of public order but they would closely monitor the work of the local police forces.
To this end, they would be re-located with police headquarters in each region and opstina and would accompany the local police on their patrols and in their performance of their other duties.
They would investigate any complaints of discrimination or other abuse of human rights and would report to the Chiefofthe United Nations Force any confirmed cases of discrimination or abuses.
They would require free and immediate access to all premises and facilities of, or under the control of, the local police forces.
13. The United Nations Force would also include a group of military observers.
They would be unarmed, in accordance with normal United Nations practice.
They would initially be deployed in the UNPAs to verify the demilitarization of those areas.
As soon as demilitarization had been
effected, the military observers would be transferred to parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina adjacent to Croatia.
Their functions there would be to patrol extensively, to liaise with the local authorities and to warn the Chief of the United Nations Force if inter-communal tension threatened to disturb the peace and tranquillity established by the Force in the UNPAs.
Their good offices would be available to help to resolve local difficulties and to investigate allegations of inter-communal tension or aggression.
The exact locations in which the military observers would operate would be decided by the advance party of the United Nations Force, after consulting local authorities.
There would also be a small detachment of military observers at Dubrovnik.
14. The military and police personnel of the United Nations Force would arrive in Yugoslavia as soon as possible after the Security Council decided to establish the Force.
They would be deployed simultaneously in all three UNPAs.
The Force's assumption of responsibility for the protection of
these areas would be synchronized with the demilitarization process.
To this end, close coordination would be required with the commanders of the forces currently deployed in each of the UNP As and agreed timetables would be established in order to link deployment of the United Nations Force with the demilitarization of each area.
DEMILITARIZATION OF THE UNPAS
15. On the basis of the agreed timetables, demilitarization of the UNPAs would be implemented as rapidly as possible, in the following way:
(a) All units and personnel of the Yugoslav National Army ONA) and the Croatian National Guard, as well as any Territorial Defence units or personnel not based in the UNPAs, would be withdrawn from them.
(b) All Territorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be disbanded and demobilized.
Disbandment would involve the temporary dissolutions of the units' command structures.
Demobilization would mean that the personnel involved would cease to wear any uniform or carry weapons, though they could continue to be paid by the local authorities.
(c) The weapons of the Tenitorial Defence units and personnel based in the UNPAs would be handed over to units ofJNA or the Croatian National Guard, as the case might be, before those units withdrew from the UNPAs.
Alternatively, they could be handed over to the United Nations Force for safe custody during the interim period, if that arrangement was preferred by the units concerned.
(d) All paramilitary, irregular or volunteer units or personnel would either be withdrawn from the UNPAs or, if resident in them, be disbanded and demobilized.
16. It would be the responsibility of each unit, before it withdrew or was disbanded, to remove any mines which it had laid while deployed in the UNPAs.
17. The implementation of the above arrangements for demilitarization of the UNPAs would be verified by the United Nations Force.
DECLARATION OF THE YUGOSLAV NATIONAL ARMY
18. In parallel with the assumption by the United Nations Force of its protective functions in the UNPAs, any ]NA units deployed elsewhere in Croatia would be relocated to places outside that republic.
A timetable for this relocation would be agreed between the Chief of the United Nations
Force and the Federal Secretary for National Defence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
All Serbian tenitory, paramilitary, irregular and volunteer units (other than those disbanded and demobilized in the UNPAs) would similarly withdraw from Croatia.
These withdrawals would be verified by the military observers of the United Nations Force.
LOCAL POLICE FORCES
19. The maintenance of public order in the UNP As would be the responsibility of local police forces who would carry only side-arms.
Each of these forces would be formed from residents of the UNPA in question, in proportions reflecting the national composition of the population which lived in it
before the recent hostilities.
The local police forces would be responsible to the existing opstina councils in the UNPAs.
Any existing regional police structures would remain in place, provided that they were consistent with the principle described above concerning the national composition of the local police forces.
RETURN OF DISPLACED PERSONS TO THEIR HOMES
20. In accordance with established international principles, the United Nations policy is to facilitate the return to their homes of all persons displaced by the recent hostilities who so desire.
The lead in this matter is being taken by he humanitarian agencies of the United Nations.
If a United Nations Force were established in Yugoslavia, it would provide all appropriate support to this effort in the UNPAs.
The United Nations police monitors would have an especially important role in this regard.
ORGANISATION OF A UNITED NATIONS FORCE
21. If peace-keeping operation were established to carry out the above-described functions, it would be commanded by a civilian Chief of Mission who would receive his instructions from, and report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
As already stated, the Secretary-General would himself report regularly to the Security Council whose guidance he would seek if any difficulties arose in implementation of the Force's mandate.
Under the authority of the Chief of Mission, there would be a Force Commander, with the rank of Major General, who would command the military elements, and a Police Commissioner, who would command the police monitors.
The headquarters of the Force would be located at Banja Luka, with sub-offices at Belgrade and Zagreb.
22. To carry out the functions described above, the Force would require approximately 10 infantry batalions, 100 military observers and 500 police monitors, together with the necessary civilians and military support personnel.
This would indicate a strenght of somewhat over 10,000 persons.