26 September 1995

Doc. 7401

1403-26/9/95-6-E

OPINION

on the situation in some parts of the former Yugoslavia

(Rapporteur: Mrs FISCHER

Germany, Group of the European People's Party)


Introduction

1.       The present opinion follows on from the earlier reports of January and April 1994 (Doc. 6989 and Addendum; Doc. 6994), from Recommendation 1239 on the cultural situation in the former Yugoslavia and from the Committee of Ministers' reply to that recommendation in June 1994 (Doc. 7114).

2.       It is a sad task to pick up the threads when so little has really changed. The conflict continues. Reconstruction does not seem to make much progress. Worst of all, as the conflicts have continued and the ethnic division of the area re-enforced, doubts are being cast on one of the basic principles of our earlier position: intercultural co-existence. The reassertion of this principle is essential.

3.       On the more specific technical fronts (heritage, education, media, culture, etc.) some progress has been made, but information remains fragmentary. The Assembly Committee on Culture and Education has continued its fact-finding exercise on war-damage. Co-operation between certain international bodies has intensified, but there is still room for progress and in particular for the implementation of announced activities.

4.       What follows is an interim (and very partial) survey of the cultural situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) . The Committee of Ministers has been asked to report regularly on its implementation of Recommendation 1239 (paragraph 36). We would hope to be able to complete this survey in due course with an account of the activity of the European Union Administration in Mostar (EUAM), if possible based on an exchange of views with the Administrator, Dr Hans Koschnick, and the United Nations in Sarajevo.

5.       There is a new need now for concertation on planning reconstruction in the post-war phase. The cultural dimension should be fully integrated in this planning. The Secretary General should be asked to elaborate proposals for the contribution of the Council of Europe towards reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia. This subject will then be debated by the Assembly in January next year.

Cultural diversity and the intercultural dimension

6.       In Recommendation 1239 the Assembly stressed intercultural co-existence and tolerance and the Committee of Ministers endorsed the same principles in their reply (Doc. 7114).

7.       The conflict in the former Yugoslavia has however led all sides to separate out, either by force or willingly. Several have seen such separation as the only way of ensuring a settlement and the division of the area along ethnic lines has often figured in the peace negotiations. It appears moreover to be built into the recent Agreed Basic Principles (Geneva, 8 September 1995) which refer to two entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the idea of a 51:49 territorial division. Such a division is far from universally accepted and especially as it appears to go against the principle of intercultural co-existence on the basis of which much of the defence of Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina has been based.

8.       It is important to make clear that any settlement based on ethnic subdivision should not be taken to imply any rejection of the principle of intercultural co-existence. Stress must be placed on the continued existence of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a state and intercultural co-existence must be allowed to continue within that state. Otherwise there will be no lasting solution.

9.       A unified Sarajevo is part of the position we would maintain as intercultural co-existence is often mentioned as characteristic of Sarajevo. But is it necessarily any less true of Mostar, Zagreb, Belgrade or Prishtina?

Political considerations

10.       We also regret that no consideration seems to have been given by the Committee of Ministers to extending a similar invitation to Belgrade in the light of the decision of the United Nations Security Council to reduce sanctions in the fields of culture, sport and transport. This decision has recently (16 September) been extended for a further six months.

11.       We would suggest the Committee of Ministers went further to press for the suspension of sanctions against the media in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). This point was underlined by representatives of the independent media on the occasion of the Assembly delegation visit to Belgrade in April this year.

Cultural heritage

12.       Less emphasis appears to be being placed on the symbolic targeting of the cultural heritage. But in fact destruction is becoming more indiscriminate and widespread — as during the Croatian recapture of the Krajina (European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) reports for example 69% damage to 9964 houses observed in 140 villages in the Gracac area and 90% destruction in the village of Dabar in the Knin area). Destruction of religious buildings has continued.

13.       There is certainly a more developed international awareness of the extent of the cultural problem. The Assembly has produced further information reports bringing to eight the number of those prepared on war damage to the cultural heritage. These have world-wide distribution. The ECMM now includes a section on cultural heritage in its weekly bulletins (and other sections contain much relevant information as the monitors are now aware of the cultural dimension) and the ECMM has itself produced three detailed cultural heritage information reports.

14.       The importance of continued ECMM involvement in this work is that the military personnel are better equipped to visit many of the dangerous sites involved than civilian cultural observers. It is possible that they might play a role in enabling a joint human-rights/heritage assessment of the situation in the Krajina in the coming autumn.

15.       The United Nations War Crimes Tribunal is also becoming more active in this sector and has established contact with the Assembly.

16.       In a developing partnership with the International Council of Museums, the Assembly has supported two surveys of museums, one in Croatia and another more recently in Vukovar, Novi Sad and Belgrade (consultant expert Mr von Imhoff; see Doc. 7308). In this same context a fact-finding mission is currently under preparation to evaluate the needs of museums in Sarajevo (and if time permits in other parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina). It is hoped that before the end of the year further studies will be possible of the situation in parts of Serbia and Montenegro, and in particular areas that have been overlooked in cultural surveys such as Kosovo and Sandjak.

17.       The results of such exercises are of course very difficult to assess. The aim has been to elicit facts as a basis for subsequent reconstruction rather than attempt to apportion blame. There have been indications over the summer that these and similar activities may be assisting those involved in heritage to re-establish contact and hopefully some degree of confidence.

18.       Much is also being achieved on the bilateral level by governments or by NGOs, museums and universities such as the International Trust for Croatian Monuments (restoration of the roof of the Dubrovnik Festival Building and support for a stained-glass workshop in Osijek), or the University of York's Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit. These supplement the details given in the information reports (see especially Doc. 7308 pp. 41-3 on international co-operation; Doc. 7341 on Bosnia-Herzegovina Heritage Rescue (BHHR)). There is still however a need to press for the development of effective programmes of international co-operation in the area of cultural heritage (Council of Europe, Unesco, etc.). The Council of Europe has established a specific plan of action so far only for Croatia; this three-year plan involves an annual training course and professional exchange scheme and the development of bilateral co-operation with institutions in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. A similar plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina is being prepared in collaboration with Unesco. But this represents very little activity.

19.       More significant has been the presence of a Unesco representative in Sarajevo and in Mostar. We can welcome the fact that Dr Kaiser, who has also been advising the Assembly, has recently been appointed the Unesco representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina with specific instructions to keep in touch with other institutions.

20.       The role of the Assembly remains that of continued fact-finding and the encouragement of co-ordinated action at all levels. It applies across the whole of the former Yugoslavia irrespective of ethnic or national boundaries.

Education

21.       We continue to have little information on the situation on primary and secondary school levels. The field was felt beyond the possible remit of the Council of Europe (itself not a humanitarian organisation). ECMM reports mention the considerable use of school buildings to house displaced persons; this clearly will have an adverse effect on their educational use. The efforts of Unicef and such NGOs as the Soros Foundation (which this month announced $15 million for education and humanitarian relief in the Krajina) will in due course have to be recorded.

22.       More is known of the situation of universities and students thanks largely to co-operation between the CDCC's Higher Education and Research Committee, the World University Service (WUS) (which now has an office in Sarajevo thanks to a grant from the German Government), the Soros Foundation and the Academic Task Force of the Association of European Universities (CRE).

23.       From the fact-finding reports that have been produced different problems can be identified. On the one hand are the needs of the refugee students in Croatia and further afield. An interesting proposal by the Alsternative Information network (AIM) is to provide a newsletter to keep them in contact with events back home. A major problem is their increasing numbers and the veritable brain drain they represent from the universities in the areas most affected by the conflict. Particular attention is therefore being paid to ensuring the continuation of the existing universities. The situation is clearly much better in the undamaged universities of Serbia and Montenegro (though research workers have suffered from isolation on account of the sanctions) than in those directly hit. A difficulty is to secure the extension of EU funding (TEMPUS and PHARE). Another problem is developing with the segregation of universities along ethnic lines as in Mostar and Banja Luca. It appears that this is hindering reconstruction progress.

24.       More information may be forthcoming from a WUS meeting in Graz on 25 September. The Bosnian universities are also meeting in Tuzla in October and may come up with proposals for a donor conference to be organised by Unesco in Barcelona in 1996.

25.       The prolongation of the war situation can only be having a disastrous effect on the preparation of the successor generation in the former Yugoslavia. The problem of the regeneration of civil society was one of the points that most struck the Assembly delegation that visited Belgrade in April 1995. It was suggested that a special effort might be made at the level of young political leaders.

26.       What is said in this section applies much more forcibly to the Albanian school children and students in Kosovo.

Media

27.       The international community has been well able to follow the developments in the media field as a result of monitoring by the Co-ordinating Centre for Independent Media in the Balkan Area (Ljubljana), the AIM Network of independent journalists, the Helsinki associations, International Federation of Journalists, International Federation of Newspaper Publishers, Reporters sans frontières, etc. The professional field has been effectively integrated into the international organisations.

28.       The contribution such organisations as AIM make to confidence-building measures in the area has been recognised by the Council of Europe. Voluntary contributions from government and private support are invited.

29.       The Assembly's Sub-Committee on Media (Committee on Culture and Education) has for its part been kept regularly informed. Of particular interest was the delegation visit to Belgrade in April: this included an open discussion with independent media and also an exchange of views with the Minister for Information. There have also been several occasions to meet media professionals in Strasbourg.

30.       Problems have been identified in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. The most significant recent act was the destruction earlier this month of the transmitter of the independent radio and television station Studio 99 in Sarajevo; it is important that the Bosnian Government carries out a public investigation into those responsible (the damage is estimated at around 200000 DM). On more than one occasion the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Media, Mr Berg has intervened. Mr Domljan can be thanked for his constructive reactions with regard to the Croatian media.

31.       The need to support the independent media continues. In Serbia the relative freedom of Belgrade contrasts sharply with the largely state monopoly in the provincial towns and rural areas; control is often through control of the printing presses; sanctions should be suspended in general if independent media are also to benefit.

32.       The international community must be all the more on its guard as the drama decreases and world attention moves elsewhere. The recent re-issuing of broadcasting licences in Croatia is an occasion for careful international scrutiny.

Culture

33.       The Assembly could well wonder what has resulted from the various interesting and constructive proposals envisaged in the Committee of Ministers' reply (Doc. 7114 paragraphs 18-20).

34.       International attention has from the beginning of the conflict focused on Sarajevo. It is important now to ensure that cultural contacts (non-governmental, etc.) are developed on a wider basis, in Mostar and Banja Luca for example, as well as Zagreb and Belgrade.

35.       The EUAM is particularly active in reconstructing the social and cultural life of Mostar. There are difficulties. We regret in particular the continuing rift between the two communities ever since the first common sports activity between the Croats and Bosniaks (a chess tournament) was called off in January 1995. It seems however to have been possible to bring young people from both sides together outside the area itself.

36.       The Committee on Culture and Education could consider whether a delegation visit to Sarajevo could now be a constructive gesture.

Post-war reconstruction

37.       The Committee on Culture and Education has not yet had the occasion to discuss this aspect of the problem in detail. The following general principles are proposed as a basis for subsequent consideration:

      —Al       l parts of the former Yugoslavia affected by the conflict should be involved in the reconstruction process;—

      —In       ternational support should avoid the perpetuation of ethnic division or cultural differences (religious buildings, universities, etc.);—

      —Pr       iority aspects should be identified in each field;—

      —Re       construction must be sustainable. For example cultural tourism, on which the area once thrived, must be sustainable (not overstrain resources) and must sustain the present community (rather than import adventurers). It must also be controlled: a concrete jungle must be avoided;—

      —La       st and most importantly the cultural sector should be fully integrated into all levels of planning. 38

38.       The opportunities offered by reconstruction risk attracting competition and unscrupulous operators. These dangers are already apparent. One of the main roles of the international community will be to ensure that reconstruction is co-ordinated and fairly conducted. This will be particularly important in the post war situation. Effective co-operation and trust must therefore be established between all those operating in a specific sector. This applies to the cultural sector as much as elsewhere.

Conclusion

39.       As requested in Recommendation 1239 paragraph 36, the Committee of Ministers should report on the implementation of the various recommendations proposed by the Assembly relating to the cultural situation in the former Yugoslavia. In particular it should report on the implementation of the various undertakings made in its reply to Assembly (Doc. 7114).

40.       A new step should now also be envisaged in ensuring that the cultural dimension is fully integrated into reconstruction projects for the former Yugoslavia. This should be built into planning at bilateral, intergovernmental and non-governmental levels. The Council of Europe should contribute to this exercise.

41.       The Assembly should continue to give active support to the monitoring of the cultural situation and the co-ordination of assistance.

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      Reporting committee: Political Affairs Committee (Doc. 7395).

      Committee for opinion: Committee on Culture and Education.

      Reference to committee: Reference No. 2035 of 25 September 1995.

      Approved by the committee on 26 September 1995.

      Secretaries to the committee: MM. Grayson and Ary.