Protecting Mass Graves, Searching
for War Criminals at Issue
(Reuters, March 4)—NATO, under pressure to take on a wider role in Bosnia, agreed on Monday to adopt a more flexible approach on protecting possible mass graves and other non-military tasks, such as policing. "Conscious mission creep (an evolution of roles) is necessary to help others to do their tasks," said one NATO source after a meeting of alliance ambassadors. But he said the matter had been referred to national capitals for approval.
NATO sources say that with the Balkan winter coming to an end and the military job virtually completed, the NATO force will face more calls to help in other areas and do not want the military to interpret their mission too narrowly. NATO capitals are concerned that if Bosnian Serbs try to tamper with evidence of mass graves, the heavily-armed alliance force will not stand back and do nothing.
"No one wants headlines like that," said one source. NATO diplomats said the alliance will continue reconnaissance flights over the sites of suspected war atrocities and will inform the International War Crimes tribunal of suspicious activity. Other areas where NATO troops may play a role include the resettlement of refugees and the monitoring of elections, but NATO sources stressed the alliance troops would not substitute for other bodies. "There is a difference between doing the job, and giving others a leg up," said one diplomatic source. In all cases, NATO ambassadors agreed to let military commanders on the ground have the final say in allowing the alliance's 60,000-strong peace Implementation Force (IFOR) to be used for what are classed as civilian tasks.
NATO sources stressed the clearer "political guidelines" being drawn up for the military did not represent a fundamental change in the mission's aims. NATO sources said clearer "political guidance" for IFOR had been requested by the alliance's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, (SACEUR) Gen. George Joulwan. "SACEUR realises that especially with winter coming to an end, he will face more and more requests for help in other areas," said one diplomatic source.
The military aspects of the Dayton peace accord — separation of combatants and the creation of zones of separation — have been completed with only a few hiccups. But the military found more problems in drawing the line between military and civilian tasks — policing, the search for war criminals and the protection of suspected mass graves. "After all, the success of Dayton will be judged on both, it will be no good saying the military side was a success if the overall operation has failed. The military side is after all part of the overall operation," he added.
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