GHALI ASKED TO RESIGN FOR FAILURE IN BOSNIA
ISLAMABAD (PPI)- Strongly condemning the United Nations for failure to protect Bosnian people from genocide, the Conference of International Parliamentarians has called on the UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, to resign, failing to give leadership to the world body.
The conference of “International Parliamentarians” against genocide in Bosnia”, held last week in Brussels, Belgium, in a resolution expressed the view that the secretary general of the UN has lost the confidence of the world to save Bosnia from Serbian aggression. Naib Ameer of Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Prof. Khurshid Ahmed, who attended the conference, said here on Friday that the Conference took strong exception to the dismal failure of the United Nations in fulfilling its obligations to protect Bosnia-Herzegovina, a sovereign member state, from greater Serbian aggression.
Prof. Khurshid said more than 150 parliamentarians from 53 countries participated in the two-day conference.
The Jamaat leader said the conference noted with concern that these so-called great powers, especially the USA, Britain, France and Russia, had totally failed to fulfil their responsibility, both under the UN as well as NATO. “The conference called for the elimination of the Veto Power vested in the so-called five permanent members because veto power has hindered the UN from taking effective actions to protect the independence and sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” maintained Prof. Khurshid.
He said it was a very important International Conference, because, for the first time, members of the parliaments and religious leaders were representing four major communities of the world: Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, meeting at the invitation of the President of the European Parliament Congress at the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels. The purpose, he said, was to express the viewpoint of the world parliamentarians on the current phase of the Bosnian crisis and to suggest an effective response at a popular level to resolve this crisis. From Europe, a parliamentarian, Dr Egon Alfred Klepach, President of the European Parliament, chaired the first session and was the chairman of the conference.
The other co-chairmen were Frank McCloskey, member of the USA Congress; Senator Mamil al-Sharif of Jordan; Roberto Formiguny, Deputy Minister and member of the Italian Parliament; Dr Affudin, Minister of State and member of the Parliament of Malaysia; and the vice president of Croatia, who also participated in the conference.
He said the conference also came to the conclusion that the root cause of the crisis is Serbian nationalism and the ambition of Serbs to establish by force a state of greater Serbia. This, the conference emphasised, represents a new imperialistic movement, and if allowed unchecked, greater Serbian nationalism may lead to a new World War in Europe. Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia and Albania are going to be the next flashpoints.
Prof. Khurshid maintained that the conference also came to the conclusion that Western Powers are by and large following a policy of appeasement towards Serbian aggression, and this is a replay of what happened before the Second World War in the form of Nazi aggression. The world could be saved from a new World War only by effectively containing the Serb aggression and forcing it to vacate land and power acquired by aggression.
The conference emphasised the principle that no country should be allowed to commit aggression.
The Jamaat senator went on to say that the conference also emphasised that the UN embargo on arms to Bosnia lacked legitimacy, both legally and morally. Experts of international law, who participated in the conference, emphasised that the so-called sanctions were imposed against the former state of Yugoslavia even before Bosnia-Herzegovina came into existence and was recognised by the UN in May 1992.
The sanctions were extended to Bosnia only through a memorandum of Lord Carrington, which was never ratified or endorsed by the UN Security Council.
In fact, UN and NATO have failed to effectively impose an economic or arms embargo on the Serbs and have also failed to provide protection to the unarmed Bosnians who have been denied the opportunity of self-defence because of the arms embargo, He said the conference declared that Bosnia-Herzegovina has the legal and constitutional right to defend and recover its territory from the aggressor and, in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, has the right to directly call for aid, including military aid, from member nations individually as well as collectively. And it is the moral duty of all peace-loving nations to provide this aid to Bosnia.
Prof. Khurshid said the conference also called upon all members of the Parliament and political groups to mobilise world opinion and to demand from their own governments to extend massive support to Bosnia for defence and rehabilitation.
The conference issued two documents, a declaration and a communication queue, and has also established a permanent group to follow up on mobilisation of international support, particularly of world Parliaments, against genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
