Confidence, Security-building and Verification (The London Conference)

• Country/entity

  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Yugoslavia (former)
  
• Region

  Europe and Eurasia
  Europe and Eurasia
  
• Agreement name

  Confidence, Security-building and Verification (The London Conference)
• Date

  27 Aug 1992
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Interstate/intrastate conflict(s) ( Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001) )
• Stage

  Ceasefire/related
• Conflict nature

  Government/territory
• Peace process

  Bosnia peace process
• Parties

  This conference was convened by Great Britain, which held the presidency of the EC at the time. The Participants were: The SFRY republics, the EC countries, the USA, China, Russia, Japan, Canada, The Republic of Czechoslovakia (as a state which held the presidency of CSCE – Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the neighboring countries: Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  This agreement contains military measures designed to build confidence and preclude a cessation of hostilities. These include mechanisms for monitoring, improved communication between parties, and verification of weaponry.

• Agreement document

  BA_920827_Confidence, Security-building and Verification.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

The London Conference

CONFIDENCE, SECURITY BUILDING AND VERIFICATION

Conference Document produced by the co-Chairmen on the basis of extensive consultations with Delegations on 26/27 August 1992

I Purpose

1. There is an urgent need to identify and promote steps in the military sphere in all or part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) which could underpin a cessation of hostilities and a durable political settlement.

To this end, the Conference has taken some illllllediate decisions and set up a Working Group to develop confidence-building measures, covering military movements and arms transfers and limitations, as well as measures for their monitoring and verification.

This work will be under the direction of the Co- Chairmen of the Steering Committee (see Work Programme).

The results of this work will be compatible with action authorised by the Security Council in respect of the United Nations

peacekeeping operations in the former SFRY.

2. Such military measures need to be seen in the context of measures of a political and humanitarian nature, including, for example, convoys under UNHCR auspices, and exchanges of prisoners of war under ICRC auspices.

II Immediate Decisions o f the Conference

3. The most immediate task is to alleviate the suffering in Bosnia-Hercegovina through a permanent identifying HO locations and names of commanders, covering all armed units, including paramilitary units.

4. It will be for the Co-Chairmen of the Steering Committee to recommend how these measures should be implemented, taking account of international peace-keeping and other related activities in progress in the region.

Breaches of agreed measures will be reported (with, where possible, an indication of who is responsible) by the co-Chairmen to the Conference, and, where appropriate, by the Secretary-General of the

United Nations to the Security council.

5. Priority should be given to assuring that there is immediate follow-up to the agreement on international supervision of all mortars and heavy weapons in Bosnia- Hercegovina, proceeding by agreed steps, which could include tagging, monitoring, deactivation, corralling under local supervision and eventually centralisation of such weapons.

It will be for the Co- Chairmen of the Steer ing Committee to decide whether

this work would more appropriately be done by the Working Group on confidence, security-building and verification or the one on Bosnia-Hercegovina.

III Working Group Programme

6. The Working Group should seek early agreement on measures aimed to enhance transparency between the parties in the former SFRY.

The purpose of these provisions would be to build confidence and to ensure that any cease-fire is durable.

Such measures may include, inter alia:

information exchange on numbers and location of certain categories of equipment (to be defined) held by the parties:

advance notification of movements of personnel, or movements/transfers of equipment:

information on personnel levels of formations and units above a given strength:

extension of observer missions both on inter-republican borders and within certain republics;

short-notice on-site inspection (within 24 hours) in the event of suspect activities.

7. In addition, though perhaps on a different timescale, other measures should be considered in the former SFRY, including:

restrictions on the movement of paramilitary or military forces:

no acquisition of certain types of equipment;

measures of demilitarisation, for example declaring that areas around specific locations, such as refugee camps or major cities, should be free from certain categories of equipment;

other verification measures, for example assessaent visits by parties to evaluate compliance with agreed provisions, or overflights by outside states;

more systematic liaison provisions, for example establishment of local standing liaison commissions, cessation of hostilities and safe delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Achievement of these aims can be facilitated considerably through agreement of measures aimed at clarifying the military situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina and increasing the possibilities for liaison and verification.

As a first stop, the conference has decided to adopt the following measures with regard to Bosnia-Hercegovina:

improved communications between the parties, including direct and immediate liaison between commanders on forward deployment lines, for example by local radio and telephone hot lines;

improvements in contacts between the parties, for example by liaison visits, and by establishing joint teams to resolve local incidents;

immediate acceptance of reconnaissance teams to prepare for the deployment of observers around designated locations;

posting of observers on the Bosnian/Serbian, Bosnia/Montenegrin and Bosnian/Creation borders;

immediate acceptance of the principle that all mortars and heavy weapons will be subject to international supervision and, as a first step, should be notified to the UN by type and location within 96 hours, as a prelude to their disengagement from the conflict;

no military use of aircraft or helicopters;

information exchange on command structure, involving outside observers such as EC Monitors or UN Military Observers;

other arms limitation measures.

8. Although the group will focus on new measures, it will also be important to ensure that existing obligations μnder the terms ot the Vienna Document 92 in respect of provision of information are fully implemented.

Consideration should also be given to applying in the former SFRY some of the mechanisms of the Vienna Document which are designed to enhance transparency, for example the unusual military activity, verification and border tours measures.

IV Working Group Organization

9. It will be for the co-chairmen of the Steering Committee to decide how to develop work on these lines as soon as possible.