BOSNIA: SILAJDZIC CALLS FOR RADICAL SURGERY ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 000607

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (HOH/FOOKS); NSC FOR
BRAUN, L/HR, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KAWC KJUS BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: SILAJDZIC CALLS FOR RADICAL SURGERY ON
DAYTON AGREEMENT AFTER ICJ VERDICT

REF: A. SARAJEVO 579

B. SARAJEVO 556

Classified By: Ambassador Douglas McElhaney for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary: Following the March 12 ad hoc meeting (ref
A) on the status of Srebrenica, the Ambassador met with
Bosniak (Muslim) leaders March 14 to urge calm and solicit
their plans for Srebrenica in light of the February 26
International Court of Justice verdict on genocide in
Srebrenica. All three leaders declared their intention to
find a way to obtain a special status for Srebrenica outside
of the Republika Srpska (RS). Bosniak Tri-Presidency Member
Haris Silajdzic declared that the RS, a product of genocide,
should be abolished, and the moral obligation to implement
the ICJ verdict overrules Bosnian law and international
treaties, including the Dayton Peace Agreement. End Summary

Ambassador meets Bosniak Leaders
--------------


2. (U) Following the publication of the conclusions from the
March 12 meeting of Bosniak leaders on Srebrenica's status
(ref A),Ambassador met with Bosniak political leaders to
discuss the need to calm the situation and their thinking on
the recent ICJ verdict (ref B). Ambassador met individually
with Social Democratic Party (SDP) President Zlatko
Lagumdzija, Party of Democratic Action (SDA) President
Sulejman Tihic and Party for BiH (SBiH) President Haris
Silajdzic on March 14. To get a clearer picture on their
views of how the ICJ verdict may further affect the
situation, Ambassador probed each of the leaders on their
understanding of the verdict's legal implications vis-a-vis
the Republika Srpska (RS). Ambassador urged them to take
action to prevent the further radicalization of the political
climate.

Even Dayton should be Changed to Erase Results of Genocide
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) Silajdzic declared that Srebrenica deserves special
status because "it was like Auschwitz" where people were
brought to be killed. He acknowledged that the legal
procedure to achieve this would be complicated, but said his
lawyers were working on it. He admitted that the court did
not sanction the RS specifically, since the court was asked
about Serbia, not the RS. However, Silajdzic added that he
had recently reviewed the full ICJ decision and noted several
paragraphs where it clearly stated that RS police and RS
military committed genocide.


4. (SBU) Silajdzic predicted that as many as 50,000 genocide
and concentration camp victims would sue the RS and seek
compensation for genocide. As an interim step toward
implementing the ICJ verdict Silajdzic had consulted with
other Presidency members and initiated a request to Serbia to
honor the judgment and deliver war criminals within 60 days
or Bosnia would turn to the UNSC for help. Silajdzic said he
knew it would be hard to get a UNSC resolution against the RS
since it is not a subject of the UN, but since Srebrenica was
a UN protected zone at the time of the genocide, he expects
UN members to understand and help resolve the situation. He
said the demilitarized status of Srebrenica and Zepa were
still technically valid, implying the UN still had
obligations in both places.


5. (SBU) When asked whether he intended to abolish the RS or
only remove Srebrenica from it, Silajdzic declared that he
wants to abolish all cantons and entities and try to get
justice for genocide victims. He stated that Dayton was
formed by necessity with pressure from Milosevic, Tudjman and
the international community, but the RS cannot remain as is;
otherwise it will legalize genocide. "We had to sign Dayton
with a gun at our heads," he said. Silajdzic asserted that
the obligations contained in international conventions, such
as those for the prevention of genocide and the prevention of
crimes against humanity, supersede all law including Bosnian
law and the Dayton Peace Agreement. Silajdzic expressed his
hope that the US would look into this issue, which, he
stressed, presents the US with an opportunity to stand by
Muslim victims of genocide. He added that the US Congress
already resolved that there was genocide in Srebrenica and

SARAJEVO 00000607 002 OF 003


hoped they would pass a second resolution that would allocate
funds to help the victims.

SDA seeks Calm and IC help in implementing ICJ Verdict
-------------- ---


6. (SBU) SDA president Tihic cast himself as a peacemaker.
Tihic claimed that the SDA was not the impetus for plans for
Srebrenica to break away from RS, and that he and SDA MP
Sadik Ahmetovic stopped that decision because it would have
been at variance with the constitution. He called for
immediate steps to improve the economic situation in
Srebrenica and said that he had urged RS Prime Minister
Milorad Dodik to meet with Srebrenica Mayor Abdurahman Malkic
to discuss the situation. Tihic also advocated granting
special status to Srebrenica, but emphasized doing so through
legal means.


7. (SBU) Turning to the ICJ verdict, Tihic said Serbia was
found guilty for the failure to prevent genocide; failure to
punish those responsible for genocide; failure to cooperate
with the ICTY; and failure to heed court recommendations from

1993. He inferred that the court could only say Yugoslavia
failed to stop genocide, if it ruled that genocide actually
occurred, and the court ruled it did occur in Srebrenica.
Even though the court was not asked specifically if the RS
committed genocide, Tihic claims the verdict mentions the
rle of police and RS army several times. He added hat
individuals cannot commit genocide, but you eed institutions
to carry out preparations and execution of genocide. Tihic
said that in the forml legal sense, the ICJ verdict has no
legal effect on the RS. But in the moral sense, one cannot
ignore the RS role in genocide.


8. (SBU) Tihic feels the Presidency or Council of Ministers
should establish a body to deal with the verdict and list the
responsibilities of the State, RS and Federation in carrying
it out. Once Bosnia gets an official translation of the
verdict, Bosnian authorities should discuss the issue, not
fight over it. He added that Bosnia had waited 14 years for
this verdict and the execution will take several years.
Tihic expects that the RS role in genocide will be accepted
as fact by all including the international community. He
added his hope that the US and UK will not be silent on this
issue. He is advocating for a package of draft measures to
be sent to the UNSC, Council of Europe, Venice Commission,
Islamic Conference and others.

SDP for calm, Economic Solutions, and Special Status
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) SDP leader Lagumdzija credited himself with helping
to calm the situation in Srebrenica and counter the
inflammatory statements of other Bosniak leaders. He accused
SBiH leader Haris Silajdzic of using anti-Western rhetoric to
gain political capital from the situation by telling people
that "the West is doing this to us because we are Muslim."
However, Lagumdzija insisted that Srebrenica has the right to
special status outside the RS due to the active role the RS
Army and Police played in the genocide there. He added that
he opposed unilateral action on secession of Srebrenica from
the RS, but instead wanted to achieve special status through
legal means, including constitutional changes if necessary.


10. (U) SDP leader Lagumdzija attributed the volatility in
Srebrenica to the desperate economic situation there. The
situation can be calmed in the short term through the quick
provision of economic deliverables. He indicated that the
Federation parliament immediately could address several of
the 13 conclusions from Monday's meeting of Bosniak leaders
by providing a special employment program, allowing
Srebrenica residents registered in RS to get free health care
in the Federation, resolving benefits issues for demobilized
soldiers from the Federation, and giving salary bonuses to
doctors, teachers, imams to move to Srebrenica. He expressed
hope that a group of SDA, SBiH, and SDP local representatives
could come up with project ideas and told us that the
Ambassador of Saudi Arabia indicated a willingness to provide
economic aid.

Comment
--------------

SARAJEVO 00000607 003 OF 003




11. (C) We are quite frankly concerned with the radical ideas
that Silajdzic is successfully sowing here among Bosniaks.
Although the other leaders might try to contain him, as a
wartime figure he holds special status here. Since he began
his political campaign for the presidency -- opposing
constitutional reform because this first step did not abolish
the Republika Srpska -- he has deepened the sense of malaise
here. He and many other Bosniaks thought that the recent ICJ
decision on Srebrenica would "right the political balance".
That the judgment did not establish Belgrade's guilt was
certainly a disappointment to many, but it has not deterred
Silajdzic (and Tihic to some extent) to read into the
decision a finding that the RS and its institutions were
found guilty of committing genocide, and therefore should pay
dearly. The corollary is that the international community
should add its moral weight behind the Bosniak victims by
stepping down hard on the Serbs. Recently, by septel we
reported that Silajdzic rather than try to reach agreement in
an important negotiation on police reform, (which would have
come a long way in the Bosniak direction) firmly rejected
that there be any mention in the agreement of the RS or RS
police, thereby scuttling the discussions. Increasingly, we
believe that Silajdzic's aim is to destabilize the situation
here to attract the attention of the international community
as well as its assistance "against the Serbs." He is
obviously well aware of the difficulties we will confront on
Kosovo over the next months, and likely will stir the pot
further in efforts to get the Bosnian Serbs to do something
stupid. The latter are quite capable of doing so. END COMMENT
MCELHANEY