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Ambassador Diego Arria

Today I have arrived in Srebrenica, leading the UN Security Council’s mission in Srebrenica. What the Serb forces are doing here is slow-motion process of genocide.

The mission believes, as does UNPROFOR, that the actual 4.5 by 0.5 kms designated as the safe area should be greatly expanded. Such a decision would require a large UNPROFOR presence, a revised mandate to encompass ceasefire/safe area monitoring and different rules of engagement.

🧵 Following today’s assessment by the United Nations Security Council mission in Srebrenica, the following impressions have been noted by myself and my colleagues.

We condemn Serb forces for committing a slow-motion process of genocide.

Had the demilitarisation agreement not been reached, most probably a massacre would have taken place in Srebrenica.

One Canadian UNPROFOR officer on the ground told the mission that “even though the Security Council is obviously an important organ of the UN, it is of no importance to the Serbs in the area.”

Even though Security Council resolution 819 declared the city a safe area, the actual situation obviously does not correspond to either the spirit or the intent of the resolution.

It would also require eventual consideration of military strike enforcement measures.