United Nations Safe Areas (UN Safe Areas) were humanitarian corridors established in 1993 in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War by several resolutions of the United Nations Security Council .
12-609: On 16 April 1993, with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 819 the Srebrenica enclave was declared a safe area. On 6 May 1993, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 824 further extended the status to Sarajevo , Žepa , Goražde , Tuzla and Bihać . These cities and territories were placed under the protection of the UN peacekeeping units UNPROFOR . The establishment of
24-655: A mission of members of the security council to assess the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The "safe area" would later be extended to other towns including Tuzla , Žepa , Bihać , Goražde and Sarajevo in Resolution 824 . Despite its preemptive wording, Resolution 819 failed to prevent the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, when the United Nations Protection Force were taken prisoner and
36-490: The Bosnian Serb paramilitaries and its actions of forcing the evacuation of the civilian population from Srebrenica. Regarding humanitarian aid, the council demanded the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to all areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in particular to the civilian population of Srebrenica and that any disruption to the delivery constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law. It then urged
48-464: The Council expressed concern at the actions of Bosnian Serb paramilitary units in towns and villages in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina , including attacks on civilians, the United Nations Protection Force and disruption to humanitarian aid convoys. The resolution marked the UN's first civilian "safe area" being declared; it failed to prevent the Srebrenica massacre . Acting under Chapter VII of
60-529: The UN Safe Areas is considered today to be one of the most controversial decisions of the United Nations. The resolutions were unclear about the procedure by which these safe areas were to be protected in a war zone like Bosnia and Herzegovina. The resolution created a difficult diplomatic situation because the member states that voted in favor of it were, for political reasons, not willing to take
72-501: The United Nations Charter , the Council went on to demand that all parties and others concerned treat Srebrenica and its surroundings as a safe area which should be free from any armed attack or any other hostile act, further demanding the cessation of all hostilities and withdrawal by Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces from areas around Srebrenica. This was the first instance of a civilian "safe area" being declared in
84-419: The council. 147 peacekeepers were later deployed to reassure Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic that the town would not be used as a base to attack his forces. It also reaffirmed that the acquisition of territory by threat or use of force, particularly through ethnic cleansing , is unlawful and unacceptable in international humanitarian law . The council condemned the "abhorrent campaign of ethnic cleansing" by
96-455: The necessary steps to ensure the security of the safe areas. In 1995 the situation in UN Safe Areas was deteriorating, and it led to a diplomatic crisis which culminated in the Srebrenica massacre ; one of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II. The Security Council Resolution 819 and 836 had designated Srebrenica a "safe area" to be protected using "all necessary means, including
108-613: The refugees from the fallen enclave fell into the hands of the forces of Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladić , subsequently indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for war crimes including genocide. In his chronology of events at Srebrenica, Under the UN Flag , the genocide survivor Hasan Nuhanović criticises members of the international community involved on
120-518: The secretary-general and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to reinforce the existing humanitarian operations in the region. Finally, Resolution 819 demanded that all parties ensure the safety of the protection force, United Nations personnel and other international organisations, allowing for the safe transfer of injured civilians from Srebrenica and its surrounding areas, and announced its decision to send
132-741: The use of force". Continued attacks on UN Safe Areas as well as the continued Siege of Sarajevo also ultimately resulted in NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina named Operation Deliberate Force . By the end of the war every one of the Safe Areas had been attacked by the Army of Republika Srpska , and Srebrenica and Žepa were overrun. United Nations Security Council Resolution 819 United Nations Security Council resolution 819 , adopted unanimously on 16 April 1993, after reaffirming resolutions 713 (1991) and all (1992) subsequent resolutions,
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#1732791650285144-640: The world. It also demanded that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) cease supplying weapons, military equipment and other services to Bosnian Serb paramilitary units in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The resolution then requested the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to increase the presence of the protection force in Srebrenica and surrounding areas requesting full co-operation from parties and others concerned and for Boutros-Ghali to report thereon to
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