Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement, Pleso

Country/entity
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Yugoslavia (former)
Region
Europe and Eurasia
Agreement name
Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement, Pleso
Date
23/12/1994
Agreement status
Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement
No
Agreement/conflict level
Intrastate/intrastate conflict (Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001)
Former Yugoslavia

The disintegration of former Yugoslavia post cold war saw conflicts which became mediated and produced peace agreements in Slovenia (where the brief independence conflict was mediated by the EC Troika in 1991), Croatia (between Croatian and Serb populations 1991-1995), in Bosnia (between Croatian, Serb and Bosniak populations 1992-1995), in Macedonia (where mediation played a key pre-emptive role in preventing large scale conflict in 2001), in Kosovo (between Kosovar Albanians and Serbian population and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), but also between FRY and NATO, 1998-1999), and a conflict in the Presevo Valley (between Albanians in South Serbia and FRY, 2000-2001). The continued fall-out of the disintegration of former Yugoslavia also saw mediated agreement and ultimate dissolution of the Union between Serbia and Montenegro.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

In 1991, after nationalist parties won the first multi-party elections in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a violent process of disintegration commenced. With its mixed population, Bosnia-Herzegovina became the centre of the following civil war that began in 1992 between the newly formed army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly Muslim Bosniacs), and the parastatal forces of self-declared Bosnian Croat (Herzeg-Bosnia) and Bosnian Serb (Republika Srpska) entities within Bosnia-Herzegovina, supported by Croatia and Serbia, with various, often short-lived, coalitions. The General Framework Agreement (Dayton Peace Agreement), signed in 1995, split the country into two ethno-federal entities, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska, and included continued peacekeeping and institutional administration by international actors.

Kosovo

The conflict between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians has a long history and always involved territorial disputes as well as ethno-political, cultural and linguistic factors. The most recent phase of the conflict began in November 1997 when the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or UCK) began their campaign for the independence of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY – then Serbia and Montenegro). The subsequent war lasted until the NATO intervention, which undertook bombing campaigns of Belgrade and other places in Serbia during spring 1999. The main agreements solving the conflict were internationally driven and, finally, a UNSC resolution imposed a post-conflict arrangement in the wake of what was essentially a NATO military victory. In February 2008, Kosovo’s parliament declared independence, but independence is still internationally disputed.

Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001) )
Stage
Ceasefire/related (Ceasefire)
Conflict nature
Government/territory
Peace process
125: Bosnia peace process
Parties
Alija Izetbegovic; Rasim Delic; Radovan Karadzic; Ratko Mladic
Third parties
Witnessed by: Yasushi Akashi; Bertrand De La Presle
Description
This short agreement provides for a general ceasefire at 1200 hours on 24 December 1994, to last for four months and seven days. The parties agree to enable mobility of humanitarian convoys, release all detainees, and begin negotiations for a comprehensive cessation of hostilities.

Agreement document
BA_941223_ComprehensiveCeasefireAgreement, Pleso.pdf []

Main category
Page 1, Article 4
The parties agree to protect the human rights of those persons residing within territory under their control in accordance with international standards, to include international humanitarian law. All peoples, regardless of age, sex or ethnic origin, shall have the right to live in a location of their choice.

Women, girls and gender

Participation
No specific mention.
Equality
No specific mention.
Particular groups of women
No specific mention.
International law
General IHRL, IHL and IL
Page 1, Article 4
The parties agree to protect the human rights of those persons residing within territory under their control in accordance with international standards, to include international humanitarian law. All peoples, regardless of age, sex or ethnic origin, shall have the right to live in a location of their choice.
New institutions
No specific mention.
Violence against women
No specific mention.
Transitional justice
No specific mention.
Institutional reform
No specific mention.
Development
No specific mention.
Implementation
No specific mention.
Other
No specific mention.

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