Bishops call for intervention - Yugoslavia - News

Christian Century, April 14, 1993

Declaring that innocent people are being destroyed, the top leadership of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops on March 26 called for stepped-up efforts - including possible use of limited force - to end the war in the Balkans. "The world cannot stand aside as innocent people are destroyed, as aggression shapes a new world, as the hopes for freedom turn into the violence of war," the bishops said. "We call for constant prayer, effective action and continued solidarity to bring an end to the horror which is devastating our brothers and sisters in Bosnia, Croatia and other states of the former Yugoslavia."

The 1,500-word statement adopted by the 50-member administrative board of the U.S. Catholic Conference was the U.S. church's most detailed statement yet on the brutal war that has engulfed the states of the former Yugoslavia. "The litany of horrors in the recent appeals from the Roman Catholic bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina confirm what the world has known for months: that aggression and barbarism are destroying the very foundations of society and threaten an entire people in Bosnia," the bishops said. "More ominous still is the clear danger that other parts of the former Yugoslavia will be next, perhaps engulfing the whole of the Balkans in war.

While seeing "no real military solution" to the problems in the former Yugoslavia, the bishops argued that some force could be justified. "If force is used, it must be strictly limited in its means and objectives; it should not prolong or widen the war; and it should not undermine prospects for a just political solution to the conflict. In addition, it should be carried out on a multilateral basis with the authority of the international community."

Large-scale military operations, the statement said, "raise serious problems of proportionality, probability of success, and noncombatant immunity." And using force will not guarantee a lasting peace: "Ultimately, success will depend upon a long-term process of political reconstruction that must include replacing virulent nationalisms with a commitment to democracy and basic human and minority rights."

The bishops concurred in supporting these actions:

* full implementation of the ceasefire in Croatia and any political settlement in Bosnia;

* creation of safe havens, if feasible, in Bosnia as a temporary measure to save lives and protect people from further violence;

* measures to ensure the delivery of aid to civilian populations in besieged cities and to protect fleeing refugees;

* enforcement of internationally approved economic sanctions;

* enforcement of the "no-fly" zone.

The bishops also said they would welcome an international war crimes tribunal. "The war in Bosnia and Croatia has involved frightening barbarism, notably the despicable practice of |ethnic cleansing,'" the bishops said. "Deliberate attacks on civilian populations, systematic rape, sieges, widespread torture, and the wholesale destruction of churches and mosques are commonplace. The utter disregard for basic human rights and the laws of war, if not clearly confronted, threatens to undermine the legitimacy of international norms."

Noting that U.S. churches and churches throughout the world have opposed the fratricidal war, the bishops said: "The roots of this conflict are complex, and no party - Croatian, Muslim or Serbian - is wholly blameless for the war or its atrocities." While blaming all sides for the aggression and human rights abuses, the bishops also said they "concur with the view of most international observers and human rights organizations that Serbian military forces bear the greatest responsibility for aggression and abuses."

Although the bishops declined to call the war in the former Yugoslavia a religious war, they acknowledged that "extremists have cynically manipulated religious fears and prejudices to fuel militant nationalisms."