Unspeakable savagery in former Yugoslavia - address by Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs John R. Bolton - Transcript

US Department of State Dispatch, August 17, 1992

Our century has already borne witness to the most ferocious and horrible violations of human rights. We do not now wish to see this grievous record augmented as the century draws to a close. We ask the people of Serbia-Montenegro this simple question: Do they wish to go down in history as citizens of the last fascist state in Europe?

We are human beings. We recoil in horror and revulsion at the tragedy of former Yugoslavia. We have a duty to ourselves and to this UN Human Rights Commission to act now to bring the weight of the international community to bear against what is being done to the people of that benighted place, whether Muslim, Croat, Serb, or other ethnic, national, or religious group. The men of violence must be shown that there is no real, lasting alternative to peaceful negotiation to solve their differences. Nothing can excuse or justify the slaughter and misery being heaped upon the innocent people of the former Yugoslavia. The United States seeks your support for the adoption of all measures, including a full and immediate investigation, that will help protect the victims of this tragic conflict and bring it to a speedy end.