1992 Bosnian independence referendum

none 1992 Bosnian independence referendum Are you for a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Muslims, Serbs, Croats and members of other peoples living in it?https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4040ba0c4.pdf Case concerning application of the convention on the prevention of punishment of the crime of genocide International Court of Justice Glasački listić - Referendum o nezavisnosti BiH.png SR Bosnia and Herzegovina Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 29 February–1 March 1992 2061932 6037 5227 3253847 An independence referendum was held in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 29 February and 1 March 1992, following the first free elections of 1990 and the rise of ethnic tensions that eventually led to the breakup of Yugoslavia. Independence was strongly favoured by Muslim and Croat voters while Serbs boycotted the referendum or were prevented from participating by Bosnian Serb authorities. The total turnout of voters was 64%, 99.7% of whom voted for independence. On 3 March, the president of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegović declared the independence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the parliament ratified the action. On 6 April, the United States and the European Economic Community recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state and on 22 May it was admitted into the United Nations. Background In November 1990, the first free elections were held, putting nationalist parties into power with three parties. These were the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), led by Alija Izetbegović, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), led by Radovan Karadžić, and the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), led by Stjepan Kljuić. Izetbegović was elected as the President of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina bs Predsjedništvo Socijalističke Republike Bosne i Hercegovine. Jure Pelivan, of the HDZ, was elected as the Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina bs Izvršno vijeće Skupštine Socijalističke Republike Bosne i Hercegovine. Momčilo Krajišnik, of the SDS, was elected as the speaker of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina bs Skupština Socijalističke Republike Bosne i Hercegovine.Lukic Lynch 1996 202 Throughout 1990, the RAM Plan was developed by a group of Serb officers of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and experts from the JNA's Psychological Operations DepartmentAllen 1996 56 to organize Serbs outside Serbia, consolidate control of the SDS, and prepare arms and ammunition.Judah 2000 170 In 1990 and 1991, Serbs in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina had proclaimed several Serbian Autonomous Oblasts (SAOs) to unify them later to create a Greater Serbia.Lukic Lynch 1996 203Bugajski 1995 15 As early as September or October 1990, the JNA had begun to arm Bosnian Serbs and organize them into militias.Ramet 2006 414 That same year the JNA disarmed the Territorial Defense Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (TORBiH).OREA 2002 135 By March 1991, the JNA had distributed an estimated 51,900 firearms to Serb paramilitaries and 23,298 firearms to the SDS.Ramet 2006 414 Throughout 1991 and early 1992, the SDS heavily Serbianized the police force to increase Serb political control.OREA 2002 135 According to Noel Malcolm, the "steps taken by Karadžić and his party – [declaring Serb] Autonomous Regions, the arming of the Serb population, minor local incidents, non-stop propaganda, the request for federal army "protection" – matched exactly what had been done in Croatia. Few observers could doubt that a single plan was in operation."Lukic Lynch 1996 204 In a session on 15 October 1991, the Bosnian Parliament, alarmed by the existence of the RAM Plan,Lukic Lynch 1996 204 approved the "Memorandum on Sovereignty" through the use of a parliamentary movement to reopen parliament after Krajišnik had closed it and after Serb deputies had walked out.Toal Dahlman 2011 108 On 24 October 1991, the SDS formed the Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in November held a referendum about remaining within Yugoslavia. At the same time it issued the "Instructions for the Organization and Activities of the Organs of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Emergency Conditions" which told SDS officials to form Serb Municipal Assemblies and Crisis Staffs, secure supplies for Serbs, and create extensive communication networks.Nettelfield 2010 67 In January 1992, the assembly declared the creation of the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and HerzegovinaNettelfield 2010 67 and its secession.Ramet 2006 382 The Bosnian government declared the referendum an unconstitutional and self-proclaimed entity and it was recognized only by Yugoslavia.Nettelfield 2010 67 Recognition alt=White flag with blue-and-gold fleur-de-lis crest in center|left|thumb|Flag adopted by the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In late December 1991, Muslim and Croat politicians asked the European Economic Community (EEC) to recognize Bosnia and Herzegovina with Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia as sovereign nations.HRW August 1992 18 The Badinter Arbitration Committee, set up by the EEC, initially refused to recognize Bosnia and Herzegovina because of its "absence of a referendum" while it determined (among other things) that Yugoslavia was in the process of dissolution and the internal boundaries of its republics could not be altered without agreement.Pellet 1992 178, 185 In January 1992, the EEC ruled that "the will of the peoples of Bosnia Herzegovina to constitute the Social Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina as a sovereign and independent cannot be held to have been fully established" and suggested "a referendum of all the citizens of the SRBH without distinction"; this could not be normally held, because Serb authorities prevented their people from participating.Walling 2013 93 Burg Shoup 2000 96 That month, Slobodan Milošević issued a secret order to transfer all JNA officers born in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Socialist Republic of Serbia and enlist them in a new Bosnian Serb army.Ramet 2006 382Silber Little 1997 218 On 23 January, EEC Council of Ministers president João de Deus Pinheiro said that the EEC would recognize Bosnia and Herzegovina if an independence referendum was approved.Burg Shoup 2000 99 On 25 January a debate over a referendum was held in Parliament, ending when the Serb deputies withdrew after Muslim and Croat delegates rejected a Serb motion that it be determined by a yet-to-be-formed Council for National Equality. After Momčilo Krajišnik tried to adjourn the session, he was replaced by an SDA member and the proposal to hold a referendum was adopted in the absence of the SDS.Burg Shoup 2000 105 Since the referendum intended to change the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina from a federal state of Yugoslavia to a sovereign state, it breached the Constitution of Yugoslavia (since the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have jurisdiction, and exceeded its powers).Lauterpacht Greenwood 1999 140 According to the Yugoslav constitution, changing the borders of Yugoslavia was impossible without the consent of all republics.Lauterpacht Greenwood 1999 141 The referendum was also unconstitutional in terms of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Amendment LXX to the constitution established a council entrusted with exercising the right to equality of the nations and nationalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The proposal for a referendum on the "status of Bosnia and Herzegovina" was required to be considered by the Council, since such a referendum directly impacted "the principles of equality among nations and nationalities".Lauterpacht Greenwood 1999 141-142 Results Of those voting, 99.7% voted in favour of independence. Independence was strongly favoured by Muslim and Bosnian Croat voters, while Bosnian Serbs largely boycotted the referendumNettelfield 2010 67 or were prevented from participating by Bosnian Serb authorities.Walling 2013 93 According to the SDS, independence would result in the Serbs becoming "a national minority in an Islamic state".Toal Dahlman 2011 110 It blocked the delivery of ballot boxes with armed irregular units and dropped leaflets encouraging a boycott,Gow 2003 173 although thousands of Serbs in larger cities voted for independence.Velikonja 2003 238 There were bombings and shootings throughout the voting period, most notably the Sarajevo wedding attack.HRW August 1992 18Sudetic 29 February 1992 Voter turnout was 64 per cent, of whom 99.7 per cent voted for independence.CSCE 12 March 1992 However, the referendum failed to attain the constitutionally required two-thirds majority since only 64 per cent of eligible voters participated.Halpern 2000 107 On 3 March, Alija Izetbegović declared the independence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian parliament ratified his action.Burg Shoup 2000 118 2061932 6037 5227 3253847 Nohlen & StöverDieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook 978-3-8329-5609-7 Aftermath Bosnian War thumb|right|Heavily damaged apartment buildings in the Grbavica district of Sarajevo. On 4 March United States Secretary of State James Baker urged the EEC to recognize Bosnia and Herzegovina,Burg Shoup 2000 101 and on 6 March Izetbegović requested international recognition.Gow 2003 173 On 10 March, a joint US-EEC declaration agreed on the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia. It also agreed that Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina should be recognized if Bosnia and Herzegovina "adopt, without delay, constitutional arrangements that will provide for a peaceful and harmonious development of this republic within its existing borders."Burg Shoup 2000 101 On 7 April the United States and the EEC recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state,Nettelfield 2010 67Binder 8 April 1992 and other members of the international community also recognized the country in early April.HRW August 1992 20 That day, Bosnian Serb leaders declared independence and renamed their self-proclaimed entity the Republika Srpska.Gow 2003 173 On 12 May, the Bosnian Serb Assembly adopted "Six Strategic Goals of the Serbian Nation"; Radovan Karadžić said, "The first such goal is separation of the two national communities – separation of states, separation from those who are our enemies and who have used every opportunity, especially in this century, to attack us, and who would continue with such practices if we were to stay together in the same state."Nettelfield 2010 68 On 22 May, Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted to the United Nations.Nettelfield 2010 68 Within a month of recognition, the siege of Sarajevo began, by which time the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) controlled 70% of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Hoare 2010 126 The VRS were backed by Yugoslavia, and the Bosnian Army by the newly created Republic of Croatia as well as the unrecognized proto-state Herzeg-Bosnia. The war lasted for three years, with over 100,000 casualties in total. The Bijeljina, Srebrenica and Markale massacres provoked widespread media coverage, and drew attention to the conflict. See also Bosnia and Herzegovina History of Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Notes References Books 2 Allen Beverly Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia University of Minnesota Press Ithaca 1996 978-0-8014-4158-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=0GS9e-iq73kC Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990–1995 1 Office of Russian and European Analysis, Central Intelligence Agency Washington 2002 OREA 2002 978-0-16-066472-4 Bugajski Janusz Janusz Bugajski Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations and Parties M. E. Sharpe Armonk 1995 978-1-56324-283-0 https://books.google.com/books?id=m_AcqFSfvzAC Burg Steven L. Shoup Paul S. The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention M. E. Sharpe Armonk 2000 978-0-7656-3189-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=-4eKmp_qu_QC Caplan Richard 2005 Europe and the Recognition of New States in Yugoslavia Cambridge University Press Oxford 978-1-139-44551-1 https://books.google.com/books?id=O88EgTiHLCAC Goldstein Ivo Ivo Goldstein Croatia: A History C. Hurst & Co. London 1999 978-1-85065-525-1 https://books.google.com/books?id=pSxJdE4MYo4C Gow James 2003 The Serbian Project and its Adversaries: A Strategy of War Crimes C. Hurst & Co. London 978-1-85065-646-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC Halpern Joel M. Neighbors at War: Anthropological Perspectives on Yugoslav Ethnicity, Culture, and History 2000 The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 9780271044354 Hoare Marko Attila The War of Yugoslav Succession Ramet Sabrina P. Central and Southeast European Politics Since 1989 111–136 2010 Cambridge University Press Cambridge 978-1-139-48750-4 https://books.google.com/books?id=oFXdiS25N78C Judah Tim Tim Judah 2000 The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia Yale University Press New Haven 978-0-300-08507-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=B4YbP0fPcMYC Lauterpacht Elihu Elihu Lauterpacht Greenwood Christopher Christopher Greenwood 1999 International Law Reports 150 Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9780521642453 Lukic Reneo Lynch Allen 1996 Europe from the Balkans to the Urals: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union Oxford University Press Oxford 978-0-19-829200-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=WPhhLfp8huIC Nettelfield Lara J. 2010 Courting Democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina Cambridge University Press Oxford 978-1-58544-226-3 https://archive.org/details/religiousseparat0000veli Nohlen Dieter Dieter Nohlen Stöver Philip Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook Nomos Baden-Baden 2010 978-3-8329-5609-7 Ramet Sabrina P. 2006 The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005 Indiana University Press Bloomington 978-0-253-34656-8 https://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC Silber Laura Laura Silber Little Allan Allan Little 1997 Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation Penguin Books New York 978-0-14-026263-6 https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviadeatho00silb Toal Gerard Dahlman Carl T. Bosnia Remade: Ethnic Cleansing and Its Reversal Oxford University Press New York 2011 978-0-19-973036-0 https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1TrvGxJeasC Velikonja Mitja 2003 Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina Texas A&M University Press College Station 978-1-58544-226-3 https://archive.org/details/religiousseparat0000veli Walling Carrie Booth All Necessary Measures: The United Nations and Humanitarian Intervention University of Pennsylvania Press 2013 978-0-8122-0847-4 https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp4komrREPcC Reports 2 War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina Human Rights Watch August 1992 1 New York https://books.google.com/books?id=nltdtAo38K0C HRW August 1992 The Referendum on Independence in Bosnia-Herzegovina: February 29-March 1, 1992 Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe 12 March 1992 Washington D.C. http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=UserGroups.Home&ContentRecord_id=250&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&UserGroup_id=5&Subaction=ByDate CSCE 12 March 1992 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110522132353/http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=UserGroups.Home&ContentRecord_id=250&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&UserGroup_id=5&Subaction=ByDate 22 May 2011 Allain Pellet The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples European Journal of International Law 1992 3 1 178–185 10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035802 http://207.57.19.226/journal/Vol3/No1/art12-13.pdf dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110529223410/http://207.57.19.226/journal/Vol3/No1/art12-13.pdf 2011-05-29 News articles 2 Binder David U.S. Recognizes 3 Yugoslav Republics as Independent New York Times 8 April 1992 https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/08/world/us-recognizes-3-yugoslav-republics-as-independent.html Binder 8 April 1992 Sudetic Chuck Deaths Cast Shadow on Vote in Yugoslav Republic New York Times 29 February 1992 https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/01/world/deaths-cast-shadow-on-vote-in-yugoslav-republic.html Sudetic 29 February 1992 Silber Laura Bosnia Declares Sovereignty Washington Post 16 October 1991 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/balkans/stories/independence101691.htm Silber 16 October 1991 Independence Bosnia Bosnia Category:Independence referendums Category:Referendums in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Bosnian War Category:Referendums in Yugoslavia Bosnia Bosnia