Washington Agreement

For other uses, see Washington Agreement (disambiguation).

The Washington Agreement (Croatian: washingtonski sporazum; Bosnian: vašingtonski sporazum) was a ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, signed on 18 March 1994 in Washington, D.C.^[1] It was signed by Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdžić, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granić and President of Herzeg-Bosnia Krešimir Zubak.

Washington Agreement

Bosnian President Alija Izetbegović and Croatian President Franjo Tuđman sign the Washington Agreement
Type	Ceasefire agreement
Signed	18 March 1994
Location	Washington, D.C., United States Vienna, Austria
Sealed	24 March 1994
Effective	30 March 1994
Signatories	Alija Izetbegović Haris Silajdžić Franjo Tuđman Mate Granić Krešimir Zubak
Parties	Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina  Herzeg-Bosnia  Croatia Witnessed by:  United States
Ratifiers	Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Languages	Bosnian Croatian

Under the agreement, the combined territory held by the Croat and Bosnian (in that time Bosniak) government forces was divided into ten autonomous cantons, establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and ending the Croat-Bosniak War. The cantonal system was selected to prevent dominance by one ethnic group over another.^[2]

The subsequently signed Washington Framework Agreement had the creation of a loose federation (or confederation) between Croatia and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as one of its goals.^[3]

Background

War broke out between Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Forces. It lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 1994,^[4] and is considered often as a "war within a war" as it was a part of the much larger Bosnian War. Fighting soon spread to Central Bosnia and soon Herzegovina, where most of the fighting would take place in those regions.

Between 1992 and 1994, many massacres and killings would take place, such as the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing,^[5] Trusina massacre, Ahmići massacre, Sovići and Doljani killings, Vitez massacre, Mokronoge massacre,^[6][7] Grabovica massacre, Uzdol massacre,^[8] Stupni Do massacre, Križančevo selo killings,^[9] Zenica massacre, Gornji Vakuf shelling, Busovača massacre, and the Stari Vitez terrorist attack. Battles, operations, and sieges were also common during that time period, as the battle of Žepče, Bugojno, Siege of Mostar, Operation Neretva '93, and Operation Tvigi 94.

See also

• Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
• Croat-Bosniak War
• Bosnian War
• Dayton Agreement
• Split Agreement

References

1. Bethlehem, Daniel L.; Weller, Marc (1997). The 'Yugoslav' Crisis in International Law. Cambridge International Documents Series. Vol. 5. Cambridge University Press. p. liiv. ISBN 978-0-521-46304-1.
2. "Bosnia and Herzegovina". European Commissions. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
3. Lester H. Brune (2003). Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations Volume III 1989-2000. Routledge. pp. 1247–1248. ISBN 9780415939171. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
4. "Bosnian War European history [1992–1995]". Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
5. "Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaškić Judgement" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
6. Horvat, Domagoj (7 March 1995). "The Secret of Mitigated Crimes". Feral Tribune. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
7. Lawson, Edward (1996). "Human rights violations by Bosnian Croat Forces". Encyclopedia of Human Rights. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-56032-362-0.
8. "Sefer Halilovic Case Information Sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2023.
9. "Indictment Confirmed in the Case of Ibrahim Purić et al". Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 27 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

Further reading

• Allcock, John B., Marko Milivojevic, et al. Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedia (1998)

External links

• United States Institute of Peace: Washington Agreement
• Uppsala Conflict Data Program: Washington Agreement
• Office of the High Representative: Creation of Federation of BiH (1995-1999)