Cease-fire and human rights

Who cannot be relieved to see a cease-fire taking effect in the nearly four-year war in Bosnia? Only as a truce deepens can lives be saved, negotiations launched, populations made safe and reconstruction begun. More specifically, only as the parties agree on peace will other nations interpose their forces to keep the peace thus made. Thus does the American-devised strategy use a reluctance to take casualties on the part of the United States and its allies as a positive inducement to the parties to come together.

Gratifying as a cease-fire is, however, the heavy costs of reaching it cannot be denied. Last week the parties agreed on terms. The Moslem and Croat forces used the inevitable last- minute jockeying to take a few more strategic towns in the northwest, expelling perhaps 40,000 Serbs. The Serbs then expelled perhaps half that many Moslems and unleashed the notorious killer "Arkan" in a new surge of murder, rape and terror. Most other nations averted their gaze, figuring that Moslems and Croats were making up past losses and that the Serbs, a half-million of whom have been uprooted since the tide of battle turned in July, had it coming.

Politically, there are two edges to this latest humanitarian catastrophe in Bosnia. One edge is ironic: The latest uprootings may actually facilitate a settlement by sorting out peoples more or less along the lines of an eventual, internationally approved agreement. The other edge is emotional: The uprootings are bound to exacerbate the already massive hatred and distrust among communities that, though separated, still must live in close dependence upon each other.

The allies must remain attentive to humanitarian obligations even -- especially -- when there is political temptation to cheat a little. The period of negotiation and, if it comes, the period of peace are going to see constant, highly charged violations of human rights. Nations attempting to keep the parties on a negotiating track are going to be continually challenged to be fair. No one should be allowed to fence out the human rights monitors. No one trying to help from the outside should stop protesting violations and protecting the victims. This is a matter of conscience and credibility.

-- The Washington Post