patrolled the ZOS to prevent violations, and worked to restore security and maintain public
order throughout their designated areas of operations.
Just as IFOR was legitimized through agreement of the warring factions in the Dayton
Peace Accords, so was the International Police Task Force (IPTF). Annex 11 of the
Accords stated that responsibility for maintaining a safe and secure environment for all
persons rests with the signatories themselves; however, to assist in discharging their public
security obligations, the parties request that the IPTF be created and that it perform the
following functions:
Monitor and inspect judicial and law enforcement activities, including conducting
joint patrols with local police forces.
Advise and train law enforcement personnel.
Analyze the public security threat and offer advice to government authorities on
how to organize their police forces most effectively.
Facilitate law enforcement improvement and respond to the requests of the
parties, to the extent possible.
Throughout IFOR’s operations aimed at maintaining a safe and secure environment, the
IPTF was focused on monitoring local police and judicial authorities for compliance with
internationally accepted standards and checking whether they were properly treating/
protecting all citizens (especially minorities / members of other ethnic groups). Additionally,
the IPTF provided support to ensure public safety for the September 1996 national
elections.
Of note, the IPTF was not placed within the IFOR organizational structure or under its
control. Instead, it fell under the United Nations Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (UNMBIH).
Unfortunately, however, UNNMBIH was not adequately staffed or prepared to provide the
logistical support needed by the IPTF. The IPTF continuously confronted problems and
delays attempting to gain requisite resources and support. Another major issue was that
host nation/local police officers continued to abuse ethnic minorities in their areas in spite of
language in the Dayton Peace Accords. Compounding this issue, certain municipal police
chiefs were notoriously corrupt and enmeshed in networks of illicit activity – along with
certain political leaders/sponsors. Fortunately, the IPTF was able to call upon IFOR to back
them up when they needed help with certain law enforcement or detention problems. This
IPTF-IFOR coordination and responsiveness proved to be a suitable mechanism for dealing
with unlawful activities – roadblocks, weapons caches, illegal detentions of people of ethnic
minorities, etc. – periodically instigated and/or conducted by prejudicial local officials, local
police, and supporters.
Certain IFOR assistance, principally in the form of Civil Affairs personnel (especially those
with police specialties), was invaluable in establishing an initial operational capability for the
IPTF and reducing resource gaps. Their role was especially crucial in planning the pivotal
transfer of six Sarajevo suburbs to Moslem control and in organizing the IPTF’s limited
resources to oversee each of the transfers. Once the IPTF had become fully operational,
Civil Affairs personnel provided liaison between the IPTF and IFOR, ensuring that opera-
tional information was exchanged daily between the two entities. Especially vital was the
involvement of IFOR Civil Affairs personnel in the establishment of the IPTF’s Command
Center – including the overall design, the standard operating procedures, and development
of a communications net that linked IPTF Headquarters to its out-stations and to IFOR.
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