United Nations Security Council Resolution 1160

With the resolution 1160 of the UN Security Council for an arms embargo against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) was decided. It was adopted on 31 March 1998 in connection with the Kosovo conflict. The resolution was adopted by 14 votes to none against, with one abstention from China, which spoke of an internal affair of Serbia and Montenegro.

The arms embargo was lifted in 2001 by Resolution 1367.

Background

Some countries had proposed a comprehensive arms embargo against Serbia and Montenegro, including Kosovo. The UN Security Council deplored both the violence, exercised by the Serbian police against peaceful demonstrators in Kosovo as well as terrorism by the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA. The Council further reiterated the commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and Montenegro.

Serbia and Montenegro was asked to seek a political solution to the conflict, while the Kosovo Albanians were called to condemn all acts of terrorism and to pursue their goals by peaceful means. It was found that the only way to avoid further violence would be to allow the Kosovo Albanian community to look for in a genuine political process, the prospects for meaningful autonomy and self-determination.

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the Council imposed an arms embargo against Serbia and Montenegro, and occupied a committee to monitor its implementation and to propose improvements. The measures should be revised if, the Contact Group and the European Union is in a report by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE) found that Serbia and Montenegro into a dialogue, its police force withdraws, the application of humanitarian aid organizations allowed and accepted missions of the OSCE and the UN High Commissioner for refugees in the region.

The resolution also included an order to the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to gather information on issues of human rights, and stated that further measures would be imposed if there is no constructive progress in this matter.