Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia
On 20 November 1991 Lord Carrington asked: "Can the internal boundaries between Croatia and Serbia and between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia be regarded as frontiers in terms of public international law?" Applying the principle of "uti possidetis juris", the commission concluded on 11 January 1992, "The boundaries between Croatia and Serbia, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, and possibly other adjacent independent states may not be altered except by agreement freely arrived at... Except where otherwise agreed, the former boundaries become frontiers protected by international law".
United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia
In 1990, following the electoral defeat of the Communist regime in Croatia, ethnic tensions worsened. After the elections, the Yugoslav People's Army ("Jugoslovenska narodna armija", or JNA) confiscated the weapons of Croatia's Territorial Defence Force ("Teritorijalna obrana", or TO) to minimise any resistance. On 17 August 1990, the tensions escalated to an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs, centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin, and parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Croatia regions. The Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), later established in those areas, declared its intention to integrate with Serbia, and was viewed by the Government of Croatia as a breakaway region. The JNA prevented Croatian police from intervening. By March 1991, the conflict had escalated into the Croatian War of Independence. In June, Croatia declared independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated, but implementation of the decision was postponed until 8 October by a three-month moratorium. A campaign of ethnic cleansing then began in the RSK; most non-Serbs were expelled by early 1993.