Bosnia

History 

• Bosnia is one of several small countries that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia after World War I.
• It is a multicultural country, created by the western Allies.
• Composed of ethnic and religious groups that had been historical rivals, including the Croats (Catholics), Serbs (Orthodox Christians), and ethnic Albanians (Muslims).

Bosnian Genocide 

Genocide Definition

• Raphael Levkin defined genocide as: Any act contrived with the intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, religious, ethnic, or racial group.
• The conflict between the main ethnic groups, Croats, Serbs, and Muslims, in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina resulted in the mass genocide of Muslims by the Serbs in Bosnia.

• The genocide lasted from 1992-1995.
• 200,000 people were killed.

Actors

• Of those involved, many have been taken into custody and tried by the Bosnian, German, and English governments.
• Among those found guilty, in Bosnia, for their part, were:

  • Milenko Trifunovic

  • Brano Dzinic

  • Aleksander Radovanovic

  • Milus Stupar

  • Slobodon Jakovljevic Branislav Medan

  • Petar Mitrovic

• The three found guilty in Germany:
  • Nikola Jorgic
  • Maksim Soklovic
  • Novislav Djajic
• Milorad Trbic is still on trial and has been indicted on several charges, including genocide.
• Former Serbian President, Slobodon Milosevic, died during his trial. There was no verdict.

Victims

• Srebrenica was declared a safe area by the UN in 1992.
• In July 1995, Ratko Mladic lead Serbian troops and paramilitaries to surround the capital; they then began firing artillery into the city.
• An amateur operator tried to communicate with the UN officials and sent a radio message from Srebrenica: 'Please do something. Whatever you can. In the name of God, do something.'
• The Dutch tried to force the French to help; the UN officials asked, repeatedly for Air Strikes, but the French continually beat around the bush.
• It's said that one request was rejected because it was on the wrong fax form.
• After quite a few days, it was heard that Mladic had made a promise: everyone would be allowed to cross out of Serb territory, but the men would have to be screened first, so that war criminals could be detected, before rejoining their families.
• At one point, the Serbs removed the UN soldiers' blue peacekeeping helmets and later wore them themselves to trick escapees into handing themselves over.
• By the end, up to 7,500 men and boys over 13 years old, were trucked or marched to their places of death.
• Approximately 3,000 were shot or decapitated in the fields while trying to escape.
• 1,500 were locked in warehouse and shot with machine guns and attacked with grenades.
• The thousands of others were killed on farms, playgrounds, or football fields.
• This horror came from Mladic's orders to "block, crush and destroy the straggling parts of the Muslim group".

Response

• An American reporter was arrested while looking for evidence to the extent the genocide had gone.
• After the events of Srebrenika were exposed, NATO continued their attacks on the Serbs.
• NATO deployed a peace-keeping 'Implementation Force' of 60,000 soldiers.

Aftermath

• To date, there are still mass graves being unearthed and still many to be found.
• After the "Implementation Force" was removed, NATO sent in the 'Stabilisation Force' ("S-Force") which is still there.
• In 1996, a 3-Man presidency was elected into office, representing the three seperate groups.
• In 1999, the UN stated: "Through error, misjudgement, and an inability to recognise the scope of the evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to save the people of Srebrenica from the Serb campaign of mass murder."

Controversy

•   The disagreement lies in the different views of the Bosnian and Serbian sides of the scope of the actual genocide.
  • Officials in Bosnia assert that the Srebrenica massacre was just one instance of the broader genocide committed by Serbia.
• In July 1999, the Appeals Chamber found that "the Army of Republika Srpska was 'under overall control' of Belgrade and the Yugoslav Army." This meant that Srpska had funded, equipped and assisted in coordination and planning of military operations.
• However, the International Court did not agree with these findings and stated that the Appeals Chamber "did not attempt to determine the responsibility of a state but individual criminal responsibility."

http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/bosnia_genocide.htm 

http://bosnianews.blogspot.com/2008/07/bosnia-marks-13th-anniversary-of.html 

http://www.rnw.nl/internationaljustice/tribunals/ICTY/081007-karadzic

http://www.preventgenocide.org/punish/GermanFederalCourt.htm

http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_bosnia1.html