THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views
July 4, 2005
The New York Times

Details of Srebrenica Emerge as Hague Prepares for a Trial

by Marlise Simons

THE HAGUE - To carry out the most notorious massacre of the Bosnian war, the organizers devised an elaborate ruse. They stole the blue helmets and white vehicles of United Nations peacekeepers so they could trick and capture their victims. They blocked access roads to keep away outsiders like Red Cross workers and journalists.

On July 11, 1995, as gunshots rang in the night, the Bosnian Serb military leader, Gen. Ratko Mladic, met in a local hotel with a man summoned to speak for the frightened people in the mountain town of Srebrenica. "I guarantee that all those who surrender their weapons will live," the general said. "I need a clear answer so I can decide both as a man and as a commander."

But the next morning, a five-day killing frenzy began. By the time it was over, the Bosnian Serb Army and police forces had systematically tracked down and executed close to 8,000 boys and men.

General Mladic and the Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic, who were indicted as the main architects of Europe's worst massacre since World War II, have evaded capture. . . .

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VIDEO Narrated by Bill Moyers: "SREBRENICA: A CRY FROM THE GRAVE," WNET New York

Anthony Loyd, "Bosnia Ethnic Cleansing to Go Unpunished," Times (UK), November 15, 2003

"BOYLE SAYS RS IS GENOCIDAL PRODUCT AND SHOULD BE ABOLISHED," ONASA News Agency, July 9, 2005

Edward P. Joseph, "Bystanders To a Massacre: How the U.N. Failed Srebrenica," Washington Post, July 10, 2005

Nicholas Wood, "More Prosecutions Likely to Stem From New Srebrenica Report," New York Times, October 6, 2005

Paul Vallely, "Why are Dutch soldiers being sued for the massacre at Srebrenica?," Independent, June 19, 2008

[In November 1995, when the final peace talks started in Dayton, Ohio, an estimated number of 7000 boys and adult men from Srebrenica were reported missing, while the photographs taken by a satellite revealed mass graves in the area. But at no point, did the key Western capitals contemplate returning Srebrenica to a pre-genocide status. Instead, they pressed the Bosnian government to accept the "new reality". Gorazde remained eventually in the Bosniak-Croat entity, while Srebrenica and Zepa were handed over to the newly created Bosnian Serb entity. On the eve of the 13 anniversary of the genocide, Srebrenica is still under the authority of many of those who carried out those killings. Additionally, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic - the Bosnian Serb political and military leaders who instigated, planned and executed the Srebrenica genocide, in concert with Slobodan Milosevic's Belgrade - are still free despite international arrest warrants issued by the ICTY, which indicted both of them for genocide and crimes against humanity in 1995. Srebrenica's genocide survivors are still fighting for justice in many courts around the world and for the truth of their betrayal by the international community to fully emerge.--Florence Hartmann, "JUSTICE DENIED: MEANDERS OF THE BALKAN DIPLOMACY," European Courier, June 30, 2008]

[Defence lawyers for Radovan Karadzic today called on the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal to drop all charges against the former Bosnian Serb leader because of an alleged immunity deal with US peace envoy Richard Holbrooke.--"Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic immune from prosecution, claim lawyers," Associated Press, May 25, 2009]

[Radovan Karadzic threatened months before the start of the Bosnian war that 300,000 Muslims would die while the forces under his command turned Sarajevo, into a "black cauldron".--Ian Traynor, "Karadzic predicted Muslim bloodbath, Bosnian war crimes trial hears ," Guardian, October 27, 2009]

"Dutch state liable for 300 Srebrenica massacre deaths: Court at the Hague says Dutch UN peacekeepers must compensate families of Bosnian Muslim men turned over to Serb forces 19 years ago," Guardian, July 16, 2014

"Karadzic faces Bosnia war crimes verdict in The Hague," bbc.com, March 24, 2016

Tim Hume, "Radovan Karadzic found guilty of genocide, sentenced to 40 years," cnn.com, March 24, 2016

"Ratko Mladic jailed for life over Bosnia war genocide," bbc.com, November 22, 2017

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