Bosnian Genocide

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This article is about the genocide that took place during the Bosnian War. Other cases of genocide in the same region during World War II are covered in other articles.

The Bosnian Genocide is a term used by some academic,^[1] human rights^[2] and by the ICTY in The Hague when referring to a case of genocide that took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War from 1992 - 1995.

The Srebrenica massacre - where at least eight thousand Bosniak males were systematically killed by Army forces of Republika Srpska ^[3] - is the first legally established case of Genocide in Europe since the Holocaust, ruled as a case of genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Thus far the Srebrenica massacre has been the only case which the ICTY has officially defined as genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are however several so called genocide trials and indictments relating to the Bosnian War currently at the ICTY including Krajišnik trial and Karadžić and Mladić indictments for genocide. Those genocide cases include instances where also a significant number of Bosnian Croats were killed, particularly in Bosanska Krajina region which was under control of Army of Republika Srpska. While these cases are not yet finished they fall in the similar category of individual genocide accountability trials as was the landmark Srebrenica case prosecutor vs Krstic. Unlike Srebrenica case the scope of these ongoing trials is broader and allegations of genocide pertain to events in other regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and crimes that were committed for instance in towns of Prijedor or Zvornik or concentration camps Omarska camp or Keraterm camp.

In 1997, Germany handed down first Bosnian Genocide conviction. Serb soldier, Nikola Jorgic, was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment for his involvement in Bosnian Genocide that took place in other regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ^[4]

1 Ratko Mladic Recognized Genocide
2 Controversy
3 Other opinions
- 3.1 US resolution 199
4 Statements
5 Notes
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Ratko Mladic Recognized Genocide

Both highest ranking Bosnian Serb politicians, Radovan Karadzic and Momcilo Krajisnik, were warned by Bosnian Serb military commander General Ratko Mladic, also indicted on genocide charges, that their plans could not be committed without committing genocide.

People are not little stones, or keys in someone's pocket, that can be moved from one place to another just like that... Therefore, we cannot precisely arrange for only Serbs to stay in one part of the country while removing others painlessly. I do not know how Mr Krajisnik and Mr Karadzic will explain that to the world. That is genocide, said Mladic. ^[5]

[edit] Controversy

Mass grave in Srebrenica

There is a significant disagreement between the Bosnian and Bosnian Serb/Serbian side about the possibility or scope of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War that has made this a controversial and contentious issue.

The Bosnian side claims and currently fights in international courts that Srebrenica massacre was just one instance of what was a broader criminal activity during the Bosnian War and associates Bosnian genocide to an intent by the "Serb side" to destroy in whole or in part non-Serb population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ^[6] In fact there is currently an ongoing official dispute a so called Bosnian genocide case at the International Court of Justice based on this claim in which Bosnia and Herzegovina has officially accused Serbia and Montenegro and its alleged surrogate Republika Srpska of committing genocide in large part of Bosnia and Herzegovina territory including Srebrenica over its non-Serb population. A judgment in this case is expected in late 2006 or early 2007. Bosnians point out the existence of up to 500 concentration camps run by Serbs where non-Serbs were tortured, raped and killed. Bosnian side further claims that numerous individual war crimes including crimes against humanity, rapes and ethnic cleansing, committed against non-Serbs during the Bosnian War when viewed in its combined impact fall under genocide definition as described by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. ^[6]

Identified victims of Srebrenica Massacre

Many Serb groups on the other hand espoused denial of the genocide, claiming that the intentional mass murder of nearly 8,000 Bosniaks in case of Srebrenica massacre is grossly exaggerated and that Republika Srpska government had no extermination policy.^[7] Some others, who don't deny mass killings by the Republika Srpska have engaged in pointing out "immoral equivalencies" (e.g. the killings and the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Croatia) and/or justifications for the executions (e.g. retaliation or punishment for sabotage, terrorism, or subversion).^[7] Some groups have manipulated the number of victims as an effective tool to cloud issues surrounding alleged Bosnian genocide particularly since there are vast discrepancies in original and more recent estimates on how many victims there were and which ethnic group suffered most casualties.^[8] Other Serb groups claim that if genocide did happen it only pertains to Srebrenica case and cannot be associated to entire region of Bosnia and Herzegovina or be defined on a more broader level.

[edit] Other opinions

[edit] US resolution 199

Omarska camp detainees

On June 27, 2005, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution (H. Res. 199 sponsored by Congressman Christopher Smith and Congressman Benjamin Cardin) commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. The resolution was passed with overwhelming majority of 370 - YES votes, 1 - NO vote, and 62 - ABSENT . ^[9]

The resolution is a bipartisan measure commemorating July 11, 1995-2005, the tenth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in which almost 8,000 men and boys were meticulously and methodically separated from their daughters, mothers, sisters and wives and then killed by Serb forces, buried in mass graves and then re-interred in secondary graves to cover up the crimes. Srebrenica fell to invading Serb forces on July 11, 1995 which at the time had been declared a UN "safe area" under the protection of the international community. The Srebrenica massacre was the worst genocidal atrocity in Europe since World War II.

The resolution states that "the policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing^1|2 as implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 and 1995 with the direct support of Serbian regime of Slobodan Milošević and its followers ultimately led to the displacement of more than 2,000,000 people, an estimated 200,000 killed, tens of thousands raped or otherwise tortured and abused, and the innocent civilians of Sarajevo and other urban centers repeatedly subjected to shelling and sniper attacks; meet the terms defining the crime of genocide in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, created in Paris on December 9, 1948, and entered into force on January 12, 1951." ^[10]

[edit] Statements

Starved detainees at the Trnopolje camp, ITN pictures that went around the world

Statement by Radovan Karadžić, co-founder of Republika Srpska and its first president, alluded to the origins of this ideology on March 4, 1992 to the Bosnian Parliament. This speech is most often quoted to imply that genocidal intent among Bosnian Serb leadership existed before the Bosnian War:

"I'm asking you once again, I'm not threatening, but asking you to take seriously the interpretation of the political will of the Serbian people who are represented here by the Serbian Democratic Party and the Serbian Renewal Movement and a couple of Serbs from other parties. I ask you to take seriously the fact that what you are doing is not good. Is this the road under which you want to direct Bosnia-Herzegovina? The same highway to hell and suffering that Slovenia and Croatia are travelling? Do not think that you will not lead Bosnia-Herzegovina to hell. And do not think that you will not perhaps lead the Muslim people into annihilation because the Muslim people cannot defend themselves if there is war. How will you prevent everyone from being killed in Bosnia-Herzegovina?"

Vladimir Srebrov, co-founder of the Serbian Democratic Party, claimed that the party intended to exterminate the Bosniak population of Bosnia after it had come to power.^[11] He was imprisoned by the Serb side during the war.

[edit] Notes

¹The ICTY Trial Chamber (in Radoslav Brđanin case) is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt both that the expulsions and forcible removals were systematic throughout the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK), in which and from where tens of thousands of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were permanently displaced, and that this mass forcible displacement was intended to ensure the ethnic cleansing of the region. These people were left with no option but to escape. Those who were not expelled and did not manage to escape were subjected to intolerable living conditions imposed by the Serb authorities, which made it impossible for them to continue living there and forced them to seek permission to leave. Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were subjected to movement restrictions, as well as to perilous living conditions; they were required to pledge their loyalty to the Serb authorities and in at least one case, to wear white armbands. They were dismissed from their jobs and stripped of their health insurance. Campaigns of intimidation specifically targeting Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were undertaken.

²This process of ethnic cleansing was sometimes camouflaged as a process of resettlement of populations. In Banja Luka, the Agency for Population Movement and the Exchange of Material Wealth for the ARK ("Agency"), which was established on 12 June 1992 pursuant to a decision of the ARK Crisis Staff, aided in the implementation of both the exchange of flats and the resettlement of populations. The Agency was popularly known variously as "Perka’s Agency" or as "Brđanin’s Agency". The ICTY Trial Chamber (in Radoslav Brđanin case) is of the view that although this Agency was set up for the exchange of flats and the resettlement of populations, this was nothing else but an integral part of the ethnic cleansing plan.

[edit] References

^ University of California Riverside,Bosnian Genocide In the Historical Perspective, [1]
^ Human Rights Watch, Milosevic to Face Bosnian Genocide Charges, 11 December 2001 [2]
^ http://www.srebrenica-zepa.ba/srebrenica/spisak.htm
^ Oberlandesgericht Dusseldorf, "Public Prosecutor v Jorgic", 26 September 1997 [3]
^ Bosnia's Accidental Genocide, Bosnian Institute in UK. September 30, 2006.
^ ^a ^b van den Biesen."Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, General Concluding Observation". International Court of Justice. 24 April 2006, para. 1-12. [4]
^ ^a ^b Ingrao, Charles. "Genocide and Aftermath: Rationalizing the Process of Truth and Reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina". Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina/Carnegie Council. 13 July 2005. [5]
^ Srebrenica Genocide Blog. "Srebrenica Massacre FAQ's: Facts vs Srebrenica Genocide Denial. 31 May 2006. para. 5 [6]
^ Washington Post. "Votes Database: Bill: H RES 199" 27 June 2005 [7]
^ US House of Representatives, "Resolution 199 (H. Res. 199): Srebrenica Genocide". 27 June 2005. [8]
^ Kulenovic, Adil. "Interview with Vladimir Srebrov, a founding member of the Serb Democratic Party". Vreme Magazine. 30 October 1995. [9]