Thom Karremans

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Thomas J.P. (Thom) Karremans (born 1948) was the commander of Dutchbat troops in Srebrenica at the time of the Srebrenica massacre during Bosnian War. Karremans had been assigned to defend the Bosniak enclave made the U.N. "safe haven", but he failed to prevent the Serbs from rounding up and killing 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in 1995.

After Serbian forces entered Srebrenica, Karremans met with Serb General Ratko Mladic. During the meeting Karremans was defensive and submissive, excusing himself from ever requesting air strikes against Bosnian Serb forces, claiming the decision was made by higher authorities based on information he provided. This is in sharp contrast with facts - it was determined that it was Karremans who requested air strikes several times, but they were first denied, then delayed, and later granted by UN General Janvier. After this Karremans was filmed raising a glass with war crimes suspect and Serb General Ratko Mladic.

Following negotiations between UN and Bosnian Serbs, on Friday, July 21st, 1995, lieutenant - colonel Karremans and Dutch UN soldiers were allowed to leave Srebrenica. On the farewell, Colonel Karremans accepted gifts from General Mladic, smiled, shook his hand and departed. Shortly after his return to The Netherlands Karremans was promoted to full colonel.

Dutch commanders and their troops were cowards, says Abram de Swaan, a professor at Amsterdam University who has written extensively on Srebrenica. By extension, the entire Dutch nation are cowards. De Swaan's view is still shared by many Dutch.[1]

Karremans himself has said a Serb blockade had left his soldiers desperately short of food and fuel. He told the Hague ICTY tribunal in 1996 that when his requests for NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serb troops were finally granted, they were "too late and too little."[2] In 1999 the United Nations admitted its error in expecting a small number of troops to protect the Srebrenica Safe Area.

After retiring from the army, he and his wife moved to Spain, partly because of death threats in his native Netherlands.[3] He wrote of his experiences at Srebrenica in Srebrenica, who cares?: Een puzzel van de werkelijkheid.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Abi, Daruvalla (2006). Anatomy of a Massacre. Time Magazine, Europe edition. Time Inc. and Time Warner Publishing B.V.. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.
  2. ^ http://www.un.org/icty/transe33/000524it.htm Transcript from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved on 15 July 2007
  3. ^ Taylor, Rachel S. (2004). Karremans Recalls Srebrenica Fall. Tribunal Update. Institute for War & Peace Reporting. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.

[edit] Further reading

  • Karremans, Thomas (1998). Srebrenica, who cares?: Een puzzel van de werkelijkheid (in Dutch). Arko. ISBN 90-72047-54-0.