After talking about the topic of bystanders and lack of help the international community provided to the people of Rwanda during the horrific genocide that took place there, I would like to bring up a similar case, the case of the former Yugoslavia. Although it is frequently referred to as the Yugoslavian war, I believe in the case of Bosnian and Herzegovina it was genocide.
After the death of the Yugoslavian President, Josip Broz Tito in 1980 the country’s once suppressed nationalism began to flourish and a movement of Serbian nationalist was backed by the leader of the Yugoslavian National Army, Slobodan Milosevic. After taking over the Army including all military equipment and attempting to forcefully take Slovenia and Croatia into a greater Serbia, Milosevic and the Serbian government moved to take the Bosnia as well. In meeting with Yugoslavian leaders of national parties, Radovan Karadzic the President of the Serbian Democratic party explained that by pushing for independence and seeking recognition by the United Nations as such, they are “pushing themselves into the same hell and death Croatia and Slovenia saw” and that “the Muslim people will possibly disappear” because “if war breaks out in Bosnia the Muslim people cannot defend themselves.(1)
Here Karadzic is referring to the military power and arms he knew the Bosnia Muslims didn’t have, due to Serbian control of the Yugoslavian Army and the arms embargo placed on the region. This brings up many questions. First, with the rhetoric and questionable intentions that the international community knew in advance, why was nothing done to stop it? And second, the arms embargo only helped the Serbian Nationalists because they already had their weapons and knew their enemy was unprepared.
The lack of support and aid given to the Bosnian Muslim militias that formed for their own protection during the attempted siege of Bosnia was wide spread and can be seen in the numerous crimes that were committed against the Muslim population. Such as in the famous case of Srebrenica, that has become the single event that sums up the atrocities that happened all over the once peaceful country.
The declaration of a UN safe zone in Srebrenica was a bold move by the UN Security Council. Only ten miles from the Serbian border, the village was a prime target for the expansion of a greater
Under the terms of UN protection the inhabitants of the safe zone were disarmed. The disarmament of Srebrenica was one of the goals the Bosnian Serb forces had since the beginning of the war. General Ratko Mladic told BBC during his negotiations with UN forces and Muslim leaders that if Muslim defenders gave up their weapons “Bosnian Serb forces would not enter Srebrenica, but only pacify it.”(3) This disarming of Srebrenica became one of the most crucial mistakes the UN made and allowed the rest of their actions to domino into the eventual disappearance of Muslim Srebrenica. Mladic and his troops were well known for their brutal tactics of ethnic cleansing, rape and torture. Since 1993 he and other members of his brigade were wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.(4)
After two years under UNPROFOR protection, on July 8, 1995 around 7:00 am, Serb tanks arrived at the Dutch Observation post in Potocari, three miles from Srebrenica. At the forceful request of Serbian leaders, the Dutch retreated from their post. While doing so they were stopped by a Muslim roadblock where one Dutch soldier was killed by a Muslim thrown grenade. This action, by the Muslim forces within Srebrenica, surprised and frightened the UNPROFOR and the soldiers began to question the value of their own lives against the lives of the refugees they were sent there to protect.(5) By 3:15 pm Bosnian Serb forces had managed to take the observation post. By the next day the people of Srebrenica were fearful of what may happen next and some fled through the hills, but were shelled with mortar rounds and grenades. Thirty Dutch hostages were taken prisoner, one of them recalled “the Muslim got a note and he wrote down 30 Dutch and 30,000 Muslims. He said as long as the 30 Dutch are in the hands of the Bosnian Serbs, the UN wont risk anything, because your 30 soldiers are even more valuable than the 30,000 Muslims.”(6)
A series of requests for air support by UN Col. Karreman were denied, halted and postponed. After his request had finally been approved, he told Muslim leaders in the village, NATO planes were on their way the following morning at 6:00 am. The next morning they looked to the sky and saw no sign of NATO. NATO informed Col. Karreman his request was submitted on the wrong form leaving NATO planes roaming around above Bosnian air space on stand-by. When the Bosnian Serb forces entered Srebrenica thousands fled to the Dutch base in Potocari, where they were told only 5,000 could stay, the rest took refuge in factories, schools and fields. Mladic followed his troops through Srebrenica to Potocari where he told Muslims taking refuge there that they were safe and would be allowed transportation to Muslim territories. He negotiated over two days with UNPROFOR and Muslim leaders where he told one Muslim man, “you just decide what you want to do…you can survive or you can disappear.” Then they finally negotiated to allow buses to haul all refugees into Bosnian Muslim territory.(7)
During the days leading up to the bussing of refugees out of Srebrenica the international community watched in surprise at the bold moves Mladic and his troops were making. The whole world was watching, and no one knew what to do next. No one thought Mladic would carryout what he and his troops did. Mladic promised lies to the people of Srebrenica and the UNPROFOR stood by, blind to what was being carried out around them. While buses arrived to take the refugees into Muslim territory lines were formed with check points, women and children were allowed to board right away while men were sent towards a house and told to leave their belongings in the garden. When Dutch Soldiers saw the men being diverted to the house, they investigated and were told by Serbian leaders all the men had to be interrogated to find Muslim war criminals. One Dutch Solider admits he saw Bosnian Serb forces murder one man behind the house, but said nothing.(8)
Reports of the actions in Bosnia surprised many political leaders around the world but no real action was taken until three years after the atrocities began. In late 1995 the United Nations began to increase their numbers and soon after NATO became involved, sending troops and heavy arms to aid the Bosnian forces. On December 14, 1995 Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian leaders signed a peace agreement in Paris known as the Dayton Accords.
1. Bosna Muslim Media, “The resistance of Bosnia was heard up to the Skies.” Documentary Film. 2007.
2. BBC Storyville. “Srebrenica: A Cry from the Grave” Documentary Film. 1999.
3. Randal, Jonathan C. “Key Muslim town in Bosnia said to prepare surrender; Security Council votes ‘Safe Area’ around Srebrenica” The Washington Post. April 16, 1993.
4. Stiles, Kendall W. “Case Histories in International Politics, 4th Ed.”
5. Weiss, Thomas G., David P. Forsythe, Roger A. Coate and Kelley-Kate Pease. “The United Nations and Changing World Politics, 5th Ed.”
6. BBC Storyville, 1999.
7. BBC Storyville. 1999.
8. BBC Storyville. 1999.
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