Srebrenica massacre
The collapse of Srebrenica and Žepa was previously declared by the United Nations as the “eastern” safe haven of Bosnia, occurring after a siege by the Republic of Srpska, under the command of Ratko Mladić.NATO opened the air force campaign against the Srpska Republic region.
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the genocide that took place in July 1995 in which more than 8000 boys and men were killed in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Massacre by units of the Srpska Republic Army under the command of General Ratko Mladić during the Bosnian war. A paramilitary unit from Serbia called the Scorpion, formally part of the Serbian Ministry of Interior until 1991, participated in the massacre. It is alleged that foreign volunteers including the Greek Volunteer Guard volunteer also participated in the massacre.
Srebrenica massacre, the dark history of Europe
Srebrenica massacre, the dark history of Europe
It has been 20 years but the horrific massacre in Srebrenica town, east of Bosnia & Herzegovina, there are still many “dark areas” that are gradually declassified.
Relatives of a Srebrenica massacre victim visited a relative’s grave at the Potocari Memorial Center on July 11
With the serene appearance of a small town surrounded by mountains and rivers, but 20 years ago, on 11 July 1995, Srebrenica was a real “hell”.
According to Le Temps, within a few days, 8,372 Muslim men from 12 to 60 years old were massacred by the Bosnian Serbs military force led by Ratko Mladic.
Mr. Mladic and many related military and politicians have been tried; But in fact, many facts about Srebrenica have not been published or yet to be recognized.
“Protection zone” of the United Nations
The massacre took place when Srebrenica and some Muslim settlements like Gorazde and Zepa were founded by the United Nations as a “protected area” during the Bosnian war (1992-1995).
Srebrenica was often bombarded, residents of this town had to live between fear of bombs and serious deprivation in every way. Rescue vehicles were repeatedly destroyed or stopped by Bosnian Serbian military forces to confiscate goods.
In order to avoid a humanitarian disaster, the United Nations established a “protection zone” at Srebrenica and the green beret soldiers were allowed to “ensure safety by all necessary measures, including by force”, according to the paper. Le Temps. Responsible for protecting Srebrenica is the Dutch peacekeeping force (Dutchbat), with support from NATO fighters.
Why could the most serious massacre in Europe since World War II take place “in front of” the United Nations and Western military forces? Initially, the Srebrenica case was only considered a “mistake” in tactics and judgment, but many of the witnesses’ and the recently declassified documents of the United States and the United Nations showed the reality of completion. It’s not that simple.
According to France TV Station 24, at the end of May 1995, US President Bill Clinton held talks over the phone with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister John Major to discuss how many green berets were under the command of the army.
Mladic took hostage in response to NATO’s previous air raid. The result of the talks was that NATO had halted air strikes, a very important factor for more than a month later, Mladic “extended” to Srebrenica.
“Close your eyes and cover your ears”
In addition to the safety of hostages, Western countries also want to end the war in Bosnia & Herzegovina soon. US diplomat Robert Frasure once said: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will not accept proposals from the truce unless the Bosnian Muslim “protection zones” are handed over to Serbs. Le Temps quoted expert Florence Hartmann as analyzing: “This is really a difficult problem for the US and its close allies.”
Bosnian Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic (right) and military commander Ratko Mladic are on trial at the International Court of former Yugoslavia
Evacuating Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica is not a good choice because it will be seen as accepting the “ethnic cleansing” goal of Bosnian “death legions”.
But withdrawing the peacekeeping force to directly participate in the war is too costly and at risk of getting bogged down. Thus, according to Ms Hartmann, Washington chose to “ignore” Mladic’s forces to easily take Srebrenica. And the result was a peace deal that was signed in December 1995.
In fact, when the soldiers of the “butcher” general approached this town, the UN official in charge of the situation of Bosnia & Herzegovina at that time was “suddenly” lost to Yasushi Akashi.
In addition, due to the “thin” number of troops and not equipped with heavy weapons, the Dutch green beret forces offered to be supported by NATO but not answered and had to choose to retreat to the base. to ensure safety, let Srebrenica people be slaughtered.
Mr. Joris Voorhoeve, Dutch Minister of Defense at the time of the massacre, recounted on Radio France 24: “I later found out that between England and France, the US had implicitly agreed to a suspension of air strikes without any notice. with the Netherlands ”. In other words, these countries had “turned on the yellow light” for Srebrenica to be attacked and kept quiet with Amsterdam.
Expert Hartmann said that it was impossible to assume that when deciding to let go of Srebrenica, Western leaders did not anticipate the risk of a massacre.
The attacks from previous years have shown that Mladic’s force defies the lives of people in this town, which is why the United Nations has set up a “safe zone” from April 1993.
In addition, in 3.1995, the Bosnian Serbian community leader, Radovan Karadzic, said “there is no hope of surviving the Srebrenica population”. Recently, Dutch general Onno van der Wind also confirmed an earlier leaked information:
The United Nations once supplied nearly 30,000 liters of gasoline to Bosnian Serbian military forces for men carrying vehicles at Srebrenica. to execution sites and let the excavator dig a mass grave.
In July 2014, a court in the Netherlands ruled that the government had to bear civil liability for the deaths of 300 people in Srebrenica. According to the court, Dutch green berets did not protect the victims when they came to hide at Dutchbat’s Potocari military base on July 13, 1995.
Trouw quoted Dutch historian Eelco Runia as saying: “It is agreed that Dutchbat is not armed enough to oppose General Mladic’s army, but they can completely block and set up defenses for the victims. taken away. Mr. Mladic clearly recognized that the Dutch green hat soldiers did not dare to react, so they made use of them to pursue the chase.
Moreover, the weakness of Dutchbat may have “stimulated” him to act more brutally. ” According to many experts, recently declassified documents show that the responsibility for the massacre of more than 8,000 people is not necessarily the only Dutch green beret soldier.
True 20 years have passed, but because there are so many “dark areas”, the Srebrenica is still a controversial topic. The ICTY has recognized this as a genocide, but so far the UN has not made a similar decision. On July 8, the UN Security Council submitted a draft resolution on this issue but faced Russia’s veto, which is an important partner of Serbia.
Memorial of Srebrenica victim
Yesterday 11.7, Bosnia & Herzegovina held a solemn memorial to the 20-year anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, according to AFP. About 50,000 people attended the memorial service at Srebrenica, including former US President Bill Clinton and EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini …
136 sarcophagi with survivors who have identified their identities through DNA tests have been rebuilt at the memorial site built near the former military base of the UN peacekeeping force. Up to now, the remains of 6,241 victims have been found from mass graves and identified by personalities.
In a related development, the Serbian government did not allow a march in the country’s capital Belgrade on July 11 to commemorate the victims of Srebrenica. Many humanitarian organizations intend to march in front of parliament headquarters but must cancel at the last hour.
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic explained: “People’s safety is the most important so we do not allow chaotic scenes on the streets.”
Many right-wing groups have threatened to disrupt the march, so police are worried about riots. However, organizers of the march identified the decision, suggesting that the Serbian government still does not want to acknowledge the truth of the massacre.
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