Srebrenica is a town in eastern Bosnia and was a UN “safe area” in the 1990s. It was besieged by Serb Army forces, leading to a famine and ultimately culminating in the worst act of mass murder in Europe since World War II 28 years ago.
The UN’s Role and the Disarming of Srebrenica
In 1993, UN General Philippe Morillon famously assured the people of Srebrenica, “You are now under the protection of the UN forces. I will never abandon you.” However, despite #Srebrenica’s status as a UN “safe area”, and the UN’s disarming of the Srebrenica inhabitants, the UN, at no point, fired a single bullet to protect the people of Srebrenica.
The UN disarming of the Srebrenica Bosnians was a deal in which the Bosnians would hand in their weapons in exchange for the “guaranteed” protection that the UN would offer. Many Srebrenica Bosnians did disarm, genuinely believing that the UN would protect them.
Moreover, the UN disarming of the Srebrenica Bosnians was on top of the UN arms embargo already in place on the Bosnians, which was a violation of the Bosnians’ right to self-defense guaranteed under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
The Takeover of Srebrenica
In July 1995, the Serb Army forces began the final takeover of the UN “safe area” Srebrenica, the enclave that had already been under siege and famine since 1992. On July 11, 1995, with the Serb attack on the enclave well underway, 25,000 women, children, elderly, and (some) men set off towards Potocari, a small town within the municipality of Srebrenica, which was the location of the main UN base.
Meanwhile, most of the men gathered at Susnjari, west of Potocari, where they prepared to reach the area under the control of the Bosnian government. However, the enclave was surrounded by minefields, and the Serb army was patrolling the area.
The Journey and the Capture
The tail-end of this column of Bosnians left at noon on July 12, 1995. The single-file formation was chosen to avoid the impact of the mines. On the evening of July 12th, about 8,000 of these men crossed the road intersection at Konjevic Polje. By July 16th, 6,000 would reach safety via Zvornik.
After the 8,000 Bosnian men crossed the intersection at Konjevic Polje, the Serb forces closed this route. Now, the Bosnian refugees were trapped between Konjevic Polje and Srebrenica.
On July 13th, a group that had been in the hills near Konjevic Polje surrendered to the Serb forces under the false pretense that the UN and the International Red Cross were present. The Serbs had used megaphones and stolen blue helmets to make this claim.
The Forceful Transfer and Executions
On July 12th, the forceful transfer of those at Potocari began after the Serbs had been terrorizing, raping, and committing sporadic murders there. As the transfer was set to begin, the Bosnian men, who had not already been executed, were separated from the others. The forceful transfer was completed by the late afternoon of July 13th.
The captured Bosnian men were taken to various locations, including Bratunac, Sandici, Nova Kasaba, and Kravica. On July 12, 1995, Bosnian men were executed in Bratunac through brutal means, including clubs, axes, and throat cutting.
At around the same time, executions were taking place on the road between Konjevic Polje and Sandici. Some of the men were killed in mass graves that had been pre-dug. At Nova Kasaba, both sporadic and systematic executions took place. The recovered bodies there and elsewhere were often found with their hands tied behind their backs.
The Serbs executed at least 500 Bosnians at the Kravica hangar using firearms and grenades. The Kravica hangar executions took place in the late afternoon on July 13th.
In the afternoon of July 13th, at Cerska Valley (west of Konjevic Polje), Serbs executed 150 Bosnians after transporting them there via 3 buses. The executions took place along the road, and their bodies were then covered by an excavator.
On the morning of July 13th, Serbs executed approximately 17 men at the Jadar River. From July 13 onwards, prisoners began to be taken to Bratunac and from there to Zvornik. The officers of the Serb forces had been sent to Zvornik to locate sites for execution (and burial) and selected the schools in Grbavci and Petkovci.
The Aftermath
The prisoners at the Grbavci school were blindfolded & executed on July 14 in Orahovac. The prisoners at Orahovac, some who were dead & others still alive but dying, were buried alive. One witness reported seeing General Mladic watch some of the executions.
The prisoners in Petkovci school were tortured and executed at the bottom of a nearby dam. The transfer of prisoners from Bratunac continued up until July 15th. On July 16th, 1,200 were executed at the Branjevo military farm. Another 500 prisoners were transferred to Rocevic (north of Zvornik) and executed on July 15h.
On July 15th, prisoners who were in Bratunac but not yet executed were taken to buildings in Pilica (north of Zvornik), and on July 16th, 1,200 were executed at the Branjevo military farm.
500 prisoners were transferred to Rocevic (north of Zvornik) and executed on July 15h.
As the Dayton negotiations were going on, the need for an inquiry into Serb war crimes was becoming clear. The Serb leadership then began a systematic effort to hide their genocidal crimes.
One strategy the Serb leadership deployed to conceal their war crimes was to leave a small # of bodies in the primary mass graves. The idea was that if & when the bodies are found, the claim would be that only a small # of Bosnians were executed (just tens, not many thousands).
The Serbs leadership ordered that the primary graves be dug up using excavating equipment and that the bodies be transported into (26) secondary graves throughout eastern Bosnia.
One example of where the primary grave was undisturbed was the Cerska Valley mass grave, where 150 bodies were found.
Jean-Rene Ruez, head of the ICTY Srebrenica investigation, has speculated that this could be due to the lower # of bodies being buried there, the Serb forces had forgotten about the site, and/or the Serb forces believing that there would be difficulty locating the site.
The Serb leadership’s attempt to conceal their war crimes was an early success because, at the end of 1996, William Haglund had exhumed all the primary mass graves and had only located about 500 bodies. Newsweek had an article titled “Genocide Without Corpses.”
The Serb leadership ordered that the primary graves be dug up, and the bodies be transported to 26 secondary graves throughout eastern Bosnia. The search for these secondary graves only began in 1997.
This remains one of the most horrifying instances of genocide in recent history.
Bosnian History 