Vijesti

Institute for Research of Genocide Canada invites all Canadians to join the project

Institute for Research of Genocide Canada invites all Canadians to join the project

The United Nations in Court - Activate your Conscience - Appeal Against Injustice in Bosnia

The Pillar of Shame project

The Pillar of Shame will serve as a metaphor for the immense betrayal of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as a warning to all future co-workers of the United Nations. The plan: the 16,744 shoes (representing 8,372 victims) should form two gigantic letters measuring eight metres in height and coloured in shimmering white. The two letters (‘U’ and ‘N’) will be penetrated by three monumental bullet holes with real shoes found in mass graves embedded in them.

The Centre for Political Beauty reaches over to the mothers of Srebrenica and will erect the anticipated Pillar of Shame. The project aims to erect a permanent sculpture serving as a lasting reminder of the guilt of western politicians and military officials for the genocide of Srebrenica. – Against oblivion of Europe’s ‘Nights of shame’ (Bogdan Bogdanović).

The actual location of the Pillar of Shame, and the names of western politicians and army generals whose names will be shamed by the Pillar will be selected by the mothers themselves. The Centre for Political Beauty and the Society for Threatened Peoples that together organised one of the biggest memorials for the genocide of Srebrenica in 2009, will also initiate a discussion about the responsibility of the United Nations that has been completely pushed aside in the West for the last fifteen years.

Holes -  The holes will be embedded with real shoes found in mass graves. The shoes will be protected by airproof plexiglas and will thus form metaphorical ‘fuel rods’ burnt into the monument by the three holes.

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Western guilt -  We will engage renowned Bosnian Artists for the question, how the names will be included into the sculpture.

White concrete - The 16,744 will individually be cast in white concrete. They will fill up the steel construction.

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Decency - The sculpture is a direct answer to the fact that the people of the West have no respect toward the survivors of the genocide. Because of the outrageous treason, altogether 8,372 people were killed in Srebrenica and even many more in the rest of the country.

Collection point

We want to collect 16,744 shoes throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the diaspora. Deadline: 25. Juni 2010. We are asking them/you to contribute shoes (old and used) and to put messages for Western Europe into. Imagination knows no borders: war stories, photographs of victims of war, complaints against the visa regime. All that what people in Western Europe should learn. The shoes serve as a modern communication tool.

Collection Points in Bosnia-Herzegovina:

1. Sarajevo: Društvo za ugrožene narode za BiH, Trampina 4 (Öffnungszeiten 10–20h)
2. Srebrenica: Kuća Povjerenja, Srebreničkog odreda bb (12–18h)
3. Tuzla: Udruženje "Žene Srebrenice" Kicelj 54 (12– 17h)
4. Zenica: Caffe TINA, Masarykova 22 (12–22h)
5. Bihać: Ajmina Ulica, Repušine 2 (15–19h)

Collection Points in Germany:

6. Berlin: IKB, Adalbertstr. 94 (12-20h)
7. Frankfurt: KSG BiH, Hanauer Landstrasse 401-407 (15–22h)
8. München: Džemat SABUR, Bodenseestr. 80 (15–20h)
9. Göttingen: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Geiststraße 7 (10–18h)

Collection Points in Switzerland:

10. Bern: GfbV Schweiz, Wiesenstrasse 77 (10-18h)

Collection Points in Austria

Wien: GfbV Österreich, Untere Viaduktgasse 53/7A

If you are capable of opening a collection point in your city, please write us: mensud@politicalbeauty.deThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Roadmap

2010

14 May – 25 June 2010:
A total of 16,744 shoes will be collected throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Bosnian diaspora. We are asking them to contribute shoes (old and used) and put messages into them. Imagination knows no borders: war stories, photographs of victims of war, complaints against the visa regime. All that what people in Western Europe should learn. The shoes serve as a communication tool.

01 July 2010:
Shoe ‘exhibition’ in The Hague.

11 July 2010:
Shoe ‘exhibition’ in Berlin.

December 2010:
The Society for Threatened Peoples Bosnia (Fadila Memišević, Belma Zulčić) will appoint a committee of the mothers of Srebrenica, who will decide over:

[1.] location of the monument
[2.] list of the names to be shamed 2011

02 May 2011:
Beginning of construction works for the Pillar of Shame.

Background

On 30 March 2010, the second instance Court of Appeal of The Hague rejected the appeal submitted by more than 6,000 survivors of the genocide in Srebrenica. The statement of the judge is both outrageous and absurd: unassailability and the role of the United Nations in the world are put above the interests of the mothers of Srebrenica. The ruling of the judge on the first instance passed on 10 July 2008 already favoured legal immunity of the United Nations over the human rights of the mothers of Srebrenica, as guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Human Rights Convention, who approached the court.

Although volatility of the case has been subject of heated discussions among experts in human rights, the case remains disregarded by the world. However, the intervention of the Centre for Political Beauty was triggered by yet another fact: although the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1999 depicted the genocide of Srebrenica as “the biggest shame of the United Nations, the latter did not recognise the importance of the case, therefore it failed to appear at either the first or the second instance of the court proceeding.

This shows no respect for the ones lost in 1995, who were supposed to be protected, but were betrayed instead. Obviously, the United Nations finds no reason for an open court confrontation with the victims. The Dutch judges gave the United Nations additional support with the preceding ruling. Therefore remains French general Bernard Janvier, who in 1995 averted the use of the United Nations air forces, legally untouchable for the survivors of the genocide. The Srebrenica case will keep the instances busy at least until 2014 when it will probably be taken before the International Human Rights Court. By then, another charges will have been put in place chosen by the mothers of Srebrenica: the Pillar of Shame.

Background - The World’s Shame in Bosnia

The debate over western guilt for the genocide of Srebrenica reaches much further than merely the inaction of military forces. In its heart, it is indeed about complicity to genocide: not only did the United Nations disarm Bosnian men and women in the so-called “Protected Zone”, giving way for an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe (“Srebrenica” was long before 1995 depicted as the biggest concentration camp of the world), Ratko Mladić made central concessions, but also the absence of any air strikes together with the missing of any will to protect the civilian population, the selection of men and women in the base camp of the UN in Potocari and the decided Not-reporting of war crimes form the main parts of the charge of the bereaved against the UN.

Background - Concept

The aim is to create a sculpture, reproductions of which (photographs, videos, etc.) would be transmitted via modern mass media with an aim of harming the United Nations. The Pillar of Shame should meet three criteria:

1. Reflecting the tremendous dimension of United Nations’ responsibility for the genocide.

2. Naming, shaming and thus pointing effectively to the individuals who are guilty of inactivity, complicity in the genocide or renunciation.

3. Symbolising broken promises of protection, the immense treason of Bosnia and the shattered dream of western will (“Auschwitz never again!”) that the genocide would not take place.

Interview with Tilman Zülch, President of the Society for Threatened People.

“I knew that mass murders would follow. The United Nations and those who stood behind it were prepared to accept that price.”

Mr Zülch, we have it on good authority that you wept when you heard that Srebrenica had fallen to the Serbs. Was the significance of the United Nations's failure immediately obvious to you?

Night after night I had been speaking by telephone with the radio link operator and representatives of the people of Srebrenica. We organised international telephone press conferences with them. The last conversation I had with them was the day before Srebrenica fell. Nino Catic, the radio operator, was among those who died. I have met his dear mother a number of times. I knew that the mass murders like those that had taken place throughout the rest of the Drina Valley would follow. The United Nations and those who stood behind it were prepared to accept that price.

Afterwards you paid a visit to German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl's villa in Oggersheim where you created a graveyard containing a thousand crosses. How did the Chancellor respond? What sort of reaction did you get from the German people?

Most people in Germany were horrified and they sympathised with the Bosnians. Parts of the media and, not least, most of the politicians, led by Chancellor Kohl and Foreign Minister Kinkel, did all they could to prevent any rescue attempt being made. I wasn't surprised that [Christian] Schwarz-Schilling's resignation from the Federal Government was so widely supported by people in Germany.

What do you think about the Secretary-General of the United Nations's refusal to show respect for the victims by appearing in court in order to defend his organisation?

Time after time the international community has betrayed the victims of genocide - in West Papua, in Iraqi Kurdistan, in Southern Sudan, in Biafra, in Rwanda and in Darfur today. Hardly surprising that it shows no shame.

How do you view the Pillar of Shame?

We should look on it as a memorial in honour of the victims of Srebrenica and Bosnia and at the same time as a finger of accusation against the Milosevic regime and its executioners, but also as a call to the UN to respond quickly in order to prevent future genocides.

Will a Pillar of Shame that accuses the UN of direct responsibility for the genocide at Srebrenica do anything to change the attitude of arrogance and ignorance that the United Nations has always shown towards the survivors? What are the chances of encouraging the UN to declare initiatives aimed at preventing genocide its priority concern?

The major European powers played an important role in determining the stance taken by the UN. Those governments and and the UN acted in very close concert. Above all the governments of [John] Major (United Kingdom), [François] Mitterand (France) and Boris Yeltsin (Russia), but many other Western nations too, must share responsibility for the genocide. And they also used the UN to prevent any military intervention that might have stopped the genocide. "Europe has learned nothing since the the Holocaust. Nothing has been done to halt the killing. What is happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a posthumous triumph for Hitler." Those were the words of Marek Edelman, recently deceased, the last surviving commander of the Warsaw Ghetto freedom fighters, speaking to a mass rally for Bosnia on 14.11.1993 organised by Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker/Society for Threatened Peoples at the memorial to the former concentration camp of Buchenwald. Those words of warning echo in our ear.

Interview with Hasan Nuhanovic, working as an interpreter for the UN in 1995.

„I did try to sue the UN but my lawyer did not yet find a legal venue through which that would be realized“

As a translator working for the UN you witnessed the deeds, inaction and complicity of the UN. How were you treated by them?

When I started to publicly expose the UN for its shameful role in Srebrenica I had many problems with its administration. They threatened several times that I would be fired if I continue talking publicly about the events – they said I was being disloyal to my employer, the UN. I have had very difficult time where I was constantly being threatened that my contract would be terminated.

The UN, in my opinion, did not intend to issue a report on Srebrenica and it was only after a lot of lobbying and public campaigning that we, myself with assistance with several individuals, including Ms. Bianca Jagger, for example, finally managed to exert enough pressure on the UN so that they finally published the Srebrenica Report in the autumn of 1999 – more than four years after the events. However, in my book I give a detailed analysis of the UN Report which, in the great part, was heavily edited and adjusted to protect the interest of the UN, as an organization, and of a number of internationals, UN employees and others, involved.

Was there any kind of excuse from the UN afterwards?

The UN never apologized to me. I have never been contacted by any UN official with regard to this matter. On behalf of the Organizational Board put together to commemorate 11 July I wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General - every year. We asked the UN to lower the flag on 11 July in front of its main building in New York. We never even received any answer to our letter.

The UN did not apologize in general until the launch of the UN Srebrenica Report. However, the information that the UN included in the report does not correspond to the reality of events which occurred in July 1995 – and especially when it comes to the events inside and around the UN Dutchbat compound in Potocari. For example – of some 155 pages in total the UN report covers the Potocari situation on half a page only. Basically, the complicity of the UN in the expulsion of the Bosniak refugees who were on the base was left out completely.

Now that there is going to be a stub srama, what could the impact of such a monument be? How could it influence the relation between the mothers of Srebrenica and the UN?

I have, from the very beginning, insisted that we should recreate certain events and of certain items which existed in Potocari in July 1995. For example, the tapes which the UN Dutchbat set up in order to expel the refugees from the compound, the flag of the UN and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which flew on the tallest building on the base. The stub strama, in the shape that has been presented to me, would, indeed, recreate the image of the UN presence and its role in the critical events in Potocari.

You tried to sue the UN separately from the Hagedorn case. What do you accuse them of particularly?

I did try to sue the UN but my lawyer did not yet find a legal venue through which that would be realized. However, I managed to file a suit against the state of the Netherlands and the accusation that I have put forward against the Dutch is, more or less, the same as the accusation that I would put against the UN. I would define it as complicity in a war crime – which was qualified as genocide by both the ICTY and ICJ. However, my lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, decided that I should place a claim against the state of the Netherlands for gross negligence.

Hasan Nuhanovic worked as a interpreter for the U.N. His father Ibro was one of three representatives of the 30,000 refugees inside and outside the base in Potocari who took part with Dutch senior officers in supposed "negotiations" with Ratko Mladić. Hasan Nuhanovic played an important part in establishing the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial at Potočari where the remains of many of the identified victims have been interred. A journalist once nicknamed him the “Elie Wiesel of Bosnia". He has written a chronology of the events at Srebrenica: „Under the UN Flag“, in which he examines the responsibility and guilt of members of the international community.

Interview with Fazila Efendić, returnee to Srebrenica

„I believe they are hoping that we – the eyewitnesses of the crime committed – will die one day, so that there will no longer be anyone reminding them of the global shame they caused“

What can Germany do for the mothers of Srebrenica?

As an influential and big country, Germany has a possibility to help survivors of the genocide – the mothers of Srebrenica. Namely, when the crimes were being committed, Germany too was a silent observer, therefore it is now obliged to take a clear position on the side of the victims and support their demands.

What does the fact that the United Nations did not show respect toward you and failed to appear in court? Even the Secretary General has not done such a thing, although his predecessor claimed Srebrenica was the biggest shame in the history of the organization.

To me personally, it is a sign of shame, as they are aware of the consequences of their inactivity. I even believe they are hoping that we – the eyewitnesses of the crime committed – will die one day, so that there will no longer be anyone reminding them of their responsibility and the global shame they caused. We were left to the executioners, as animals are left to their slaughterers, disregarding our hopes, our plans, and our right to live. Their refusal to appear in court clearly shows they are not ready to face the truth.

What does the United Nations represent to you, and what is your current relation toward them?

Given the immense disappointment and horrific betrayal from the part of the United Nations, they are meaningless in my view. They took a stand of onlookers, and failed to fulfill promises given to us. In reality, they portrayed themselves as mere bureaucrats earning high salaries for their office work, thus proving they do not represent what they stand for.

Can the Pillar of Shame change this in any way?

I believe we are obliged to devote our lives to disseminating the truth. These ways alone, can we point to mistakes made, and demand their rectification. My son and husband are not among the living ones, because of the mistakes and inactivity of the United Nations; however, we must at least try to help others by ceaselessly calling upon the United Nations to do their job.

Can the Pillar of Shame harm the United Nations?

Our wish is to point to the responsible ones publicly, thus making the entire world realize that they are responsible for our suffering. We are not doing this out of vengeance; we are trying to help other people and prevent our fate from repeating itself.

What message should the Pillar of Shame give?

The Pillar of Shame should reflect our message that lives could have been saved in Srebrenica, and that such events must in the future be prevented in a more efficient and concrete manner. We want to remind the world’s public that something could have been done, that we were given a promise, which was, eventually, simply broken. The Pillar of Shame should symbolize that breaking such promises given by a large world organization like the United Nations cannot be unpunished.

What is your wish for the future of Srebrenica?

My wish is an economic recovery of Srebrenica and a subsequent return of young people who should be given perspective living. At the same time, the suffering we have endured can never be forgotten. The truth must not be washed away. This is what we owe to our sons, husbands and relatives, and we must not let this horrific crime be pushed into oblivion.

Fazila Efendić returned to Srebrenica in 2002. She lives alone in her house in Potočari outside Srebrenica. Her under-age son Fejzo and husband Hamdo were killed in July 1995. She buried her husband’s mortal remains during the first funeral (dženaza) in Potočari on 31 March 2003. His mortal remains without the head were discovered already in 1999. When the head was found in 2005 in another mass grave, they had to reopen his grave and put it with the rest of the remains. This caused additional trauma for Fazila. She is still unable to bury her son. Only a few of his bones have been exhumed by now, therefore she has to wait for the rest of his remains to be discovered in other mass graves, so that he may eventually rest in peace. Highly educated, Fazila currently works in a florist shop across the street from the graveyard in Potočari. Yet, she is not complaining. The work diverts her attention and offers her consolation. With her flowers, she helps the victims’ families to decorate their relatives’ graves.

Interview with Hatidža Mehmedović, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica Association

„The entire world was watching our children being killed and us being chased away“

What can Germany do for the mothers of Srebrenica?

The mothers of Srebrenica are expecting support and solidarity of the German nation and its authorities. We are hoping for the German state and its nation to support our demand for recognition of the responsibility of the United Nations and the international community for the genocide committed in Srebrenica. The entire world was watching our children being killed and us being chased away - in. An event like this can never happen again. Our wish is to create a world without genocide and war. This can only be achieved by learning from mistakes, and by assuming responsibility for them.

What does the fact that the United Nations did not show respect toward you and failed to appear in court? Even the Secretary General has not done such a thing, although his predecessor claimed Srbrenica was the biggest shame in the history of the organization.

We are deeply disappointed that despite the United Nations Report on Srebrenica and Kofi Annan’s clear message, no member of the United Nations has either assumed responsibility for the genocide in Srebrenica or appeared before the court in The Hague. To us, it was an obvious sign of their reluctance to show respect for the victims. A statement and an apology without consequences, like the ones given in 1999, cannot be satisfactory for us. Words must be followed by action. The United Nations is co-responsible for the biggest crime committed in Europe after the Second World War, and responsible members of the organization must be named and sanctioned openly.

What does the United Nations represent to you, and what is your current relation toward them?

The United Nations betrayed and disappointed us. We believed their promise of protection. We felt secure and were confident in their words. Nowadays, we know better; our mistrust in the United Nations is righteous. The United Nations Protection Zone of Srebrenica turned into our children’s graveyard.

Can the Pillar of Shame change this in any way?

Yes, because it would be a clear symbol. It would be a reminder to the world that the residents of Srebrenica could have been saved, were there the will for it. We hope that once the Pillar of Shame is erected, and the names of all the responsible ones engraved, consciousness within the United Nations will change, that they will realize their co-responsibility and draw conclusions from it.

Can the Pillar of Shame harm the United Nations?

Our motivation and strains for the Pillar of Shame to be erected are not aimed at harming the United Nations; rather, we want to stimulate it to become better and more efficient and thus justify its existence. If harming it is the way to open their eyes, then this is what we will hopefully achieve.

What message should the Pillar of Shame give?

The main message we want to send to the international community is that the fate of Srebrenica can never and nowhere be repeated. Unfortunately, we are still witnessing so many wars and so many massacres being committed across the world, and the United Nations is once again hesitant to intervene. We do not even have effective measure to prevent such crimes from being committed.

What is your wish for the future of Srebrenica?

Our wish is to give dignity back to the victims. The perpetrators and the responsible ones must be punished for their crimes. We live for the day when this will happen. My personal future in Srebrenica can only be the graveyard in Potočari where my children and husband will, hopefully, one day be put to rest. I want to see smiling happy people in Srebrenica and across entire Bosnia and Herzegovina. I want trust reestablished between people, so that the young ones may again plan their future and live a true life. Although I will never see my own children happy and smiling again, although there are no plans for their future, and although I will not live to spend happy old days in their company, I want this to be available to other children and young individuals.

In July 1995, Hatidža Mehmedović lost her two sons and husband, as well as many other male relatives, she returned to Srebrenica in 2003. There she lives in a house that still has not bee fully reconstructed. Beside the Srebrenica office of the Society for Threatened People, she runs the Mother of Srebrenica Association gathering together mothers and wives that have returned to Srebrenica. A part of mortal remains of her husband was found in a mass grave in vicinity of the city of Zvornik, whereas another mass grave unearthed the skeleton of one of her sons. However, she has not been able to bury either one of them: identity of the exhumed son cannot be confirmed until remains of her other son has been found. In order to eventually put them to peace, she must wait for mortal remains of her other son and the rest of the remains of her husband, to be found. Hatidža has devoted her life to helping other people. Her motto reads, we cannot save the dead ones, but we can help the surviving ones.

Interview with Axel Hagedorn, legal representative of 6,000 survivors in proceedings against the UN

„The Pillar of Shame should be a symbol of the cries cried out by the mothers of Srebrenica!”

What do you expect from the Pillar of Shame?

The struggle of the mothers of Srebrenica for justice can be compared with David’s combat with Goliath. Despite continuous media reports about Srebrenica, the mothers of Srebrenica still have not successfully reached out to the world with their cries against the UN. This cry against such an exorbitant injustice and arrogance of the UN leadership needs to be symbolised. The Pillar of Shame should be a symbol of outcry by the mothers of Srebrenica, especially when it gets essential place in an open space, preferably in Europe.

What meaning does the process against the UN hold for international human rights?

The process refers to genocide. The question is whether the UN still holds any credibility as an advocate of human rights. The UN failed to protect the civilians of Srebrenica; instead, it took part in their deportation. The UN is invoking its immunity in the court proceeding, meaning it cannot be sued in any court. By so doing, the UN wants to become the sole organisation of the world able to evade the law and any other means of legal control. This does not only violate Article 6 of the European Human Rights Declaration that should guarantee all the people the right to legal proceedings against, but also the order of the Genocide Convention aimed at preventing and punishing the crime of genocide. The UN enjoys fundamental immunity from national courts. This is in opposition with its commitment to human rights enacted in 1946, which constitutes an adequate legal way. This still has not been done. This means the UN is walking over fundamental human rights.

How do you perceive the fact that the UN is not appearing in court?

This is a scandal. Kofi Annan did not depict Srebrenica only as the biggest shame in the history of the United Nations, but has also repeatedly emphasised that the UN is bound to human rights. When the UN admits to a serious mistake in Srebrenica, as stated in its own Report from 1999, but nonetheless avoids any form of legal control, it means the following: the UN does not meet its own moral requirements.

How do the mothers of Srebrenica experience / perceive the UN attorneys’ absence from the court?

They feel abandoned by the UN for the second time. The United Nations should have ensured their protection, and now they are hiding behind their immunity.

What is the reaction of the mothers of Srebrenica to the rejection of the complaint against the UN?

From the beginning on, they have been counting on the state of The Netherlands and the UN will withdraw from all the registries in order to evade their responsibility. The mothers of Srebrenica are firmly determined and prepared for a long struggle. They are confident in their final victory, as they are not giving away their hope that justice will prevail eventually.

What do you personally wish from the UN?

If the UN as a system does not implode, it must eventually begin talks with the mothers of Srebrenica and find a solution. The loss of trust in the UN has many further reaching consequences for the UN, which will lead not only to a loss of its importance for human rights, but will be perceived as an authoritative organ with dictatorial outlines suppressing its citizens. We hope that the UN will recognise this risk and fully follow its own commitments, and regain its credibility.

Interview with Philipp Ruch, initiator of the Pillar of Shame

„Srebrenica was a collapse of our humanistic claim.“

You have been engaged in issues connected with Bosnia for quite some time now. How did the country attract your alert?

My best friend escaped from a besieged Sarajevo when he was thirteen years old. It was only during my studies that I got to understand what happened in Bosnia. The entire panorama of emotions poured down on Bosnia in the ninties. From the horrific betrayal through cosmic abandonment, to episodes of radical humanity.

What took Germany and Europe so long to acknowledge the genocide?

I am unsure that they did. Germany is so obsessed with itself that only few events from the outside enter the medial sphere. One ought to be constrained to acknowledge what Europe has done in Bosnia – done, not failed. Part of this constraint will be the Pillar of Shame.

What went through your mind when seeing pictures from Srebrenica for the first time? Or when speaking with the mothers of Srebrenica for the first time?

The mothers of Srebrenica carry the burden of what had been done to them with unique dignity. They are incredibly impressive. Above all in their courage. Not only a few of them live nowadays with animosities and threats again.

First were the images of United Nations soldiers standing by. Nonconforming civil courage in cinemascope. As if someone had shown “Schindler’s List” to them and was curious to see how soldiers would react to a bad remake. We discovered footage for a documentary focusing on the United Nations Crisis Headquarter, where a soldier in Potocari yells, “You have to keep the people calm!” over and over again. This is known. Mass executions, mortal fear of tens of thousands of people. But what is most important is that no one cut off the way toward the slaughtering block. Auschwitz was built as we know it, with showers, due to this need.

But pictures disclose mistakes. For example the Scorpion video alone can hardly catch what happened in Srebrenica: unleashed dogs, the human hunt, systematic extermination, deadly marching through forests laid with mines, rapes, universal fear, and the betrayal of the international community all over it.

Why a Pillar of Shame fifteen years later?

Six thousand survivors are suing the United Nations. But the headquarters in New York are not even considering appearing in court. This is a terrible mistake. If it is impossible to bring the United Nations to a court, then we have to find an unconventional and maybe more effective way.

The United Nations’ arrogance toward the survivors is beyond comprehension. The Pillar of Shame siginifies a response to this arrogance.  No one should be able to say, “What the United Nations do is not our business”. – It is our business. We are all representing the United Nations. We are standing by the survivors. They should not live with the feeling that no one in the West cares about how the United Nations treats them. This is one of the reasons why in the bottom part of the Pillar bears the words, “Decency made me”.

We would like to put the West into possession of a knowledge that Bosnian population has since more than a decade: the United Nations ruined their reputation, ambition and glory. The high esteem and great belief that the Germans ascribe to the United Nations is still striking.

What does “Srebrenica” mean to you?

I come from the generation of the “too-late-comers”, as Nietzsche once formulated my problem. Srebrenica was the collapse of our humanistic ambitions. Following Srebrenica, it is no longer feasible to claim that we as a civilization want to prevent genocide. The fact that Srebrenica entered the modern condition without any opposition of the world is incomprehensible for me personally.

In 1995, Srebrenica was for weeks transforming into a genocidal death zone with no escape out. And all this after the United Nations promised military protection, and after the disarmament of the people. The people of Bosnia believed our promises. We broke our promises. It is difficult to dismiss the lightness, with which our politicians committed betrayal in Bosnia.

Do you think we have not learned from history?

Our constant remembering of the Holocaust, during which the events in Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur and Congo were enacted shows what lesson we drew from the Holocaust: never again the Jews. All other peoples are negotiable. There is no time to witness another genocide. Especially because genocides have been committed too many times since 1995. But a evolution in knowledge has occurred on the side of the perpetrators: a new genocide is unfolding without pictures, and this is similar to the allied forces that were able to defend their inaction against Nazi concentration camps. Bashir or warlords in Congo do not have to fear harsh reactions from Europe as long as the death tolls stay below the two-hundred-victims-mark. Do you know what absorbed the political powers of Germany, the biggest and most powerful member state of the European Union in the years of 2008 and 2009? A decending carmaker called “Opel”. This is inacceptable and irresponsable.

In 1999, Kofi Annan wrote, “Srebrenica is the biggest shame in the history of the United Nations”. Isn’t that enough?

If I was Secretary General of the UN, and if the mothers of Srebrenica made the big effort to bring my organisation to court, appearing in courtroom and hearing the charges would be part of the policy. Looking at Srebrenica, it becomes legally clear that the UN as an international actor stands above the law. It is legally untouchable. Its representatives can do whatever they want. It is the perfect cloak. All this after centuries of the struggle for separation of power, associated with philosophers like Montesquieu.

In all respects, Annan knew what he was talking about. In 1995, he was head of the DPKO, the “Ministry of Defence” of the UN. He was in charge already in 1994, when a not irrelevant genocide was carried out in Rwanda. The Blue Helmets, who are helplessly standing around on television, they were Annans soldiers. Ascertaining shame does not suffice. It must be imparted further. I have a lot of questions to the address of Kofi Annan. His humanity blended me, until I digged deeper.

How can it be imparted further?

We are not sensible for the great catastrophies, disasters, hidden behind such a small and tiny word as “genocide”. As head of the UN-DPKO, Kofi Annan should have thrown shoes, water bottles, whatsoever, on the Secretary General or representatives of the Security Council, or the highest politicians to wake them up. It was genocide. He kept quiet. He even got promoted after two genocides happening without any resistance from his department.

People of Bosnia have suffered the most in the Balkan wars, and the pain has not ceased to this day, eighteen years later (Dayton Agreement, visa regime suffered by the young generation). What is the reason for this barrier of the European Union when borders have opened up for the rest of the republics of the former Yugoslavia?

The way Europe and the UN are treating the people of Bosnia to this very day is the best sign that our politicians have not understood anything. This must stop. I am looking forward to the first Bosnian UN Secretary General. Who could reform the United Nations if not a survivor of Srebrenica or Prijedor?

Concerning Europe: the shoes shall be transformed into a contemporary communication medium between the West and Bosnia. We want to bring the shoes with messages from Bosnia into the heart of Europe, to bring two societies in touch, the latter learning from the former’s existence, wounds and history.

Will Axel Hagedorn stand any chance in the proceeding against the UN? Do you think that the pillar of shame project could open doors for him?

I think that co-workers of the United Nations will percieve in big extend the efforts made now, after fifteen years, not to push Srebrenica into oblivion. The sculpture is a new kind of media weapon. The more pain is induced the more respect can be expected for the mothers of Srebrenica. I expect the UN to send a team of attorneys to the next instance – when the case is going to dutch supreme court –, to compensate for the lost image. Officiously, but unfortunately too late.

Questions by Mirella Sidro.

STATEMENT 93. - HAPPENINGS IN THE UNPROFOR BASE AT POTOCARI

I PART

My name is Hasa Selimovic. I was born in 1951 in the village of Tokljaci, Srebrenica municipality where I got married and lived till the beginning of May 1992 when my village was attacked by the Chetniks. The attack was launched from the direction of Krnjici and Jezero. In that attack several civilians were killed and when we escaped from the village the Chetniks looted all the houses and burnt them down not sparing a single one.

When we escaped from the village, I went with my family to Miholjevine where we spent 7 days and after that we had to go into the woods located in the area called Sehiti where we were hiding from the Chetniks. We lived in the woods till the winter and then we went to Osmace and stayed there till the end of March 1993. When the Chetniks launched a severe offensive on all the Muslim villages in that region, we had to escape from Osmace and to go to Srebrenica. We found accommodation in one building in the settlement of Knjazevac where we lived till the fall of  Srebrenica.

When Srebrenica was pronounced a demilitarised zone in April 1993, I thought that it was the most beautiful thing that could happen to the people who were dying of hunger and could see horrific scenes of women, children massacred in shelling. I simply cannot describe how happy I was when I heard that Srebrenica was proclaimed a demilitarised zone. I was even happier when UNPROFOR soldiers, whose mandate was to protect Srebrenica and its inhabitants from the attacks of the Chetniks, arrived in Srebrenica.

We were all overcome by joy although we lived in terrible conditions without electricity, water or basic toilet articles. We could live with that but we wanted the war and killing of civilians to stop. During the first several months I was more than happy because the convoys with humanitarian help were coming to the town regularly and the security situation was rather good. Unfortunately, the situation worsened very soon and began resembling that one before the demilitarisation. The Chetniks resumed shelling of the town killing  and wounding civilians.

The convoys with humanitarian aid rarely arrived in the town. We were deeply disappointed to see how passive UNPROFOR soldiers ie. the Dutch battalion soldiers  were. We were disappointed to see that they did not want to take any measures under their mandate to prevent the Chetniks in shelling the town and killing innocent civilians. Moreover, the Chetniks intensified shelling of the town when they realised how passive UNPROFOR soldiers were. They even began infantry attacks on the town.

II PART

As the Dutch battalion soldiers were very passive and did nor respond to the Chetniks’ attacks  on the demilitarised zone, on 6 July 1995 the Chetniks openly attacked the demilitarised zone  of Srebrenica. During the first several days of their attack we were hiding in the basement of our building because shelling was literary razing the town to the ground. On 10 July in the evening hours we left our shelter and set off in the direction of the factory called “ Vezionica” and the Post office building. We had to leave our shelter because on that day in the afternoon hours the Chetniks reached the surrounding hills above our building and we were afraid to stay in it.

On 11 July we were in front of the factory “Vezionica” where some Dutch battalion soldiers were stationed. We wanted their help and instructions where to go now when the Chetniks entered the town. However, the Dutch battalion soldiers were within their compound and did not show up at all and they behaved as nothing was happening in the town. If they had been present in the streets of Srebrenica I am sure that it would have slowed down the Chetniks’ advancing towards the town.

On the same day the Dutch battalion soldiers forced us to leave that place and to go into nearby  buildings telling us that allegedly NATO planes would bomb Serb positions. We really believed that the air raids were imminent and that they would prevent the Chetniks taking over the town coming into the buildings were we were.

However, in no time we heard the roar of one or two planes which allegedly dropped a few bombs  around Pribicevac but as they missed the target the Serb Army continued their advancing towards the town. When the roar of the planes silenced we went out and heard another roar, this time the roar of masses of civilians gathered in front of the factory ”Vezionica”. They were trying to enter that factory compound where I saw the Dutch battalion soldiers getting in their trucks and vehicles ready to leave that base. I saw masses of civilians trying to get on the trucks and vehicles.

Together with my husband Ismet, son Junuz and daughter Amira I managed to get on one truck and soon the truck was driving in the direction of Potocari. My husband and my son who was born in 1978 decided to go to Potocari because they trusted the Dutch battalion soldiers. They believed that they would be saved as well as all those who came into their base to seek for their protection. I also believed that we would be saved once inside the main UNPROFOR base at Potocari.  When we arrived in Potocari it was around 1400hrs. The truck on which we were, entered the UN  base and it is difficult to explain how happy we were at that moment. As soon as the truck stopped, a few Dutch soldiers came.

They were so kind, those Dutch battalion soldiers, that they helped my son and my daughter get off the trucks. Actually they almost carried them in their arms. After that they directed us to one building in which we were supposed to stay until the evacuation from that place. They also promised us that all those civilians who were in the main UN base would be protected and they said that they guaranteed their full safety as well as the evacuation from that place to a free territory. When we came into that room we were directed to, I saw a lot of civilians and among them lots of men but still there was enough space in that room to receive some more civilians. During those three days we spent in that factory, the Dutch battalion soldiers distributed some food but that was not suffice for all of us. There was no water inside that room so we had to go to one brook to fetch it . On 12 July around noon one Dutch soldier accompanied by Enez Harbas from the village of Rijeka came  into the room with a notebook and a pencil. Enez told my husband to write his name in that notebook because the Dutch battalion soldiers wanted to know the exact number of the men in their base. My husband did it as well as my son Junuz (Later my son’s name was not found on any of those lists), while a number of the men in that room refused to have their names put on any of those lists most probably being afraid that the lists would fall into the hands of the Chetniks.

According to my assessment and according to what I could see during those three days there were at least 500 men in that room. When the lists were ready all those whose names were put on the lists were sure that they would be saved. During the three days we spent in that factory my  husband and my son were very calm and they behaved quite normal being sure that nothing bad would happen to them. Most probably they behaved like that because they believed in all those promises the Dutch battalion soldiers gave them when we entered the base.

They never mentioned nor did they try to leave that base and they did not have a feeling that anything terrible  would happen to them later. We did not know what was going on outside because the Dutch battalion soldiers did not tell us a word about those civilians who were in front of the UN base. It was on 13 July when we heard that the men were being separated from the women and children. We heard that from Ismet from Gladovici who went to fetch some water and who saw tens of men lying slaughtered around that brook and who saw that the men were being separated. During the night of 12 /13 July we heard the women and children who were in front of the base crying and  screaming. It was not clear to us what was happening. On 13 July in the morning, one Dutch soldier again came into the room where we were and told us to prepare ourselves to be evacuated from that place. He told us to leave the room in groups and not to panic and not to make any noise.

At that moment I noticed that my husband looked worried most probably because he heard from Ismet from Gladovici about the separation of the men. I though that only those men who were fit for military service were endangered but that the others would be safely evacuated from that place.

It was around two o’clock in the afternoon when our turn came to leave the room and to proceed towards the evacuation spot. We were walking towards the gate not having a presentiment of anything terrible ahead. When we were close to the gate I saw that from the gate up to the place where the vehicles intended for our transportation were parked, there was a path marked by plastic tapes we were supposed to go along. Suddenly I saw a large group of the men separated from the others and standing a bit further from the road. Then I paid attention to the path we were supposed to go long i.e. to the point where those tapes ended and I saw the Chetniks or the Dutch battalion soldiers separating the men and ordering them to go aside. I say the Chetniks or the Dutch battalion soldiers because the Dutch battalion soldiers had given their uniforms to the Chetniks and  it was difficult to tell the difference between them

When my husband saw what was going on, he and some other men who were in our group tried to stay at the gate because they were afraid they would be separated but then two or three Dutch soldiers approached them and pushed them thus forcing them to walk along the path marked by those tapes. It was clear to me that once again the Dutch soldiers lied to us and betrayed us, this time for the last time, because we knew that all the men would be slaughtered. The only thing left to me at that moment was to try to hide my son Junuz and save his life at least.

My husband was immediately separated but I managed to pass with my son Junuz and my daughter Amira. Unfortunately, when we got on one of the trucks I was approached by Mladic who ordered my son Junuz to get off the truck. I tried to explain to Mladic that my son was just a child and that he was not to be blamed for anything. He just said that my  son would come back. It is true, they returned my son Junuz in a black bag from a mass grave in the vicinity of Zvornik.

Statement taken by: Hidajet Kardasevic

Statement given by:Hasa Selimovic

STETAMENT 11. - CONDUCT AND ROLE OF THE DUTCH BATTALION SOLDIERS IN POTOCARI ON THE OCCASION OF SEPARATION AND TAKING AWAY OF MALE PERSONS FROM 11 THROUGH 13 JULY 1995

My name is Salih Ibrisevic, born in 1943 in the village of Pribidoli, Srebrenica municipality.  On 17 May 1992 I had to leave my village along with my spouse and three children because  on the said day my village was attacked, looted and burnt down by the Chetniks.

The same misfortune befell other people who lived in the village. From Pribidol we escaped to Osat and were accommodated in a primary school building called “ Hasan Brkic” where we had stayed till 31/01/1993. On the said day we had to vacate that school as it was mercilessly shelled by the Chetniks from their position in Srbija from the hillsides of mountains Tara and Zvijezda and Perucac, precisely speaking from one tunnel located over there.

We went to Srebrenica and I managed to find one abandoned garage , before belonging to a Serb, in Kiselica where we stayed for about two months and after that we went to N. Basca as the living conditions in that garage were more than terrible. It was very difficult to provide any food for my family, one of the  reason being that I was a DP in Srebrenica and did not have any land to cultivate. My sons used to go to Zepa in order to bring a kilogram or two of flour putting their lives at risk as they had to pass 20 kilometres of the Chetniks controlled territory in order to reach Zepa.

Humanitarian aid would rarely arrive in Srebrenica and in those rare situations when it would arrive, there was no enough food for all the people. We were mostly provided with blankets, stoves and similar. In July 1992 my brother Husein disappeared. He attempted along with a group of people to come to Srebrenica from Tuzla and from that date we have not heard anything about him.  When the Chetniks launched their offensive on Srebrenica at the outset of the month of July 1995, I  again moved together with my family in that garage in Kiselica where we stayed till 11 July 1995.

In the afternoon hours of 11 July, we received a news that the Chetniks entered the town of Srebrenica from the direction of a baker’s shop and I told my sons that I and their mother would go to UNPROFOR base. I told them: “ You have to go to where the majority of fit men plans to go”.  We took some food and clothes with us and set off towards a nearby petrol station as the majority  of people were heading in that direction. It was about 1400hrs when I and my wife reached that petrol station . I have never before seen so many people gathered at one place and at such a small place. Soon shelling commenced. The Chetnik were sending shells from the hills surrounding Srebrenica. I saw that one shell landed in the compound of the factory “ Vezionica” where Dutch soldiers were. Together with my wife and other people I set off in the direction of Potocari.

When we reached the factory “Vezionica” where Dutch soldiers were, we noticed that they blocked  the road not allowing us to go to Potocari. They were showing us to go beck to the town of Srebrenica telling us that soon a bombing raid on the Chetniks’ position would be launched. Of course we did not understand all that they were telling us but soon they started pointing at the aircrafts that were really flying over Srebrenica. Hoping that a bombing raid would really began  we all went to find a shelter in the nearby buildings. We were standing and looking at the sky. Those planes that were flying over Srebrenica began to fire some tracer projectiles but no detonation could be heard.

The Chetniks’ reaction was even more intensified shelling of the area around the factory “ Vezionica” and the petrol station. Several people were wounded. We tried again to go to Potocari but we were again stopped by Dutch soldiers who were telling us the same they had already told us. We all again attempted to take shelter from shelling and being panic stricken we removed the barrier placed by Dutch soldiers who seeing that withdrew in the factory “Vezionica”. It had surely taken us more that one hour before we set off in the direction of Potocari. In the meantime another group of civilians arrived and told us that the Chetniks had already reached the place were the department store was and that caused panic among people who were not sure weather to go to Potocari or not. Nevertheless, we all continued towards Potocari. While I and my wife were going towards Potocari we saw lots of soldiers on either side of the road and due to a great number  of civilians they were not able to go towards UNPROFOR base in Potocari. We saw two Dutch trucks which were moving so slowly that I and my wife managed to get on it We arrived in the camp around 1730hrs.

There were some civilians already in the camp, most probably those who lived in those settlement close to the said factory and who were not thwarted in their attempts to reach the camp.. At that moment I felt so safe and protected and even began to think that I made a mistake telling my sons to go through the woods with other men instead of bringing them with us to this camp. Civilians were allowed to enter the camp till evening hours when the Dutch closed the gate , and placing some armed soldiers at the gate they prevented other civilians to enter the camp.  On the first day of may stay in the camp, ie., on 11 July, I noticed that Dutch soldiers had their weapons with them. The next day ie., on 12 July not a single soldier had his weapon with him. At that moment I felt terrible fear asking myself why Dutch soldiers were not carrying their weapons any more. That happened at the moment when the Chetniks arrived in front of the camp and when it was not allowed to civilians to enter the camp any more although there was enough space within the camp to accommodate another thousand of civilians. When I saw Dutch soldiers walking without their rifles, I talked to some men who were also shocked seeing them without weapons.

Around 0900hrs Dutch soldiers began making a list of the men within the compound. Who ordered  and organised that , was not known to me but I am sure that there were at least twice more men in the camp than the number entered on the list. The number of those, among which I was too, put on the list amounted to 239. Among those who were putting the names on the list, I recognised my neighbour Samir Begic, born in 1979 who has been missing since that day ( he was separated and taken away). On the same day around 1300hrs one Dutch soldier approached us accompanied with a female language assistant. He told us that the Chetniks would enter the camp and showed us how we, men should surrender to them. He squatted down, putting his arms up and said “ You have to be in this position when they enter the camp”.

When he said that the Chetniks would enter the camp, my neighbour Fatime lost her conscious because he husband and her son were in the camp. Upon hearing this information all men in the  camp were panic stricken. We felt we had been betrayed by Dutch soldiers and we knew what we could expect knowing what had already happened to those men who were outside the camp. We attempted to leave the camp but Dutch soldiers would allow only a small group of men and women to leave the camp at a time and would close the gate again. They were deliberately procrastinating  the whole procedure by not permitting us all to immediately leave the camp. I want to say that during our first day in the camp, Dutch soldiers brought a cistern with drinkable water. On the next day they prepared some food for us but they did not give us any bread. When I went to fetch some food for me and my wife I heard one Dutch soldier said: “Stop pushing and shoving, you Balije (Derogatory term used for the Muslims- Interpreter’s note), soon you are not going to need any food”. When I heard those words I refused to take food and returned to my wife. I also want to mention that my brother’s twenty years old daughter with another girl, her very close friend was in  the camp. When I met her and while talking to her, one Dutch soldier approached us. He was not  carrying a rifle, he did not have a helmet on his head, he was of average height, his hair was fair and very short. He was standing and looking at my niece and her friend, then went and again returned to the place where we were standing.

That lasted for more than half an hour and I was quite sure that he would have taken them away if I had not been there.  Early in the morning of 13 July the gate to the camp was opened and they ordered people to leave  the camp in small groups. There were some trucks parked by the road. Some Dutch soldiers were standing on the road and according to my assessment only one Chetnik was standing there. At the moment when a group of people would approach the place where Dutch soldiers were standing, they would separate men from woman and children. When I approached that place I heard the Chetnik that was with them said: “ Take that one, we are going to need him”. I was pretending that I did not hear his words and proceeded towards the truck and at the moment when I was about to get on the truck one Dutch soldier came and pushed me aside saying : “women only”.

As the  Chetnik did not react I tried again to get on the truck but the Dutch soldier pushed me aside for the second time pointing towards the place where other separated men were standing. I was very persistent and after the third attempt my wife who had already boarded the truck, gave me her hand and I got on the truck, thus managing to reach a free territory ie., the place of Kladanj.

09/04/2001

Statement taken by: Hidajet Kardasevic

Statement given by:Salih Ibrisevic

STATEMENT 6 - Physical maltreatment of Jasmin Buljubasic by the Dutch battalion soldiers

My name is Jasmin Buljubasic. I was born in 1975 in the village of Ljeskovik where I had  lived with my family till the spring 1993. In April 1993 we had to leave Ljeskovik . Namely, although Ljeskovik and some other areas extending up to the Drina river, ie the border between Bosnia and Serbia, were under control of the defenders of Srebrenica, these areas did not become part of the  demilitarized zone.

Together with my family I went to Srebrenica and we lived in a basement of one Serb abandoned house. (Note: At the beginning of 1994 we moved to one settlement in Slapovici where some houses were built by one Swedish humanitarian organization) During my stay in Srebrenica I got married and became a father of one child. With every passing day the situation was becoming worse and worse. It was very difficult to find any food and a humanitarian aid would arrive very rarely. Being the only person of working age in my family in order to support it I decided to make different objects such as pots, buckets in order to sell them and buy some flour, salt and  other groceries. However, in order to make the said objects I needed sheet metal and I had to go to the nearby abandoned factories located in Zeleni Jadar and find that material. In the summer 1994, I cannot recall which month that was, but I remember it was in the late afternoon hours, I approached one of the said factories in order to take a piece of sheet metal.

The said factories  were located outside the demilitarization zone and the Chetniks had one bunker at the entrance to the factory looking from the direction of Skelani towards Srebrenica. I removed two pieces of sheet metal and was about to go home as it was getting dark. When I left the factory compound I sighted 4-5 Dutch soldiers approaching me from the direction of their observation post located at a crossroads in Zeleni Jadar. While they were approaching me their rifles were aimed at me. They were shouting something but I could not understand them. I dropped the pieces of sheet metal and I did not dare to move. I was afraid that they would start shooting at me. They surrounded me shouting at me and then suddenly I received a severe blow on my neck by one of the soldiers standing behind me. The blow was so severe that I almost fell on the ground and then another four soldiers commenced to beat me with their hands and to kick me into my stomach, my back, loins, in other words I was receiving blows all over my body. I was trying to avoid their blows but they became even more aggressive and their blows became severer. I fell on the ground but their beating continued this time they were only kicking me being lazy to use their hands. The beating was so severe that at one moment I lost my conscious.

At one moment I heard the words “kuca, kuca” (home, home) and I guess they were telling me to go home. I could not see their faces because when they surrendered me and began to beat me it was rather dark . When their beating stopped I remained on the ground for a while and they went towards their observation post. I somehow gathered my strength, got up from the ground and went home. I left the pieces of sheet metal because I was badly beaten that I could not carry them.

I am quite sure that the Dutch soldiers could not see me entering the said compound and that they knew it was a Muslim who entered the factory compound since the Chetniks were not in need for sheet metal. I spent several days in bed, suffering unbearable pains. All my body was in bruises and on the first day after being beaten up I noticed some blood in my urine. I could hardly walk and after that I dared not to go to that factory for about four months. It was late autumn 1994 when the need forced me to go to the factory again. This time I went along with a friend of mine who came from Srebrenica to visit me. We entered one of the abandoned factories where different pieces of furniture used to be manufactured and began collecting some chair legs. We were also began searching for some paper as we needed it as cigarette paper. We suddenly heard some voices and  realized that the Dutch soldiers were coming. They must have been in the factory when we arrived. Most probably they were patrolling within the factory compound. In order to avoid to meet them we hid in one container that used to be a refrigerated warehouse hoping they would not be able to find us there.

Unfortunately one soldier opened it, sighted us and ordered us to leave it. He showed us to go towards the exit of the factory . He was following us with his rife aimed at us.  There were another three soldiers standing at the exit of the factory and the fourth one was on a bridge which we were supposed to cross. While I was walking in front of the soldier who found us, the memory of what had happened to me before a couple of months began haunting me. I was so afraid that they would beat us again and as soon as we left the factory I started running towards the bridge because that was my only chance to escape. While I was running towards the bridge I noticed that the soldier who was on the bridge was stretching his arms ready to catch me . I bumped into him hoping that I will manage to pass by him but he grabbed my neck and was holding me tight waiting for the other soldiers to come. I again tried again to twist out from his grasp by pushing him towards the edge of the bridge. The other four soldiers were approaching us and a friend of mine was walking in front of them. He did not make any attempt to escape. I somehow managed to push the soldiers that was holding me to the edge of the bridge and when I tilted my body to one side, the soldier being afraid that he will fall from the bridge into the river, eased his grasp and I jumped into the river. I started running towards the hamlet in order to run  away from him.

While I was running I heard 3-4 shots fired and the bullets whistled over my head. I noticed the soldier running after me along a macadam road which was parallel to the river trying to catch me . At one moment, most probably realizing that he would not be able to catch me, he gave it up and returned to the place where the other four soldiers were waiting. I was running till I came home. Two hours later my friend also came back. I asked him if they had beaten  him up. His answer was negative but he looked very strange, pale in face and his clothes were covered in mud.

06/03/01

Statement taken by: Hidajet Kardasevic

Statement given by:Jasmin Buljubasic

STATEMENT 2 UNPROFOR DEPLOYMENT IN SUCESKA AREA AND CHETNIK OCCUPATION OF THE BANDIERA HILL IN THE WINTER 1995

Immediately upon arrival of the UNPROFOR forces to the area of Local Community of Suceska, and after their deployment in this area to the Observation Posts, the Canadians have, at the very beginning, made a number of great mistakes. These mistakes have undoubtedly badly affected the civilian population living in the area. The Canadian UNPROFOR, while deploying the Observation Posts, has, in many cases deployed them inside the territory far behind the defense front line  that we were holding at that period. The Canadians did not to want to establish Observation  Posts at the places where we have asked them to do, i.e. on the line where we, the defenders, had our positions.

They established the Observation Posts by their own will. The way the Canadians have chosen the places for their Observation Posts, it has turned out that their own security was of much higher importance than the security of the local population who, in a number of cases, remained to live in places that were in front of the Observation Posts (between them and the abandoned defense positions, i.e., Serb positions).

The Canadians have, in the area of Suceska, set up three OPs (Observation Posts): at Slatina, at Donje Zedanjsko and at Buce village. By setting up the Ops at the mentioned locations, the local population living in front of the OPs were on their own and was forced to take care of themselves  without any protection. My free assessment is that the Canadians have, in this way, gave away 30 to 40 square km of the territory to the Chetniks. The chetniks have taken advantage of this situation and moved their positions ahead, began setting up ambushes very often, murdering civilians who were cultivating their land at their farms.

By setting up an OP at Buce, the Canadians left a great part of the territory at the village of Podravanje which our forces controlled till the moment of the demilitarization of Srebrenica enclave.  By doing this, the Canadians have allowed the only physical link between Zepa and Srebrenica territory to be cut off by the Serb forces. It did not happen accidentally that the Serbs have set  up a number of ambushes killing people exactly in this area, the people who have been searching for food.

Later, the Canadians patrolled one part of this area, not to secure the people but to look for those,  among the locals, civilians, who moved along the paths in this area, to search them and seize from them a hunting gun or some other devise that those people sometimes carried in order to protect themselves. The reason for such a treatment of the Muslims was that the Canadians were awarded, or praised by their superiors for every piece of weapon they have seized from them.  There were cases in which the Canadians, in this part of the territory, body searched every civilian who has moved in this area, over 30 km on foot across Susica mountain, with some food obtained in Zepa, searched their rucksacks with food – apparently looking for a weapon, ammunition, etc.

We, my unit, have complied with the agreement on the demilitarization and we have handed over all light and heavy weaponry to the Canadian UNPROFOR collection point at the primary school in the village of Brda (Suceska).  But, despite that, the Canadians have continued to make raids, searched different buildings, chased individuals who possessed hunting weapons even though these individuals had proper license for a hunting weapon issued by the authorities. In May 1993, one such a raid happened at the village of Donje Zedanjsko when the Canadians, without any announcement, encircled the whole village with 16 APCs (Armored Personnel Carrier). They dropped by force into private homes, even though the people were still in their beds sleeping. They searched the houses looking for weapons, turned the furniture upside down, ransacked the place, some furniture was broken.

The owners of the houses attempted to ask the Canadians to be more careful with the property and the furniture, but the Canadians just kept pushing them away with their rifles. Some were even hit by riffle butts.  After they had searched the whole village, the Canadians found, as far as I can recall, one or two hunting riffles. The owners possessed proper paperwork for the riffles with license issued by the authorities before the war. As far as I can remember, in February 1994, there was a rotation of UNPROFOR units in the enclave. The Canadian unit was replaced by the Dutch battalion. Because of my, specific, function, I often negotiated with the Dutch officers after incidents that occurred in that (my) area. In my own opinion, the first shift of the Dutchbat was more cooperative than the second one. The second shift was being rood and noncooperative to the local population.

The following examples support my assessment: The role of the second shift of the Dutchbat compared with the first shift has changed. The behavior of the Dutchbat2 personnel, operating in my area, was that they appeared to be more friendly/positive with the Serbs and more negative towards our population. We could not find a common language with them. One of the examples is, when a crew of the OP at Slatina village went to the Serb side in the area of Koprivno, set with them and drank together with them. We watched all that from a high peak called Kik.  On their way back from Koprivno to our side, they were passing through the village of Bukovica. At the moment when they were there they opened fire form their riffles at our villages – the Sastavci village especially and the area around it.

They also yelled as they  fired rounds from their weapons, and because of that we concluded that they were probably drunk.  The inhabitants of Sastavci village panicked thinking that the chetniks launched an attack at them.  One of the events is also the situation when the Dutch filled the trenches that we had dug on the roads.  Actually, during the war, before deployment of UNPROFOR in Srebrenica, we have dug trenches and holes on the roads in order to prevent or slow down the Serb tanks and other armored vehicles from coming onto us – towards our defense lines. We have dug holes on the roads at several locations. For example, we have dug a trench 6 meters wide, by hand, on the road that leads from Milici and Derventa. Even though the Dutch did not use this road, did not drive on this road, they have filled the holes and trenches on them despite us complaining against it and explaining why we needed those obstacles on the roads. The Dutch have repaired this portion of the road, and that has helped the Serbs in their attack in July 1995.

The Dutch soldiers have also filled in the system of trenches that we have dug at our defense lines at a location Kak near the village of Podgaj. This system of trenches was built there before the period of the demilitarization began. Nevertheless, the Dutch have, using their APCs, destroyed the trenches and bunkers at this position. In July 1995, this was a key position for defense of this area of the enclave, and especially for the defense of the mountain Kak. Because, when the Serbs attacked in July 1995,  there were no trenches and bunkers there any more, the first thing their troops did was to quickly climb on top of the Kak mountain.

This was a position from which they opened a way for their quick advance towards the center of the local community (Suceska) and even towards Srebrenica town itself. Immediately upon arrival of the second shift of the Dutch contingent (Dutchbat2), their soldiers have asked us, the local population living in that area, several times to accept the Serb requests and allow them to use the asphalt road from Deventa village to Gunjaci Boxit mine,  through the village of Zutica (inhabited by Bosniaks). Our population lived in their houses in the village, and we controlled that area throughout the war before deployment of UNPROFOR in the enclave. The Dutch have insisted, several times, that we accept the Serb request to drive with their (Serb) tanks and APCs through the village giving us an excuse the is was necessary to secure the bauxite mine. The village of Zutica was already very much exposed to the Serb intimidation, attacks, and acts of sabotage, because of its extremely vulnerable position. The people who lived in the village worked in their fields and cultivated their land only by nighttime. The Serbs would not let them do it in the daytime.

The Serbs have all the time fired at the villagers from the heavy machine-guns and snipers. While working in the field, a villager Asim Buhic was killed and several more people were wounded by sniper from the Serb positions. Even though we have many times complained to the Dutch against this kind of situation, the Dutch were deaf to our complaints. They have not fired a single round at the Serbs throughout the period of their mission in the enclave. They did not even fire a single warning shot towards the Serb positions. All they did was to come with us to the place of the incident but there was never any follow up afterwards.  They did nothing concrete to help us. When the second shift of the Dutch came to our local  community, they abandoned some of the OPs. We protested against it but it was in vain. They kept telling us that they did not have enough personnel and that they would continue to patrol the area.  After the Dutch abandoned some of their permanent OPs, they set another OP at a hill called Merajica Brdo above the village of Podgaj. By setting up this OP at the mentioned location, the Dutch left the area of Podgaj village and the Bandiera hill uncovered – in a very vulnerable situation exposed to the Serb attack. In January and the beginning of February 1995, the Serbs took advantage of this situation and occupied the Bandiera hill – because the Dutch created  conditions for it. After the Serbs occupied the Bandiera hill, I have seen the local people living in that area negotiating with the Dutch asking them to move their OP ahead – to the location where it used to be. Because -the Bandiera hill was, in this new situation after the Dutch set their OP at a different location, at least 1000 meters ahead of the Dutch OP.

The area between the OP and the Bandiera hill was totally exposed. The other Dutch OPs were several kilometers far from Bandiera hill. I remember talking to an elder Dutch Major, tall slim man, and asked him to make the Serbs withdraw to their old positions so that the people in the area are able to cultivate their land and live in their houses without fear. After that, the Major I am talking about (in fact he was an UNMO), and another officer (also an UNMO) came together. They had a white flag with them. They flew the  white flag above their heads and the walked towards the chetniks, i.e. to the top of the Bandiera hill, to negotiate. They returned after approximately an hour and told us that the Serbs refuse to withdraw from the hill.  It is important to say that, before this, the Serbs have never been at the Bandiera hill and that the  nearest Serb position was in Derventa village, about two kilometers behind the Bandiera hill.  After occupation of the Bandiera hill, what the Dutch made it possible for the Serbs to do, the Serbs brought weaponry and armored vehicles to the hill using the only road that connected the village of Derventa and the hill.

The Serbs have launched the operation to occupy the hill during the nighttime and with a strong logistics support of their army. They dug in new positions on the hill that night, and these new position were supposed to protect their personnel in case that the Dutch  soldiers open fire at them. But the Dutch did not do it. By gaining the high ground on the new positions on the Bandiera hill, the Chetniks now had full control over the area of the entire Suceska local community. After one failure, we asked the Dutch to meet with the Serbs and negotiate their withdrawal from the hill. The Dutch did not agree with it. They told us that the Serbs were determined to remain on the positions on the Bandiera hill. Then we asked the Dutch that they intervene by military means, that they use force and make the Serbs withdraw from the Bandiera hill. But, they refused to do that either, and we were powerless unable to do anything on our own since we have handed over our weapons during the demilitarization process. After all attempts to make the Serbs withdraw from the Bandiera hill have failed, the Dutch abandoned even  their position at Merajica hill.

They withdrew from this position and moved back to Srebrenica.  From their new positions at the Bandiera hill, the Chetniks have shot dead a civilian Meho Ahmetovic. Another civilian, Samir Becirovic, was also shot at and as a result of it suffered serious injury. They were shot while moving around their own houses. Before I end my statement, I will give another example of rood behavior of the Dutch towards the civilian population. I am and eye witnessed to this event too.  In the winter of 1994, two hunters were returning from hunting. The Dutch spotted them as they were passing by the village of Bukovica. After the Dutch saw that the two man were carrying hunting riffles they ran towards them and started chasing them. The two hunters were running away and as they passed by bunkers, that had been dug and constructed as a shelter in case of artillery fire, they hid inside them. But, the Dutch surrounded the area where the shelter was, and asked the hunters to surrender their riffles. The local population living in the area strongly protested  against it and wanted to protect the hunters. I remember that the Dutch asked their superiors  for reinforcements and that, apart from some 20 APCs which came to the location, the Dutch asked for air support too. However, the it all ended in a good way, the hunters handed over their riffles, even though they had proper license for them, and the Dutch drove back to Srebrenica. The riffles were never returned to their owners, the two hunters.

31 January 2001

Statement taken by: Hidajet Kardasevic

Statement given by:Avdo Husejnovic

 

Vijesti: