First Mass Grave Released by Srebrenica Commission Exhumed

Southeast European Times in Sarajevo ^ | 22/06/04 | By Beth Kampschror

[mark502inf]

While four police directed traffic, about 20 officials and journalists peered over a rusty guardrail on the side of the two-lane road that winds towards Bratunac, in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Below, half a dozen men were digging in the muddy ground of the roadside ravine with pickaxes and spades.

Workers said they expect to find about 15 bodies here in the reddish mud -- bodies of civilians killed during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serb forces killed up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys after over-running what had been a UN-declared "safe area".

This grave is one of 32 that the Republika Srpska (RS) authorities acknowledged recently, following pressure from the international community. At the same time, authorities acknowledged in a report, released on 11 June, that Serb military and police had "liquidated" Muslims and committed other large-scale human rights violations after taking the area in July 1995.

Such acknowledgements, after nine years of RS authorities feigning ignorance, are a watershed, said Gordon Bacon, head of the International Commission for Missing Persons, which identifies victims by matching DNA samples from bodies found in mass graves to blood samples from surviving relatives.

"This shows that there is information there, and it’s been there a long time," he said. "But instead of looking at the negatives -- they should have given it to us earlier, let’s look at the positives -- they have given it now."

This was a primary grave, but officials say that the majority of the graves are so-called secondary and tertiary graves -- where the initial site was dug up and reburied in secret, second and third locations.

Until recently, the Federation Missing Persons Commission had received grave information only from survivors or from the UN war crimes tribunal.

"Without that information, we either wouldn't know the locations or it couldn’t be confirmed," said Amor Masovic, chairman of the commission. "In some cases, we know the location, but when information comes from another source, then we can think of it as a place we can send our teams to do our work. Without that information, my commission couldn’t work."

It is hoped that the new grave locations will mean that the fate of those still missing since the massacre will finally be known. About 4,500 have been exhumed, and 1,373 have been identified. About 1,000 of the identified have been buried at a memorial site outside of Srebrenica.

Gravesites like this are also considered crime scenes. After the exhumation, bodies will be autopsied. After they're identified, war crimes cases can be prosecuted locally under the "Rules of the Road", in which The Hague war crimes tribunal approves evidence gathered by local prosecutors before the prosecutors can issue warrants and take the cases to court.

"Using these bodies we’ll be able to determine what happened," said Tuzla prosecutor Emir Ibrahimovic. "That will be our proof of a crime, because when we confirm the identity, we can find an acquaintance or family member who knows when was the last time that person was seen."

[mark502inf]

Ah, this would be part of that "admission" you spoke of?

No, I was not referring to Mr. Miletic's obstructionism that got him fired a few months ago. I was referring to the admission yesterday of the President of the Republika Srpska:

"calling the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II "a dark page of Serb history."...The content of this report represents shocking information about the tragic truth involving enormous human suffering," Cavic said, adding that Serbs need to face "the truth ... which, although not complete, still is frightening." Many of the victims were incapable of being soldiers or were minors, Cavic said...Those who committed this crime in the name of the people they belong to ... also committed a crime against their own people. Those who committed this crime out of revenge, performed this revenge on their own people," Cavic said...."Those who have committed these crimes have lost face and cannot expect the whole Serb nation to loose its face because of them," Cavic said."

The report was prepared by a commission of Serbs and approved by the parliament of the Serbian Republika Srpska. Looks like the last people left still defending murder are here on FReerepublic.

[mark502inf]

Only fools like you bet on Islam and shill for them

Sorry, Dennis. Holding murderers accountable for their crimes is not shilling for Muslims.

[dennisw]

Take off shill. You are blind. Only an idiot is proud of taking up for Islam's Jihad. Run along boy and find a new ego trip outlet for your self righteousness.

[dennisw]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158727/posts?page=84#84

[MarMema]

All war crimes are wrong, but in some cases they are less sad. Some populations need to be reduced for the better good of the entire planet. I bet some South Koreans might agree with me.

Evil should not be allowed to flourish and there is definitely much evil in Bosnia. How much worse might things have been today if those men had been allowed to live?

And I have no pity parties for the younger boys, either. It is their culture to put their children and teenagers out there to be blown up for the sake of martyrdom.

I am sure that in some parts of the world there are peaceful muslims, but in Bosnia I think the picking would be extremely slim.

[A. Pole]

The report was prepared by a commission of Serbs and approved by the parliament of the Serbian Republika Srpska.

It is nice of you to believe that Serbs cannot say a lie. But they are human like you.

[kerryveryscary]

Never has there been a more Wag the Dog war than Bosnia. I specifically remember watching trains filled with women, children and MEN, young, fighting age men. With these trains in the background, on multiple occassions the reporterette was saying over and over that there were no men, only women and children. I thought it was some sort of Twighlight Zone episode because I could SEE men on the trains in the video they were showing simultaneously to claiming that there were no men. The reporters asked over and over and over, where are all the men?? I was practically screaming at my t.v. , "Standing right behind you!!"

Although the Pentagon refuses to release bodycounts, you can be assured that we have killed thousands of Jihadi if not tens of thousands. In war, people die, it is not a "war crime". I will believe the Bosnia propaganda when a forensic scientist stands before a grave of a thousand bodies and proclaims that they were murdered. Until then, I still believe my lying eyes.

[MarMema]

I have seen the pics, of those and worse. I hope Milosevic gives them heck.

[MarMema]

Holding murderers accountable for their crimes is not shilling for Muslims.

By that line of reasoning, the military of the entire world is to be tried for murder.

[mark502inf]

I am proud of the Serb military, who killed men and boys

Marmema, you are being disingenuous. The issue is not killing in combat. That is part of war. The report describes the killing of noncombatants; whether civilians or disarmed soldiers. That is murder.

I am sure there is not one military in the world that has not committed war crimes. Certainly the US is not immune,

Marmema, that doesn't fly. While the USA goes through fits to investigate everyone from private to the Secretary of Defense over putting panties on the heads of prisoners in Iraq, the Serbs put bullets in the heads of prisoners in Bosnia and then hid the bodies, hid the perps, denied the crimes, blamed the victims and did everything they could to avoid investigating and dealing with the issue for almost nine years. There's no comparison.

[MarMema]

Although the Pentagon refuses to release bodycounts, you can be assured that we have killed thousands of Jihadi if not tens of thousands.

Which is exactly what the Serbs did. Let us hope we can eliminate more, so that our children can be free of them someday.

[MarMema]

This is a direct quote from the post.

"At the same time, authorities acknowledged in a report, released on 11 June, that Serb military and police had "liquidated" Muslims"

Sounds like military action to me.

You think we don't kill civilians and noncombatants, right now in Iraq? It's only ok for us to do that in a war, but not the Serbs?

[edsheppa]

What's the difference from knowingly killing civilians at 20,000 feet as opposed to killing them up close for supporting a known enemy?

Yes, as you say, a tough call - but not an impossible one. The difference is in the motives. Tens of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki vs. hundreds of thousands in an invasion. German cities were mass-bombed to destroy Nazi war production, the civilians were collateral damage due to the inaccuracy of the bombs available at that time. I don't think there is any similar claim for Bosnian Serb's killing of noncombatant Bosnian Muslims.

That said, I think I would have come to a different decision than Truman and Roosevelt. I'm glad I wasn't in their shoes.

[mark502inf]

Take off shill. You are blind. Only an idiot is proud of taking up for Islam's Jihad

Since you don't have such things as facts or evidence to back up your position, I don't blame you for resorting to name-calling. Its all you have.

I particularly enjoyed the way you called me a shill for jihadists when I quoted the admission of the Srpska President that the Serbs murdered a bunch of people at Srebrenica. Logically, that then makes President Covac the jihadist. Well, obviously, Covac is not a jihadist and logic is not your strong suit. But that's not news to anyone reading your posts.

[mark502inf]

You think we don't kill civilians and noncombatants, right now in Iraq? It's only ok for us to do that in a war, but not the Serbs?

Marmema, quit trying to pretend that murdering prisoners and civilians is some kind of noble endeavor when those pulling the trigger are Serbs and the victims are not. Deliberately killing noncombatants is murder regardless of the ethnicity or religion of the killer or the victim. And knock off the bogus moral equivalency argument. American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are holding their fire, restricting their tactics, and putting themselves at risk to avoid civilian casualties/ The fact that in some cases accidents still occur and civilians are killed is in no way the moral equivalent of Serb forces at Srebrenica deliberately shooting unarmed prisoners or civilians.

[dj_animal_2000]

The subtitle under the photograph reads: One of the Bosnian Army Muslim brigades marches through Zenica in a demonstration of strenght by 10,000 soldiers. Page A10 (The Times, Dec. 11, 1995)

The subtitle under the photograph reads: "Faith in action: A Muslim brigade of the Bosnian Army marching in a millitary parade in Zenica, central Bosnia." (Photograph: Reuter) (The Independent, Dec. 11, 1995)

Mark, maybe you tell our readers here a little bit about the bosnian mudjahedins...and their supporters...

I bet, you can find some nice and warm words for these soldiers of the "religion of peace"...and maybe they will belive you every single word you sain'....

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

Still can't help wondering how many of these bodies were combatants, how many were collateral damage, and how many were actually executed.>>

Blindfolds and hands tied behind back with barbed wire are generally a dead giveaway that the dead were not combat deaths. The Bosniac military uniforms and Bosnian government money in pockets generally identify the victims as Muslim. And the fact that the bodies are only partially decayed indicate that they are recent and not old.

This must really tick off FormerLib and company. But the truth hurts.

[mark502inf]

Although the Pentagon refuses to release bodycounts, you can be assured that we have killed thousands of Jihadi if not tens of thousands.

Its not that we "refuse" to release bodycounts, its that we don't collect or keep those statistics. There are none to "release" other than when they are sometimes included in individual unit situational reports. Having said that, I suspect and hope that the tens of thousands is closer than thousands.

In war, people die, it is not a "war crime".

Well, it should be obvious from the article that nobody is being investigated or charged for combat actions. Killing soldiers in combat is war. Nobody is being charged for that. Deliberately killing prisoners and civilians is murder. That's what the article is about.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

Well, I am Orthodox and they have not shamed me. >>

Gibbering Nazis generaly have no shame. It's a big part of what makes them Nazis.

[MarMema]

The Bosniac military uniforms

Sounds like legit targets to me.