The Death of Denial: Bosnian Serb govt. admits Srebrenica massacre [View All]

[EdGy]

For the skeptics around here...

10 November 2003
The Death of Denial

Now that the Republika Srpska government has admitted there was a massacre in Srebrenica, an all-embracing reconciliation process is now needed.

A report leaked to the Banja Luka independent ATV station last week suggests that the government of Republika Srpska now accepts that most of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men captured by Bosnian Serb forces after the fall of Srebrenica were executed by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).

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According to now huge body of evidence, the Srebrenica men and boys were captured, divided into groups, executed, buried, and reburied in an entirely orderly and rather dispassionate fashion.

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In March, the Human Rights Chamber of Bosnia, a judicial body, found that the human rights of family members of Bosnian men and boys who "disappeared" in the wake of the fall of Srebrenica had been violated by the continuing refusal of the Republika Srpska authorities to inform them of what had happened to their relatives. The government was ordered to disclose immediately all information that might help establish their fate and whereabouts and all details about the location of mass graves containing the bodies of Srebrenica victims. In addition, the government was ordered to pay 2 million convertible Deutsche marks ($950,000) to the Foundation of the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial and Cemetery.

The government agreed to pay in full. In July, (Republika Srpska Prime Minister) Ivanic's successor Dragan Mikerevic attended a funeral of Srebrenica victims, telling their families it was "obvious that a crime was committed in Srebrenica".

Last month, High Representative Paddy Ashdown gave Banja Luka six months to produce specific information about the victims of the massacre.

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It also confirmed that Republika Srpska’s political class has not yet come to terms with the notion that it is their responsibility to lead, and lead quickly, in dealing with the recent past. The ATV leak was a rather cowardly probe. Rather then directly telling the public in Republika Srpska of their new position on the massacre in Srebrenica, Ivanic and Mikerevic first tested it through an independent TV station. Clearly, they still felt uncertain how the public would react. As it happened, there were not that many negative reactions, so there was no need to disown the report. What's more, Mikerevic readily went on to complain how difficult it is to find public figures willing to serve on a commission to establish facts about the massacre and appealed to none else than the Human Rights Chamber to help him find some luminaries.

However farcically, the scene is now being set--almost by default--for the government to tell the Republika Srpska public about Srebrenica openly and officially.
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None of this means that Ivanic and Mikerevic are entirely wrong or insincere when they complain to international representatives that going too far too soon on the Srebrenica front could be dangerous for them. There are still powerful underground forces at work over which the government has no control. Those forces are linked to indicted war criminals such as Karadzic and do not shy away from using any means necessary to protect their interests. The government should therefore play its cards very carefully, but it should play them very soon.
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http://balkanreport.tol.cz/look/BRR/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=9&NrIssue=1&NrSection=6&NrArticle=10948