Thursday, July 27, 2006

There was a genocide in Srebrenica: Part V, conclusion

This sums up the Srebrenica case much more eloquently than I could ever do...

From the Kristic appeal judgment.
The gravity of genocide is reflected in the stringent requirements which must be satisfied before this conviction is imposed. These requirements – the demanding proof of specific intent and the showing that the group was targeted for destruction in its entirety or in substantial part – guard against a danger that convictions for this crime will be imposed lightly. Where these requirements are satisfied, however, the law must not shy away from referring to the crime committed by its proper name. By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general. They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity. The Bosnian Serb forces were aware, when they embarked on this genocidal venture, that the harm they caused would continue to plague the Bosnian Muslims. The Appeals Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate terms, the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre at Srebrenica by its proper name: genocide. Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act.

This is a crime against all of humankind, its harm being felt not only by the group targeted for destruction, but by all of humanity.

2 comments:

Srebrenica Genocide said...

Hi Shaina, excellent articles.

I would also like to add few more things. Vidoje Blagojevic was another person to be convicted on Srebrenica Genocide charges and other human rights violations. He was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. Seven more individuals have been recently put on trial at the Hague.

Eleven more individuals are on trial in Bosnia-Herzegovina and their names are: Milos Stupar, Milenko Trifunovic, Petar Mitrovic, Aleksandar Radovanovic, Miladin Stevanovic, Brano Dzinic, Slobodan Jakovljevic, Branislav Medan, Dragisa Zivanovica, Velibor Maksimovic, and Milovan Matic.

I have updated Answer to the Question #1, see here:
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2006/07/srebrenica-massacre-answers-revised_10.html

With respect to Bosnian Genocide one person was convicted on Bosnia Genocide charges, Nikola Jorgic, read here http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2006/07/germany-hands-bosnia-genocide.html. Of course, Jorgic's case is separate from Srebrenica, but nevertheless, it's important to note it.

I also have to point out that the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina was not a civil war as widely reported. ICTY's rulling is clear - the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina was an international conflict between Bosnia and Serbia, and Bosnia and Croatia, and here is my newest article on that subject, read here:
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2006/07/international-conflict-in-bosnia.html

Shaina, I congratulate you on your dedication to the truth. Thank you.

Cheers!

Srebrenica Genocide said...

The Srebrenica massacre was the July 1995 killing of up to an estimated 8,106 Bosniak males, ranging in age from babies to the elderly.

Here is an excerpt from Der Spiegel article titled Srebrenica Massacre Widows Sue UN, Dutch Government: Toast to the Dead, originally published July 4th 2006:

Sabaheta Fejzic and her husband ran with their baby to a Dutch military base....The Serbs also took her husband, and literally tore her son from her arms. Sabaheta Fejzic never saw either of them again.

I have talked more on the subject in the article Women & Srebrenica Massacre http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2006/06/women-srebrenica-massacre.html