Jim Murphy

Justin, are you happy that people like war-treasurer Gordon Brown are wandering about at the expense of British taxpayers?

Posted by Stu on July 26, 2008 at 11:31 AM BST #

No, the Bosnian War was not a three-way civil war. It was a genocidal war of aggression by Serbia and Serbia's allies in Republika Srpska aimed at establishing an ethnically homogeneous entity from the Drina Valley, through the Posovina and connecting up with the Bosnian and Croatian Krajina. Locally, in Herzegovina in particular, there was conflict between the Croats and Bosniaks, but essentially this was a war of secession promoted in the interests of an outside aggressor. I'm very surprised to hear this assessment from you.

Posted by Owen on July 28, 2008 at 03:46 PM BST #

It is astounding that you refer to the war in Bosnia-Herzegowina 1992-1995 as a Civil War, while during this time Bosnia-Herzegowina as an UN member was in fact victim of the Serbian-Montenegro aggression. Slobodan Milosevic`s regime is to be held responsible for supporting Bosnian Serbs and their troops during their three year battle against Bosnia. The crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina that began and were carried out under the concept of “Greater Serbia” were able to make 100,000 civilians victims, in which 30,000 were placed in Serbian concentration camps. Over 20,000 women were raped, around 2.2 billion people displaced, and hundreds of villages destroyed. Under the command of the Serbian leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic the mass murders of at least 8, 373 Bosnian boys and men were committed after the Fall of Srebrenica on 11 July 1995. The massacres were carried out through mass shootings in numerous communities and cities in Northern, Western, and Eastern Bosnia Posavina, area of Prijedor, and Podrinje. Historic Islamic artefacts, pieces of catholic culture, and around 1,300 Mosques and 500 Catholic churches were completely destroyed. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague and the International Court of Justice came to the verdict that genocide had begun in Srebrenica. It is not a matter of debate that crimes are committed on every side during a time of war; however those who are perpetrators and those who fight to defend themselves must be differentiated. The International community imposed a weapons embargo not over Milosevic, but rather over Bosnia-Herzegowina, while the victims in Bosnia themselves were abandoned. The crimes committed in revenge by members of the Bosnian Army were individually committed, and not carried out systematically or under hierarchical command. Karadzic currently sits in The Hague, but it is Mladic who carried out these obscene murders. Even with the arrest of Karadzic the issues of Bosnia-Herzegowina are far from being resolved. The International community and the EU must see to it that Bosnia-Herzegowina is admitted into the EU, and that the partition in the country is brought to an end. Jasna

Posted by Jasna on July 30, 2008 at 03:55 PM BST #

Nick, glad we agree. The massacre at Srebrenica and the elimination of Zepa were part of the final push to get rid of the three non-Serb enclaves left in the Drina Valley after the ethnic cleansing of spring 1992. Karadzic acknowledged that the aim was to remove the boundary between Bosnia and Serbia that ran along the Drina river. When the Srebrenica survivors go back to Potocari, to the memorial, they find that the Republika Srpska police responsible for security there include men they recognise as participants in the genocide. On July 16 the 13th anniversary of the event RS police stopped a group of the Mothers of Srebrenica laying flowers at the warehouse in Kravica where 1000-1500 prisoners were locked up then shot, machine-gunned and hand-grenaded. They even claimed that the act of laying flowers was provocation. Karadzic is in The Hague, Mladic is in Belgrade, but there are thousands of individuals identified by name who took part in the massacre who are still at liberty in RS, including hundreds in the police, local government and the legal system. Until RS is decriminalised the expulsees are not going to feel safe returning and Karadzic's achievement will not be overturned.

Posted by Owen on July 31, 2008 at 05:41 PM BST #