Bosnian Genocide

Bosnia is a country Bosnia is a country that has been part of conflicts for centuries. The country of Bosnia was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878 when it became part of the Turkish Empire. It was then annexed into the Austria-Hungry Empire. It was a Bosnian student that shot and killed Franz Ferdinand before the start of the First World War. After the First World War when it was ruled by Serbians. During the Second World War Yugoslavia was annexed by Nazi Germany. When Germany was in power Josip Tito began a movement to take control of Yugoslavia back. Josip was a communist but during the Cold War had very strong ties with not only the Soviet Union but also the United States. Tito died in 1980 and the nation’s different sections began to talk of splitting apart. When the Soviet Union fell and the government of Yugoslavia was unstable the ethnic hostilities that had been calm during the Cold War where now heated up once more. After Tito died another leader came to power named Slobodan Milosevic. One way that he was able to rise to power was the fact that he had racial hatred. When in power he fueled hatred between Christians and Muslims. In Bosnia the Muslims had been the majority since 1971. But over 20 years more Serbians moved to Bosnia and while the Bosnian population was still larger the Serbian population increased to 33% of Bosnia’s total population of 4 million.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union each of the three main ethnic groups had a different approach of a new government. The Serbian people wanted to stay part of Yugoslavia. The Muslims wanted an independent Bosnia. The Croatian population wanted to join the free Croatian country. During the meeting to decide which path to take the Croats and Bosnians made a pack but the Serbs said that unanimousity must happen further delaying the process. While those events where taking place a war broke out between the Serbs and Bosnians. On April 6, 1992 Serbians opened fire on a peaceful protest in Sarajevo, five people were reported dead. Soon after Serbs started to block roads to places that Bosnians lived. They were without the necessities of life. As people started starving in areas like Sarajevo other areas began to experience massacres. People started to disappear from their homes and communities. By the thousands people either were killed or fled to neighboring countries.

The UN had a conference and decided that Sarajevo, Goradze, Srebrenica, and other small Bosnian where places of refuge. This did not stop the killing. In Srebrenica the Serbian force murdered the Bosnians living there. The UN did not fire shots upon the Serbs as they killed the Bosnians. It was not long before the other safe zones started falling. The words “ethnic cleansing” was in the air and the media used them liberally. The murdering didn’t stop. It was Bill Clinton, who had promised to stop the killing in Bosnia as part of his campaign, which talked to NATO about the fighting. NATO insisted that a cease fire be signed, it was. However, the Serbs not only didn’t stop attacking the refugee havens but they also started killing the UN peacekeepers. In response NATO started using air strikes against the Serbs. The Muslims fighting against the Serbians also got help and gained more ground. Between these events the Serbian forces started to face an ugly opponent. On November 1, 1995 UN members meet with the leaders of the sides in the conflict meet in Ohio. The agreement is called Dayton Peace Accords. A peace agreement was reached and 60,000 NATO troops were sent to Bosnia to keep the peace.

Even though there was now peace it was already too late for 200,000 people that had been murdered in Bosnia. Much like the Nazi’s did in World War Two the Serbians set up concentration camps. People were starved and tortured to death. Survivors were extremely emaciated and in horrible condition. In towns the men and women were separated and the men between the ages of 16 and 60 were killed. These were the men that were of fighting age. The Serbs wanted to make sure that the Muslims had no one to fight for them. This type of killing is sometimes called gendercide. Its targets were Muslim men of fighting age, a very specific group. It wasn’t only men that got the wrath of the Serbians but many Bosnian women were also targeted. Many women were raped repeatedly. The Serbians set up places called rape camps were hundreds of women were raped. When a woman became pregnant they saw it as a way to increase the Serbian population. Those that were not forced into a camp or killed were exiled from the country. The place that they were born in and called home was a place where they were no longer welcomed. It’s hard to determine an accurate amount of people killed. It’s not known just how many people managed to escape or were forced into exile. There are mass graves that are still being found. The Serbians are known to have buried people only to come back and move the bodies to another place to avoid anyone finding them.

Part of the peace agreement was that main players in the genocide would go on trial. The list of the war criminal includes Drazen Erdemovic and Radislav Krstic. Erdemovic fought for the Serbs. Krstic was a Serbian General and leader. On May 31, 1996 Erdemovic’s trail started. His initial sentence was ten years in prison. Drazen then appealed for a shorter sentence. The judge took his remorse for the killings into attention; the judge also looked at how Drazen cooperated with the prosecution. By the end of the plea agreements his sentence had been shortened to five years in prison. Krstic went into hiding after the genocide and lived another another identity. After he was discovered he was sent to begin his trial. During Krstic’s trial he decided to defend himself. He tried to prolong the process of starting the trial by boycotting the first set trial. When his trial finally started he pled not guilty to the charges of genocide and murder. He called the war, “Just and Holy.”[1] The judge sentenced Krstic to 46 years in prison. This sentence was later cut to 35 years in prison. He was moved to the UK to carry out his sentence. Other wartime criminals have been tried and or sent to prison. However one major leader of the Serbian army, Ratko Mladic, is still in hiding.





After the war was over the country still had a long way to go before it could be a unified country. In 1996 free elections were set up. Even still though the central government has not be successfully set up. Some Bosnians went back to the country. In other places the Serbians moved in where their Bosnian neighbors had once lived. Bosnians were bussed back into the country for a memorial ceremony. In some towns the Muslims have still not moved back, but in some towns Bosnians and Serbians are working together to show the next generation that peace is possible it just takes some work. Some towns still experience violence. Bosnia is still recovering from this terrible experience. It could take many more years before the country has fully recovered.



Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1066981.stm
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/bosnia.htm
http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/bosniaherzegovina/?gclid=CKHlt9rcuqgCFYXd4Aod3DRCBw
http://www.gendercide.org/case_bosnia.html
http://iwpr.net/report-news/landmark-krstic-verdict
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krstic/cis/en/cis_krstic.pdf
http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_bosnia.html
http://www.hmh.org/ed_genocide_bosnia.shtml





Websites for pictures:




http://www.historyguy.com/kosovo_war.html


http://www.instituteforgenocide.ca/bosnian-genocide-unseen-brutality-since-nazi-era/

http://geography.howstuffworks.com/europe/geography-of-bosnia-and-herzegovnia.html
http://www.haguejusticportal.net/eCache/DEF/9/564.TD1OTA.html











[1] Guardian.co.uk online, Radovan Karadzic defends 'just and holy' war at genocide trial http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/01/radovankaradzic-bosnia-and-herzegovina; internet accessed April 28, 2011