UNMIK ON AIR

SREBRENICA TEN YEARS AFTER

By Zoran CULAFIC

 

 

 

Hello and welcome, you’re listening UNMIK ON AIR program

 

Mid June this year, during Slobodan Milosevic trial at The Hague Tribunal, the prosecutor presented videotape that clearly shows the momentum of cold and brutal killing of six Bosniacks, four of them allegedly only 16-years-old boys.

 

Almost all Senior Belgrade officials reacted immediately condemning strongly the crimes, while President of Serbia Boris Tadic announced that he would attend the ten years anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, on 11th July, and apologize for the crimes committed.

 

Music in and under ...

 

ACTUALITY 1 – Natasa Kandic – The videotape was very carefully hidden away (harbored) and there were no other copies of it. Certain circumstances contributed that tape to be taken out of the country and then in November 2004 when the harboring of the tape became more complicated I came in and maybe in January of this year I have presented the videotape to the Serbia’s public prosecutor for war crimes, but did not give him a copy until all the necessary measures were completed to protect a witnesses.

 

This was Natasa Kandic, director of Belgrade based Human rights law center, the women who discovered the video tape and presented it to prosecutors in Belgrade and the Hague Tribunal.  

 

The broadcasting of videotape marked an extremely important point in Belgrade in dealing with the war crimes issues, and in allow the public to face the darkest truth past of the recent history of the Balkans.

Not all the political parties welcomed the new approach, which was clear when the Serbian Assembly failed to reach a common agreement about adopting a declaration to condemn Srebrenica massacre in weeklong discussions.

 

Seselj’s Serbian Radical Party, Milosevic’s Socialist Party of Serbia and the Prime Minister, Kostunica’s, Democratic Party of Serbia opposed the initiative, conditioning their support to the declaration only if there would be a condemnation of all crimes committed in former Yugoslavia, particularly those against Serb civilians. The result was – no declaration was adopted so far in the Assembly of Serbia.

 

Belgrade liberal daily Danas editor-in-chief Grujica Spasovic coments on that.

 

ACTUALITY 2 – Grujica Spasovic –  It is a waited scandal, from the moment when Assembly Speaker started speaking about a consensus, then it was clear that there would be nothing out of that, or simply, the crimes would so diluted and made relative as to any parliament in the world could adopt such a resolution condemning the crimes in general. What was requested by some NGO’s and some political parties here simply was not acceptable by those who were the skeleton of the Milosevic regime, and who bear responsibility for these crimes – I think first of all on Serbian Radical Party and Socialist Party of Serbia.

 

Natasa Kandic and other NGO leaders in Belgrade consider that some members of the Serbian parliament did not support the declaration because they fear they could be accused in the future of crimes. Grujica Spasovic agrees with such claims completely.

 

ACTUALITY 3 –  Of course, I think such claims are true, I told you that it is hard to expect from those who were a part of Milosevic’s criminal regime, to condemn something which was one of the extreme results of that regime. But, of course, there is also lot of political calculations and lot of p0olitical marketing, getting some political points by both left and right wing, amongst nationalists and among the others too ... but, Srebrenica is too serious issue that could be any space for political marketing.

 

Grujica Spasovic received recently death treat phone call, after his daily discovered that the Belgrade Government is negotiating with General Mladic to assist his surrender to the Hague Tribunal.

 

After many years of almost complete political denial of Srebrenica and other crimes that were committed during 90’s by Serbian citizens through various military or paramilitary forces, today Belgrade politicians and public in Serbia are aware more and more of the  terrible brutal crimes that have taken place and that the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

 

Still, there are many others who try to hinder the process, some of them due to simply reason that they could be held accountable for some of those crimes.

 

Thank you for listening today’s story. That’s all for today from the studios of UNMIK ON AIR.

 

good day.