RADOVAN KARADZIC COURT APPEARANCE: GAUNT AND TIRED

Updated: 07:11 PM

PHOTO: You're looking at a face of Srebrenica Genocide architect. Looking gaunt, visibly shaken and in tears, Radovan Karadzic is finally facing justice after 13 years on the run.

Srebrenica genocide architect, Radovan Karadzic, appeared gaunt and tired as he faced a judge today at the International Criminal Tribunal at the Hague. "I have an invisible adviser but I have decided to represent myself," Karadzic told Judge Alphons Orie. The "invisible adviser" is not so invisible after all. His two defense teams are comprised of Srebrenica genocide deniers, hard core Serbian nationalists, and admitted liars. Karadzic was arrested in Serbia on July 21, and then extradited to face trial at the UN Court after his lawyer, Svetozar Vujacic, admitted lying.

"You are Radovan Karadzic, aren't you?" the judge Orie, asked. "Yes, I am," he replied.

Gaunt and visibly shaken, Karadzic listened as the Dutch UN Judge Alphons Orie read out a chilling list of atrocities contained in a lengthy 25-page indictment of war crimes, including including: genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, extermination, violation of the customs of war, murder and the taking of hostages. Karadzic declined to enter a plea to the 11 charges against him.

Karadzic's genocide charges will focus on his key role in the Bosnian Serb leadership which orchestrated the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniaks, as well as the forcible ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Srebrenica civilians. "You knew or had reasons that Bosnian Serb forces under you committed these crimes," - said Judge Orie.

Other serious charges include the shelling of Sarajevo, where 12,000 civilians were killed during the 44-month siege - including 1,500 children - and the taking of UN peacekeepers hostage. "It is alleged that many thousands of civilians were killed including children and elderly," said Judge Orie.

Dutch UN Judge Orie allowed Karadzic two minutes in Court Number One to make his case. Karadzic started making excuses about his rights, not even taking time to apologize to its victims. There were "irregularities" over the way he was arrested in Belgrade 10 days ago, Karadzic complained to the judge, "In Belgrade I was arrested irregularly, for three days I was kidnapped ... my rights were not told me. I had no right to a telephone call or even an SMS," he said.

Apparently, Karadzic would have surrendered himself to the court a decade ago, had he not feared for his life. He claimed that former U.S. peace mediator Richard Holbrooke is trying to kill him: "If Holbrooke still wants my death and regrets there is no death sentence at this court, I want to know if his arm is long enough to reach me here."

Karadzic allegedly struck a deal with the US Ambasasdor Richard Holbrooke whereby if Karadzic retired from public life, the U.S. Government would not search for him. Holbrooke has in the past denied such claims. As Karadzic sought to list his grievances in detail, he was stopped short by the Judge Orie who said this was not the time or place to raise these issues and that he would have a chance to voice his complaints later.

As Karadzic was transferred to the tribunal's detention unit in The Hague on Wednesday, ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz warned his trial may not start for months. "It will be a complex trial," Brammertz said. "In order to prove these serious crimes, the prosecution will have to present a significant amount of evidence including the testimony of many witnesses."

The judge set August 29th as the date for his next appearance. Under court rules if he refuses to enter a plea, then a plea of ‘not guilty’ is entered for him.

PHOTO: Radovan Karadzic before his departure to the Hague, and during his detention at the Belgrade's War Crimes prison.

KARADZIC IN THE HAGUE AND HIS DEFENSE TEAM WITH A DUBIOUS REPUTATION

Updated: 4:38 pm

Radovan Karadzic's defense team is comprised of Srebrenica genocide deniers, hard core Serbian nationalists, and admitted liars.

Earlier this morning, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was taken to a prison cell in The Hague to face trial at a U.N. war crimes tribunal on charges of genocide and other crimes against humanity during Bosnia war 1992-95. He will appear before the judges tomorrow at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT).

Karadzic's Lawyer Admits Lying

Today, Karadzic's lawyer Svetozar Vujacic admitted he lied about sending an appeal against Karadzic's extradition to the Hague. "No, I never sent it. It was the only way to prolong my client's stay in Serbia, in order to give his family members a chance to visit him from Bosnia," explained the lawyer to the broadcaster B92. In any normal country he would face consequences for purposefully lying to the judges and manipulating the Court, but not in Serbia.

Team of Deniers, Ultra-nationalist, and Crooks

Radovan Karadzic's defence team is comprised of Srebrenica genocide deniers and radical Serbian ultranationalists that will do anything to prove his innocence, including falsifying documents and lying. The first team of this well known group, headed by Smilja Avramov and including Kosta Cavoski and Milivoje Ivanisevic, will have the task to gather the 'evidence' (this also includes falsifying documents and lying, as was also the case with an unrepentent Srebrenica genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic). During his fugitive days, Radovan Karadzic (aka: Dr. Dragan David Dabic) reportedly used pseudonym "Truth Lover" ("Ljubitelj Istine")" to send anonymous tips and documents to the Srebrenica genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic, who assisted in Slobodan Milosevic' defence. The second team will include Karadzic's lawyer and admitted liar Svetozar Vujacic and his assistant Goran Petronijevic. Reportedly, Karadzic's daughter Sonja Karadzic might also join them to help defend a child killer, her dad, who murdered 1,500 children in Sarajevo alone.

Why is Dragan Karadzic not Arrested?

Radovan's nephew Dragan bragged in the media how he helped protect the most wanted war criminal in the Belgrade. Yet, he was not arrested. They even allowed him to visit Radovan while he was held in the Belgrade's War Crimes Court. In any normal country, he would be arrested and charged for helping wanted fugitive evade justice.

Meanwhile, Karadzic Family Gets Passports Back

Recently, the international high representative refused to lift Karadzic family's travel ban so they can visit Radovan in Belgrade prison cell. He said that the children of Radovan Karadzic—Sonja and Sasha—“will have the opportunity to see their father for many years to come, which cannot be said of the victims from Srebrenica and many other places.” Unfortunately, Lajcak changed his stance today and returned them travel documents so they can go and visit the monster. Srebrenica genocide survivor, Munira Subasic lost 22 members of her family - she won't be able to see them ever again.

7 SERBS CONVICTED OF SREBRENICA GENOCIDE

SEVEN ACCUSED FOUND GUILTY OF SREBRENICA GENOCIDE IN A

LANDMARK GENOCIDE RULING

Verdicts Announced in the cases against Miloš Stupar et al., Petar Mitrović and Miladin Stevanović (Kravica Cases)

The Court of BiH today announced the first instance verdicts in the cases, Stupar Miloš and others, Mitrović Petar and Stevanović Miladin. These are the first verdicts from the Court of BiH involving Genocide charges in connection with events in Srebrenica during July 1995.

Seven (7) of the Accused were convicted for the criminal offense of Genocide pursuant to Article 171 of the CC of BiH. The Court sentenced the Accused Milenko Trifunović, Brano Džinić, and Aleksandar Radovanović to forty-two (42) years long-term imprisonment, the Accused Miloš Stupar, Slobodan Jakovljević, and Branislav Medan to forty (40) years long-term imprisonment, and the Accused Petar Mitrović to thirty-eight (38) years long-term imprisonment. All 7 Accused were convicted for their participation in the killing of more than 1000 Bosniak men in the warehouse of the Farming Cooperative Kravica on 13 July 1995 as members of the 2^nd Šekovići Special Police Detachment.

The Panel found that several thousand Bosniak men were captured and detained at the Sandići meadow in the morning and afternoon of 13 July. These men were part of the column of Bosniak men attempting to break out from the Srebrenica enclave after the capture of the enclave by the forces of the Republika Srpska. Many of these men were induced to surrender by deception, and were told they would be safe and taken to territory under control of ARBiH. At least one thousand of these men were then transported by bus or marched in a column to the warehouse of the Farming Cooperative Kravica, where they were further detained. Beginning in the early evening, shortly after the arrival of the column of men, these prisoners were executed in the warehouse by small arms fire, machine gun fire and the use of hand grenades.

The Panel also found that the Accused Milenko Trifunović and Aleksandar Radovanović were in front of the warehouse shooting at prisoners, whilst Brano Džinić was throwing hand grenades at them. Accused Slobodan Jakovljević, Branislav Medan, and Petar Mitrović, acted as armed guards at the rear of the warehouse in order to prevent the detained Bosniak men from escaping the ongoing killings through the windows at the rear of the warehouse. It is also found that Accused Mitrović fired from his automatic rifle at the detainees as well. The Panel concluded that these Accused perpetrated these acts with the genocidal intent, that is, with the aim to destroy in part a group of Bosniak people. These six Accused were accordingly found guilty as co-perpetrators in the commission of the criminal offense of Genocide.

In addition, the Panel found that the Accused Miloš Stupar was at the relevant time Commander of the 2^nd Šekovići Detachment of the Special Police Brigade, that he knew of the criminal acts of his subordinates, and that he failed to take measures to punish them, having the genocidal intent as well. The Accused Stupar was accordingly also convicted of the crime of Genocide on the basis of command responsibility.

Four (4) Accused, Velibor Maksimović, Dragiša Živanović, Milovan Matić, and Miladin Stevanović, were acquitted of all charges. The Panel concluded that the Prosecutor failed to present sufficient legal evidence to prove beyond doubt that these Accused participated in committing the offense of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The custody against the Accused Miloš Stupar, Milenko Trifunović, Brano Džinić, Aleksandar Radovanović, Slobodan Jakovljević, Branislav Medan, and Petar Mitrović was extended and the time that they have spent in custody will be credited towards their sentence. The Accused Velibor Maksimović, Dragiša Živanović and Miladin Stevanović were released from custody, whilst custody against Milovan Matić was cancelled previously during the main trial.

Source: The Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber)

KARADZIC FAMILY KNEW WHERE HE WAS

Updated: July 29, 2008.

Will we wait another 13 years for Karadzic's family to be arrested for protecting a wanted war criminal and yet lying how they knew nothing about his whereabouts?

Srebrenica genocide architect, Radovan Karadzic, freely traveled and regularly stayed in touch with his family. All with the help of Dragan Karadzic, son of Radovan's brother Luka who is a radical Serb ultra-nationalist. Luka has been lately participating in demonstrations against the Karadzic's arrest in Beglrade along with the Serbian right-wing extremist group OBRAZ, as well as the Serbian Radical party. Will Dragan and Luka Karadzic finally be arrested and charged for safeguarding the most wanted war criminal in Europe?

PHOTO: Fake tears of Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, wife of Srebrenica genocide architect Radovan Karadzic (aka: Dr. Dragan David Dabic). Good acting Ljiljana! You knew where he was all this time, but you kept silent!

Now we know that Radovan Karadzic's family lied about not knowing his whereabouts. According to the only 'free' news media in Serbia, B92, Radovan Karadzic enjoyed watching soccer games in Italy (source). His favorite soccer teams were Inter (Milan) and Lazio (Rome) known in Italy for its right-wing rhetoric. Their fans even paid a "Tribute to the Tiger Arkan," a late Serbian fugitive war criminal who was murdered in Belgrade back in 2000.

Dragan Karadzic confirmed to B92 that he regularly met with his uncle Radovan, but he refused to reveal where exactly Karadzic hid in the past. His uncle enjoyed reading hard-core Serbian nationalist newspapers, Kurir, and of course - the Bible. Dragan said he spoke to Radovan about the politics and pretty much about everything that happened in their family. He helped Radovan with finding safe rental apartments, and also served as a messenger, meeting with Karadzic's family and conveying messages from Radovan.

Apparently, Dragan claims he knew he was monitored, so every time he met with Radovan, he used a different vehicle to trick investigators. Dragan was not in Belgrade at the time of Radovan's arrest, and if he were "Radovan would not be arrested."

Karadzic's family has been playing this game for a long time. They have been portraying themselves as victims of the international community.

When Karadzic was arrested, his wife Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic said she was in 'disbelief,' but at least she knew he was alive. In a soap-opera style acting, his wife publicly called on her husband to surrender a few years ago to spare his family the frequent searches and difficult position caused by his flight from justice. When NATO raided house of Karadzic's wife, Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, they found letters from Belgrade with initials Dragan David Dabic. She was known by putting up fake tears for the media and pretending to be innocent victim who never knew where her husband was.

Lajcak authorized the confiscation of passports and travel documents belonging to Karadzic’s wife Ljiljana Zelen Karadzic and children on January 10, on suspicion that the Karadzic family was helping him hide from authorities.

The Karadzic family has asked for their travel ban to be lifted to allow them to travel to Belgrade to visit Karadzic in prison before he is extradited to the Hague Tribunal.

The international high representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina said that the children of Radovan Karadzic—Sonja and Sasha—“will have the opportunity to see their father for many years to come, which cannot be said of the victims from Srebrenica and many other places.”

The question arises: Will Dragan Karadzic and Luka Karadzic, and other family members who knew Radovan Karadzic's whereabouts, finally be arrested and charged for safeguarding the most wanted war criminal in Europe? Probably not, considering that Serbia is a safe haven for criminals.

Recently, a Serbian thug Miladin Kovacevic brutally attacked Jewish student Bryan Steinhauer who woke up from comma couple of days ago. Kovacevic was placed into custody after the event, but released on June 5 on USD $100,000 bail. Serbian vice-consul Igor Milosevic issued the suspect a new passport after the original one was confiscated, which allowed Kovacevic to flee America. According to the Serbian officials, Kovacevic is now in Serbia and playing for a local basketball team. This is just another example of Serbia protecting criminals and refusing to extradite them. Serbia will only unwillingly extradite Karadzic because of the pressure placed on them to co-operate with the Hague Tribunal.

RADOVAN KARADZIC - NEW DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT THE SECRET LIFE OF SREBRENICA GENOCIDE MASTERMIND

Radovan Karadzic [left] in his alias as healer Dragan Dabic
poses with Serbian 'bio energy expert' Mina Minic.

After 13 years on the run, former Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic (aka: Dr Dragan David Dabic) was arrested on July 21st. He faces charges of Srebrenica genocide, complicity in genocide, execution, murder, punishment, deportation, inhumane acts and other crimes committed on Bosniaks, Croats and other non-Serb civilians in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Eight years ago, indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic has been ordered by a U.S. jury to pay $4.5 billion in damages for atrocities committed by his soldiers....

KARADZIC'S PUBLICLY AVAILABLE PHONE NUMBERS, E-MAIL ADDRESS AND WEB SITE:

A psychiatrist, he practiced what is called "alternative" or "New Age" medicine," wrote articles for the magazine "Healthy Life," gave speeches and appeared on panels and had, under the name Dragan David Dabic, his own Web site located at psy-help-energy.com, where the medically gullible could purchase the "Wellbeing Harmonizer." When arrested - at a bus stop - he was said to be about ready to leave for a spa vacation.

A new details have emerged about the bizarre life of a mass murderer who evaded justice for 13 long years with the help of Serbian government, who reportedly issued fake ID's and passport to him. Here is Radovan Karadzic's publicly available contact information that HE provided to his gullible customers promising to heal their sexual, psychological, and other problems:

→ Karadzic's Phone numbers: +064 39 33 095 and +062 18 77 484

→ Karadzic's E-mail addresses: dddavid@psy-help-energy.com / dddavid86@gmail.com / vitality@psy-help-energy.com / uvekimapomoci@psy-help-energy.com (username "there is always help") / bol@psy-help-energy.com / nerv-brain@psy-help-energy.com / astma@psy-help-energy.com / diabetes@psy-help-energy.com / depresija@psy-help-energy.com .
→ Karadzic's Official Web Site: http://www.psy-help-energy.com/

RADOVAN KARADZIC STOLE 36 MILLION EUROS FROM HIS FELLOW SERBS:

In 2005, Milorad Dodik claimed that Radovan Karadzic took about EUR 18 million from the Republic of Srpska (RS) National Bank.

“There are documents indicating that Karadzic took about EUR 36mn in a bag out of Banja Luka in 1997. First he took EUR 14mn in cash from a safe in the RS National Bank, and another time he took EUR 4mn more. By then, he had already been deposed, and was hiding from the arm of international law,” the RS prime minister said in an interview with daily Dnevni Avaz published on March 31, 2005.

“Shortly after this interview, Dodik became RS prime minister, but never launched an investigation into the fraud, for which he claimed to have evidence. Instead, he is now promising to help the Karadzic family,” the daily writes.

In an unrelated incident, Karadzic was accused of fraud during the Eighties. Accused of using tax payers' money to build a cottage in Pale, he was taken into custody in Sarajevo on November 1, 1984, but was released 11 months later for a lack of evidence.

On September 26, 1985, he was sentenced in Sarajevo to three years imprisonment for embezzlement and deception, but he never served his sentence.

KARADZIC REPORTEDLY STOLE IDENTITY OF SARAJEVO SNIPER VICTIM:

According to The Independent, "Investigators were looking at claims that the war crimes fugitive stole the identity of a man murdered by snipers in Sarajevo, who were under the command of Mr Karadzic himself."

"My brother was killed in 1993 by a sniper bullet when he went to collect humanitarian aid", told Mladen Dabic, the brother of the murdered man,, to a local TV in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "This is amazing, horrifying. My brother was running across a street and the sniper bullet came from the direction of Vrace." At the time, the Vrace neighbourhood was under the control of Serbs.

SERBIAN GOVERNMENT CLAIMS KARADZIC ASSUMED IDENTITY OF A MAN IN RUMA:

Radovan Karadzic assumed Dragan David Dabic's identity as a cover during the autocratic rule of his mentor Slobodan Milosevic, officials said Thursday, promising to track down anyone who helped the Bosnian Serb warlord stay on the run from genocide charges for nearly 13 years.

According to Rasim Ljajic, the highest ranking ethnic Bosniak government official in Serbia, the 'real' Dragan Dabic lives in Ruma, a Serbian town just north of Belgrade. Ljajicis in charge of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. "Dabic's ID differs from Karadzic's only in the photographs of the two," Ljajic said.

Bruno Vekaric, spokesman for Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, said Karadzic obtained the false papers while Milosevic's regime was still in power. Milosevic was ousted in a popular revolt in October 2000.

KARADZIC FREELY TRAVELED IN EUROPE AND VACATIONED WITH FAKE ID:

Two years ago, Karadzic posing as Dragan David Dabic spent a summer holiday on the Croatian Adriatic island of Ciovo, Croatian media reported Thursday. Inhabitants say Karadzic visited a local church and spent 10 days on the island, the 24Sata daily said.

Vienna daily Kurier now claims that a doctor by the same name worked in the Austrian capital, using a Croatian passport. Radovan Karadzic, going by the nickname of ‘Pera’, allegedly treated patients in Vienna, Austria, where he arrived on a Croatian passport. One of his former patients, whose name was disclosed to the Vienna daily, but who is referred to as Stefan Graf in the article, claimed that he knew Karadzic/Dabic, who in Vienna went by the nickname of ‘Pera’. Graf’s parents and other relatives also claim to recognize ‘Pera’ after seeing the photos of Karadzic after his arrest. Graf told the Vienna daily that ‘Pera’ came to Vienna on a handful of occasions, never staying longer than three days, adding that he knew that the "miracle doctor" had also been active in Italy.

Karadzic also used his false ID to visit a monastery in Greece where he studied traditional meditative techniques, according to the Politika newspaper. When arrested - at a bus stop in Belgrade - he was said to be about ready to leave for a spa vacation.

GENERAL RATKO MLADIC 'BETRAYED' KARADZIC TO 'SAVE' HIMSELF:

The Daily Telegraph claims that Radovan Karadzic was arrested on the basis of information received from Ratko Mladic. The London daily, citing a source close to German secret services BND, adds that Mladic did so in order to avoid being tried for war crimes at the Hague, and be tried before the Serbian national courts instead.

“Mladic provided certain information about Karadzic, probably a few months ago, in order to save himself,“ says the source.

The paper also states that Mladic’s arrest is expected in the coming weeks, and that he is unlikely to avoid being extradited to The Hague once apprehended.

VOJVODINA WANTS TO KNOW WHO ISSUED FAKE IDs TO WAR CRIMINALS IN THE PROVINCE?

Vojvodina assembly's security committee wants state organs to give them details of the capture of Hague fugitives.

“[Radovan] Karadzic and [Stojan] Zupljanin used the identities of dead people from Bosnia-Herzegovina, which means that someone must have helped them to obtain their basic documents, such as their birth certificate, while it’s a fact that someone also helped them receive Serbian citizenship. So, there are a lot of questions that the authorities will need to answer quickly,” told Committee member Milan Djukic to Novi Sad daily Dnevnik.

“We’ll insist that the Interior Ministry provide us with comprehensive details of that phenomenon, because the fact that both fugitives had fake documents issued in Vojvodina police stations points not to an isolated problem, but to a systematic practice,” stressed Djukic.

JULY 27TH - 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF ZEPA

Updated 4:26pm

COLONEL AVDO PALIC IS STILL MISSING, PLEASE JOIN THIS CAMPAIGN!

REMEMBERING ZEPA ENCLAVE: In 2006 opening statements, the U.N. Prosecutor McCloskey stated that “criminal orders in war are as a rule issued verbally”, and that a few exceptions existed to the rule. One of the most striking ones is a report sent on 21 July 1995 by General Zdravko Tolimir from Zepa to General Radomir Miletic, acting Chief of General Staff of the VRS. Tolimir is asking for help to crush some BH Army strongholds, expressing his view that "the best way to do it would be to use chemical weapons." In the same report, 'Chemical Tolimir' proposed striking refugee columns leaving Zepa, because that would "force the 'Muslim' (Bosniak) fighters to surrender quickly," in his opinion...

As Hatidza Mehmedovic remarked the arrest of Radovan Karadzic has opened up the prospect that justice can be achieved for the victims of Srebrenica, Sarajevo and so many other places where people paid the price for Karadzic's ambitions. What it doesn't do, at least yet, is challenge the status of Republika Srpska, Karadzic's creation and the concrete outcome of all the blood-shedding. RS is still to a large extent an ethnically cleansed safe haven for untried war criminals.

27 July is the thirteenth anniversary of the fall of an Eastern Bosnian safe area that rarely gets a mention in the media. Colonel Avdo Palic was the commander of Bosnian Government forces defending the United Nations-protected enclave of Zepa during the Bosnian war. In July 1995, following the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Zepa by Serb forces, an agreement was reached between the Serbs, the Bosnian government and the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). UNPROFOR would organize medical evacuations and the transportation of civilians from Zepa to Kladanj in Bosnian government-held territory. The forced evacuation from Zepa resulted in 5,000 Bosniaks reaching safety in Kladanj. The success of this forced evacuation was due in part to Colonel Avdo Palic.

He succeeded in saving Zepa's civilian population, but paid a price. Colonel Palic was seized by armed Bosnian Serb Army soldiers from the UN compound in Zepa in front of eyewitnesses. General Mladic himself acknowledged that Palic was seized. Colonel Palic has never been seen again by representatives of the international community. He became part of another tragic statistic of this war, adding his name to the thousands of people missing. Now Colonel Palic's wife, Esma Palic, has to live not knowing the fate of her husband. We ask you to urge the authorities in Republika Srpska to provide all relevant information on the fate of Avdo Palic and the thousands of others who went missing during the war.

He is thought to have been held for some time as a prisoner of the Bosnian Serbs but it is now fairly certain that he is dead. His widow Esma Palic has been battling for years to find out from the authorities in Republika Srpska what actually happened to her husband and where his body is buried.

Phivan Wright, of the 23rd Houston Amnesty International Group in the US, who has been a committed supporter of Mrs Palic as well as a supporter of Hasan Nuhanovic's campaign to secure justice for his family, has sent me a letter about the next step in the Group's campaign on behalf of Mrs Palic. (Background and information about the campaign so far are at www.whereisavdopalic.com)

In an attempt to speed up the progress of enquiries and achieve a conclusion to the investigation Phivan is asking for letters / e-mails to be sent to Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, to complete the invetsiagation into Avdo Palic's disappearnce so that those responsible can be brought to justice.

Please try and write as soon as possible and in any case in time for the anniversary of Avdo Palic's disappearance, 27 July. And please pass on to anyone you think would be interested. The Houston Amnesty Group's website about Avdo Palic (link below) will give you some of the background.

There's a statement by Amnesty International about Karadzic's arrest, and a link to an article that quotes Esma Palic commenting on the arrest at www.balkaninsight.com

***

Phivan's message follows:

After a year-long hiatus, we (my Amnesty International group in Houston) are resuming work on the case of Avdo Palic since there has been no significant progress in the investigation in the last twelve months. For those of you who want to refresh your memory, go to www.whereisavdopalic.com (Note: this is a new URL).

When you last heard, the Republika Srspka (RS) Prime Minister had promised Esma Palic, Avdo's wife, that he would speed up the work of the Commission appointed to investigate Avdo's "disappearance". Exhumations were carried out at Rasadnika, near Rogatica, and were witnessed by Mrs Palic. To date, six bodies have been exhumed, but none of those on which DNA analysis has been completed has been identified as that of Avdo's. For the others, the results of the analysis are still to be announced. Amnesty Internaternational issued a statement in August 2007 expressing concern at the lack of progress. This month marks the 13th anniversary of Avdo's "disappearance". The search for his body must be speeded up and the investigation concluded without any further delay.

Attached is a sample letter to the RS Prime Minister. You will also find the letter below in case you cannot open the attachment. If you want to use email instead of snail mail, Prime Minister Dodik's email address is kabinet@vladars.net and Minister of Interior Cadjo's email address is mup@mup.vladars.net.

Please send a blind copy to me at pvlwright@yahoo.com so I can keep track of the number of letters sent. I'd be grateful if you could do it asap, or before July 27th, the 13th anniversary of Avdo's "disappearance". To those of you who maintain mailing lists or are members of a group, thank you for forwarding to your lists/groups.

The sample letter was drafted with Amnesty International members and people with limited time in mind. If you are not an AI member and/or want to use your own wording, that's great. If you are writing in an Amnesty capacity, thank you for staying close to the spirit and tone of the sample letter.

I'm on vacation from this Thursday till the end of the month, and will only have intermittent access to email, but I will make every effort to get back to you promptly should you have any questions.

Thank you very much!

Phivan Wright
www.amnestyhouston.org
www.whereisavdopalic.com

***

Phivan's sample letter to Dodik (kabinet@vladars.net):

Milorad Dodik
Banski Dvor
Vuka Karadzica 4
78000 Banja Luka
Republika Srpska
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dear Prime Minister,

As a member of Amnesty International, I am concerned about the continuing impunity for "disappearances" and other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed during the war in BiH, and the continuing lack of justice and redress for the victims of these violations and their relatives.

I am writing about Avdo Palic who "disappeared" from the UNPROFOR base in Zepa in 1995. This month marks the 13th anniversary of his "disappearance". In 2001, the Human Rights Chamber instructed the RS government to carry out a full investigation into his fate, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice, and to make all such information available to his wife, Esma Palic. It is high time that those reasonably suspected of participation in Avdo Palic's "disappearance" are brought to justice. The search for his body must be speeded up and successfully concluded without further delay.

According to Article 6 of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, "Any person alleged to have perpetrated an act of enforced disappearance in a particular state shall be brought before the competent civil authorities of that State for the purpose of prosecution" and "All States should take any lawful and appropriate action available to them to bring all persons presumed responsible for an act of enforced disappearance, found to be within their jurisdiction or under their control, to justice".

Furthermore, the Human Rights Chamber of BiH has ruled that the continued suffering of the "disappeared" amounts to a violation of their right not to be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment according to Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

Thank you for keeping in mind the continued suffering of Avdo Palic's family, and for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to hearing from you about any progress in this investigation.

Sincerely,

copy to:
Minister of the Interior Stanislav Cadjo
Desanke Maksimovic 4
78000 Banja Luka
Republika Srpska
Bosnia and Herzegovina
mup@mup.vladars.net

RADOVAN KARADZIC IS ARRESTED

THE MASTERMIND OF SREBRENICA GENOCIDE, HAILED AS THE "OSAMA BIN LADEN OF EUROPE," WAS 13 YEARS ON THE RUN

PHOTO: Here is your Caveman!
Radovan Karadzic aka Dragan Dabic, aka Dragan David Dabic.

Former Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men, has been arrested in Serbia's capital of Belgrade on Monday. His reported hide-outs included Serbian Orthodox monasteries and refurbished mountain caves in remote eastern Bosnia. He is is said to have eluded arrest so long by shaving his swoopy gray hair and disguising himself as a Serbian Orthodox priest. Karadzic is indicted for orchestrating the Srebrenica genocide, the worst attrocity in Europe since World War Two, and other grave human rights violations, including the 43-month siege of Sarajevo which claimed 12,000 lives - 1,500 of them children.

It will be interesting how Radovan Karadzic's defence will play out in a court of law. Radical Serbian ultra-nationalists have had 13 years to forge evidence in Karadzic's defense. What we can expect to see during the trial is forged evidence signed by "Radovan Karadzic" presumably showing that he 'respected' all Geneva Conventions and never intended to harm anybody.

Hopefully the international judges will not let themselves be distracted from doing their job properly.

Karadzic practiced alternative medicine in Belgrade and also worked in a private doctor’s surgery under the alias Dragan David Dabic. He had moved freely through the city, and had appeared in public places. He even appeared on radio shows and spoke in a forum dedicated to healthy lifestyles. He was even a contributor for the Zdrav Život (Healthy Life) magazine.

"A major thug has been removed from the scene," former US envoy to the Balkans Richard Holbrooke said, describing Radovan Karadzic as the "Osama Bin Laden of Europe."

To bring Karadzic to justice, the United States Government offered $5 million reward for information leading to his arest.

Within minutes of Karadzic's arrest, the news had quickly spread through Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, with the city's street jammed with honking cars and people pouring out of cafes and restaurants, many singing and chanting.

Natasha Kandic, director of the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade, said to New York Times by telephone from her home moments after hearing the news: “I’m still in shock. This is historic news. Nobody believed anymore this would be possible. I was sure Karadzic was under the protection of the church.”

The White House called the arrest "an important demonstration of the Serbian government's determination to honor its commitment to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal."

"The arrest of Radovan Karadzic is confirmation that every criminal will eventually face justice," said Munira Subasic, who lost 22 members of her family in Srebrenica genocide. "I hope that people who had to keep quiet because of Karadzic will start revealing the locations of mass graves and let us find the truth about our beloved ones," she said.

"This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade. It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law," said Serge Brammertz, the tribunal's head prosecutor.

A statement from the EU presidency, currently held by France, said the arrest was "an important step on the path to the rapprochement of Serbia with the European Union."

At the United Nations in New York, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, welcomed what he said was "a historic moment for the victims" of the Bosnian war who he said had waited 13 years to see Karadzic brought to justice. "Ending impunity is an essential element for achieving sustainable peace and justice in the region," Ban said.

SERB POLICE IN KRAVICA BANS RELATIVES FROM LAYING FLOWERS TO GENOCIDE SITE

Federal News Agency (FENA) reported that Bosnian Serb police on Tuesday prevented survivors and relatives of Srebrenica genocide victims from visiting a massacre site in Kravica village where Serbs slaughtered around 1,500 Bosniak men, children, and elderly.

"They didn't let us pass, they didn't even let us lay flowers," Munira Subasic, head of a Srebrenica women's association, told Reuters from a bus returning to Sarajevo under police escort. "It's like it's 1995 all over again, we are on a bus under Serb escort," Subasic said. "This is such an injustice, so unbelievable. I cannot even cry."

Kravica is a village in Bratunac municipality, just outside of Srebrenica. It was a heavily armed Serb village from which Serbs bombed Srebrenica with artillery. On 3 September 1991, on the brink of the war, the Eastern Bosnia's first victims of ethnic violence were killed when a group of Kravica policemen and paramilitary nationalists ambushed a car of Bosniaks, killing two out of three people inside. None of the policemen and accomplices in the attack were ever brought to trial.

By January 1993, Serb forces ethnically cleansed 90% of the eastern Bosnia from Bosniaks and slaughtered about 1,000 Bosniak civilians in the area.

On 7 January 1993 (Orthodox Christmas day), the Bosniak forces under the command of Naser Oric counter-attacked and captured Kravica, a Serb military stronghold at the time. An estimated 25 Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) soldiers were killed and 36 wounded. 11 civilians were also killed and most of the houses were damaged in the battle.

In order to justify Srebrenica genocide, Serbian nationalists have propagated grossly inflated claims that over 3,000 Serb civilians were murdered around Srebrenica. Some Serb sources, such as Srebrenica genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic, allege that Kravica's 353 inhabitants were "virtually completely destroyed." Both these accounts were discredited by the International Criminal Tribunal. A press briefing by the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) dated 6 July 2005 noted that the number of Serb deaths in the region alleged by the Serbian authorities "[does] not reflect the reality."

On 13 July 1995, Serbs carried executions of 1,500 Bosniak civilians in the largest of four warehouses (farm sheds) owned by the Agricultural Cooperative in Kravica. The Bosniak civilians and the prisoners of war were locked in the warehouse. At around 18.00 hours, Serb soldiers soldiers threw in hand grenades and opened fire with various weapons, including an anti-tank gun, and slaughtered them. At Kravica, it seems that the local population had a hand in the killings. Some victims were mutilated and killed with knives. The bodies were taken to Bratunac or simply dumped in the river that runs alongside the road. The bodies were first buried in mass graves, then dug out with bulldozers and moved to hide the crime. Victims' remains are scattered in several graves, taking years to identify.

Although regional court in Bijeljina yesterday rejected the Serb Police's decision to prevent the genocide survivors and the victims' relatives from paying respect to their dead in Kravica, the damage has already been done. Bosniaks were prevented from laying flowers on one of the largest genocide sites in Kravica as part of the 13th commemoration of Srebrenica genocide

"We won't give up, we'll come again," Subasic said. "Only next time we won't announce our arrival."

13TH ANNIVERSARY OF SREBRENICA GENOCIDE

"We call upon the European Parliament to pronounce this day a day of mourning in Europe, to organise commemoration ceremonies in Europe and to send a message that another holocaust, and another genocide will never happen again." - Reis Mustafa Ceric

"I know it is unlikely after this time I will find them but every time I hear of a new grave I hope that at last my soul can rest. Many bodies were burned or thrown in the river." - Sabaheta Fejzic.

The 13th commemoration of Srebrenica genocide, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II , took place a day after a court in the Netherlands ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear a case brought by relatives of the Srebrenica victims against the United Nations, which they accuse of failing to protect them.

Close to 40,000 people gathered in front of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial in Potocari on Friday, July 11, to remember the 1995 Srebrenica genocide and attend a funeral for 308 recently DNA-identified victims. The youngest victims was only 15 years old, and the oldest was 84. With the funeral on Friday, the number of victims buried in Potocari, a site just east of Srebrenica, totalled 3,215.

Kerry-Ann Martin, senior forensic anthropologist at the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), and her team have to date identified some 5,200 victims of Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

The U.N. war crimes court has established that Bosnian Serbs, supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro, committed the lion's share of the atrocities in a campaign to wipe out their Bosniak compatriots.

PHOTO CAPTION: Munira Subasic lost 22 members of her family when Bosnian Serbs overran Srebrenica. More than eight thousand men, children, and elderly were rounded up, stripped of their identification papers and then slaughtered.

It took symbolic 1 hour, 7 minutes, and 11 seconds (7/11/1995) to read the names of the 308 genocide victims from Srebrenica who were buried Friday in Potocari.

During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, the United Nations declared Srebrenica — which had been besieged by Serb forces throughout the war — a U.N.-protected safe area for civilians. However, the area was constantly attacked by Serbs from surrounding villages around Srebrenica. Thousands of Bosniaks flocked into the enclave for protection.

In July 1995, Serb troops led by wanted war criminal Gen Ratko Mladic overran the enclave and slaughtered at least 8,000, and up to 10,000 men, children, and elderly. Tens of thousands of civilians were forcibly expelled in an attempt to ethnically cleanse the area of Bosniaks. Mladic and the former Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, both indicted for genocide, are two of the most wanted European fugitives in hiding.

"The UN will never acknowledge their mistake, even though the crime happened on their watch, before the eyes of the world," said Hafiza Klepic (36), who came from Denmark to bury the remains of her husband, after burying her brother last year. "But we will not give up, justice must be done," she said.

"We should pray that sadness becomes hope, that justice replaces revenge, and that a mother's tears are a prayer for the tragedy of Srebrenica never to happen again," the head of Bosnia's Islamic Community, Mustafa Ceric, said during the religious service.

"We call upon the European Parliament to pronounce this day a day of mourning in Europe, to organise commemoration ceremonies in Europe and to send a message that another holocaust, another genocide will never happen again... This should be a lesson that no one can be persecuted or killed on the bases of their religion, nationality or skin color. Not Muslims, nor Jews or anybody. Generations should hear this message from Srebrenica,'' said Reis Ceric.

This year, for the first time, Serbian activist Milica Tomic joined the "March of Death - Path of Freedom," through the route where Srebrenica civilians and their defenders were hunted and killed. The anniversary was also marked in Belgrade a day before by a peaceful demonstration organized by the Women in Black NGO.

A film entitled “The Women of Srebrenica Speak” by Milica Tomić was screened yesterday. The commemoration was not attended by any senior Bosnian Serb officials.

This year, more than 2,000 people joined the Peace March on a four day long walk to Srebrenica in a march to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the genocide in the former eastern Bosniak enclave during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The March started from the village of Sapna, near the eastern Bosnian Serb town of Zvornik, and ended in front of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial Memorial in Potocari on Friday, July 11, the actual day of the anniversary.

PHOTO CAPTION: Bosniak men carried Bosnia-Herzegovina state flag and Bosnian historic flag (white) at a start point of a four-day march to the Srebrenica, in the village of Nezuk near Zvornik. A four-day march is held along the route survivors used 13 years ago to escape the Bosnian Serb killings in Srebrenica, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

13 years after the murders of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks in Srebrenica, the mothers, sisters and wives of the victims are still waiting for the guilty to be brought to justice. In Milica Tomic’s 15-minute documentary, they talk about their fates and their attitude towards Serbs:

“I would like to ask all Serbian mothers and all Serbs whose hands have not been stained with blood to stand by those innocent people and denounce the perpetrators.”

"I would like to ask the Serbian authorities to stop hiding the criminals, and the Serbian youth not to listen to them, to come to Srebrenica, to see. I do not teach my children to hate, but to see people as they are, not to ask them their name, names are not important.”

This year, 12 former Dutch soldiers who served in Srebrenica joined a memorial march — made by survivors and volunteers every July — along the mountain track the 15,000 men took in 1995.

"I do not consider myself personally responsible for what happened," said Rob Zomer, 35, one of the former soldiers. "I did what I could."

His colleague Johan de Jonge, 40, said July 1995 has changed his life: he has become aggressive, and suffers nightmares and insomnia.

Miroslav Lajcak was also present at the commemoration of genocide. He came to pay his respect to more than 8,000 innocent victims.

"In 1905 George Santayana wrote that: 'Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,'" - said Lajcak, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina/EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Today we are gathered here not only to pay our respects to the families who are burying their loved ones, but also to remember the past in the hope we will never again have to repeat it. I say “we” because genocide is the worst crime against humanity, and a crime against humanity is a crime against all of us... The first requirement of justice is to find and punish all of those who were involved in the genocide."

"I know it is unlikely after this time I will find them but every time I hear of a new grave I hope that at last my soul can rest. Many bodies were burned or thrown in the river. But for some families this place means that their nightmare is over. One day it may be so for me," - said Sabaheta Fejzic who lost her son, her husband, and her father.

"They killed him in one spot and then mutilated his body. It was a crime on top of a crime. When they find his head I shall finally be able to lay him to rest and I will have a place to lay a rose," - said Zumra Sehomerovic,remembering her husband.

At Friday's ceremony, survivors and victims' relatives were joined by diplomats and local leaders led by the Croat and Muslim members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency -- Zeljko Komsic and Haris Silajdzic.

"We are still fighting to prove to the world what has happened here while those who are the most responsible for the crime are being rewarded with freedom," said Munira Subasic, head of an association of Srebrenica mothers.

"It was so hard when they informed me that my father has been identified," said Mehmedovic, who added however that she was "glad that his soul will finally find peace," - said Vanesa Mehmedovic as she watched on as remains of her father were simultaneously laid in graves along with the 307 other victims.

Zina Huremovic, 49, was pregnant the last time she saw her husband, Izet, before she escaped the besieged town in 1993. She searched for Izet ever since, even leaving a drop of her son's blood at the DNA lab. Last year she was notified that Izet's body had been excavated and identified.

"I was waiting for all these years — looked at his picture and hoped he would come back," her son, Ermin, now 15, said as his mother sobbed in his arms. "Today I am burying my hope with him," the boy said. "That's why I will never forget or forgive."

The highest World Courts, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have ruled that the massacre in Srebrenica was genocide. Former Secretary General Kofi Annan described it as the darkest page in U.N. history.

Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic and the political leader of Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadzic have both been indicted for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Both of them are still fugitives from justice and the U.S. Government has placed $5 million reward for information leading to their arrest (reward info for: Radovan Karadzic / Ratko Mladic).

If you would like to learn more about Srebrenica Genocide, please consult our Questions and Answers.

Srebrenica genocide is not a matter of anybody's opinion; it's a judicial fact recognized first by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and subsequently by the International Court of Justice.

MAY VICTIMS' SOULS REST IN PEACE...

PHOTO CAPTION: A Bosniak woman cries surrounded by coffins containing the remains of her family members inside the Potocari memorial cemetery July 10, 2008, a day before a funeral ceremony to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The Bosnian Serb forces slaughtered some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys after the former United Nations "safe zone" fell into their hands in 1995. Newly identified victims are buried each year by their families after their bodies are dug out of mass graves.

GROSSLY INFLATED NUMBERS OF SERB "VICTIMS" AROUND SREBRENICA USED TO JUSTIFY GENOCIDE OF BOSNIAKS

In response to the justification of Srebrenica Genocide by Serbian ultra-nationalist activists.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Updated Version 18:00 p.m.]

Srebrenica genocide claimed at least 8,000 Bosniak (Muslim) lives - men, children, and elderly - who were summarily executed, dumped into mass graves, then relocated to the secondary mass graves to hide the crime. Many genocide victims were dumped into the Drina river and will likely never be found.

Every year around this time, Serbian ultra-nationalist media actively promotes grossly inflated number of 3,000+ "Serb victims" around Srebrenica to justify genocide of more than 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica. Here is what the public should know:

FACTS: In an attempt to justify genocide of more than 8,000 Bosniaks, 151 Serb civilian victims around Srebrenica were grossly inflated to a number of 3,000 by Serbian radical nationalist Milivoje Ivanisevic.

In order to justify Srebrenica genocide, Serbian nationalists propagate grossly inflated claims that over 3,000 Serb civilians were murdered around Srebrenica. Milivoje Ivanisevic, who came up with this number, is a Srebrenica genocide denier himself. Ivanisevic's claims were discredited by the International Criminal Tribunal, Serbia's Human Rights Watch, and Bosnia's State-level Research and Documentation Center.

It is agreed by all sides that Serbs suffered a number of casualties during military forays led by Naser Oric, considering that Serbs used surrounding villages around Srebrenica to launch attacks on Srebrenica. The controversy over the nature and number of the casualties came to a head in 2005, the 10th anniversary of the massacre. According to Human Rights Watch, the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party "launched an aggressive campaign to prove that Muslims had committed crimes against thousands of Serbs in the area" which "was intended to diminish the significance of the July 1995 crime."

A press briefing by the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) dated 6 July 2005 noted that the number of Serb deaths in the region alleged by the Serbian authorities had increased from 1,400 to 3,500, a figure the OTP stated "[does] not reflect the reality." The briefing cited previous accounts:

The Republika Srpska's Commission for War Crimes gave the number of Serb victims in the municipalities of Bratunac, Srebrenica and Skelani as 995; 520 in Bratunac and 475 in Srebrenica. The Chronicle of Our Graves by Milivoje Ivanisevic, president of the Belgrade Center for Investigating Crimes Committed against the Serbs, estimates the number of people killed at around 1,200. For the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom, a book published by the RS Ministry of Interior, referred to 641 Serb victims in the Bratunac-Srebrenica-Skelani region.

The accuracy of these numbers is challenged: the OTP noted that although Ivanisevic's book estimated that around 1200 Serbs were killed, personal details were only available for 624 victims. The validity of labeling some of the casualties as "victims" is also contested: studies have found a significant majority of military casualties compared to civilian casualties. This is in line with the nature of the conflict—Serb casualties died in raids by Bosniak forces on outlying villages used as military outposts for attacks on Srebrenica (many of which had been ethnically cleansed of their Bosniak majority population in 1992).

For example the village of Kravica was attacked by Bosniak forces on Orthodox Christmas Day, 7 January 1993. Some Serb sources such as Ivanisevic allege that the village's 353 inhabitants were "virtually completely destroyed". In fact, the VRS' own internal records state that 46 Serbs died in the Kravica attack: 35 soldiers and 11 civilians, while the ICTY Prosecutor's Office's investigation of casualties on 7 and 8 January in Kravica and the surrounding villages found that 43 people were killed, of whom 13 were obviously civilians. Nevertheless the event continues to be cited by Serb sources as the key example of heinous crimes committed by Bosniak forces around Srebrenica.

As for the destruction and casualties in the villages of Kravica, Siljkovići, Bjelovac, Fakovići and Sikirić, the judgment states that the prosecution failed to present convincing evidence that the Bosnian forces were responsible for them, because the Serb forces used artillery in the fighting in those villages. In the case of the village of Bjelovac, Serbs even used the warplanes.

The most up-to-date analysis of Serb casualties in the region comes from the Sarajevo-based Research and Documentation Center, a non-partisan institution with a multiethnic staff, whose data have been collected, processed, checked, compared and evaluated by international team of experts. The RDC's extensive review of casualty data found that Serb casualties in the Bratunac municipality amounted to 119 civilians and 424 soldiers. It also established that although the 383 Serb victims buried in the Bratunac military cemetery are presented as casualties of ARBiH units from Srebrenica, 139 (more than one third of the total) had fought and died elsewhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Book of the Dead, which was backed down by international experts (including Ewa Tabeau, head of the Demographic Unit research team of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague), lists 151 Serb civilian victims.

The Serbs never demilitarized around Srebrenica. The Bosnian Government had entered into demilitarization agreements with the Bosnian Serbs. On 21 April 1993, the UNPROFOR issued press release saying that the process of demilitarization of Bosnian defenders of Srebrenica had been a success. According to the Agreement, the Serbs should withdraw their heavy weapons before the Bosniaks gave up their weapons. The Serbs refused to demilitarize. They never honored their part of agreement. Instead, Serb military and paramilitary troops continued using surrounding Serb villages as a base for attacks on (and brutal siege of) Srebrenica.

Serb sources maintain that casualties and losses during the period prior to the creation of the safe area gave rise to Serb demands for revenge against the Bosniaks based in Srebrenica. The ARBiH raids are presented as a key motivating factor for the July 1995 genocide. This view is echoed by international sources including the 2002 report commissioned by the Dutch government on events leading to the fall of Srebrenica (the NIOD report). However these sources also cite misleading figures for the number of Serb casualties in the region. The NIOD report, for instance, repeats the erroneous claim that the raid on Kravica resulted in the total annihilation of its population. Many consider these efforts to explain the motivation behind the Srebrenica massacre are merely revisionist attempts to justify the genocide. To quote the report to the UN Secretary-General on the Fall of Srebrenica:

Even though this accusation is often repeated by international sources, there is no credible evidence to support it… The Serbs repeatedly exaggerated the extent of the raids out of Srebrenica as a pretext for the prosecution of a central war aim: to create a geographically contiguous and ethnically pure territory along the Drina, while freeing their troops to fight in other parts of the country. The extent to which this pretext was accepted at face value by international actors and observers reflected the prism of 'moral equivalency' through which the conflict in Bosnia was viewed by too many for too long.