DUTCHBAT 3 VETERANS CONDEMN MARCO VAN HEES' SREBRENICA GENOCIDE DENIAL ACTIVISM

An article published in the Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti under the title "Korov laži ispod vetrenjača" is yet another example of the Srebrenica genocide denial activism currently spearheaded by hated UN Dutchbat veteran Marco Van Hees (aka: Marko Van Hes). Van Hees served in Srebrenica but left approximately 6 months before genocide was committed.

He wasn't even present during the terrible events of July 1995 but still feels qualified to pronounce about them and is anxious to testify before the International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in defence of Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader who publicly vowed to commit genocide by destroying Bosnian Muslims from the face of Earth.

Did Dutchbat troops witness crimes against Bosniaks at Srebrenica?

Recently Marco Van Hees met with Srebrenica genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic in Belgrade and informed him that no Dutch soldier had witnessed any crimes committed against the Bosniak (Muslim) population of Srebrenica - a claim easily dismissed by evidence previously offered by Dutch soldiers.

For example, according to the United Nations Secretary-General's Report, A/54/549:

"One of the Dutchbat soldiers, during his brief stay in Zagreb upon return from Serb-held territory, was quoted as telling a member of the press that "hunting season [is] in full swing... it is not only men supposedly belonging to the Bosnian Government who are targeted...women, including pregnant ones, children and old people aren't spared. Some are shot and wounded, others have had their ears cut off and some women have been raped."

In another incident recorded in the ICTY's 260 page-ruling in the case of Prosecutor vs. Krstic, "a Dutch Bat medical orderly came across two Serb soldiers raping a young woman:

"[W]e saw two Serb soldiers, one of them was standing guard and the other one was lying on the girl, with his pants off. And we saw a girl lying on the ground, on some kind of mattress. There was blood on the mattress, even she was covered with blood. She had bruises on her legs. There was even blood coming down her legs. She was in total shock. She went totally crazy."

Former Dutchbat 3 Sergeant-Major Hans Thijsen has condemned Marco Van Hees' Srebrenica genocide denial activism

Hans Thijsen, now President of Reünieverband Dutchbat 3, the association of Dutchbat 3 veterans who served in Srebrenica in 1995, has angrily condemned former Dutchbat member Marco Van Hees for denying genocide at Srebrenica and also for misrepresenting the Dutchbat III web site in Vecernje Novosti. This is Thijsen's press release translated into English:

We Got You - Fraud Unveiled!

Dutchbat troops,

This week in the Serbian media an interview was conducted with the so-called Dutchbat 3 member who has claimed that he represents 15 Dutchbat troops wanting to testify on Karadzic's behalf and deny genocide at Srebrenica. He also passes himself off as someone associated with our web site. His name is Marco Van Hees (who served in Dutchbat2 from June 1994 to January 1995). The board of the Reunion Connection for Dutchbat 3 members wish to make it clear that this Marco DOES NOT and MUST NOT speak for us. On behalf of all our members we distance ourselves from this individual and his claims about us, and we will take the necessary steps to prevent any repetition.

Hans Thijsen
Voorzitter reünieverband Dutchbat 3
http://www.dutchbat3.nl

We would like to thank Hans Thijsen for his heartfelt support. Hans Thijsen appeared in a documentary "Monument to Unresolved Grief" commemorating the tragic events and his emotional visit to Srebrenica 10 years after the genocide. For more information, click here.