RESPONSE TO CARL BILDT

FACTS ABOUT SREBRENICA GENOCIDE THAT CARL BILDT DOES NOT KNOW

[our readers are welcome to republish this letter in other sources]

PHOTO: DNA-identified remains of the Srebrenica genocide victims...

A world-renowned historical scholar and, by far, one of the most prominent experts on genocide studies - Dr. Marko Attila Hoare - recently noted on his blog that Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt is on record for denying more than half the victims of the Srebrenica genocide. I would like to respond publicly to these ignorant statements made by irrelevant, non-authoritative, and failed politicians like Carl Bildt.

First of all, DNA results of the International Commission on Missing Persons support an estimate of 8,100 Srebrenica genocide victims. So far, the identities of 6,186 genocide victims have been revealed by the DNA analysis. See ICMP press release as of July 11, 2009. Additionally, 30000 people were forcibly expelled from the enclave, with many women raped.

Second of all, rapes of women were an integral part of the Srebrenica genocide. The Serbs, said Johan Bos, a Dutch sergeant, “bragged about how they had murdered people and raped women….” (The Independent). "In one town, “three soldiers came onto the bus and told us to give them the youngest child …so they could slit its throat. Usually, though, the soldiers were content to rob and to rape, dragging out women of their choice, who wept and pleaded and did not return..."(UNHCR). A testimony by Zarfa Turkovic is especially moving:

"Zarfa Turkovic says she watched through half-closed eyes, pretending to sleep, hoping she would not be next, as four Bosnian Serb men raped a 28-year-old Muslim woman... Despite the presence of Dutch peacekeepers, the Turkovic says Bosnian Serbs raped a young victim from among the sleeping refugees. 'People were silent, no one moved. She was screaming and yelling and b egging them to stop. They put her a rag into her mouth, and then we were just hearing silent sobs coming from her closed lips. When they finished, the woman was left there.'" (Associated Press)

Third of all, a number of Srebrenica genocide victims were gassed with chemical weapons. According to the Human Rights Watch, the United States government conducted "an investigation, reported to have taken place in late 1996 or early 1997. The results of this investigation have not been made public, but in late 1996 or early 1997 the U.S. intelligence community had information suggesting that chemical weapons may have been used in Srebrenica. The government’s refusal to release the findings may, according to a U.S. official interviewed by Human Rights Watch, be based on a belief that making this information public might hurt the international effort to effect peace in the former Yugoslavia." See: Use of Chemical Weapons Requested by Chemical Tolimir.

Fourth of all, 40000 people were targeted for extinction in Srebrenica. Here is what the Presiding Judge Theodor Meron stated in a Judgment rendered against Serb General Radislav Krstic:

By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims [Bosniaks], the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general. They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity. (source)

Fifth of all, Srebrenica was a ghetto surrounded by genocidal Serb forces in heavily militarized Serb villages around Srebrenica. According to ambassador Arria, who initiated the visit of the UN Security Council delegation to Srebrenica in April 1993, and was at its head, described the situation in the enclave as “genocide in slow motion” (source). In his address to the UN Security Council on the issue Arria said, "we should call them what they are: ghettos, refugee camps, open jails, areas under threat; but we should never be so brazen to call them ‘safe areas’”. The safe areas actually gathered the people together in one place for the slaughter.

Sixth of all, In 1993, the Bosnian Government had entered into demilitarization agreements with the Bosnian Serbs. The Serbs never demilitarized around Srebrenica. Between 1992 and 1995, militarized Serb villages around Srebrenica had been used to attack and destroy nearby Bosniak villages around Srebrenica, as well as to launch brutal attacks on Srebrenica. Serb village of Kravica had a large cache of weapons and was used to stage attacks on Srebrenica and nearby Bosniak villages. Furthermore, Serbs used their villages around Srebrenica to block humanitarian aid coming into the Bosniak enclave, which caused Bosniaks to start dying from starvation and engage in counter-attacks for the purpose of obtaining food and demilitarizing heavily armed Serbs around Srebrenica (see excerpts from Naser Oric judgment).

I can go on and on, but ignorant individuals like Carl Bildt do not deserve more of my time. Here is my challenge to Carl Bildt:

If Carl Bildt wishes to have a public debate about the Srebrenica genocide, I will be more than glad to reveal my identity and to meet him at any time. His non-authoritative accounts of Srebrenica genocide show how ignorant he really is. If Bildt has a courage to publicly debate genocide on an academic level - bring it on. My E-mail is publicly listed.

Daniel