KARADZIC OFFERED FALSE SAFETY GUARANTEES

Radovan Karadzic attempted to misled the international community with the "Declaration of the Republika Srpska Civilian Affairs Committee for Srebrenica No. 07-27/95, dated 17 July 1995." Must read: ↓

Genocide deniers frequently cite the above document as a 'proof' that former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, guaranteed the safety to the residents of Srebrenica. However, the facts tell a different story. Here is what the judges concluded in a case of Miroslav Deronjic and in relation to the Declaration of the Republika Srpska Civilian Affairs Committee for Srebrenica No. 07-27/95, dated 17 July 1995:

[quote Start] "Another example of [Srebrenica] revisionism is the 'Declaration of the Republika Srpska Civilian Affairs Committee for Srebrenica' No. 07-27/95, dated 17 July 1995, which was signed by the Accused in this case, Miroslav Deronjic, Civil Affairs Commissioner for Srebrenica, Nesib Mandzic, Representative of the Civilian Authorities of the Enclave of Srebrenica, and Major Franken, an UPROFOR Representative, Dutch Battalion Commander, at the time. This document in its operative part states that

- The civilian population can remain in the enclave or evacuate, dependant upon the wish of each individual;
- in the event that we wish to evacuate it is possible for us to choose the direction of our movement and have decided that the entire population is to evacuate to the territory of the County of Kladanj;
- It has been agreed that the evacuation is to be carried out by the Army and Police of the Republic of Srpska, supervised and escorted by UNPROFOR.
[…]
During the evacuation there were no incidents on either of the sides and the Serb side has adhered to all the regulations of Geneva Conventions and the international war law, as far as convoys actually escorted by UN forces are concerned.

The Trial Chamber accepts the submission by the Prosecution that Miroslav Deronjic with the encouragement of Radovan Karadžic prepared this document, whose 'contents [according to the Accused] did not correspond with the truth' and that it was done in order 'to mislead the international community'. Consequently, the Trial Chamber agrees that the Accused’s admission is important for two reasons:

1) '[it is] important to diffuse any suggestion in trials that are ongoing or will be coming up in the future about Srebrenica that the Bosnian Muslims left the enclave because of their own free will' and

2) '[it is] important to negate the arguments of future revisionists that might use this document for the proposition that the forcible displacement of the Bosniaks from Srebrenica was a mere humanitarian evacuation conducted in accordance with the principles of international law.'" [quote End]

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Source:
Miroslav Deronjic (Glogova massacre case), Trial Judgment (PDF)

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How it all started?

In April 1992 (more than three years before the Srebrenica massacre), Serb forces -- with logistical and military help from Serbia -- began a widespread campaign of brutal "ethnic cleansing" of the Bosniak [Bosnian Muslim] population of Eastern Bosnia. Thousands of Bosniak refugees flocked to Srebrenica. They were forced to live in the besieged enclave with little or no means of survival and under brutal Serb attacks. Many starved to death. 

Serb Army stationed around Srebrenica never demilitarized, even though they were required to do so under the 1993 demilitarization agreement. In 1992 alone, approximately 100,000 Bosniaks had been expelled from their homes and at least 11,391 Bosniaks were killed by Serb forces in eastern Bosnia (source: Research & Documentation Centre in Sarajevo), while hundreds of Bosnian Muslim villages were destroyed around Srebrenica.

Serb forces stationed around Srebrenica constantly attacked neighbouring Bosniak villages and Srebrenica itself. They also bombarded Srebrenica from air with Serbian airplanes.

In July 1995 the Bosnian Serb army staged a brutal takeover of Srebrenica and its surrounding area, where they proceeded to perpetrate genocide. Bosnian Serb soldiers -- with military and logistical help from Serbia -- separated families, committed brutal rapes of many women and girls, and then forcibly expelled at least 20,000, while summarily executing 8,372 Bosniak men and teenage boys. Srebrenica genocide is remembered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

DNA results of the International Commission on Missing Persons support an estimate of 8,100 Srebrenica genocide victims. As of July 11 2009, the identities of 6,186 genocide victims have been revealed by the DNA analysis.