EDMONTON JOURNAL, COUNTEROFFENSIVE
What the Court saidTwo interesting responses that appeared in Edmonton Journal on 16 April 2010 directly challenge discredited Serbian propaganda. Republished with permission.
Re: "Serbs slaughtered, too," by Michael Pravica, Letters, April 12.
By Daniel Toljaga
Edmonton Journal, 16 April 2010.
Pravica's claim that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre was somehow justified as an act of Serb retaliation flies in the face of the historical record. Nor is it true, as he alleges, that "Islamic mujahedeen volunteers, led by Nasir Oric" participated in the defence of Srebrenica and "attacks on Serb villages." There were no "mujahedeen" in or around Srebrenica, but there were holy warriors from Christian countries, notably Russian and Greek volunteers fighting with the Serb forces.
In the lead-up to the Srebrenica genocide, Serb forces led by Gen. Ratko Mladic destroyed hundreds of Bosnian Muslim villages around Srebrenica and committed horrendous massacres against the Bosniak civilians.
All these crimes occurred three years before the Srebrenica genocide as part of a strategy of "ethnic cleansing" against the Bosnian Muslim population, which has been documented in court.
Surviving civilians took shelter in the Srebrenica enclave because they had nowhere else to go. Serb forces around Srebrenica never honoured their part of the UN-brokered demilitarization agreement and they constantly attacked Bosniak refugees within the "safe area." The 1995 Srebrenica genocide was thus a continuation and culmination of earlier massacres that Serb forces had committed against the largely unarmed Bosniak civilians in the area.
It is regrettable that some Serb civilians did die in the clashes between the Bosniak defenders and Serb attackers on the enclave, but Oric committed no massacres of Serb civilians. Unlike Mladic, however, who remains at large even to this day, Oric stood trial at The Hague and was ultimately found not guilty on all counts by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
By Daniel Toljaga
Edmonton Journal, 16 April 2010.
Pravica's claim that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre was somehow justified as an act of Serb retaliation flies in the face of the historical record. Nor is it true, as he alleges, that "Islamic mujahedeen volunteers, led by Nasir Oric" participated in the defence of Srebrenica and "attacks on Serb villages." There were no "mujahedeen" in or around Srebrenica, but there were holy warriors from Christian countries, notably Russian and Greek volunteers fighting with the Serb forces.
In the lead-up to the Srebrenica genocide, Serb forces led by Gen. Ratko Mladic destroyed hundreds of Bosnian Muslim villages around Srebrenica and committed horrendous massacres against the Bosniak civilians.
All these crimes occurred three years before the Srebrenica genocide as part of a strategy of "ethnic cleansing" against the Bosnian Muslim population, which has been documented in court.
Surviving civilians took shelter in the Srebrenica enclave because they had nowhere else to go. Serb forces around Srebrenica never honoured their part of the UN-brokered demilitarization agreement and they constantly attacked Bosniak refugees within the "safe area." The 1995 Srebrenica genocide was thus a continuation and culmination of earlier massacres that Serb forces had committed against the largely unarmed Bosniak civilians in the area.
It is regrettable that some Serb civilians did die in the clashes between the Bosniak defenders and Serb attackers on the enclave, but Oric committed no massacres of Serb civilians. Unlike Mladic, however, who remains at large even to this day, Oric stood trial at The Hague and was ultimately found not guilty on all counts by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Professor's views reflect an unbiased account of Balkan history
By Neda Glasnovic,
Edmonton Journal, 16 April 2010.
By Neda Glasnovic,
Edmonton Journal, 16 April 2010.
Instead of doing his research, Zac Farnden has chosen to parrot Serb propaganda, which perpetuates the myth of Serbs as the primary victims of the Second World War in Yugoslavia. That same myth was used by Serb extremists to justify their wars against Croatia and Bosnia during the 1990s.
Even a cursory examination of the evidence will show that more than 90 per cent of the atrocities during the latest conflicts were committed by Serbian units. This includes the murder and torture of tens of thousands of prisoners and the massacre of 8,000 Muslim males in Srebrenica -- the largest war crime in Europe since 1945. Muslims were again the principal victims, just as they had been half a century earlier.
Slovenia remains the largest unmarked graveyard in Europe. Since 1991, more than 500 mass graves have been found in the former Yugoslav republic, which hold the remains of as many as 190,000 mostly Croatian prisoners and refugees who were murdered by Serb-Communist units in May of 1945. Another 300 mass-execution sites have been located in Croatia and BiH.
I survived the postwar death marches, during which several members of my family disappeared without a trace.
It is sad that the western media chose to ignore the recent exhumation of 5,000 mummified victims from Slovenia's "Barbara." Some of the death squad commanders, who buried them alive, are probably still enjoying their state pensions.
Even a cursory examination of the evidence will show that more than 90 per cent of the atrocities during the latest conflicts were committed by Serbian units. This includes the murder and torture of tens of thousands of prisoners and the massacre of 8,000 Muslim males in Srebrenica -- the largest war crime in Europe since 1945. Muslims were again the principal victims, just as they had been half a century earlier.
Slovenia remains the largest unmarked graveyard in Europe. Since 1991, more than 500 mass graves have been found in the former Yugoslav republic, which hold the remains of as many as 190,000 mostly Croatian prisoners and refugees who were murdered by Serb-Communist units in May of 1945. Another 300 mass-execution sites have been located in Croatia and BiH.
I survived the postwar death marches, during which several members of my family disappeared without a trace.
It is sad that the western media chose to ignore the recent exhumation of 5,000 mummified victims from Slovenia's "Barbara." Some of the death squad commanders, who buried them alive, are probably still enjoying their state pensions.
posted by Srebrenica Genocide at 4:38 PM
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