Important enhancement of European security

I did a search, and did not come across any recent diary on Serbia and/or Bosnia.

Cross posted and slightly edited from boomantribune.

I had actually seen a couple of references to this story this morning in the European news media, but didn't pay much attention because of a tight deadline at work.  Then, checking my yahoo-account just an hour ago, or so - I coincidentally noticed this headline on Yahoo-news:

Serbs shocked by video of Srebrenica killings

Obviously, I had to take another look - maybe Yahoo reported it differently, or more up-to-date than what I read this morning.  And I was in for a positive surprise.

More below the fold:

The link leads to a great resource page with many links, including video (which I did not check, as I am on dial-up).

Check out this article by Reuters:

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Film of paramilitary soldiers slaughtering six young Bosnian Muslim captives in 1995 has opened another crack in the wall of Serbian war crimes denial and major arrests may follow, officials said on Friday.
(snip)
"This video will mark a turning point in the minds of our public and make it easier for the government to fulfil its commitments toward the (Hague war crimes) tribunal," said Minister for Human Rights Rasim Ljajic, a Muslim.

His words are code here for the arrest of General Ratko Mladic, former commander of the Bosnian Serb army. He is indicted for genocide in Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, the July 1995 massacre at Srebrenica of 8,000 Muslim males.

"When normal people in Serbia see this video, I think their consciences will start to work and they will put an effort into bringing the criminals to justice," said Zumra Sahomerovic of the Sarajevo-based association of Srebrenica mothers.

Not to mention that actual action is already happening, as reported by AFP:

BELGRADE (AFP) - Eleven former Serb paramilitary troops have been arrested in Serbia and Bosnia for allegedly taking part in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslims, after a gruesome video tipped off prosecutors, officials said.

And Carla del Ponte has more to offer:

UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has said her office has more video evidence on the 1995 massacre of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica.

"It will be made public only when we provide it in the court," Ms Del Ponte said in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.

I think this reporting suggests that an important process is starting.  Most of the Serbs have been shielded from the terrible truth of the civil wars of the early '90s (late '90s - and even today - in Kosovo).  The Serbs were not alone in committing atrocities - but by their mere size and access to resources, they were more 'effective' in performing them.  Parts of the Serbian society tradition is also to regard itself as a victim.  The wide publication of these videos will puncture some illusions.  Maybe we will get a 'truth-commission'?

I've been a bit down this week after the French and Dutch rejections of the EU-constitution (not that I feel strongly about it - Norway is, curiously, not a member - but I like the community-idea), but this was a great upper at the end of the week.  I think it is a very important step in improving security in what has been a terribly troubled region of Europe for centuries.

•  A great step forward

  if the Serbs are willing to face the recent past.
  If you think this is an important development, please send it around.
  For a good mix of domestic and international news; go to boomantribune.

  by ask on Fri Jun 03, 2005 at 07:31:26 PM PDT

•  This has

  received pretty extensive TV coverage in Canada. It hadn't even occured to me, until this diary, that it would be under-reported.

  video is on the top-right side - Video: Nancy Durham reports 2:39 minutes.

  by wabegg on Fri Jun 03, 2005 at 07:40:27 PM PDT

  •  Well, I've pretty much given up

    on TV-news here, but this story has recived little coverage.  I'm curious to see op-eds - I didn't notice any.

    by ask on Fri Jun 03, 2005 at 08:26:45 PM PDT

    •  It took a while...

      but this AP article by KATARINA KRATOVAC does provide more than a context-free blurb.

      "The pictures mark the first time most Serbs have seen such images and could change the way the nation thinks of the slaughter in Bosnia, where Serb troops overran the enclave and killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys after separating them from women."
      ....

      "The shocking TV images prompted Serbian officials to acknowledge publicly that war crimes were committed by Serbs during the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. "
      

      by wabegg on Sat Jun 04, 2005 at 04:15:53 AM PDT

      •  Thanks wabegg

        read it with interest this morning.

        by ask on Sat Jun 04, 2005 at 08:19:28 AM PDT

•  about time

  IMB(iased)O many Serbs had  a victim complex, and many perfectly nice, cosmopolitan intellectuals in Belgrade were in a strange kind of denial: Look at US, we are nice, cultured, civilised people, why is THIS happening to US? (THIS being the NATO intervention in Kosovo and the bombing of the Danube bridges.)

  I think Kosovo and (to a lesser degree) Macedonia are now the trouble spots. A new Marshall plan would be nice for Serbia & co, to counteract their reliance on the black economy (esp. smuggling).

  by bfa on Fri Jun 03, 2005 at 07:42:05 PM PDT