Ep.30 The Srebrenica Massacre, a “Human Sacrifice” with Professor Joseph Kaminski
25 years ago, on the 11 July, the massacre of over 8000 Muslim men and boys took place in Srebrenica. It followed three years of bitter warfare, pitting the Muslims of Bosnia in an asymmetric conflict against the Bosnian Serbs and their Serb state backers. President Milosevic’s rise to power upon a cocktail of Serbian nationalism and anti-Muslim phobia led to a self-proclaimed policy of ethnic cleansing. As the world looked on, sitting on their hands, Serb forces systematically ‘cleansed’ Bosnia of its Muslim’s, killing, raping and looting.
The Clinton administration stood back, initially leaving the unfolding crisis to be dealt with by the hapless European Union. The EU saw little interest in settling the crisis, instead hamstringing the Bosnian Muslim’s by imposing an international arms embargo upon them. When they did move, it was through a weak peacekeeping mission that lacked the political will to defend civilians against the machinery of a state.
Srebrenica was a UN safe haven, protected by Dutch peacekeepers. By 1995 the region had been “cleared” of Muslims with this small enclave together with Zepa and Gorazde, a magnet for fleeing civilians. As the facts on the ground changed and in an US election year, the Clinton administration wanted to pursue a peace treaty that would in effect accept the gains made by the Serbs through conquest. This is where Srebrenica, according to multiple sources including the US Special Envoy, Richard Holbrooke became a “sacrifice” for a greater goal of peace. I have detailed some of this evidence in a thread on my twitter feed, that I have linked in the description of this programme. Over a number of chilling days, Muslim prisoners were shot and buried in mass graves.
Our guest this week, Dr Joseph Kaminski is associate professor at the Department of International Relations at the International University of Sarajevo. He has spent the last six years in the country, which he has now adopted as his own. Dr Kaminski has written a number of papers on Islam and governance and he is currently authoring a book on Islam and liberalism, a matter we discuss at the end of the podcast.