This is a restricted UN document that arguably was never meant to see the light of day. U.N. Military Observers (UNMOs) were stationed in Srebrenica together with Muslims in July 1995, when the Bosnian-Serbs attacked the enclave. UN Military Observers told their debriefers in New York that “the UNMOs were with the [Muslim] refugees for 24 hrs a day and knew nothing about the reports of the killing of men of military age. Single gunshots were heard but there was nothing to suggest they were from executions.” The Debrief of UNMOs from the Srebrenica Enclave is dated July 24, 1995, just 13 days after the events that are being reported on and while impressions were still fresh. It is marked “UN Restricted”. The testimony of these UN observers is of great value because it reflects what neutral observers saw and heard in an area where genocide is said to have occurred. In particular, it is informative about the frame of mind of Serbian forces as they obtained control of Srebrenica. Intent, it should be recalled, is the key component of the crime of genocide.
- Aleksandar Jokic*: Conventional wisdom about Yugoslavia and Rwanda — Methodological perils and moral implications
- George Pumphrey: Thoughts on ICTY and its pretensions