In the Krstić Trial Judgment, par. 547, the Chamber concludes that “[T]he evidence shows that the VRS sought to kill all the Bosnian Muslim military aged men in Srebrenica, regardless of their civilian or military status.” That categorical statement is contradicted by Dutchbat surgeon Dr. A. A. Schouten and UN Military Observers in Srebrenica, among others. It is contradicted also by the statements of Muslim military personnel and civilians who in the aftermath of July 11 1995 were captured by Serb forces but were not executed. An additional witness to the falsity of the Krstić chamber’s conclusion is Sadik Selimović, a Muslim from Srebrenica who was captured by Serb forces, transferred to a POW camp, and ultimately released in a prisoner exchange. In a statement given to ICTY investigators, Selimović describes the treatment of wounded prisoners in Serbian medical facilities following the fall of Srebrenica. On page 4 of his statement (ICTY database page 03052968) he mentions that at one point local Serbs were threatening to lynch wounded Muslim prisoners. What happened next, according to the witness, is totally incompatible with the version of events accepted by the Krstić and all subsequent ICTY chambers in their analysis of Srebrenica evidence. The witness statement was given in the native language, but the relevant passage is as follows: “That night, after some of the wounded were separated from the rest and an additional group of wounded arrived from Potočari, the commander of the Bratunac brigade, or so he introduced himself, came into our room. I believe he introduced himself as Ognjenović. He told us that he was under enormous pressure and that the local population wanted to kill us all, but that he will do everything in his power to make sure we survive the night. It was a stressful night, but they brought in additional guards and nothing happened.” The simplistic ICTY scenario for Srebrenica is in need of some nuancing, to say the least.
- Dutchbat doctor’s observations in Srebrenica in July 1995
- The virtues of unfalsifiability: Karl Popper looks at Srebrenica