His British-sounding name notwithstanding, Henry Wieland was a Peruvian career diplomat and UN Commissioner for human rights. In the latter part of July 1995, Wieland was dispatched to Bosnia to investigate reported violations in Srebrenica. He conducted most of his investigation in Tuzla, which was the destination of most Srebrenica refugees, where he had an opportunity to interview many of them. His findings, as reported by Tim Butcher of the London Daily Telegraph on July 24, 1995, were undoubtedly most unwelcome to those who were alleging that major atrocities had taken place following the capture of Srebrenica by Serbian forces.
On July 9, 1995, two days before the Bosnian Serbs captured the city, Pres. Izetbegovic called on Pres. Clinton to prevent “terrorism and genocide” at Srebrenica. On July 24, 1995, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Henry Wieland, whose team had spent five days interviewing scores of refugees among 20,000 Srebrenica survivors gathered at the Tuzla airport, told the London newspaper, The Daily Telegraph: “We have not found anyone who saw with their own eyes an atrocity taking place.”
Source: Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis
(Formerly Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily), Volume XXIII, No. 62, Friday, June 17, 2005
And as reported by the Daily Telegraph Bosnia correspondent:
“After five days of interviews the United Nations chief investigator into alleged human rights abuses during the fall of Srebrenica has not found any firsthand witnesses of atrocities.”
Source: Tim Butcher, “Serb Atrocities in Srebrenica are Unproven,” The Daily Telegraph, July 24, 1995.