While there is no doubt that up to a thousand Bosnian Muslim prisoners were illegally executed in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, there is a larger picture which is systematically obscured and downplayed. One of the elements of that picture are combat deaths on both sides in relative proximity to the execution sites. On the Muslim side casualties ran into thousands, a fact that was freely admitted by ICTY Prosecution military expert Richard Butler. The sleight-of-hand that was attempted by both ICTY and the Sarajevo authorities consisted of making no distinction between victims of execution and battle casualties, which made possible the incorporation of the latter within the official “genocide victim” count. That deceptive approach might have worked but for the discovery of dozens of 28th Division column survivors’ statements in the Prosecution’s own records. After reaching Sarajevo-controlled territory in Tuzla column survivors were debriefed by local authorities about their breakout experience. Since in the days immediately following the July 11, 1995, fall of Srebrenica a fixed narrative had not yet emerged, survivor statements were a generally honest portrayal of what they saw and experienced. Most of the statements are in the local language, of course, but a few such as those below were officially translated by ICTY. They tell a distressing story of death and suffering resulting from the order issued by the Sarajevo military and political leadership to military-age males in the enclave of Srebrenica to undertake the dangerous breakout manoeuvre in military battle formation.
Download column survivor statements translated into the English language:
Memisevic, Nurif ENG
Ramic Sado ENG
Smajlovic, Muhammed ENG