(1) What is Srebrenica Historical Project?
Srebrenica Historical Project is an NGO founded in the Hague, the Netherlands, in 2008. Its mission is to collect and publish factual data about events in Srebrenica and the surroundings during the recent civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992 to 1995, and also to study their causes and consequences. Our long-term goal is to create an historical archive, with focus on events in July 1995, encompassing personal testimonies, documents, and research findings which shed light on Srebrenica as a place of mass suffering of Muslims and Orthodox.
Once Srebrenica is situated in such a framework, contextualization becomes a methodological imperative. From the phenomenological standpoint Srebrenica is an issue of exceptional complexity. There is sharp disagreement not only in relation to the actual events of July of 1995, and why they occurred, but also the broader (and not just the historical) context of those events going back at least three years to the inception of the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, and even earlier. We have not arrived at any definitive conclusions, but we can offer a view on these issues that we believe is incontrovertibly correct. Reducing Srebrenica to a few days in July of 1995 unpardonably trivializes the tragic events which took place there during that brief period. More than that, such an approach results in a cartoonish distortion of a broader historical picture. Taken out of context – historical, political, cultural, etc. – any conversation about Srebrenica becomes pointless.
(2) What makes the United Nations and the Netherlands co-responsible for human suffering in Srebrenica?
From the legal standpoint, the United Nations and the Netherlands share responsibility. Original responsibility, of course, is attributable to the UN because, pursuant to the provisions of agreements setting up the Srebrenica protected and demilitarized zone that were reached in April and May of 1993, it assumed the obligation to ensure a peaceful and safe environment for residents of both communities in the area. The United Nations failed to act accordingly, either in terms of enforcing demilitarization of the enclave or of preventing military attacks originating from inside of it. During the latter part of the existence of the “demilitarized” zone under UN protection in Srebrenica, beginning in the spring of 1994, the Netherlands and its military contingent were stationed in Srebrenica as a peace-keeping force under UN command, charged with implementing obligations that the UN had taken upon itself. Of course, the picture is somewhat more complex than that, but that is the essence of it.
(3) What goals have we set for our research activities?
It would be best to begin by saying what are not our goals. We do not dispute the fact that, after Serbian forces took over Srebrenica on 11 July 1995, a large number of captured Muslim soldiers were illegally executed. Without any doubt, that is a grave crime and a serious violation of the laws and customs of war. However, it is now quite possible and, in our opinion, it would be desirable that some aspects of the Srebrenica narrative be modified in response to new evidence and insights. More than two decades after the event, we now have an opportunity to systematically assemble and calmly evaluate all available facts, without excessive emotions. We are no longer hostages to war propaganda and the special need to distort facts that arises under wartime conditions, and with particular frequency in brutal ethnic conflicts.
Some of these modifications, which we consider to be necessary, have to do with the actual number of victims on both sides, as well as the legal classification of the execution of captured Muslims. The problematic legal classification of the executions as genocide is a key factor in the propaganda war. That is the ultimate inspiration for numerous political claims and demands which, obviously, are unacceptable to the Serbian side. As a result, the parties find it very difficult to formulate a common, factually based position with regard to fundamental Srebrenica issues. We do not advocate a re-examination of the fact that a major war crime occurred. We urge, however, that this crime be viewed from a legally sound and factually-based perspective. The analytical work of Srebrenica Historical Project’s forensic team has made a signal contribution to precisely such a perspective. We believe that this is an approach that every civilized person would approve.
If we dared to cast off the tyranny of political correctness, another conclusion will follow. The human remains which are the subject of post-mortem reports issued by forensic experts engaged by the Prosecution of the Hague Tribunal, which the Srebrenica Historical Project forensic team has thoroughly reviewed, are in fact the only corpus delicti of the crimes committed in Srebrenica. After a careful analysis of over 3,500 autopsy reports generated by Hague Tribunal experts who conducted field exhumations between 1996 and 2001, the standard picture changes radically. The assumption that about 8,000 individuals were lined up and peremptorily shot has turned out to be a propaganda impression rather than a fact-based conclusion. Those who disseminated that impression using their influence over the media now owe an explanation – and perhaps even an apology – to the international public. All who profited from the implications of that impression in order to grandstand and thunder vacuous pseudo-moralistic phrases are now set for public shaming for their unprofessional conduct, be they journalists, “analysts”, or politicians. Out of about 8,000 victims whom the forces of the Republic of Srpska allegedly executed, barely 10% is verifiable using accepted forensic and legal procedures. The evidence blithely relied upon by the interested parties could hardly withstand scrutiny in a competent criminological laboratory, let alone in a court of law, anywhere in the civilized world.
Until recently, the international public were almost exclusively aware only of the victims of Srebrenica that were understood to belong to just one ethnic and religious community. Victims, also from Srebrenica, who belonged to the other community have largely been invisible and ignored. When we refer to these overlooked, Serbian victims we do not play number games and rely only on cases that have been verified in accordance with internationally accepted forensic and legal standards. Based on the evidence that we have collected, the victimological picture also has been altered profoundly.
One of our goals is to see to it that the neglected victims from Srebrenica and the surrounding region who perished during the three-year period between 1992 and 1995 – and who happen to be predominantly Serbian – should receive the same compassionate attention and respect as Muslim victims of Srebrenica who perished during the three-day period in July of 1995. That is all. Has anyone any reasonable objection to that?
(4) Are you receiving any official support from the Republic of Srpska?
Between 2009 and 2014, the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska voted annually a grant for the benefit of Srebrenica Historical Project, incorporating the grant into the Republic’s budget. Since 2014 that ceased to be the case. Since then, Srebrenica Historical Project has been operating exclusively on private donations, without financial assistance of any other kind or from any other source. The grant that for a period of time we had been receiving through the auspices of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, as a gesture of appreciation for our work, provided us with the degree of financial independence necessary to enable us to successfully carry out many fundamental tasks of significance to achieving the Project’s goals. Private donations are now sufficient to cover our needs.
(5) What is your position toward victims and cooperation with other organizations engaged in similar work?
To us, all victims have equal standing. We desire to work together with organizations which represent Bosnian Muslim victims, such as the Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa, whose mission is similar to ours, but which are working on parallel tracks. Many Serbian mothers of Srebrenica, as well as mothers from other communities, would be pleased to respond to an invitation by the Muslim Mothers of Srebrenica to join forces in the pursuit of truth and justice. We are, of course, available to offer support to such a noble effort