Remembering Srebrenica

Today in Europe they are remembering the Srebrenica massacre, in which 8000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered. It was Europe's worst post-war massacre, and has rightly been described as a scar on the conscience of Europe.

What was done to stop it? Precious little. The international community's response to the collapse of Yugoslavia was woeful. The European Union, uncertain of its role, could not agree on any coherant policy to prevent or mitigate a war in their "backyard". The general lack of enthusiasm, particularly from Britian, limited their efforts to malign neglect. A similar story can be told at the international level. The US, as in WWII, initially did not wish to get involved. To its credit, as the war progressed, it did try to get the arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia overturned, which would have given the Croats and Bosnians some chance to defend themselves against the Yugoslav army - but they were hamstrung by Britain. And with the international community divided, the UN was unable to act.

The victims of Srebrenica were initially protected by Dutch peacekeepers under the UN flag. But the UN Security Council had refused to authorise force, and the lightly-armed peacekeepers were subject to rules of engagement which allowed them to fire only in the defence of themselves, rather than the civilians they were supposed to be protecting. When Bosnian Serb forces under General Ratko Mladic captured Srebrenica, they could (legally) do nothing to prevent the slaughter that followed. Their efforts were restricted to the post-takeover attempt to evacuate refugees to prevent a humanitarian crisis - which, while something everybody wanted, was tantamount to participating in ethnic clensing. When the Serb forces began murdering those left behind, the Dutch did nothing. A report into their inaction eventually caused the entire Dutch government to resign in 2002.

What has been done since to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice? Quite a lot. The UN established an International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, and it has set about issuing indictements and trying suspects. So far 56 have been convicted and another 80 are being tried or awaiting trial - including former Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic. Mladic and the former President of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadzic, are still at large, but the net seems to be gradually tightening. Increased diplomatic pressure from Europe has resulted in a large number of indicted war criminals surrendering or being handed over to the court; hopefully Mladic and Karadzic will soon be among them. Their trial and (hopefuly) conviction will not of course bring their victims back to life - but it will be better than nothing.