When: Annually, July 11.
The Fall of Srebrenica is one of the events that took place during the war in Yugoslavia. Since 1997, this day has been referred to as National Srebrenica Commemoration. On this day, people in The Hague commemorate the approximately 8,000 Muslim boys and men who became victims of genocide on this day. That is the Dutch part of the commemoration. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Srebrenica is located, people also commemorate this day, of course.
The total number of victims has never been established to date. That there were at least more than 8,000 is clear. That is what research has shown. As recently as 2012, a figure of 7,000 boys and men had been assumed to have perished, according to this message from the BBC. The message features a timeline of the events that led to the fall of the enclave in 1995.
Resolution 819
The UN Security Council ruled via Resolution 819 that Srebrenica was designated a safe area for refugees. This resolution was unanimously approved by the council on April 16. To comply with this resolution, UN troops were stationed in Srebrenica. It was eventually Dutchbat troops who took over command from Canadian troops. The Dutch troops were, in accordance with Resolution 836 (1993) only lightly armed, so that one could only defend oneself in extreme emergencies. The UN believed that the mere presence of a force would be enough to keep Bosnian Serb forces from attacking or entering the enclave. That turned out to be a crucial mistake.
The first sign that things were going wrong was on 29 March 1995, when a mortar shell struck a Bosnian army observation post. This left a Dutch soldier seriously injured. On the way to the hospital in Tuzla, Private First Class Jeffrey Broere died. Months later, on 3 June, two more Dutch soldiers were seriously injured when an armoured vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile.
On July 6, 1995, it became clear that the enclave was in danger of being taken. Bosnian Serb troops were advancing and Lieutenant Colonel Thom Karremans, commander of Dutchbat, requested air support for the first time. From Sarajevo, this request was refused by Brigadier General Cees Nicolai, twice. Nicolai refused to pass on this request to UN headquarters in Zagreb. This would not fall under the agreements made, as there were no direct combat operations. Those followed on July 8, when the Foxtrot observation post was attacked. There, fighting broke out between Serb troops and Bosnian troops. The Dutchbat soldiers present had to withdraw. While breaking through a blockade thrown up by Bosnian troops, Dutch soldier Raviv van Renssen was killed when a hand grenade was thrown towards the armoured vehicle.
Air support
From Zagreb, it was General Bernard Janvier who then ordered Dutchbat on 10 July to set up a blockade, to block the advance of Serbian forces. This proved to be in vain, as tanks were already in Srebrenica a day later. Once again Karremans requested air support. Nicolai forwarded the request to Janvier, who refused. A second request was approved, however. The support was flawed because while they were already circling over the area, they were ordered to refuel in Italy. On July 11 at half past two in the afternoon, an attack was made on two tanks, which was of no value. US bombers were then called in, only they could not find the specified targets. Further air support was stopped by Defence Minister Joris Voorhoeve from The Hague. He considered this too risky, as the enclave was already being overrun by Serbian forces at that point. In this, he received support from the UN. What came into play was the Serbian military’s threat to kill a group of 55 Dutch soldiers they had taken hostage.
In the ensuing chaotic situation, the first people began to flee Srebrenica. In doing so, people fled to Potočari, where Dutchbat was stationed. Others, mostly men, tried to escape to Tuzla) via the mountains during the night (July 11-12). All those who did not manage to get away found shelter with Dutchbat in Potočari. The situation where the estimated five thousand refugees stayed could be called downright terrible. They stayed in a factory hall, without proper sanitation, sufficient water and food. As the surrounding area was controlled by Ratko Mladić’s troops, the media was prevented from accessing the area. Only a camera crew from Serbia that he had brought was allowed to take footage.
The images, when you consider what happened, were hallucinatory. Mladić and his troops were making small talk with people as if nothing was going on, assuring everyone that nothing would happen. In other footage, the commander of Serbian troops could be seen shouting towards the mountains to people who were hiding there. He assured them that really nothing would happen when they emerged. In yet other footage, soldiers of the Bosnian Serb army following the American example of after the liberation of Western Europe would you say hand out chocolates to children. These were perhaps the most insane images: Thom Karremans finally raising a toast with Ratko Mladić to a happy ending to all this. This would later, combined with the images of partying Dutchbatters in Zagreb, create a lot of bad blood. To this day, these are the images that the relatives of the Srebrenica tragedy cannot see. This is too painful.
Source: Wikimedia Commons/Michael Bueker.
Toast
The toast in question is an example of how things should not have gone. Karremans was, it is fair to say, completely overwhelmed. He did not make things much better either by stating that there were no good or bad persons in this battle. It would later turn out that this speech was concocted by defence ministry spokesmen (source). Does that make it all right? No, because one could argue that perhaps these Karremans should not have been there. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the capture of Srebrenica and the genocide of more than 8,000 innocent boys and men may be blamed on the Bosnian Serbs. How the Netherlands subsequently dealt with Dutchbat and this whole history is an open wound. Firstly, it is fair to say that recognition of this genocide was a long time coming. In addition, Dutchbat was dropped at some point. This while mistakes were made from the start. Think of a UN Resolution that was not powerful enough. Thus, Dutchbat had no manpower to defend itself properly and lacked the means to do so. Moreover, requests for air support were rejected several times.
Example of genocide
The Fall of Srebrenica is an open wound and an example of genocide, genocide. In fact, the National Srebrenica Commemoration is not enough. It is not a national commemoration. It is an event in which the Netherlands was involved in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that makes it better to speak of the Srebrenica Commemoration or the Commemoration of the Fall of Srebrenica.
Source: Wikimedia Commons/Mike Norton.
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