SERBIAN MONSTER RATKO MLADIC

Report: Remembering the Day of the Srebrenica Genocide

July 22, 2009

“One of the most important ways to remember the genocide in Srebrenica is to commemorate the atrocities every July 11th” - Mr. Samuel Harris, Holocaust survivor and president of Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

Day of Remembrance of Srebrenica Genocide
Bosnian American Library in Chicago, July 11th 2009

Author: Sanja Seferovic Drnovsek, Educating Against Prejudices, Bosnian American Library in Chicago

The program Day of Remembrance of Srebrenica Genocide is given in memory of, and with deep respect to, the more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniaks) men and boys, from 14 to 70 years old, who were killed by order of Bosnian Serb, General Ratko Mladic and the 25,000 women, children, and elderly who were deported from the city of Srebrenica. This was the most heinous war crime in Europe since the Second World War, and we wish to help create a thorough knowledge of what happened in Srebrenica, so it may be incorporated into our historical remembrance. In calling the public’s attention to the events of July 11, 1995 in Srebrenica, we can no longer passively accept that genocide is - in any way - humane! It is also a warning to future generations that this crime should never happen again to any group of people, anywhere or anytime. The possibility for greater understanding in Bosnia and Herzegovina and throughout the world depends upon our realization that truth and justice are the first steps towards reconciliation.

In the video presentation of testimonies of Srebrenica genocide survivors, Zuhra Osmanovic, stated, “On July 11th I tried to go into a truck with my kids. However, when I was trying to cross the dividing line that the Dutch soldiers posted, one Serbian soldier came to me and took my son from my hands. He asked me how old was he. Mirnes said that he was 15 but I said 13. I lied because I wanted them to let him go. I told him that he was wounded and the soldier asked who hurt him. I was afraid and I said that I didn’t know. I was fighting to hold on to my son but obviously the soldier was stronger than me and took Mirnes from my hands and took him on the left side of dividing line and after that somewhere, I don’t know where…… At that same moment the Chetniks put Memlo Osmanovic, Hasan Halic and Orhan to the left side of the tracks. They didn’t care how old they were. Memlo was around 25, my son was only 14, Orhan was 14, and Hassan 50. They took all generations of men. That’s why we can never forget the genocide that the Serbs did, especially in Srebrenica. …….And again I would like to repeat that we need to write, talk, and broadcast on the radio, TV, and newspapers the events in Srebrenica….. So that it is not repeated and does not happen again.” Zuhra Osmanovic sent her powerful message to the audience, and the world.

“And I still don’t know anything about my son. For Azem, my husband, they have already identified his bones. We had a funeral for him on July 11, 2006 . I had been hoping that he would come back but now I have no hope for him. …Now I’m living with my daughter in Chicago, Mersa. She’s married and has a beautiful child. My grandson’s name is Dino. In my Dino, my Sanja (interviewer), I see my Mirnes’ eyes. I look and look at Dino looking for Mirnes’ mouth, his eyes, his ears, but only his eyes are the same as Mirnes. I could cry and cry, but I still live in hope that I will find out news about my son whether he is alive or dead or if they can find his bones like other people from Srebrenica. And then he could rest in peace. There are many thousands and thousands of people from Srebrenica that are dead. He could rest in peace in the black soil.”

Zehra Spiodic, maiden name Omerovic, also a Srebrenica genocide survivor, said “I would never forget my father Sulejman Omerovic. He had a nice face, black hair and blue eyes. He was a peaceful man. Chetnics took him with them on July 11 1995 when he was trying to go into a truck with his family. I have never seen him again since then.

He was unarmed like all other men. United Nations Peace Keeping Troops and NATO took our weapons and the world promise to save us. It did not happened.10, 000 unarmed men were killed in Srebrenica “.

“Srebrenica in America”, the exhibition prepared by Ismet Ramic and Sanja Seferovic Drnovsek complimented these testimonies.( Chronology of Srebrenica Genocide, Information about Genocides that took place in 20 the century including Darfur today, Zuhra and Zehra Stories with pictures of their families, Samuel Harris and My Mom, Letters to Senators , Petitions)

A director of Holocaust Museum, our honored guest, Mr. Samuel Harris, talked about” The Power of Testimony”. I paraphrased a part of his speech notes.

“In 1905 George Santayana wrote :’those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.’

One of the most important ways to remember the genocide in Srebrenica is to commemorate the atrocities every July 11th .

The reason I am here today is because I was asked to share my memories in Emin’s school of gifted students at Taft Public School. The sharing of my memories in Emin’s class compelled him to write a magnificent article for the newspapers. We do not have to worry about our future because we have Emin, such a bright young man. His mom Sanja and aunt Selena, who prepared this program of Day of Remembrance of Genocide in Srebrenica, and I are doing the same things- spreading the word about Holocaust and genocide.

In Emin’s school I shared my memories as a child under Hitler in Poland to the students.

Emin remembers when we discussed the ghettos, the starvation, the beatings and the deaths. I told his class how the Jews were rounded up, beaten or shot if they did not move fast enough. That line of thousands would proceed to the cattle cars waiting at the train station.

I, at the age of about six was in that line. My father pushed me out and told me to run toward the pile of bricks nearby. My sister Sara was already there. Together we were hiding and watched the people march towards those cattle cars that carried them to the Treblinka gas chambers. That was the last time I saw my parents, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, many cousins and neighbors. ………

I wrote my book, Sammy, Child Survivor of the Holocaust, to share with the people what a bully like Hitler can do to human beings. He killed 6,000,000 Jews of which 1,500,000 were children. He killed many others as well. It was a Holocaust.

Two weeks ago, Paul Rusesabagina came to visit the Holocaust museum in Skokie. Paul was the manager of Hotel Rwanda. He saved 1,268 people. He visited for a long time as he saw the atrocities of the Holocaust. The newspaper wrote about us the next day: “ Born, nearly 20 years apart and in different parts of the world, they bonded when they met. They felt connected having experienced what no other human being should experience. This experience left each of them with the urgent need to proclaim now and forever and to all who would listen….NEVER AGAIN.’

Today I am in this room with beautiful Bosnian and Herzegovinian people who have also experienced genocide in their country. We must say to the world - NEVER AGAIN.

Bystanders must wake up and listen to the words of the German Pastor Martin Niemoeller quote:

‘First they came for communists

And I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out-

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me-

And there was no one left to speak out for me.

We must all speak out with our testimonies for they have the power to change or there will be no one left to speak out for us.’ “. With this powerful massage Samuel Harris finished his presentation.

Jonathan Moore, a deputy head of Mission, US Embassy in Sarajevo, was another respectful guest at the Bosnian American Library. The library was completely full of Bosnian and American people who gave respect to the victims of Srebrenica genocide. He spoke about the importance of his new job which he would start in August 2009 and invited everyone to visit him in the American Embassy in Sarajevo.

Muhammad Abdelrahman., a director of Darfur organization in Illinois, was again our guest speaker and he talked about a genocide that is taking place in Darfur, Sudan, today in front of our eyes.

“The most powerful and emotional moments were,”said Selena Seferovic, a director of Bosnian American Library, “many people told me today, when they heard Mensud Basic, vocal, and Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Phil Simons (American Music Festival) and their music and words from the poem God is One Sheidi, Dzemaludin Latic, arr. Breton/Nuhanovic/Simmons Dzemaludin Latic, arr. LLya Levenson.”

They brought us very close to shehids, victims of Srebrenica Genocide. Many of us in the audience cried.

Phil Simon and American Music Festival, Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra were partners with Bosnian American Library in our mission and organization for this event.

I wish you could hear their music while you are reading this poem! (English translation@2009 by Philip Simmons and Samir Hadzalic)

Shehids, you Loved Ones, where are you now?

Beside the fountain, lies knitted towel

And carafe, from which we were created.

Shehids, you Saints, where are you now?

In dust, the trace of naked feet.

Who prays now, on green carpets?

Hey, you Saints, where are you now?

Shehids, you of the Purest Scent, where are you now?

Near the villages, are your castles all over Bosnia!

Like the flowers in the garden, you are cheerful!

Like a string of beads, flickering as stars!

Shehids, like the Angels, where are you now?

Like swallows, going south, you are cheerful.

I am very proud to announce that each July 11th; Srebrenica genocide will be commemorated at the City of Chicago officially. At the City Council, on the 29th of July, the Aldermen Mary Ann Smith will present and sponsor the request of the citizens from Bosnian and Herzegovina who live in Chicago and who signed the petition on April 25 in the Bosnian American Library, which I initiated at the same event/Genocide Prevention .

We would remember Srebrenica Genocide forever!

Special thanks to Edin Seferovic who worked for the Aldermen and used his personal and professional influence on the city politicians and Haris Alibasic for sharing with me the language of Grand Rapids Resolution which passed this year in his city.

The Video presentation of two testimonies is produced by Sanja and Emin Seferovic Drnovsek and special thanks to Ferid Sefer for his help in editing.

Special thanks to Ismet Ramic for the cooperation on the exhibition , Samija Hardarevic Diab for wonderful Bosnian deserts, the Bosnian media that promoted this event: chicagoraja.net, bosniak.org, http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com, bosnjaci.net, radio “Danas”, “Hajat” TV, bosnianlibrarychicago. com and to everyone who attended this important event.
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CNAB Demands Removal of ICTY Judge Christoph Flügge

July 8, 2009

(PDF version)
H.E. Judge Patrick Robinson, President
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
P.O. Box 13888
2501 EW The Hague, The Netherlands

H.E. Judge Carmel Agius
Presiding Judge in a Specially Appointed Chamber
P.O. Box 13888
2501 EW The Hague, The Netherlands

The Congress of North American Bosniaks, an umbrella organization representing the interests of 350,000 American and Canadian Bosniaks, is shocked and confounded with the statements made by Judge Christoph Flügge, of the Hague Tribunal, to the German weekly magazine “Der Spiegel” in which he openly questions the Srebrenica genocide.

According to the article, Judge Flügge states that “the term genocide to define these crimes is unnecessary” instead preferring to refer to it as “mass murder”. He claims that there is no reason to differentiate between “a group that is murdered for their nationality, religion, ethnicity, or race, as is regulated by the Hague Statute” and a group that “happens to be gathered at a specific location”.

CNAB requests a complete retraction of the statement made by Judge Flügge given the fact that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has already confirmed, in several cases including the 2007 ruling against Serbia and Montenegro, the classification of the murder of more than 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica as genocide. This fact has also been recognized by organizations and governments across the world, including the U.S Congress in resolutions 199 and 134 on genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It is evident that by denying the previous ruling of the ICTY regarding the Srebrenica Genocide, Judge Flügge is unable to show impartiality to the case and is in violation of The Hague’s Rule 15(A):

“A Judge may not sit on a trial or appeal in any case in which the Judge has a personal interest or concerning which the Judge has or has had any association which might affect his or her impartiality. The Judge shall in any such circumstance withdraw, and the President shall assign another Judge to the case.”

For these reasons, CNAB requests that the Court removes Judge Flügge from his role in the proceedings against Radovan Karadzic, or in any case dealing specifically with charges of genocide.

Finally, CNAB requests a full apology to all the victims of the genocide who have been hurt by this statement, at a time when they are getting ready to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the genocide and bury more victims who are still being identified from the many mass graves. The statements made by Judge Flügge amount to genocide denial and can have dangerous consequences on the Court’s ability to justly prosecute war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina including the very important case against the accused war criminal Radovan Karadzic. It is crucial that the seriousness of this matter is fully addressed by the Court.

Respectfully,

Haris Alibasic, President
CNAB Board of Directors

DNA Results Support Est. of 8,100 Victims of Srebrenica Genocide

July 10, 2009

DNA Results of the International Commission on Missing Persons Reveal the Identity of 6,186 Srebrenica Victims

Through the use of DNA identity testing, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has revealed the identity of 6,186 persons missing from the July 1995 fall of Srebrenica, by analyzing DNA profiles extracted from bone samples of exhumed mortal remains and matching them to the DNA profiles obtained from blood samples donated by relatives of the missing.The overall high matching rate between DNA extracted from these bone and blood samples leads ICMP to support an estimate of close to 8,100 individuals missing from the fall of Srebrenica.

The ICMP has made to date a total of 12,520 accurate, DNA-led identifications of individuals from all of Bosnia-Herzegovina since ICMP’s DNA system went online in 2001. In the case of BiH, ICMP has DNA profiles from more than 69,051 blood samples collected from relatives and 25,033 bone samples from human remains on its database. The number of subsequent identifications made is much lower than this figure as more than one family member’s blood sample is needed for a positive match, and often several bone samples from a victim’s remains are needed for a positive DNA match.

Yet despite ICMP’s world-class forensic system, and despite having built the forensic facilities at Lukavac and at the Podrinje Identification Project in Tuzla specifically for the identification of victims of Srebrenica, their identification remains an extremely difficult, complex and time-consuming process. To expedite this process, more information is needed on the locations of burial and mass grave sites.

“The fact that ICMP has made nearly 6,200 identifications of Srebrenica victims is a remarkable success, and something that many people had said from the beginning would be impossible to accomplish,” said ICMP’s Director-General Ms. Kathryne Bomberger.

“However, it is a success of science that has sprung out of immense human tragedy: more than 520 bodies are being buried at Potocari this week, in addition to the 3,127 already buried here. Many families of Srebrenica victims are still waiting for information on their missing relatives. Many families who have identified their relatives are waiting for more remains to be exhumed from secondary mass grave sites before they bury their loved ones. So what we desperately need is for individuals with more information about the location of grave and burial sites to come forward.”

In many cases the perpetrators of Srebrenica removed mortal remains from one ‘primary’ mass grave and hid them in multiple sites in an attempt to conceal evidence of war crimes, thus leaving a trail of disarticulated skeletal remains, whereby body-parts of the same person can be found in different sites. In one case, ICMP identified a man missing from the fall of Srebrenica whose remains were found in four different mass graves two of which were 20 km from the other two locations.

The introduction of DNA by the ICMP as the basis for identifying large numbers of missing persons from the 1990’s conflicts in the Western Balkans enabled accurate identifications of persons that would never otherwise have been identified. The first DNA match, for a 15 year-old boy from Srebrenica, was made on November 16, 2001.

Source: ICMP