Fwd: 'On the Record' Srebrenica Refugee Return

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Subject: Fwd: 'On the Record' Srebrenica Refugee Return

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'On the Record' Srebrenica Refugee Return


Advocacy Project Announcements - http://www.advocacynet.org

NEWS FROM THE ADVOCACY PROJECT

July 11, 2000

FIVE YEARS AFTER THE MASSACRE, 'ON THE RECORD' ACCOMPANIES REFUGEES
BACK TO SREBRENICA

Refugees from Srebrenica will today mark the fifth anniversary of the
1995 massacre by attempting to return to their former home in a
caravan of buses. Their historic journey will be recorded by Peter
Lippman of the Advocacy Project, who has been invited to accompany the
caravan.

Over 7,000 Muslim inhabitants of Srebrenica were murdered after
Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb forces under the command of General
Ratko Mladic on July 11, 1995, in what has come to be known as the
worst war crime in Europe since World War II.

Hundreds of Srebrenicans plan to mark the massacre today by conducting
a memorial ceremony for the dead and missing near their former homes
in Potocari, the village near Srebrenica where the first 1995
massacres took
place - and where they would like to establish a cemetery and memorial
site.  They will also demand that war criminals be punished and demand
information about their loved ones.

Although local police have promised protection, an organization of
demobilized Serb soldiers recently sent a letter with a veiled threat
that 'incidents' might happen.

This has not deterred the refugees from seeking to return to what is,
for many Bosnians, a deeply symbolic location. Srebrenica was one of
six areas that were declared 'safe' by the UN Security Council during
the Bosnian war, but this did nothing to deter the 1995 massacre. The
sense of international impotence was heightened by the fact that the
Hague tribunal had been established two years earlier in May 1993,
with the express intention of deterring further atrocities.

At present, the remains of over 3,000 victims are lying in a tunnel in
Tuzla, waiting to be identified. Many more human remains are thought
to be strewn along trails in the woods, through which a huge column of
refugees tried desperately to escape.

'On the Record' has been carrying Peter Lippman's reports on Bosnian
refugees since the spring of last year, and his most recent dispatch
covered the tent people of Gorazde. Peter has visited Srebrenica twice
in recent months and spoken with numerous organizations and activists
working for return to the municipality. One of these is Zene
Srebrenice (Women of Srebrenica), one of the main organizers of
today's event.

Refugee activists are hoping that if the caravan does indeed manage to
reach Srebrenica, it may help to unblock one of the last remaining
obstacles to the return of Muslim refugees. Throughout Bosnia, the
number of minority returns rose from 30,000 in 1998 to 40,000 in 1999.
But over 800,000 Bosnians are still displaced, and efforts to return
to many areas continue to be met with bureaucratic stonewalling and
even outright violence.

A Muslim-majority municipal council was elected in Srebrenica in the
fall of 1997, but it did not begin to work for two years. Since then
it has only worked in fits and starts.

Serb members of the council oppose the proposed cemetery and memorial
site at Potocari and have stonewalled a decision on their location.
Security in Srebrenica has also been a serious concern. One Muslim
member of the municipal council was stabbed and left for dead last
fall, and in the last month there have been several arson attacks
against Muslim-owned houses under repair.

The first group return to the Srebrenica municipality took place on
June 3rd of this year, when refugees established a tent encampment in
the village of Suceska, which is a 45-minute drive from Srebrenica.
The leading force behind the camp's establishment is Srebrenica 99,
another prominent refugee advocacy group.

Peter visited Suceska earlier this month and spoke with a number of
returning villagers, including young people and a 98-year-old man, who
were busy cleaning their homes and preparing them for reconstruction.

On the same day, refugee representatives met with Wolfgang Petritsch,
the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia.
Petritsch lauded the tent project as the most significant return
activity in Srebrenica municipality and promised support for
reconstruction. Srebrenica 99 hopes to follow up by establishing more
encampments in villages closer to Srebrenica itself, in an effort to
counter the current campaign of obstruction from the Serbs.

Peter proposes to cover the bus ride and recall the 1995 massacre
through the eyes of survivors and relatives. He will also tell the
story of the displaced Serbs who are currently living in Srebrenica.
They too are victims of the war. Their return home - to cities like
Sarajevo and to villages surrounding Srebrenica - will be key to
unblocking the return of the former Muslim residents of the
municipality.

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