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Bosnians Venture into Serb Land To Visit Srebrenica Graves
Amor Masovic, head of the Bosnian government commission on missing persons, gingerly lifted a decaying corpse Tuesday in a field 10 miles west of Srebrenica in southwest Bosnia. He was searching for identity papers. A worm-eaten Koran lay beside the man’s body, now only a mass of bones and a skull shrouded in soggy clothing. "These people were civilians with just one thought on their minds: to survive," Masovic said.
The body is one of about 100 that a team of Finnish forensic experts wants to carry back to a hospital in government territory. They hope to determine causes of death and, if possible, identification before burying the remains in a cemetery. "We really don’t know what we will find," said Raimo Sintonen, head of the Finnish team. The four-week project is sponsored by the governments of Finland and the Netherlands. Masovic and other Bosnian officials accompanied the Finns as observers; taking advantage of the presence of unarmed international policemen who escorted the 20 forensics experts into the Serb-held land.
Last July, more than 7,000 Muslim men disappeared from the U.N.-protected enclave of Srebrenica after the area was captured by Bosnian Serbs. Although they are listed as missing, most are presumed dead. Survivors of the siege say the Serbs mowed down several thousand Muslim men and buried the bodies in mass graves.
The corpses scattered through the hills here are presumed to be those of Muslim men who initially evaded capture, but then were killed in ambushes and fire-fights. Definitive identification is unlikely. Masovic repeatedly reached into the pockets of the corpses -- hoping to find identity papers or wallets -- only to come away empty-handed. Few of the bodies are visible: thick shrubs and wild flowers have blanketed the rolling hills. These days, only the occasional wood-cutter or farmer walks the rutted track across the killing field.
In all, some 27,000 people are still missing from all sides in the 3½-year Bosnian war, according to Amnesty International, a London-based human rights group. It called Tuesday for a greater international effort to trace those who disappeared. "Finding out the truth about all the ‘disappeared’ and ‘missing’ is a crucial component of the future stability of the region," it said.
Amnesty said Manfred Nowak, who was appointed by the United Nations to trace the missing, has been hampered by lack of resources, restricted travel and the non-cooperation of Yugoslavia. The Finnish forensics team also has run into numerous problems -- the latest involving an apparent refusal by Bosnian Serb police to guard the site overnight.
"Unfortunately, they are trying to deny us the ability to move these bodies, which would ease the suffering of those waiting for word of their loved ones," Masovic said. |
KRAVICE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- For the first time since the end of the war, Bosnian officials ventured into Serb-held land Tuesday to visit one of the killing fields where thousands of Muslim men were slain last summer.
Berserkistan, July 3 · Mladic Promised Safety to Srebrenica Muslims
Berserkistan, June 27 · Finnish Forensics Experts to Exhume Srebrenica Graves
Berserkistan, June 8 · Srebrenica Victim Graves Probed at Brnica
Berserkistan, June 5 · Mass Grave at Nova Kasaba May Hold 2700 Srebrenica Victims
Berserkistan, May 29 · Documentary Claims Serbia Provided Srebrenica Arms
Berserkistan, May 29 · War Crimes Team Probes Suspected Mass Grave
Berserkistan, Apr 5 · Tribunal Probes Srebrenica Killing Fields
Berserkistan, Massacre Hill Jim Bartlett in Bosnia's Killing Fields
Berserkistan, Ghosts in the Woods Team Berserkistan Investigates a Srebrenica Massacre Site
Serbs Massacre Muslims in "Safe Area" of Srebrenica
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia United Nations
Coalition for International Justice
Reports concerning human rights abuses in Bosnia Intac Access
Major War Criminals/Suspects CalTech's Bosnia Site
Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia CalTech's Bosnia Site
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