12 April 1993 Srebrenica shelling

1993 Republika Srpska artillery attack August 2024 Srebrenica.jpg Panorama of Srebrenica 44 06 15 N 19 17 50 E region:BA_type:city inline,title On 12 April 1993, the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) launched an artillery attack against the town of Srebrenica. The attack left 56 dead (including 14 children killed on a school playground), and 73 seriously wounded. The attack followed the suspension of cease-fire talks, and only hours before NATO would implement a no-fly zone in accordance to an UN resolution. VRS officials had previously told UNHCR representatives that unless the town surrendered within two days, the VRS would shell it. Background thumb|Eastern Bosnia battleground in January 1993. Srebrenica was a Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) enclave in a vulnerable location that was easily targeted by artillery.Seib 2002 60 After VRS overran the town in April 1992, Muslim irregulars recaptured it in May.Burg Shoup 2015 140 During the subsequent winter, the town was used as a starting point for Muslim guerrilla activity against Serb settlements in the eastern part of Bosnia.Burg Shoup 2015 140 Muslim raids on Serb settlements enraged the VRS, inviting for revenge attacks.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 Bosnian Muslim forces attacked Kravica, a Serb village, in January 1993.Klip 2005 602 The VRS responded with a counter-offensive, capturing Konjević Polje and Cerska, severing the Srebrenica–Žepa link and reducing the size of the Srebrenica enclave to 150 km2.January 2017Klip 2005 602 Thousands of Muslim refugees, cleansed from surrounding settlements, had flocked to the town, sleeping in the open.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 The population swelled to 50–60,000.Klip 2005 602 The VRS blockaded aid convoys from entering the town.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 There were reports of terror inflicted by both sides in the months following January.Klip 2005 602 On 12 March, UNPROFOR commander Philippe Morillon had promised the town residents that they were under UN protection and that he would 'never abandon' them.Seib 2002 60 This move angered his superiors, but made him a hero in Srebrenica.Seib 2002 60 He had been held hostage by the Muslim citizens until he promised to bring security.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 The residents lived under siege conditions.Klip 2005 602 Between March and April, 8–9,000 Bosnian Muslims were evacuated from the town by the UNHCR.Klip 2005 602 The Bosnian Muslim government opposed these evacuation, characterized them as contributing to the ethnic cleansing of the territory.Klip 2005 602 At the beginning of April 1993, the Bosnian Serbs ordered through UNHCR the surrender of the Bosnian government within 48 hours.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 They required that the UN forces assist the VRS (headed by Ratko Mladić) by evacuating and disarming over 60,000 people in the enclave.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 Shelling On 12 April 1993 a VRS artillery attack of two short bombardments on Srebrenica left 56 dead, including children, and 73 seriously wounded.Honig Both 1996 94 Shells dropped on the densely packed streets of the town.Burg Shoup 2015 140 14 bodies of children were found in a school playground (soccer field),Seib 2002 60David Rohde Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II https://books.google.com/books?id=tBWHVLcsXlMC&pg=PT64 29 May 2012 Penguin Publishing Group 978-1-101-57509-3 64– which had been hit by a shell at around 3 PM according to HRW.Helsinki Watch (Organization : U.S.) Abuses continue in the former Yugoslavia: Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina https://books.google.com/books?id=D38WAQAAIAAJ 1993 Helsinki Watch There was a total of 15 civilian casualties at the playground according to the ICTY.IT-95-5-I The attack came after suspension of cease-fire talks, hours before NATO would implement a no-fly zone according to UNSCR 781.Burg Shoup 2015 140 The VRS had earlier told UNHCR representatives that they would attack the town of Srebrenica within two days unless it surrendered.International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - Trial of R. Krstić https://web.archive.org/web/20080726164855/http://www.un.org/icty/krstic/TrialC1/judgement/krs-tj010802e-1.htm 26 July 2008 The Bosnian Serb suspension of talks and shelling of the town 'seemed a deliberate act of malice and political intent'.Burg Shoup 2015 140 UN first reported that the shelling was a response to a Muslim attack, but later retracted the statement since there were no evidence for a Muslim aggression.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 The UNPROFOR's handling has been criticized as ineffective.Greenberg Barton McGuinness 2000 51 Witness accounts American journalist Chuck Sudetic interviewed Bosnian Army doctor Nedret Mujkanović who claimed 36 people dead on site and 102 seriously wounded at the playground, whom he treated. "People were sitting around in front of the school," he said. "The children were playing football and other games. In less than one minute, seven rockets from a multiple-rocket launcher fell in an area about half the size of a football field." He claimed that the VRS knew that there was a refugee camp at the school and that they directed their fire at that location.Chuck Sudetic, "CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS; A View of the Bosnia War From the Srebrenica Hospital's O.R.", The New York Times, 24 April 1993 Aftermath and legacy thumb|Srebrenica Children Massacre Memorial On 16 April, the UN declared Srebrenica a safe zone, and also put the enclaves of Žepa and Goražde under UN protection.Klip 2005 602 A photograph of a blood-covered and blinded boy lying on a stretcher, Sead Bekrić, was widely broadcast and made the front cover of Newsweek.Josef Seethaler Matthias Karmasin Gabriele Melischek Selling War: The Role of the Mass Media in Hostile Conflicts from World War I to the "War on Terror" https://books.google.com/books?id=sGWXxbNWXzgC&pg=PA147 2013 Intellect Books 978-1-84150-610-4 147– The word "Bosnia" was printed across Sead's injured chest.Mike Downey, "'94 WINTER OLYMPICS / Lillehammer: Few Know Troubles He's Seen", Los Angeles Times, 27 February 1994 After seeing him on CNN, a wealthy Croatian-American couple paid for his location and evacuation.Raymond Moley Malcolm Muir Joseph Becker Phillips Rex Smith Samuel Thurston Williamson Newsweek 121 https://books.google.com/books?id=BHbuAAAAMAAJ 1993 Newsweek 158 The incident is included in the 26th point ("Shelling of civilian gatherings") in the initial indictment issued by the ICTY on 24 July 1995 against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. 15 civilian casualties at the Srebrenica playground are listed.IT-95-5-I The incident is also mentioned in Emir Suljagić's personal account of the siege and fall of Srebrenica, Postcards from the Grave. See also Srebrenica massacre References Sources Burg Steven L. Shoup Paul S. Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention: Crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1990-93 https://books.google.com/books?id=YPjqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 2015 Routledge 978-1-317-47102-8 140– Greenberg Melanie C. Barton John H. McGuinness Margaret E. Words Over War: Mediation and Arbitration to Prevent Deadly Conflict https://books.google.com/books?id=uW2OUmRmS54C&pg=PA51 2000 Rowman & Littlefield 978-0-8476-9892-9 51– Honig Jan Willem Both Norbert Srebrenica: record of a war crime https://books.google.com/books?id=gndpAAAAMAAJ 1996 Penguin 94 9780140261653 Klip André The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 2001 https://books.google.com/books?id=NlRD4yaHrEYC&pg=PA602 2005 Intersentia nv 978-90-5095-375-7 602– Seib Philip M. The Global Journalist: News and Conscience in a World of Conflict https://archive.org/details/globaljournalist0000seib registration 2002 Rowman & Littlefield 978-0-7425-1102-6 60– Case No. IT-95-5-I ICTY http://www.icty.org/x/cases/mladic/ind/en/kar-ii950724e.pdf IT-95-5-I Category:1993 crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:1993 mass murders Category:1993 building bombings Category:April 1993 in Europe Category:Bosnian genocide Category:School bombings in Europe Category:School massacres in Europe Category:Massacres in the Bosnian War Category:Child murder in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Srebrenica Category:Serbian war crimes in the Bosnian War Category:Massacres of Bosniaks Category:Attacks on schools in 1993 Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina