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SERBIAN THUGS CAUSE PROVOCATIONS IN SREBRENICA AND BRAUTNAC
Belgrade extremists who caused this incident are members of the following Serbian extremists organizations: Cetnicki Ravogorski Pokret, Srpski Narodni Pokret, and Obraz.
“We know where he [Ratko Mladic] is, but we will never tell!” read a message on one of the T-shirts.
Serbian extremists arrived to downtown Srebrenica to cause provocations by carrying Serbian flags and shouting “This is Serbia.” A group of revolted Bosniaks reacted by shouting “This is Bosnia.” More info of this unfolding event directly from the Federal Radio-TV:
TENSIONS RISE IN KRAVICA VILLAGE NEAR SREBRENICA
Reading time: 5-6 minutes
Just as they did last year, local Serbs are trying again to disrupt the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide by threatening to prevent survivors and relatives of the genocide victims from visiting a massacre site of Bosniak civilians in Kravica village. Serbs are ‘angry’ because Bosniaks responded to Serb attacks by securing Kravica on Orthodox Christmas in 1993. From 1992-1995, Kravica was a heavily militarized Serb villlage from which Serbs constantly attacked neighboring Bosniak villages and the town of Srebrenica. Serbs never demilitarized around Srebrenica.
PHOTO: More than 1,000 Bosniak men, children, and elderly were taken to this warehouse in Kravica and killed by Serb paramilitaries during the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. Three years earlier – in 1992 – at least 927 Bosnian Muslims were slaughtered by Serbs from heavily militarized Serb villages around Srebrenica. To put things into perspective, from 1992 – 1995 at least 24,117 Bosniaks lost their lives in the Podrinje area.
WHAT ARE THE FACTS: The inhabitants of Serb village of Kravica participated in brutal attacks on Bosnian Muslim villages around Srebrenica and the town of Srebrenica in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995. Kravica was a heavily militarized Serb village used to launch artillery attacks on the neighbouring Bosniak villages, as well as to terrorize Bosnian Muslim population in the besieged enclave of Srebrenica.
Due to constant Serb attacks from heavily militarized Serb villages around Srebrenica, Bosniaks finally responded to Serb attacks by counter-attacking and securing Kravica on January 7, 1993 – Orthodox Christmas. Just a few days earlier, Serbs from Kravica launched brutal attacks on Srebrenica.
“Between April 1992 and March 1993, Srebrenica town and the villages in the area held by Bosnian Muslims were constantly subjected to Serb military assaults, including artillery attacks, sniper fire, as well as occasional bombing from aircrafts. Each onslaught followed a similar pattern. Serb soldiers and paramilitaries surrounded a Bosnian Muslim village or hamlet, called upon the population to surrender their weapons, and then began with indiscriminate shelling and shooting. In most cases, they then entered the village or hamlet, expelled or killed the population, who offered no significant resistance, and destroyed their homes. During this period, Srebrenica was subjected to indiscriminate shelling from all directions on a daily basis. Potočari in particular was a daily target for Serb artillery and infantry because it was a sensitive point in the defence line around Srebrenica. Other Bosnian Muslim settlements were routinely attacked as well. All this resulted in a great number of refugees and casualties.”
“In comparison, it appears that the Bosnian Muslim side did not adequately prepare for the looming armed conflict. There were not even firearms to be found in the BosnianMuslim villages, apart from some privately owned pistols and hunting rifles; a few light weaponswere kept at the Srebrenica police station.”
“The fighting intensified in December 1992 and the beginning of January 1993, when Bosnian Muslims were attacked by Bosnian Serbs primarily from the direction of Kravica and Ježestica. In the early morning of the 7 January 1993, Orthodox Christmas day, Bosnian Muslims attacked Kravica, Ježestica and Šiljkovići. Convincing evidence suggests that the village guards were backed by the VRS [Bosnian Serb Army], and following the fighting in the summer of 1992, they Received military support, including weapons and training. A considerable amount of weapons and ammunition was kept in Kravica and Šiljkovići. Moreover, there is evidence that besides the village guards, there was Serb and Bosnian Serb military presence in the area. The Trial Chamber is not satisfied that it can be attributed solely to Bosnian Muslims. The evidence is unclear as to the number of houses destroyed by Bosnian Muslims as opposed to those destroyed by Bosnian Serbs. In light of this uncertainty, the Trial Chamber concludes that the destruction of property in Kravica between 7 and 8 December 1992 does not fulfil the elements of wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages not justified by military necessity.”
“Between June 1992 and March 1993, Bosnian Muslims raided a number of vllages and hamlets inhabited by Bosnian Serbs, or from which Bosnian Muslims had formerly been expelled. One of the purposes of these actions was to acquire food, weapons, ammunition and military equipment. Bosnian Serb forces controlling the access roads were not allowing international humanitarian aid – most importantly, food and medicine – to reach Srebrenica. As a consequence, there was a constant and serious shortage of food causing starvation to peak in the winter of 1992/1993. Numerous people died or were in an extremely emaciated state due to malnutrition.”
Serbian Propaganda and Srebrenica Genocide Denial
SERBS CELEBRATE, BOSNIAKS BURY GENOCIDE VICTIMS
PHOTO: A poster in Bratunac calling on all local Serbs to throw a party on the day of Srebrenica Genocide, 11 July 2009. Bratunac was a town with pre-war Bosnian Muslim ethnic majority. Now, it’s ethnically cleansed town controlled by Serbs who organized numerous massacres against the local Bosniak population in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995.
While family and friends of the Srebrenica genocide victims spend time grieving and burying more than 500 DNA-identified victims this July 11th, Serbs in the nearby Ljubovija Municipality will celebrate “Drinska Regatta” along the River Drina, reports Sarajevo Daily Dnevni Avaz.
According to the Bosniak Representative Šefket Hafizović, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, this is just another indicator of how the official policy of Belgrade failed to distance itself from the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.
“They never departed from Milosevic’s policy. Criminals return to the place where they committed crime – this time not to grieve, but to celebrate genocide. And all this happens at the same time when the democratic world, throughout Europe, is honoring victims of the genocide in accordance with the European Parliament’s Srebrenica Genocide Resolution… the resolution which proclaimed 11th of July as a Day of Commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide throughout the European Union (EU). At the same time, followers of Slobodan Milosevic will organized a party on the River Drina,” said Hafizovic.
Families of the genocide victims feel bitter. They feel that the act of organizing this regatta on the day when the Srebrenica genocide victims will be buried is nothing more than a carefully planned provocation to cause anger among relatives and survivors of the genocide.
“This is a great shame and one more humiliation, among many humiliations that families of genocide victims and survivors have to go through. Serbs will rejoice in celebrations when we – mothers, and other people of conscious – cry? Obviously, they are still looking forward to the crimes they committed in 1995,” said Munira Subasic, president of the Association “Mothers of Enclaves Srebrenica and Žepa.”
PHOTO: Local Serbs use July 11th to mock the Srebrenica genocide victims and to party on the River Drina, where thousands of Bosnian Muslims have been slaughtered and dumped.
FATA ORLOVIC: TARGET OF SERB EXTREMISTS WHO BUILT CHURCH IN HER FRONT-YARD
PHOTO of Fata Orlovic, an elderly woman whose front-yard the Serbs built a church illegally. She is a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide and a returnee to Konjevic Polje. For a long time, she has been regularly harrassed, threatened, and demeaned by local Orthodox Serb Christians who called her names, threatened to kill her, and even spit at her. On several occassions, she was beaten up by a local Serb Police officer, Zdravko Uzelac, a man who participated in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide and who murdered a local Bosniak returnee Mustafa Becirovic…
Fata Orlovic, an elderly returnee to Konjevic Polje, has been subjected to a number of beatings by members of the local Serb police force including one – Zdravko Uzelac – who took part in the Srebrenica genocide.
In the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, Zdravko Uzelac participated in the separation of men who were to be massacred and dumped into mass graves. At least 8,372 men were summarily executed and dumped into mass graves, while between 20,000 to 30,000 people were forcibly deported in a mass scale ethnic cleansing. In 2008, Uzelac murdered a Bosniak returnee to Konjevic Polje.
According to Fata Orlovic, Zdravko Uzelac is notorious in Konjevic Polje for his constant harassment of Muslim returnees.
“Last year Uzelac killed Mustafa Becirovic at a gas pump in Konjevic Polje, and yet they still keep him on active police duty, as if he hadn’t killed anyone,” said Fata. “It’s like, he killed a Muslim, so what? In Srebrenica, he participated in the separation and murder of our men. Everybody knows it, we know it, Serbs know it, and foreigners know it. I saw him with my own eyes actively involved in separating the men who were to be murdered in the genocide.”
The pre-war population of Konjevic Polje, a small town located just outside of Srebrenica in the Bratunac municipality, was 100% Bosniak Muslim. During the war Serbs provocatively and unlawfully built an Orthodox church in Fata’s yard and on her land in Konjevic Polje. In spite of a court ruling in summer 2007 finding against the Church and in favor of Fata Orlovic no start has been made on pulling down and rellocating the church.
Na adresu Fate Orlović je iz Osnovnog suda u Srebrenici stigao poziv da u svojstvu okrivljene 14. aprila dođe na “usmeni pretres” po prijavi za navodno kršenje odredbi Zakona o javnom redu i miru RS, koju je protiv nje podnijela Policijska stanica u Bratuncu.
Orlović je već godinama uznemiravana, čak u nekoliko navrata i pretučena, od strane srpskih extremista zbog toga što je zahtjevala da se pravoslavna crkva – koja je bespravno sagrađena u njenom dvorištu – ukloni.
Bratunački policajci prijavili su Fatu Orlović da je 10. septembra prošle godine u devet sati ispred pravoslavne crkve u Konjević-Polju, odnosno u svom dvorištu, “grubo vrijeđala druga lica prijetnjom da će napasti na njihov život i tijelo”, kao i da je “ometala ovlaštena službena lica u njihovom vršenju redovnih poslova i zadataka”.
“Navikla sam na laži policajca Zdravka Uzelca, koji je zadužen da se brine o crkvi u mojoj avliji i da me redovno provocira i vrijeđa. Laž je da sam krenula da napadnem policajca Uzelca, i to makazama, kako on tvrdi. On je tada, čim sam upitala zašto su došli u moju avliju kada smo se godinu ranije dogovorili da više neće biti obreda u crkvi, zgrabio mene za ruku i uvrnuo je na leđa. Od boli mi je pozlilo, mislila sam da mi je ruka slomljena. Pokušao me uvući u policijski auto, ali sam se otela i tek tada sam vidjela makaze na podu, uzela ih u ruke i tako se odbranila od njegovog napada. Pa, cijeli svijet zna da me Uzelac i ranije tukao i vezanu vodio u policiju” – prisjetila se jučer Orlović.
Prema riječima stare nane, Uzelac je upleten u Srebrenički genocid. Orlović kaze da je prošle godine “na benzinskoj pumpi [Uzelac] ubio Mustafu Bećirovića i opet ga drže u službi, kao da čovjeka nije ubio?! K`o vele, ubio je muslimana, šta fali? U Srebrenici je odvajao naše muškarce i ubijao ih. To svi znaju, i naši i njihovi, i ovi stranci. Ja sam ga vidjela ovim očima kako odvaja naše muškarce za ubijanje.”
Ona je upozorila da je njeno strpljenje pri kraju i da je ovo što joj u njenoj vlastitoj kući rade vlast i policija RS bruka za cijelu BiH. Posebno je potcrtala svoju ogorčenost na bošnjačke političare, za koje navodi da “devet godina gledaju kako je Karadžićevi policajci vrijeđaju i tuku, a ništa ne poduzimaju da se slučaj nelegalno izgrađene pravoslavne crkve u njenoj avliji riješi na zakonit način”.
Razgovarao sam s Fatom i žao mi je što se opet nasekirala. Očekujem da dobijem poziv koji je joj je upućen od Osnovnog suda u Srebrenici, kao i prijavu koju je protiv nje podnijela Policijska stanica Bratunac. Naravno da ću nanu Fatu zastupati i u ovom slučaju. Ne mogu vjerovati da joj se iste stvari ponavljaju – izjavio je za “Avaz” advokat Fahrija Karkin.
AUSTRALIAN POLICE RELEASE SECURITY IMAGES OF 5 SERBIAN THUGS
Australian Police want to speak to five Serbian thugs who knocked out Srebrenica refugee by chair following the tennis match between Serb player Novak Djokovic and Bosnian-born Amer Delic. Police have released security images showing faces of suspects that participated in a brawl at the Australian Open.
Take a close look at the security images below. If you recognize any of these thugs, please call your local Australian Police immediately.
According to Herald Sun, “After being hit by the chair the girl, 18, from St Albans, lay on the ground for some time being comforted by friends. She was later treated by St John Ambulance and fled home to her mother. Family friend Senada Softic said the girl was a Bosnian refugee whose father was killed in the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia.”
Serbian thugs were taunting Bosnian tennis supporters with genocidal rants. “The tension was so great. When you hear a group of youths between 16 and 20 years of age chanting, ‘Knife wire Srebrenica’, it’s absolutely appalling,” she said.
The 1995 Srebrenica genocide claimed lives of at least 8,372 men, children, and elderly, and resulted in the ethnic cleansing of 25,000 people under the United Nations’ protection.
LJILJANA BULATOVIC: DENIER OF GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA
Ljiljana Bulatovic-Medic, the author of several ‘books’ celebrating indicted war criminals and denying genocide in Srebrenica, is a Serbian extremist writer and a ‘source’ without any credibility.
PHOTO: You’re looking at a face of Ljiljana Bulatovic, Serbian extremist writer and Srebrenica genocide denier. In May 2005, Ljiljana Bulatovic participated in Milivoje Ivanisevic’s Srebrenica genocide denial “panel discussion” titled “Truth about Srebrenica” at the law school at the University of Belgrade. She said that “there was no genocide in Srebrenica” and that “Karadzic and Mladic are truly heroes of Serbian nation.” She called for graves of Srebrenica genocide victims to be removed from ‘Serbian’ Srebrenica to the Bosniak-Croat Federation entity, because the graves “occupy a very productive part of land which should be used in agricultural production.”
FACT #5: The Serbs never demilitarized around Srebrenica. Instead, Bosnian Serb military and paramilitary troops continued using surrounding Serb villages to launch attacks on Srebrenica and kill trapped civilians. In 1993, for example, 62 Bosniak children were massacred and 152 wounded as a result of a single attack coming from surrounding Serb-held villages. (see: U.N. Report: The Fall of Srebrenica)
Buyer Beware: Here is a short review of “Krici i Opomena,” the latest book written by a radical Serbian ultra-nationalist writer Ljiljana Bulatovic-Medic:
There is a new Srebrenica genocide denial / Srebrenica genocide justification book written by discredited Srebrenica genocide denier Ljiljana Bulatovic (aka: Ljiljana Bulatovic-Medic). The book ‘Screams and the Omen’ (Krici i Opomena) contains depressingly familiar rhetoric of manufactured lies and distortions fabricated by the ultra-nationalist Srebrenica genocide denial factories in Serbia. As respected British historian, Dr Marko Attila Hoare, once noted: “The average MPhil student here at Cambridge would be embarrassed to produce the sort of rubbish churned out by Michael Parenti, Diane Johnstone, Kate Hudson and other ill-informed genocide deniers…“ We agree.
In Ljiljana Bulatovic’s twisted mind, Ratko Mladic is a ‘hero’ and the symbol of everything ‘good’ Serb people have to offer. On the other hand, crimes like Markale market massacres in Sarajevo (see Q/A #12) and Srebrenica genocide are just another examples of ‘western conspiracy’ against ‘courageous’ Serb people. In fact, this is not the first extremist book she published. Ljiljana Bulatovic wrote a number of radical ultra-nationalist books celebrating genocide and Bosnian Serb war criminals.
In 2002, Ljiljana Bulatovic published another book titled “Radovan” (2nd edition). The book follows usual war-crimes apologist agenda and radical ultra-nationalist rhetoric praising the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as being the best among Serbs. Karadzic is currently in prison facing two separate counts of genocide, and other crimes against humanity.
SERB POLICE IN KRAVICA BANS RELATIVES FROM LAYING FLOWERS TO GENOCIDE SITE
“They didn’t let us pass, they didn’t even let us lay flowers,” Munira Subasic, head of a Srebrenica women’s association, told Reuters from a bus returning to Sarajevo under police escort. “It’s like it’s 1995 all over again, we are on a bus under Serb escort,” Subasic said. “This is such an injustice, so unbelievable. I cannot even cry.”
Kravica is a village in Bratunac municipality, just outside of Srebrenica. It was a heavily armed Serb village from which Serbs bombed Srebrenica with artillery. On 3 September 1991, on the brink of the war, the Eastern Bosnia’s first victims of ethnic violence were killed when a group of Kravica policemen and paramilitary nationalists ambushed a car of Bosniaks, killing two out of three people inside. None of the policemen and accomplices in the attack were ever brought to trial.
By January 1993, Serb forces ethnically cleansed 90% of the eastern Bosnia from Bosniaks and slaughtered about 1,000 Bosniak civilians in the area.
On 7 January 1993 (Orthodox Christmas day), the Bosniak forces under the command of Naser Oric counter-attacked and captured Kravica, a Serb military stronghold at the time. An estimated 25 Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) soldiers were killed and 36 wounded. 11 civilians were also killed and most of the houses were damaged in the battle.
In order to justify Srebrenica genocide, Serbian nationalists have propagated grossly inflated claims that over 3,000 Serb civilians were murdered around Srebrenica. Some Serb sources, such as Srebrenica genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic, allege that Kravica’s 353 inhabitants were “virtually completely destroyed.” Both these accounts were discredited by the International Criminal Tribunal. A press briefing by the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) dated 6 July 2005 noted that the number of Serb deaths in the region alleged by the Serbian authorities “[does]
not reflect the reality.”On 13 July 1995, Serbs carried executions of 1,500 Bosniak civilians in the largest of four warehouses (farm sheds) owned by the Agricultural Cooperative in Kravica. The Bosniak civilians and the prisoners of war were locked in the warehouse. At around 18.00 hours, Serb soldiers soldiers threw in hand grenades and opened fire with various weapons, including an anti-tank gun, and slaughtered them. At Kravica, it seems that the local population had a hand in the killings. Some victims were mutilated and killed with knives. The bodies were taken to Bratunac or simply dumped in the river that runs alongside the road. The bodies were first buried in mass graves, then dug out with bulldozers and moved to hide the crime. Victims’ remains are scattered in several graves, taking years to identify.
Although regional court in Bijeljina yesterday rejected the Serb Police’s decision to prevent the genocide survivors and the victims’ relatives from paying respect to their dead in Kravica, the damage has already been done. Bosniaks were prevented from laying flowers on one of the largest genocide sites in Kravica as part of the 13th commemoration of Srebrenica genocide
“We won’t give up, we’ll come again,” Subasic said. “Only next time we won’t announce our arrival.”
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: THE SPIRIT OF HATRED STILL LIVES ON
Minor Update: October 18, 2008.
Over 8,000 and up to 10,000 lives perished in Srebrenica Genocide, mostly men and elderly. At least 500 children were summarily executed by the Serb Army. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest U.N. court, ruled Serbia failed to prevent genocide in Srebrenica, but cleared Serbia of direct responsibility. Instead, the blame was shifted to the Bosnian Serb Government (RS) which was de facto under Slobodan Milosevic control. He even signed the Dayton Peace Agreement for them…
Although Serbs as people are not inherently evil, same cannot be said for radical and ultra-nationalist Serbian politicians and activists. It is interesting how Milosevic-era propaganda, partly inspired by the Srebrenica Genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic (read more), still lives on.
Now, let’s shift our attention to the document that had been carefully drafted by Slobodan Milosevic’s “Yugoslav State Commission for War Crimes and Genocide” and submitted to the U.N. on June 2 1993 by a right-wing Serbian ambassador Dragomir Djokic. Here is the title of the document (note the length):
“Memorandum on War Crimes and Crimes of Genocide in Eastern Bosnia (communes of Bratunac, Skelani and Srebrenica) committed against the Serbian population from April 1992 to April 1993.” (UN id # A/46/171 and S/25635) [also see:
Dissecting Milosevic Propaganda]Srebrenica genocide denial web sites have been circulating above document as “official U.N. conclusions” about alleged “Moslem terror” against Serb civilians around Srebrenica. The problem is that these Serb allegations are NOT official U.N. conclusions – as deniers tirelesly portray them. In fact, the document “A/46/171 and S/25635”, does NOT contain any official U.N. conclusions. This document had been carefully drafted by Slobodan Milosevic’s “Yugoslav State Commission for War Crimes and Genocide” and submitted to the U.N. on June 2 1993 by a right-wing Serbian ambassador Dragomir Djokic. The Serb allegations contained in the above document have been discredited by
the United Nations War Crimes Court, Serbia’s Human Rights Watch, as well as internationally backed Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo. When Djokic submitted these allegations about “Moslem terror” against “Serb civilians” to the U.N. in 1993, he conveniently avoided mentioning that Bosnian Serb forces, with full logistical support of his Government, killed about 15,000 Bosniaks in various parts of Eastern Bosnia and ethnically cleansed over 90% of predominantly Bosniak territory of Podrinje. He conveniently left that part out, because Djokic was nothing more than disposable hand of Slobodan Milosevic’s propaganda machine of the 90’s.Serbian Propaganda About Srebrenica Demilitarization
Serbian nationalists justify Serb attacks on Srebrenica by claiming that Bosniaks never demilitarized in Srebrenica and that Bosniaks attacked surrounding Serb-held villages, so somehow “heroic” Serbs had to committ genocide against Bosniaks (read more). What they avoid mentioning is that the Serb Army is the one that never demilitarized around Srebrenica and that Serb villages were used as military bases from which Serb Army launched brutal attacks on the Srebrenica enclave (read more). In 1990’s, Serbs had no business in even being present on a predominantly Bosniak territory of Eastern Bosnia, let alone committing genocide against innocent people.
Serbian Propaganda About Markale Market Massacres
Despite overhelming evidence against the Serb side, their propaganda has for a long time claimed that Sarajevo citizens bombed themselves to gain world sympathy and get the Bosnian-Serb army ‘in trouble’; Serbs even claimed that the markale market massacre in Sarajevo was “staged”.
Five mortar rounds landed in a crowded area of downtown Sarajevo on 28 August 1995 (Markale Massacre 2). Four of the rounds caused only minimal material damage; one round, however, landed in the Markale marketplace, the scene of a similar attack on 5 February 1994 (Markale Massacre 1). Thirty-seven people, most of them civilians, were killed in and around the marketplace, and approximately 90 were injured. A confidential report to the UNPROFOR Commander concluded that the five rounds had been fired from the Serb-held area of Lukavica, to the west of Sarajevo. The secrecy surrounding the UNPROFOR investigation into this incident gave rise to speculation, fueled by the Serbs, that there was doubt as to which side had fired the mortar rounds. A review of United Nations documentation, however, confirms that UNPROFOR considered the evidence clear: all five rounds had been fired by the Bosnian Serbs. To learn more about Markale Massacres, read the following articles:
UN Conclussions: Markale Massacres, UN Court: Serbs Responsible, Serb Gen. Stanislav Galic Convicted on Terrorism Charges, David Harland Testimony, and another Serb General Dragoljub Milosevic Convicted for Sarajevo Terrorism.
“Another lie meant to feed the hatred of the enemy that was bandied about in the Serbian media concerned the allegation that the besieged Muslims of Sarajevo were feeding Serb children to the municipal zoo’s starving animals.”
Acording to the prosecution at the ICTY trial of Milosevic, Serbian television and radio’s repetitive use of pejorative descriptions, such as “Ustashe hordes”, “Vatican fascists”, “Mujahedin fighters”, “fundamentalist warriors of Jihad”, and “Albanian terrorists”, became part of common usage. Two members of the Federal Security Service (KOG) testified for the Prosecution in Milosevic’s trial about their involvement in Milosevic’s propaganda campaign. Slobodan Lazarevic revealed alleged KOG clandestine activities designed to undermine the peace process, including mining a soccer field, a water tower and the reopened railway between Zagreb and Belgrade. These actions were blamed on Croats. The other KOG operative, Mustafa Candic, described the use of technology to fabricate conversations, making it sound as if Croat authorities were telling Croats in Serbia to leave for an ethnically pure Croatia. The conversation was broadcast following a Serb attack on Croatians living in Serbia, forcing them to flee. He testified that the propaganda war was code named “Operation Opera.” He also testified to another instance of disinformation involving a television broadcast of corpses, described as Serb civilians killed by Croats. Candic testified that he believed they were in fact the bodies of Croats killed by Serbs, though this statement has not been verified. (see:
Feeding the Vampire, and we also recommend EXPERT REPORT OF RENAUD DE LA BROSSE “Political Propaganda and the Plan to Create ‘A State For All Serbs:’ Consequences of using media for ultra-nationalist ends” in five parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5),Want to learn more? Then continue your research by visiting
Questions and Answers about Srebrenica Genocide, as well as our library of over 200 articles. Wish you could drop your feedback? Go ahead, you don’t have to be registered to comment at Srebrenica Genocide Blog!SERBIAN TERRORIST GROUP “MLADA BOSNA” ET AL
PHOTO: Serbs set an American flag on fire during a mass protest rally against Kosovo’s declaration of independence in Belgrade, Serbia, Feb. 21, 2008.Serbian Terror Attack on the U.S. Embassy
The attack on and subsequent burning of the U.S. embassy (and other embassies in Belgrade) by masked Serb hooligans is a terrorist act. If, for example, Albanians attacked the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, then the media would call them “terrorists”. But when Serbian terrorists attack and burn down embassies, they are called rioters, mobs, thugs, protesters… In fact, they are not rioters, mobs, thugs, and protesters – they are Serbian terrorists.
A 21 year-old Serbian terrorist, identified by B92 as Zoran Vujovic, who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade with the help of the group died in the fire.
Vujovic’s charred body was recovered from the embassy and identified by his father, Milan Vujovic, who recognized some of the personal belongings that were recovered, including his son’s gold chain. The DNA analysis later confirmed this.
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had said earlier the terrorist attacks on foreign institutions, such as embassies and companies, in Serbia was the result of the diplomatic recognition of the new Kosovar state by the US and many European Union countries.
The biggest Serbian newspaper, Novosti, in an article published on Sunday justified the Serbian terror attacks on the US embassy in Belgrade, quote:
“Nobody has the right to equate the built up anger of the people with hooliganism. The US embassy was set on fire. It was not set on fire by Serb nationalists, as some media have reported, it was set on fire by Americanism and contemporary fascism.”
Serbian terrorist group: bomb attacks
Serbian terrorist organization “Mlada Bosna,” or “Young Bosnia” (same name as Gavrilo Princip’s group that assasinated Archduke Franz Ferninand in Sarajevo and started WWI) recently took responsibility for several bomb attacks, including bomb attack on Mercator mall in Belgrade and EU mission HQ in Mitrovica.
Several newspapers and magazines in Serbia also received e-mails from a group calling itself Mlada Bosna, or Young Bosnia, claiming responsibility for a string of terrorist attacks with hand-grenades since Kosovo’s independence declaration.
The group’s name echoes that of the organization that included the Bosnian Serb terrorist Gavrilo Princip, who in 1914 killed Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, triggering World War I in which over 40 million casualties resulted, including approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths.
Amnesty International has voiced concerns about the physical safety of Natasa Kandic – one of most respected human rights activists in Europe and the director of the Belgrade’s Humanitarian Law Center.
An interview with Borko Ilic – vice president of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) – in the daily Kurir, was headlined “Traitor” (referring to Natasa Kandic’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence).
Another article in the daily Vecernje novosti was headlined ‘Natasa Kandic, the woman who does not exist’, implying that as a non-person, her elimination would be without consequences. Other human rights activists also have concerns for their security. Serbian terrorist group “Mlada Bosna” is suspected of being involved in recent anonymous threats against the Serbian human rights activist Natasa Kandic.
Uttering Terrorist Threats Against Kosovo Albanians
Just over a week ago, the head of the Serb Orthodox Church in Kosovo, Bishop Artemije, has denounced the Serbian armed forces for doing nothing and called for a new war, quote:
“Serbia should buy state-of-the-art weapons from Russia and other countries and call on Russia to send volunteers and establish a military presence in Serbia.”
In his latest piece titled “It’s Time for Us to Show our Teeth” published in ultra-nationalist Serbian newspapers “Glas Javnosti”, Serbia’s self-proclaimed “terrorism expert,” discredited Srebrenica genocide denier, and former identity theft criminal Dr Darko Trifunovic (biography) uttered terrorist threats by calling for Kosovo Albanian civilians to be bombed, quote:
“As soon as Pristina declares independence… Belgrade must order tanks to attack Kosovo, including the artillery bombings of the Province until Kosovo is returned under sovereignity of Serbia…”
It All Started in Kosovo
In 1389, in the famous Battle of Kosovo a coalition of armies including Serbs, Albanians, Bosnians and Hungarians, led by the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebljanovic was defeated by the Ottoman Turks, who finally took control of the territory in 1455.
Serbs consider Kosovo their religious and cultural heartland, just as they consider other parts of former Yugoslavia to be “theirs” for various reasons (depending on who you ask). The original inhabitants of Kosovo were not Serbs, but Illyrians – ancestors of today’s Albanians. Depending on who’s counting, Kosovo is 90% to 95% ethnic Albanian.
In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic gave an infamous speech in front of one million galvanized Serbs at the place where Serbs suffered a historic defeat from the Turkish army in 1389. In his speech, he openly threatened war in an open manner with any one of the Yugoslav nations if Serbian domination became endangered, quote:
“Six centuries later, now, we are being again engaged in battles and are facing battles. They are not armed battles, although such things cannot be excluded yet.”
Milosevic’s speech was just one of many attempts by Serbia to exert its domination over other peoples in Former Yugoslavia.
As Lisa Van Dusen of Edmonton Sun explains, quote:
“That day, the final of weeks of 600th anniversary celebrations, Milosevic extolled the importance of Kosovo to the Serbian national psyche, lay the groundwork for stripping Kosovo of its administrative autonomy and hinted darkly at an armed battle to come…. Throughout 1998, Serb police and Yugoslav army forces played a game of ethnic cleansing beat the clock on the ground while Milosevic himself paid lip service to international negotiators, including U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke and Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who were backed up by the threat of NATO airstrikes as early as September 1998. By the time the bombing started in March 1999, hundreds of thousands of Kosovars were already homeless and fleeing to Albania with the clothes on their backs; on foot, by donkey cart, in cars and still being bombed on their way out by Yugoslav war planes.”
In the ensuing battles against the neighbours, Serbia lost four wars in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Serbs sought to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of Albanians three times: In the 1911-12 Balkan Wars after they seized it from the Ottoman Empire; in 1945; and in the 1990s. This brutal record, and persecution of Albanian Kosovars in the post-Tito era, invalidates any legitimate claims Serbia has to Kosovo.
Under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, Serbs became international pariahs intoxicated them with Nazi-style bogus historical mythology, primitive nationalism, and anti-Muslim racism. According to Eric Margolis of Edmonton Sun, quote:
“In 1999, while Europe watched impotently, Milosevic’s forces killed 13,000 Kosovar Albanians, blew up mosques, gang-raped Muslim women, burned Albanian villages and drove one million Albanian Kosovars into frigid winter fields where they would have died of exposure without outside help. The U.S. saved the Kosovars by launching a short air war on the Serbs. Outraged Serbs claimed they were victims of an American-German conspiracy. Kosovo was their historical medieval heartland, they insisted. Serbia’s very soul. But by 2008, Kosovo’s population was two million Albanians and only 60,000-80,000 Serbs and gypsies, mostly in the Mitrovica enclave. About 100,000 more Kosovo Serbs had moved to Serbia.”
It All Ended in Kosovo
Kosovo has been a centuries-long inspiration for radical Serbian nationalism, Serbian Orthodox Christian religious extremism, and irrational anti-Muslim fanaticism. The loss of Kosovo represents a major blow to the Serbian propaganda and psychology of self-inflicted victimhood of mythical proportions.
Kosovo joins five former republics that have withdrawn from Belgrade’s reign since 1991. The secession of the province, which is 90 per cent ethnic Albanian, marks the latest and the final chapter in the bloody dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. What follows is a lasting peace and prosperity for all, but most importantly for Albanians who suffered greatly under the Serbian terrorist dictatorship.
Kosovo will never be part of Serbia, again.
BEWARE OF BALKANPEACE.ORG – GENOCIDE DENIAL NGO!
“THE CENTRE FOR PEACE IN THE BALKANS”
BEWARE: This organization was established by the Serbian nationalists in Toronto (Canada) and serves as an extended hand of Belgrade propaganda
Above: Screenshot of “The Centre for Peace in the Balkans” promoting Srebrenica genocide denial material with Edward Herman’s article: “The Politics of the Srebrenica Massacre.” Many similar articles (written by infamous genocide deniers) can be found on their site. To read response to Herman’s denials and conspiracy theories, click here.
Full article continues below…
The Centre for Peace in the Balkans (balkanpeace.org) is a Serbian propaganda media outlet based in Toronto, Canada. Here is a quick overview of this organization:
Objective
This organization presents itself as “balanced and accurate,” “non-profit corporation” with appealing ‘non-partisan’ name working for “peace” and against “the West’s flawed Balkan strategy” in the Balkans, “striving to advocate a balanced and accurate presentation” of the situation in the Balkans and to bring “NATO and military political leaders to stand trial.”
The main objective of this Serbian organization is to manipulate the public opinion with misinterpretation of facts concerning the recent conflict in the Former Yugoslavia. While there is plenty of material on their website portraying Bosniaks, Croats, and Albanians as “terrorists”, there is not a single piece of material on their web site condemning widespread human rights violations and massacres committed by the Serbs. In fact, this seemingly “peace-oriented” web site contains Srebrenica genocide denial material from many disgraced conspiracy theorists (see screenshot).
Who is behind ‘The Centre for Peace in the Balkans’?
‘The Centre for Peace in the Balkans’ was founded by a young Serbian nationalist – Nikola Rajkovic – who was (according to the Serbian Unity Congres) “born in Montreal, but now permanently resides in Toronto, Canada.” Rajkovic is actively involved in regularly updating the site with copyrighted material lifted from the Reuters, Associated Press, and other stories he finds interesting.
In January 2002, Nikola Rajkovic was elected to serve as a member of FR Yugoslav Council of Diaspora by then Serbian-run Government in Belgrade. The Council is better known as the Canadian-Serbian Council. Nikola Rajkovic is also a Vice-President of Serbian National Shield Society in Canada – an organization run by Serbian immigrants.
According to the Serbian Unity Congress, “Council members from the Motherland have been named on the basis of recommendations received from the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church.”
This same Church – namely the Serbian Orthodox Church – has been actively involved in encouraging their own people to support imprisoned Serb war criminals at the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia at the Hague. The Orthodox priest, Father Vojislav Bilbija, even laughed at their indictments for genocide and human rights violations, quote: “[the] individual prisoners have told him that their indictments are so unbelievable that the only thing left for them to do during court trials is smile bitterly.” (See “Loneliness worse than imprisonment for Hague prisoners,” The Path or Orthodoxy, January 2002)
‘The Centre for Peace in the Balkans’ & Srebrenica Genocide Denial
The interesting aim of ‘The Centre for Peace in the Balkans’ seems to be the creation of an atmosphere of exaggerated and false messages of pure Serbian ‘innocence’ in the conflict. Those views deemed to be fit to serve Serbian propaganda are gladly published on their web site. Their favorite essays are republished from such widely circulated Srebrenica genocide denial sources as Edward S. Herman, Stella L. Jatras, Jared Israel, Diana Johnstone, George Pumphrey, Milivoje Ivanisevic, Yossef Bodansky, Nebojsa Malic, David Peterson, and other conspiracy theorists (see here).
As respected British historian Marko Attila Hoare noted:
Quote: “Not a single respectable work of scholarship has been produced by any member of this political category in the West, though they have produced an enormous quantity of what can most charitably be described as extended political tracts, based…largely on other political tracts by other Balkan genocide deniers…. the ‘anti-war’ people in the West write propaganda rather than history about the Balkans; necessarily so, since they believe Yugoslavia was destroyed by a Western or German imperialist conspiracy, and this is not a viewpoint that anyone who actually does research on the subject can sustain. The average MPhil student here at Cambridge would be embarrassed to produce the sort of rubbish churned out by Michael Parenti, Diane Johnstone, Kate Hudson and other ill-informed genocide deniers, whose sole purpose is to confirm other lefties in their anti-Western prejudices.” End Quote (Srebrenica and the London Bombings: The ‘Anti-War’ Link)
The one of the saddest activism by this ‘Centre for Peace in the Balkans’ is the denial and manipulation of Srebrenica genocide. Even though more than 6000 bodies were recovered from Srebrenica’s mass graves and await DNA identification, Serbian propagandists and their revisionist friends hold onto their fictious belief that the number of killed was actually less than 2,500 and that Srebrenica genocide never happened. They even refuse to acknowledge the term Genocide when refering to the Srebrenica massacre and they regularly quote each other in every source they publish (it’s a well established circle of conspiracy theorists drawing opinions from each others’ pre-determined conclusions).
New York – Srebrenica Sisterhood: 7/11 and 9/11
The friendship between the New York and Srebrenica was viewed as a main threat to the twisted nationalist minds running this, so called, ‘Centre for Peace in the Balkans.’ As a result, ‘The Centre for Peace in the Balkans’ voiced its anger against the Srebrenica-New York sisterhood proposal – a symbolic link between Bosnian and American tragedy (9/11 and 6/11). In fact, according to Nikola Rajkovic’s logic published on his web site:
Quote: “Implying that the terror suffered by 9-11 victims in New York is similar to civil war suffering in Srebrenica is factually wrong. As such, a sister-city relationship between New York City and Srebrenica should not be established since it would be an insult to the memory of 9-11 victims.” End Quote
Of course, Nikola Rajkovic and his make-belief “Centre for Peace in the Balkans” fail to grasp that Srebrenica massacre is not just a “civil war suffering” – it’s a genocide. More clearly, it’s a genocide perpetrated by the forces under the command of former Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his war-time General Ratko Mladic. Both of these fugitives from justice succeeded in executing planned genocide (read Karadzic’s words) with full logistical support of Serbia. Therefore, Nikola Rajkovic’s hate-inspired statements are insult not only to the victims of 7/11 and 9/11, but also step back for any chance of lasting peace and ethnic reconciliation. As of today, Rajkovic’s “Centre for Peace in the Balkans” still refuses to call for an arrest of indicted Serb war criminals who committed genocide in Srebrenica.
Nikola Rajkovic Fears Serb Children Will Learn About Genocide
The founder of ‘The Centre for Peace in the Balkans’ – Serbian nationalist Nikola Rajkovic – is obsessed with perceived bias of anything “Western” against Serbia. One has to glance over his article, “Serbdom in the 21st Century” (which he published at Serbian Unity Congress web site), to understand the level of his obsession against Western influence on Serbs and Serbia:
Quote: “…the Serbian name and identity has been under a constant media and public relations attack… there is an identifiable group of foreign journalists and foreign policy makers who have built their entire careers on denigrating the Serb name and reputation…. Serbdom will continue to suffer catastrophic consequences… Are the Serbs of Yugoslavia prepared to be made the scapegoats for the wars of the 1990s? …picking up the local (foreign) newspaper or turning on the television usually means enduring the following headline, Evil Serb convicted of genocide. What kind of effect will such unchallenged propaganda have on Serbian children living abroad? What will Serbian children say when they are asked to identity their heritage? …the long-term consequences of unchallenged propaganda and racism in foreign languages will be catastrophic to our identity and culture. If you need more proof, just read the foreign newspapers of the last ten years.” End Quote
And again, ‘The Center for Peace in the Balkans’ founder, refuses to challenge his own logic. He plays innocent card by suggesting that he does not understand why his people were in the news and why individuals from his people were accused and convicted of genocide, wide scale massacres, ethnic cleansings and other evils. For him, Serbs and Serbia are pure victims and he is more frustrated about Serb children learning that individual Serb people committed genocide against Bosniaks, than condemning those same crimes of genocide (let alone calling for war criminals hiding in Serbia to be arrested).
Rajkovic is disturbed by “foreign newspapers” for documenting wide scale massacres in Bosnia and Kosovo; these massacres were overhelmingly committed by the Serb (para)-military forces under the leadership of indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic and his indicted partner in crime General Ratko Mladic, both wanted on genocide charges and both fugitives from the international justice. He avoids condemning them or publishing any material criticising Serbs or Serbia.
Recommending Denial of Reality
‘The centre for Peace in the Balkans’ does not hide it’s bias; it recommends links to other web sites containing Srebrenica genocide denial material, and some of them include “Emperor’s Clothes,” “AntiWar,” “CounterPunch,” “ZNet,” “FrontPage Magazine” and sources of fiction and conspiracy.
Five Principles by De La Brosse
The fundamental principles of Serbian propaganda, highlighted by de la Brosse, haven’t changed. Five key principles are:
1. Keep it simple;
2. Project one’s own faults onto the enemy;
3. Use the news to one’s own advantage through exaggeration, distortion and omission;
4. Repeat the message endlesly; rely on myths and (revisionist) history; and
5. Create a national consensus.
The Serbian propaganda has been based on the same techniques as used by Adolf Hitler, with the added power of television and the Internet. To weld the population together, official propaganda draws on the sources of the Serbian mystique, that of a people who are ‘mistreated’ victims and ‘martyrs’ of history and that of Greater Serbia, indissolubly linked to the Orthodox religion and Eastern-Orthodox allies (e.g. Russia, Greece).
This type of propaganda clearly operates as a denial movement whose real aim is to fully absolve Serbia and Serbs of any responsibility for widespread war crimes, ethnic cleansings, and genocide in Srebrenica perpetrated for the sake of unfulfilled “Greater Serbia” dream.
Srebrenica Massacre 
