Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Medium
Judge Fouad Riad said evidence submitted by chief prosecutor Richard Goldstone depicts ``scenes of unimaginable savagery: thousands of men executed and buried in mass graves, hundreds of men buried alive, men and women mutilated and slaughtered, children killed before their mothers' eyes, a grandfather forced to eat the liver of his own grandson.''
``These are truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history,'' Riad said before signing international warrants against both men that will make them liable for arrest anywhere outside Serb-held territory.
Although survivors' accounts began to filter out this summer, the full scope of the Srebrenica massacres only became widely known in recent weeks with the publication of detailed reconstructions.
The latest indictments could complicate peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, where the fate of Karadzic and Mladic has emerged as an important issue. The Hague-based criminal tribunal already has charged the two with genocide and other war crimes for planning and ordering attacks against Muslim and Croat civilians throughout Bosnia.
Karadzic and Mladic are described as ``directly responsible'' for what may be the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. The tribunal charged that they planned, instigated and ordered the ``systematic mass killings'' of as many as 8,000 Muslim refugees.
In little more than two weeks, the tribunal said the area's estimated population of 40,000 Muslims was ``virtually eliminated by Bosnian Serb military personnel ... under the command and control of Karadzic and Mladic.'' Both men were seen on several occasions in or outside the area where mass executions occurred, officials said.
Tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said satellite photographs of mass graves, eyewitness accounts by survivors and testimony from Dutch peacekeeping soldiers offer incontrovertible proof that ``crimes of unprecedented cruelty against the Bosnian Muslim population'' took place in the aftermath of Srebrenica's fall.
On the night of July 11, a huge column of Bosnian Muslim fighters who fled Srebrenica was attacked by Bosnian Serb forces. Hundreds of them were summarily executed. Others were transported to two locations near Karakaj, 22 miles north of Srebrenica. There they were grouped with men and boys separated from other Muslim refugees, mainly women and children.
On July 14, thousands of the male refugees were taken to two large fields and summarily executed, according to witnesses. ``These killings form the basis of the charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic,'' the indictment reads.
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who is negotiating in Ohio on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs, has steadfastly refused to cooperate with the tribunal. Reports from Belgrade suggest Karadzic and Mladic would be willing to give up power once a peace agreement is reached, but only if they receive assurances that they will not face trial for war crimes.
The leaders of Bosnia and Croatia have been demanding the extradition of Karadzic and Mladic as a prerequisite for any deal. But while pressing for action against the 45 Serbs so far accused by the war crimes tribunal, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman has been reluctant to cooperate in the extradition of seven Croats who have been sought for trial. This week, he named one of them to a key position in the Croatian army a day after his indictment.
by CNB