Croatia, the War, and the Future
Ina Vukic - Croatia: people, politics, history, economy, transitioning from communism to democracy
Reuters: Published last month, war crimes researchers say The Bosnian Book of the Dead represents the most comprehensive statistical analysis yet of the bloodshed in Bosnia after federal Yugoslavia fell apart at the close of the 20th century.
The place where you can get your: Colour Me Croatian
https://colourmecroatian.com
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Ina has been a tireless volunteer on humanitarian aid and fundraising for victims of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially war orphans. From1991 to beginning of 1994 she contributed in lobbying for international recognition of Croatian independence and Croatia’s rights in defending its territory and people from military aggression by Serbian forces. For this dedicated voluntary work Ina was awarded two Medals of Honour by the first president of the Republic of Croatia in 1995 (Commemorative Medal of the Homeland War and Order of the Croatian Trefoil).Ina has also written hundreds articles for newspapers in Australia and Croatia on the plight of Croatian people for freedom and self-determination, developing democracy in former communist countries. She holds two graduate and one post-graduate university degrees, specialising in behaviour, clinical and political psychology and management.
Blessed Alojzije (Aloysius) Stepinac Feast Day February 10
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I will trust the non-partial ICTY numbers before I will trust these ones.
According to them, 16,000 Bosnian Serb soldiers died; 8,000 Bosnian Serb civilians. 50,000 Bosniak soldiers died; 25,000 Bosniak civilians.
No, Francis A, you are quoting wrongly when it comes to Serb ciivilian and soldiers, this is what the article says and refers to the figures in the book: Roughly half the dead were civilians, while 82 percent of those were Bosnian Muslims (known as Bosniaks). Some 10,000 women were killed, again the majority Bosniaks. Of 24,000 Serb dead, 20,000 were soldiers”.
Me too Francis A – the ICTY has the number killed at a higher level than this source – just under 103,000. These numbers however also do not include the many who died from war related injuries and life events.
As I said, I would trust the ICTY demographic numbers before I would trust these numbers. The ICTY demographic numbers are roughly as I gave them. Of the 35,000 civilian deaths, roughly 70 % (25,514) were Bosniak. The Bosnian Serbs suffered 15,298 military deaths, and 7,480 civilian deaths. Here is a link to the ICTY analysis. I refer you to pg. 17 of the document.
http://www.icty.org/x/file/About/OTP/War_Demographics/en/bih_casualty_undercount_conf_paper_100201.pdf
All this “reconciliation” talk in the Balkans and still no one wants to admit the full extent of communist crimes and hold those who committed them, responsible. Nice.
I will never be one to deny that was happened in Bosnia was absolutely horrific and was no doubt, ethnic cleansing, (one life taken away in the pursuit of this “greater Serbia” is one too many) but if we want reconciliation in the future, the past must be addressed and certain truths brought to light in the mainstream. From what I know, most sane people don’t deny what happened in Bosnia, nor are the victims and survivors prevented from being remembered and honoured.
Sorry to rain on anyone’s parade, but as you can see, I do have some issues with how the war/genocide in Bosnia is presented in the public at times. (And I do have a distaste for the blog this article is published on…sorry again, getting off track).
I am not denying that ethnic cleansing took place nor am I denying that the war was bloody and heated. However, to refer to the entire war as a “genocide” does not stand up to judicial review. Srebrenica has been ruled genocide but repeatedly at the ICTY/ICJ, all notions of a 3-year genocide or even notions that the ethnic cleansing campaign of 1992 constituted genocide have been dismissed. Genocide is a word that is used as a political tool. In terms of Bosnia from 1992-1995, the claim is simply unsubstantiated. And yes, the blog you are discussing is a vehement, close-minded, biased, and, in my opinion, a hateful site. It is wrong when people use their victim status in order to incite hatred. Is this not what Milosevic and Karadzic did, exploiting the genocide of WWII in order to incite hatred?
No hatred promoted here Francis A, and if you are referring to the site “We Remember the Bosnian Genocide” as promoting hatred I differ from that view. Vehemently or otherwise writing about horrible accounts and the truth no matter how horrible that may fall on some, is something all should pursue and that way one may find that perpetrators of crimes and politicians that stand behind them, because the truth of crimes may rub off against them too, might eventually find enough courage to admit and move on. By your standards only those who promote only certain and not all the WWII events and killings have a right to do that without being labelled as promoting hatred. I, and many many more, happen to consider that all victims deserve truth and justice even if pursuing that might to some appear distasteful. Truth is, sadly, often distasteful and, hence, many try and avoid it or gloss it over by plucking out historical events that might give them ease or excuse.
Francis A., I understand where you’re coming from, but I must say that I personally, believe the whole aggression on Croatia/Serbia was done with the intent of genocide/ethnic cleansing and displacement, for the furthering of the greater Serbia policy. This may or may not be the official verdict by the ICTY or other establishments and I may reevaluate my own stance in the future, but right now this is my personal conclusion based on what I have learnt.
I am not against the idea of writing about the crimes committed in Bosnia, of fully acknowledging them, remembering the victims and holding criminals accountable. This must be done so that victims and future generations can move on and build a better future. Using blogs to spread information and discuss social and political issues is certainly a good strategy, but not all blogs are equal in quality and I certainly have issues with some of the ideas promoted in other parts of the linked blog. It rings as very biased and close-minded, as you already said, but I will refrain from discussing this further because I don’t think this the right place for my blog critique.
Kat, the blog this article was posted on “We Remember the Bosnian Genocide” is as far as I can fathom attempting to record truths in the perceived reality that crimes may get forgotten and I guess we all have a right to deal with grief and loss in ways that eventually may bring some inner peace, given time. It would seem that there will be no full reconciliation regarding 20th century without communist crimes being properly dealt with, recorded and condemned.
Or, to be exact, the number of Bosniak civilians equated to 69.4 % of the total amount of civilians. The only numbers which I quoted incorrectly from the ICTY were the numbers of Bosniak military deaths and the number of Serbian civilian deaths. 42,492 Bosniaks died in military deaths, not 50,000, while 7,500 Bosnian Serb civilians died, not 8,000.