As June slides into July, like many people who have interests in the Balkans, specifically Bosnia, I start to eye the calender that trudges towards the enth anniversary in memory of the genocide at Srebrenica.
An acquaintance of mine recently wondered why I find it necessary to 'remind' my Bosnian friends of this horrible time in their lives by going by to visit with them, not so much through out the year but specifically around this time. I don't know..I had to churn that around in my mind for a while. What do I want? What do I want to know? Why do I want to be a witness to the pain?
Srebrenica the town in eastern Bosnia that was a supposed UN sanctioned 'Safe Area' is now infamous for being Ratko Mladic's last murderous pit stop before Mr. Holbrook and company gave away the heart of Bosnia at Dayton in 1995, supposedly 'ending the war'.
A collective heartbroken sigh can be heard across the world as we watch the women of Srebrenica relive and rebury their loved ones each and every year.
What has changed for them now that the decrepit old man named Mladic has been transported to the Hague, awaiting trail & presumably justice?
What still needs to be done - by Serbia, by the International community is what is explored by a guest writer at Marko Hoare's website Greater Surbiton . In his guest post the Professor writes what we all know must happen: "Serbia must now be called upon to denounce President Dodik’s rhetoric of genocide denial and secession and to fully support the reunification of Bosnia".
It's not enough to have captured and handed over (finally) the man, who is anyway, only the known face of what is 'many'. That surely should not be enough to win the EU prize for Serbia. The cancer at the heart of Bosnia needs to be exhumed along with the bones of the victims.There is much work still to be done.
Will this happen? When will it happen?
That is what I want to know when I visit my friends from Rogatica, from Zepa, from Tuzla on these hot summer days. No one has answers, just silent tears in coffee cups. And Mladic's arrest is just another droning flicker on the TV screen.
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