Refighting the Bosnian war
The arrest in Vienna on a Serbian warrant of the Bosnian general who led Sarajevo’s defense at the beginning of the Bosnian war in 1992 is the latest Belgrade effort to rewrite history. Jovan Divjak, an ethnic Serb, is accused of war crimes for an incident in May 1992. During the UN-negotiated evacuation of a Yugoslav National Army (JNA) general an his aides from Sarajevo, the UN-protected convoy, which without authorization from the Bosnian side carried soldiers, weapons and files, was attacked and 18 people killed.
The merits of the war crimes accusations have already been considered in London last year, in the case of Ejup Ganic. The British court found that the Serbian authorities had abused the judicial process and released Ganic, after months house detention.
But if you want to see for yourself Divjak’s role, get the documentary The Death of Yugoslavia (it’s available from Google Videos on line) and watch the general call for those firing on the convoy to stop. It’s in part 4. Start with Divjak at about minute 28, and watch the part about the detention by the JNA of Bosnian President Izetbegovic, which is essential background to the convoy incident at minute 44.
Why would Belgrade pursue this legal case now? Serbia’s current leadership is mainly focused on getting the country into the EU, but it is also determined to satisfy nationalist sentiment by establishing that Serbs were victims during the wars in Yugoslavia. I have no problem myself in acknowledging that: Serbs suffered not only during the war, but also thereafter under the continued autocracy of Slobodan Milosevic.
But it is past time–almost 20 years have gone by–for Serbs to adopt a version of history that is recognizable by their antagonists. Arresting Divjak is as much an abuse of judicial process as the arrest of Ejup Ganic and dishonors Serbia’s democracy.
PS: The thesis that Belgrade is refighting the Bosnian war is elaborated in more detail and with ample support in an RFE piece by Nenad Pejic. He writes
Standing behind all these cases are figures in Serbia’s security organs, police, and military who are backed by far-right political forces….Despite having all these cases dismissed one after another — and the case against Divjak will surely be dismissed as well — the rightists have achieved their goal. Serbian media covered all the arrests with patriotic jingoism, and ethnic tensions across the Balkans were inflamed. Divisions were deepened. Tolerance suffered another setback. The soil was prepared for future conflicts or partitions. And pro-Western forces in Serbia have been sent a strong message about the power of the far right. They are still fighting a war that has been lost.
PPS: I guess if the Austrian Foreign Minister thinks the extradition of Divjak is “unthinkable” that means it won’t happen. But the request is still an embarrassment to Serbia.
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They’ve been doing the same with Kosovo’s war time leaders. Agim Ceku has been arrested and released relatively quickly on at least three occasions. It is time for Interpol to ignore Serb arrest warrants for abusing the system for political reasons.
With no support available from more “respectable” forces, the Bosnian leadership took what help they could get, including it’s said from criminal groups in Sarajevo. It would be people like these, eager for the weapons the retreating troops were transporting, and unlikely to respect military orders, who should be suspected. If the Serbs are interested in actually finding out what happened, they might try looking there. But certainly seems they’re a great deal more interested in simply harassing anyone they can get their hands on using Interpol. (Is there no limit on the number of strikes before you’re out for Interpol?) You’d think that eventually even ordinary Serb citizens would call for an end to the embarrassment the country suffers every time one of these cases falls through and for the dismissal of those responsible for bringing them with no or manufactured evidence, but so far the opportunity to imprison their former enemies for months or years seems to be enough of a compensation.
problem is in those who were against milosevic because he lost the wars not because he started them.
someone in serbia has made a big mistake and they’re aware of it now. blegrade was supposed to look for a regional cooperation along with sarajevo. we’ve been working in that direction not to give material for nationalists to look for bosnian’s dissolution. unfortunately this is just metastasis of a wrong road serbia took while ago. we’ve tried for a long time to keep things in the middle nudging toward belgrade and sarajevo closer cooperation. problem is in certain forces in serbia described in comment above and in official serbian government that doesn’t wont to publicly denounce dodik’s policies. what they’ve achieved is civil war in bosnia or rather its nature is now under international scrutiny: was it actually serbian (and croatian) aggression on bosnia? there are documents that confirms this. this is undeniable. however looking for a more than it was given to them (dissolution of bosnia) bosnian serbs accompanied and their allies in serbia have put serbian interests in danger. serbia is under danger of being accused of aggression on bosnia and in that matter another look at hague decision that srebrenica’s genocide was only locally.
Finally. The Austrians decided that it would be “unthinkable” to hand Divjak over to Serbia, without going through the rigamarole of an extradition hearing and appeal as Britain did with Ganic. Countries are beginning to wise up to Serbia’s tricks, it seems. Even some of the Serb posters at talk-back sites seem to be getting the message – such actions are only embarrassing the country. It’s not a welcome message, of course. When 6 of the Western-oriented NGO’s in Belgrade protested against this latest attempt to find someone to blame for the death of the “innocent young reservists,” they were roundly condemned by the public. You get the feeling that the Serbs will not be satisfied until the world – and specifically the U.S. – recognizes that it was the Serbs who were the victims in the Yugoslav Wars and should be apologized to and restitution made, including their “southern province.” Since that is not going to happen, the only question is how long they choose to continue to view themselves as innocent victims. Somehow I think that Europe’s talk about how important it is for Serbia to join the EU is not what’s needed. Benign neglect, maybe?