Jordana Timerman: What Karadzic Did to Bosnia
[Jordana Timerman is a researcher at Foreign Policy.]
Busted: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is being tried on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, during which 150,000 to 200,000 people, mostly Muslims, died. He is accused of ethnic cleansing in eastern Bosnia, driving hundreds of thousands from their homes; a 44-month siege of the capital, Sarajevo, which left 10,000 dead; a massacre at Srebrenica, where about 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed; and the hostage-taking of 200 U.N. peacekeepers. Even as the trial proceeds, Bosnians and others in the region continue to struggle with his legacy.
Having his day in court: Karadzic is on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in The Hague. Karadzic is representing himself, but boycotted the trial's start last month, arguing he needed more time to prepare a defense. Countering that 14 months of custody, not to mention the 14 years since the 1995 indictment, is more than enough, the court appointed a defense lawyer for when Karadzic decides to skip the proceedings. The trial has been postponed until March to allow the lawyer time to prepare.
Bones of contention: Bosnia continues to face ghosts and scars from the past. Above, a forensic team examines a mass grave site in Koricanske Stijene, near Travnik, on July 23. They are preparing to lower themselves into an abyss, in search of the remains of about 200 Bosnian Muslim and Croat civilians massacred in 1992. The victims were held in a detention camp and were told they would be part of a prisoner exchange. Instead, "The civilians were ordered to kneel by the edge of a road turned towards the ravine and then were shot with automatic weapons," reads the indictment of two police officers accused of participating.
Still in fashion: The fragility of the 1995 Dayton Accords -- which negotiated peace between Bosnia's ethnic groups by subdividing the country into a Croat-Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) federation and a Serb republic -- shows on the streets. Extremist memorabilia is common in Serb areas of Bosnia and Serbia...
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Busted: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is being tried on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, during which 150,000 to 200,000 people, mostly Muslims, died. He is accused of ethnic cleansing in eastern Bosnia, driving hundreds of thousands from their homes; a 44-month siege of the capital, Sarajevo, which left 10,000 dead; a massacre at Srebrenica, where about 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed; and the hostage-taking of 200 U.N. peacekeepers. Even as the trial proceeds, Bosnians and others in the region continue to struggle with his legacy.
Having his day in court: Karadzic is on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in The Hague. Karadzic is representing himself, but boycotted the trial's start last month, arguing he needed more time to prepare a defense. Countering that 14 months of custody, not to mention the 14 years since the 1995 indictment, is more than enough, the court appointed a defense lawyer for when Karadzic decides to skip the proceedings. The trial has been postponed until March to allow the lawyer time to prepare.
Bones of contention: Bosnia continues to face ghosts and scars from the past. Above, a forensic team examines a mass grave site in Koricanske Stijene, near Travnik, on July 23. They are preparing to lower themselves into an abyss, in search of the remains of about 200 Bosnian Muslim and Croat civilians massacred in 1992. The victims were held in a detention camp and were told they would be part of a prisoner exchange. Instead, "The civilians were ordered to kneel by the edge of a road turned towards the ravine and then were shot with automatic weapons," reads the indictment of two police officers accused of participating.
Still in fashion: The fragility of the 1995 Dayton Accords -- which negotiated peace between Bosnia's ethnic groups by subdividing the country into a Croat-Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) federation and a Serb republic -- shows on the streets. Extremist memorabilia is common in Serb areas of Bosnia and Serbia...