Bosnia

Diego Arria in the Foreign Policy magazine on war crimes in Bosnia Our editor, Ambassador Diego Arria - the former presidential candidate in Venezuela - was quoted by the Foreign Policy magazine, alongside former U.S. President Bill Clinton in an op-ed about war crimes in Bosnia & Herzegovina during the war in Yugo...
Of Osama Bin Laden and Ratko Mladic The two have a lot in common, but the question here is how others see them similarly or not, particularly among Muslims and Serbs. Muslims globally are frequently challenged in how they respond to terrorism. Those who defend Osama Bin Laden are rather pro...
Mo Sacirbey in Al Jazeera discussing Ratko Mladic's trial Our contributor Muhamed Sacirbey who served as the Foreign Minister of Bosnia during the genocide in the 90's and then as Bosnia's Ambassador to the United Nations until 2000, spoke to the English edition of Al Jazeera regarding the forthcoming trial of ...
Mladic claims he has cancer - is that why he was finally captured and extradited to the Hague? Mladic's lawyer claims that his infamous client has been treating for cancer since 2009. That would be definitely a shame if Serbia captured and extradited this war criminal because he has very limited time to live and is unlikely to survive until the end...
The Myth: U.S. saved Bosnian Muslims Thrown around like small change, some US officials and politicians have tried to use as legitimizing currency the claim that US intervention saved “Bosnian Muslims” (Bosniaks.) (Plenty of forums nowadays were such claim may enhance the US Governments ...
Will Ratko Mladic reveal secret deals about Srebrenica? The below is an article by our contributor, Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, written in 2008, which our readers requested we re-publish considering the recent arrest of a war criminal, Ratko Mladic. Enjoy the reading. As Srebrenica approaches another sad a...
The Balkans react to Bono-Sacirbey French kiss Two days ago we published a photo showing Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey and Bono from U2 kissing in public. This has led to some significant attention in Bosnia & Herzegovina, a predominantly Muslim country, where the story has been re-published by seve...
Ambassador Sacirbey: I miss the Bono kiss Finally, we got hold of Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey and spoke to him regarding the photo we published yesterday revealing his rather unusually friendship with U2 singer, Bono. Just to remind everybody, Mr. Sacirbey was caught on tape French kissing Bono, ...
Bono, Ambassador Sacirbey reveal their manly friendship? Gotch ya!!! This morning we received a “disturbing” photo showing Bono, the U2’s lead singer, and our contributor, Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, French-kissing in public. The picture was taken in 1995 at the end of the war in Bosnia during which Bono...
Sacirbey: Obama compares Libya to Bosnia “Fatal Attraction” to “Civil War” - do not make the same mistakes in Libya that were made in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Senator John McCain reflected a more transparent vision of the US intervention while President Obama tried to walk a fine line b...
10,000 people looking for war criminals Ratko Mladic, Goran Hadzic Serbia's war crime prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said on Tuesday that 10 000 people were hunting the two remaining fugitives: Genocide suspect Ratko Mladic and Croatian Serb Goran Hadzic. Link...
Sacirbey: NO to Republika Srpska but YES to Dayton Accords is not consistent Speaking against the perpetuation of Republika Srpska (RS) while continuing to embrace the Dayton Accords is neither consistent nor sincere political position. It may be convenient though - one can spew rhetorically to the RS’s continuing toxic effect o...
Diego Arria: Advocating for the Victims of War We found an interesting article in The Los Angeles Times describing how Ambassador Diego Arria advocated for the victims of genocide during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 90’s. In that time Mr. Arria served as the Venezuelan Ambassador to the ...
Bosnia assumes presidency of UN Security Council Tumultuous and Bosnia & Herzegovina (“BiH”) at the United Nations Security Council seem to be a frequent theme over the last two decades. This time though Ivory Coast, Haiti, Sudan, the Koreas, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, and Somalia face the crisis as (Bi...
Sacirbey: Shutting Down War Crimes Tribunal Prematurely? Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, the former foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shares his views on UN’s decision to close down the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. Driven by desire to move off the agenda Mladic's and Belgra...
Richard Holbrooke dies at 69 It has just been reported that Amb. Richard Holbrooke -- special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan and one of FP's earliest editors, has passed away after emergency surgery for a torn aorta. He was 69. Link...
Obama prays for Holbrooke’s health President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle announced that they are praying for Richard Holbrooke’s health, who collapsed last Friday during a meeting with a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and underwent a dangerous surgery at the GWU Hospital in Wa...
Sacirbey: Ratko Mladic is in Serbia The Hague Tribunal Prosecutor, (ICTY), reported to the UN Security Council that indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic is still enjoying effective protection from arrest in Serbia. Mr. Serge Brammertz, the ICTY Prosecutor, has on several previous occasions re...
Sacirbey: The challenge to us “If You are Willing Together, Then it is Yours and Ours. If You want to Divide, then it is Only Ours.” Bosnia & Herzegovina is in need of a clear vision of how to approach the future. The above formulation is intended to distinguish those w...
Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey: Dayton 15 years after Our contributor, Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, gave an interview to Euronews.net portal. Mr. Sacirbey shared his reflections about the Dayton Peace Accords and the impact of the peace treaty on Bosnia's current state of affairs and its future. The below is...
Leadership in genocide times: Saving even one life was important Before the upcoming 15th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords we did an interview with Muhamed Sacirbey, the former Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina and also its Ambassador to the United Nations during the war time of the 90’s. Mr. Sacirbey...
Sacirbey, Clinton meet again Our contributor Mo Sacirbey, the former Foreign Minister of Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), met with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, at the campaign trail of Congressman Mike McMahon in New York. The two gentelmen met each other again almost 15 yea...
Women force French former general from Srebrenica Survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre forced a French former U.N. commander to leave a memorial site for victims Friday, angry he had not fulfilled a wartime promise never to abandon the Bosnian town. Link...
Judges: Karadzic trial could take extra 2 years Karadzic's American lawyer said the landmark trial could last even longer than that, and urged judges to slash away a major part of the indictment if they want to rein in the case against the accused, who faces 11 charges, including two counts of genocide...
Diego Arria - Oslo Freedom Forum 2010 Watch Diego Arria’s famous speech, which he gave at the Oslo Freedom Forum in April this year, called “The greatest cover-up in the United Nations’ history”. In the speech, Mr. Arria reflected upon his experiences as the President of the United Na...
Diego Arria's leadership We proudly present a link to the Los Angeles Times’ article from 1993 about Diego Arria’s exceptional leadership at the United Nations during the Bosnian genocide. The beginning of the 90’s saw emergence of many diplomatic leaders who worked around ...
Is Mladic dead or alive? Ratko Mladic’s family filed a motion this week with the ICTY to declare Mladic dead because the search to find him has proved unfruitful so far. However, the ICTY’s top prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said in a statement that the ICTY has reasons to beli...
Authority of the International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court, (ICC), “complements” rather than supercedes national judicial and law enforcement jurisdiction and mechanisms in addressing grave violations of international humanitarian law including genocide, war crimes, crimes aga...
Diego Arria on the Bosnian genocide Our co-editor, Mr. Diego Arria, who in the past served as the President of the United Nations Security Council, spoke to "The Guardian" about the Bosnian genocide and the forthcoming extradition of Ejup Ganic from Great Britain to Serbia. Referring to th...
Hartmann: Serbia and Srebrenica The recent Serbian Parliament’s resolution, which sort of apologizes for the extermination of Bosniaks in Srebrenica, has made it to the headlines. The two months long intense political pressure to insert some reference to genocide into said resolution ...
Running Away from the Responsibility Genocide is the word and Belgrade is not the only capital anxious to avoid the term and the consequences that such implicates. Belgrade finally suffocated the word from the text of its resolution on Srebrenica as defined by ICJ judgment. Perhaps not so co...
Carl Levin on gays in Srebrenica Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin rebukes an earlier statement by General John Sheehan that connected the massacre at Srebrenica to the Dutch military allowing openly gays and lesbian persons to serve in their military. ...
Times Online: Dutch outrage as US general blames gay soldiers for Srebrenica A retired American general has blamed the UN's historic failure to protect the Bosnian "safe haven" of Srebrenica on the fact that there were openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping battalion assigned to it. Link...
Bosnia: Between election as Security Council member and Dayton Accords Bosnia & Herzegovina, (BiH), is favored to win election to the United Nations Security Council this October 15 for a two-year term as non-permanent member. Bosnia & Herzegovina’s tumultuous history, recent and distant, provides the global body w...
The implications of the Butcher’s trial Acquiescence or Complicity in Genocide Comes with Addresses & Names As do the Actual Perpetrators Will The Hague War Crimes Tribunal Ever Deliver A Complete Historical Record and Justice? That there was a premeditated decision to betray Srebren...
A letter to UK Secretary of Foreign Affairs HE David Wright Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, London, United Kingdom Dear Mr. Minister: The decision of the Government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland to detain Dr. Ejub Ganic on the basis of an extrad...
Job Not Complete at the Hague Tribunal? How to judge the success of The Hague Tribunal, (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia), in accomplishing its mandate, but it would impossible to make such an assessment until the job is fully completed? The Tribunal (or “ICTY’) m...
Should Bosnia Reconsider Troop Deployment to Afghanistan? Should Bosnia Reconsider its Troop Deployment to NATO Coalition in Afghanistan If Bosnia & Herzegovina is not offered NATO Membership Action Plan, (MAP)? Bosnia & Herzegovina ("BiH") has offered a substantial military commitment of troops to the N...
Mo Sacirbey: A verdict against Dayton Peace Accords European Court of Human Rights issues ruling on discriminatory character of Bosnia & Herzegovina Constitution drafted as part of US & EU led Dayton talks. Will BiH adopt new constitution and on which basis and by what process? An Awkward Moment ...
Florence Hartmann: Srebrenica through the ICTY's eyes Since Karadzic was transferred to The Hague Tribunal in July 2008 to stand a trial for the genocide and war crimes, some knotty questions emerged. Two months after his transfer, the Prosecution’s Office issued a new indictment against the long time fugi...
Charles W. Ingrao: There is evidence of Holbrooke's deal Interview with Prof. Charles W. Ingrao of the Purdue University’s Department of History, the head of the Scholar’s Initiative: Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies. * * * Sebastian Aulich: One of the defenses Karadzic has already made is that th...
Florence Hartmann: Behind Curtains of International Justice Interview with Mrs. Florence Hartmann, former spokesperson of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in the Hague and author of the book “Peace and Punishment” in which she describes the mechanisms and politics influencing the ...