Stupid question -- what was the extent of Milosevic's legitimacy in Serbia? "Dictator" sounds like a stretch.
http://www.populist.com/99.5.letters.html War Crimes Denial
I was incredulous to see the thoroughly discredited reports by Thomas Deichmann and Diana Johnstone listed as "Other Censored Stories" in the article "MAI Named the 'Most Censored' Story of 1999" by Project Censored in the April, 1999 Progressive Populist, page 21. This is akin to suggesting that censorship is at work because holocaust deniers do not appear on panels along with concentration camp victims from World War Two.
Far from being "censored" these reports by Deichmann and Johnstone, which are familiar to most of us who do work on the Balkans, are just plain wrong. Following a narrow political agenda, their contentions suggest that the independent media, all major human rights organizations, the United Nations Commission of Experts and the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are all manufacturing evidence of the torture, rape and death that took place in the three camps in the Prijedor area of Bosnia, Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje.
In fact, crimes were committed on a horrific scale in the municipality of Prijedor where more than 52,000 non- Serbs, mainly Muslims, were killed or expelled. Of a total of seven indictments for genocide, the most serious possible indictment by the ICTY, four are based in part on what occurred in these camps. Simo Drljaca and Milan Kovacevic, members of the Crisis Staff who planned and authorized the establishment of camps at Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje and the commanders of the Omarska and Keraterm camps, Zeljko Meakic and Dusko Sikirica, have all been accused of genocide by the court.
According to the indictments, between April 30 and December 31, 1992, the first months of the 1992-95 Bosnian war, the camps at Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje were planned with the specific purpose of detaining the Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the municipality of Prijedor. The conditions in the camps were calculated to deteriorate the health of those detained, with the ultimate intention of destroying part of the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat groups. Those who staffed the detention facilities were killing or causing serious physical or mental harm to the Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats detained, again with the intention of destroying in part the national, ethnic or religious groups they came from. These indictments were based upon carefully obtained evidence of many hundreds of witnesses.
The first conviction by the ICTY was that of Dusco Tadic. Tadic's guilt rested in part on the fact that, according to the judgment, he participated in the beating of prisoners at Omarska and Keraterm camps, which were "severe and contained the common factors of humiliation, ethnic persecution and physical violence."
Unlike Deichmann and Johnstone, the ICTY has has made every attempt to be evenhanded and accurate. In November of 1998, Esad Landzo (guard), Hazim Delic (deputy commander), and Zdravko Mucic (camp commander), Bosniak and Croatian perpetrators were all found guilty by the court of crimes committed against the Bosnian Serbs victims at Celebici, another detention camp.
Deichmann's calculated and obscene effort to deny all of this evidence because a single photograph may be inaccurate, the example cited in the MAI article, speaks for itself. By the way, Diechmann has actually stooped to attempting to discredit individual rape victims in an attempt to keep the story of the rapes at Omarska from being told. For more on the subject of rape, see the excellent documentary Calling the Ghosts: A Story about Rape, War and Women, Bowery Productions, (212) 677- 2286.
Deichmann and Johnstone's rear-guard action in the cold war should be ignored rather than cited as deserving more attention. They could be dismissed as being pathetic if their contentions were not being used by the guilty to avoid responsibility. This is particularly dangerous in this region where the cycle of impunity must be broken if there is to be any long-term peace or stability.
GERRY WALLMAN Bosnia Coordinator Amnesty International USA Email gwallman at igc.org
http://www.iifhr.com/womens%20website/organized_rape.html
>...UNICEF documented that well over 20,000 Muslim women were known to be raped in Bosnia and Herzegovina
during the Balkan war...
Related Materials:
http://www.suc.org/politics/rape/
http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/srebrenica/srebrenica.html
http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol5/No3/art2.html
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0224-02.htm
http://www.un.org/icty/press.htm
Articles (With Author’s Abstract):
Barkan, Joanne As Old as War Itself: Rape in Foca. Dissent, Winter2002, Vol. 49 Issue 1, p60.
Presents a testimony of a rape victim during the Bosnian War of 1922 to 1995. Aim of the Serbs to impregnate women to expand the procreative capacity of Muslim women on Serb- sired babies; Existence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia to human rights and feminist activist; Opportunity to expend justice for women.
Bumiller, Elisabeth. Deny Rape or Be Hated: Kosovo Victims' Choice. New York Times, 06/22/99, Vol. 148 Issue 51561, pA1.
Discusses the social stigma that accompanies rape in Kosovo in light of June 1999 efforts of human rights groups to collect information on whether Serbian forces used rape as a premeditated tactic against Kosovar Albanians. Classification of rape as a war crime; Cultural attitudes that discourage Muslim women from admitting that they have been raped; Anecdotal evidence of widespread rape; Reasons for Albanian women's preference for death to rape.
Buss, Doris. Prosecuting Mass Rape: Prosecutor v. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic. Feminist Legal Studies 10, no. 1 (2002): 91-99.
The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convicted three men for their role in the mass rape of Muslim women during the conflict in Bosnia-Hercegovina. That decision is a landmark in many respects, but primarily for its determination that the rape of Muslim women amounted to a crime against humanity. This comment provides an overview of the decision, exploring the significance of recognising rape as a crime against humanity within the context of other developments in the area of wartime rape and sexual violence. The comment also provides a brief review of the decision in light of the author's previous scepticism about the capacity for the Tribunal meaningfully to address violence against women. The comment concludes that while many aspects of the decision are promising, the war crimes trial itself may offer a limiting arena within which to address wartime rape.
Crossette, Barbara. An Old Scourge of War Becomes its Latest Crime. New York Times, 06/14/98, Vol. 147 Issue 51188, Section 4 p1.
Discusses crimes against women as a tactic of warfare, as of 1998. Premeditated, organized sexual assault as a tactic in terrorizing and humiliating a civilian population; Evidence of the tactic in Bosnia against Muslim women, in Rwanda against Tutsi women, in Indonesia against Chinese women, and in Serbia against Albanian women; Identification of rape as a war crime by international courts; Backlash against women who speak out.
Drakulic, Slavenka. Mass Rape in Bosnia: Women Hide Behind a Wall of Silence. Nation v256n8 (Mar 1, 1993): 253- 268.
A report on the mass rapes being committed by Serbian soldiers against Muslim women from Bosnia-Hercegovina is presented, focusing on the extent of these war crimes and the emotional scars it is leaving on the women. Most of the women are too ashamed to speak openly with others about their trauma.
Hargreaves, Sally. Rape as a War Crime: Putting Policy into Practice. Lancet 357, no. 9258 (Mar 10, 2001): p. 737.
Rape, sexual violence, and sexual slavery have long been part of such war strategies, as the women who stood up in the courtrooms of the Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal in The Hague last week knew all too well. During the Bosnian war of 1992-95 these women, and hundreds of other Muslim women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Bosnian Serb army, were systematically raped and tortured in a clear attempt to advance the cause of ethnic cleansing. After an 11-month trial, the judge, concluding that "You have shown the most glaring disrespect for the women's dignity and their fundamental human rights on a scale that far surpasses even what one might call the average seriousness of rapes during wartime", gave the three soldiers on trial a combined sentence of 60 years. This ruling is a landmark in establishing that systematic rape during conflict is not merely a violation of the practices of war, but a crime against humanity. In turn, sexual assault during slavery will now be recognised as an independent crime under humanitarian and human-rights law.
Salzman, Todd A. Rape Camps as a Means of Ethnic Cleansing: Religious, Cultural, and Ethical Responses to Rape Victims in the Former Yugoslavia. Human Rights Quarterly v20n2 (May 1998): 348-378.
The Serbs' systematic use of rape camps with the specific intent of impregnating their victims is investigated, along with the cultural, political and religious foundations that support this usurpation of the female body. The "secondary victimization" of these women is analyzed. The greatest number of assaults were committed by the Serbs against Muslim women.
Whitelaw, Kevin. Rape as a War Crime. Prosecutions for Rapes in Bosnia and Possible Prosecutions for Rapes in Kosovo. U.S. News & World Report v. 128 no13 (Apr. 3 2000) p. 32.
The war-crimes tribunal in the Hague is aiming to offer justice to rape victims. Thousands of Bosnian Muslim women were imprisoned by Serbian forces in 1992 in a sports center, a high school, and a construction workers' barracks in the village of Foca. Periodically, some of the women were dragged away from these "rape factories" and repeatedly forced to have sex with soldiers and paramilitary fighters, says the war-crimes tribunal. Previously, such incidents were merely condemned as wartime excesses, but three Bosnian Serb commanders in the village-- Radomir Kovac, Dragoljub Kunarac, and Zoran Vukovic--recently appeared in front on the tribunal in the first war-crimes trial based solely on charges of rape and sexual enslavement. Portraying rape as a central weapon in the Serbs' strategy of ethnic cleansing, the prosecution will present a two-month case with testimony from at least ten victims
Whitelaw, Kevin A Verdict Against Rape War Crimes Convictions .S. News & World Report (Mar 5, 2001): p. 36.
Whitelaw discusses the justice for the Muslim women of Foca Bosnia when a UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted three former Bosnian Serb soldiers of running mass rape camps there during the Bosnia war. Not only was this the first war crimes case based solely on charges of sexual violence, but the court also broke new ground by finding that sexual enslavement was a "crime against humanity."
Price, Lisa S. Finding the Man in the Soldier-Rapist: Some Reflections on Comprehension and Accountability. Women's Studies International Quarterly. v. 24 no2, Mar./Apr. 2001, p. 211-27.
Drawing on research into war rape in the former Yugoslavia, this article considers a means of comprehending the motives of perpetrators. It argues that they are neither mad nor bad but ordinary men acting out of comprehensible motives. It further argues that to the extent that perpetrators act out of choice, they can and should be held accountable for their acts of sexual violence
Seifert, Ruth. The Second Front: The Logic of Sexual Violence in Wars. Women's Studies International Quarterly. v. 19, Jan./Apr. 1996, p. 35-43.
The writer argues that although mass rapes have taken place in all modern wars, they did not attract worldwide attention until the gender-specific atrocities committed in Bosnia- Herzegovina. She contends that the household explanations given for rapes in the context of war--that they are a natural occurrence to be attributed to a male anthropology or acts of hordes run wild--have prevented a deeper probing into the meanings and functions of collective sexual violence against women. She states that these crimes destroy the physical and psychological existence of the women concerned and inflict harm on the culture and collective identity of the whole group, ethnicity, or country under attack. It is concluded that war crimes against women have a symbolic meaning and must be investigated within the symbolic contexts of the country and the gender system.
Hughes, Donna M. Foster, Kathleen. War, Nationalism, and Rape: Women Respond by Opening a Center Against Sexual Violence in Belgrade, Serbia. Women's Studies International Quarterly. v. 19, Jan./Apr. 1996, p. 183-4.
A report on The Autonomous Women's Centre Against Sexual Violence, opened in Belgrade, Serbia, on December 10, 1993. The women at this center want to organize and respond to rape on all levels, that is, from the emotional level of each woman to the political level of rape in war as a tool for ethnic cleansing. The political stance of the center is to be of and for women of all nationalities, ethnicities, and religions. Other types of assistance provided by the center are outlined.
________. A Ruling Against sex Slavery. Maclean's, 03/05/2001, Vol. 114 Issue 10, p32, 1/6p
Reports that the international war crimes tribunal at the Hague in the Netherlands convicted three Bosnian Serbs of raping and torturing Muslim women and girls. How the decision marks the first time that sexual enslavement has been classified a crime against humanity; Allegations that Bosnian soldiers locked women and children in so-called rape houses and repeatedly sexually assaulted them.
Articles (Without Author’s Abstract):
Copelon, Rhonda. Surfacing Gender: Re-conceptualizing Crimes Against Women in Time of War. From Mass Rape: The War Against Women in Bosnia Herzegovina. Ed. Alexandra Stiglmayer. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
Copelon, Rhonda. Gendered War Crimes: Conceptualizing Rape in Time of War. From Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives. Ed.Julie Stone Peters and Andrea Wolper. New York: Routledge, 1995.
Fischman, Yael. Sexual Torture as an Instrument of War. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 66 (1996): 161- 162.
Hoefgen, Anne M., There Will Be No Justice Unless Women are Part of That Justice: Rape in Bosnia, the ICTY and "Gender Sensitive." Prosecution. Wisconsin Women's Law Journal v. 14 no2 (Fall 1999) p. 155-79.
Koss, Mary P., Lori Heise, and Nancy F. Russo. The Global Health Burden of Rape. Psychology of Women Quarterly 18 (1994): 509-537.
Kozaric-Kovacic, Dragica, Vera Folnegovic-Smalc, and Jarmila Skrinjaric. Rape, Torture, and Traumatization of Bosnian and Croatian Women: Psychological Sequelae. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 65 (1995): 428-433.
MacKinnon, Catherine A. Rape, Genocide, and Women's Human Rights. Mass Rape: The War Against Women in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
Meznaric, Silva. Gender as an Ethno-Marker: Rape, War, and Identity Politics in the Former Yugoslavia. From Identity Politics and Women: Cultural Reassertions and Feminisms in International Perspective. Ed. Valentine M. Moghadam. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994.
Stephens, Beth. Women and the Atrocities of War: Rape is a First-Class Crime but its Victims are Treated as Second-Class Casualties. Human Rights. v. 20, Summer 1993, p. 12-15.
Waller, Karina Michael. Intrastate Ethnic Conflicts and International Law: How the Rise of Intrastate Ethnic Conflicts Has Rendered International Human Rights Laws Ineffective, Especially Regarding Sex-based Crimes. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law v. 9 no3 (2001) p. 621-61.
_________. Rape Goes to War (Serbian soldiers rape Muslim women). Economist. v. 326, Jan. 23 1993, p. 46.
http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/sexual-enslavement.html