Remembering Bosnia and Srebrenica

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#16 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 16:59

They used to call my homeland the land of milk and honey

Those who survived the genocide have not been provided with a chance to heal and recover.

www.comingoffaith.com/news/politics/tragedy-in-the-land-o...

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#17 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 17:04

A couple years ago I had a chance to meet some of the survivors through an organization I was worked with at the time.

Their stories were painful to hear and they're painful to share as well. But I want to share what one of them shared with me.

She was 13 when her town fell to Serb forces. In the days following the Serb occupation they split the men and women up.

She told me that they made men in her family rape her after the Serbs raped her. When the men refused, they killed them.

One of the men they killed was her brother and we spoke in 2013. At that point she still had not found the bones the Serbs burried.

A lot of the times, the victims knew their rapists. At one point in time they were their friends, neighbors, professors...etc.

From the testimonies of survivors we can conclude that those that knew the rapists often had it even worse.

The Serb soldiers that knew their victims took special pleasure in torturing them during the rapes.

Throughout Bosnia there were over 400 rape and concentration. camps set up throughout the country. mainly holding Bosniaks but also Croats & Romas.

In these camps, especially in the conc. camps women we know were victims of rape but men were also victims of rape.

For Bosnian and Croatian men, the stigma of being raped in the war is even higher than in the cases of women, and that stigma is very high.

These rapes occured at such alarming rates that there is no way for us to really pin point the number of victims. Some say over 100,000.

There were several testimonials of survivors of the camps who said that the Serbs would feed them for a week & then invite cameras.

The Serb forces would invite cameras to show the world that the victims "didn't really have it that bad" and the world fell for it.

I'm gonna talk a little more about the concentration camps/death camps and then I'll discuss the mass graves in Bosniam

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#18 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 17:14

So, the camps. Omarska and Trnopolje are probably the really well known. They were built in the area around Prijedor.

I've talked about Prijedor before, how the Serb forces took over the town and forced all non-Serbs to wear white armbands to identify them.

These camps held some 40,000 people between the two. Those in the camps were starved, beaten, tortured, and eventually murdered.

Just in: Srebrenica Resolution was not adopted. We have Russia to thank for this, once again proving its human rights record is garbage.

Read my tweet very carefully, read the survivors stories I've share and then explain to me how anybody can refuse a resolution on Genocide.

I will NEVER forgive Serbia. But I will also NEVER forgive Russia, Greece, and the West for the hand they played in the genocide. Never.

Denial of the genocide and blocking of genocide resolutions further victimizes the survivors. It doesn't allow us to heal.

Trust me, there will be another war. There will be another genocide. There will continue to be hate.

So to provide some more info on the death/concentration camps in Bosnia. The victims would be stuffed together in the camps.

As they added more victims to the camps, they would get rid of the old ones through execution.

The Serbs would take groups of men sometimes even children and women and line them up and execute them

Often those who were selected for execution would have to dig their own graves. The Serb army would take them a couple miles away from camp.

Which brings us to mass graves. Thats how the mass graves were created. The victims being taken and killed away from the camps.

The mass graves are so spread out to Bosnia, that 20 years later we are still discovering new mass graves filled with bodies.

Tomasica mass grave near Prijedor was believed to be one of the largest, containing over a 1,000 victims I believe.

my "accusations" i.e historical facts are based upon the numerous testimonials in Hague, pictures, videos, expert analysis.

as well as testimonials of the soldiers in Hague, as well as medical examinations, journal & academic reports

as well as the hundreds of members of my community who shared their stories with me

this is my aunt 'Kadic' ---> From Bosnian Rape Camps to the US Court: The Story of Kadic v. Karadzic - www.academia.edu/629451/From_Bosnian_Rape_Camps_to_the_US... …

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#19 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 17:15

Smoking Gun on Betrayal and Genocide: #Srebrenica

www.huffingtonpost.com/ambassador-muhamed-sacirbey/smokin...

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#20 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 17:22

With the news of the Srebrenica Resolution veto, I'm glad my evening was spent at a meeting for organizing a Srebrenica event with Bosnians.

I think the fact it's a triggering week and a trigger day filled with genocide denial has really pushed many of us to their limit.

This year genocide commemorations will occur all throughout the U.S. I am so proud of my team, my colleagues and friends for their work.

Tomorrow I have another day of prepping/counseling genocide survivors. I'll continue my war/genocide tweets right after. Prayers needed.

I did an interview with a local nbc affiliate regarding the Bosnian genocide and the upcoming Srebrenica commemoration event.

Continuing with the massacres that occured throughout Bosnia. Some gory details so once again trigger warning.

Srebrenica is one of the most well known massacres of Bosnian Muslims but throughout Bosnia, massacres occured everywhere. Esp in E. Bosnia.

All of the massacres in Bosnia had a familiar way of being executed. Rape the women, torture the men, and then execute them.

The Bijeljina massacre occured from April 1 until April 2. Two days. During those 2 days it's estimated 1,000 people were murdered.

Serb Army (JNA) unit established by Milosevic and Arkan's Tigers took over the town of Bijelinja. They throw grenades, set up snipers.

The town was defended by about 35 Bosnian policemen and nothing else. The Serbs that tried to prevent the massacre were also murdered.

All of the mosques (there were 7) in the town of Bijelinja were destroyed. Women and children were not spared either.

9 concentration camps were set up in the town of Bijelinja and surrounding area. After they murdered people, they planned to expel the rest.

The pre-war Bosniak population of this town was 30,000. Currently it is at 2,700. Those who try to return are harrased and threatened.

In 2004 the ICT ruled that genocide occured in 7 different municipalities in Bosnia, including Bijeljina.

However, persecution of war criminals has been limited.

In Brcko, appr. 3,000 men, women, and children were killed during May and June in 1992. 95% of those killed were Bosniaks, the rest Croats.

In 1992 in Brcko and the rest of Bosnia, the UN and the US were aware of the camps, the genocide, the rapes. They had FULL knowledge of it.

In Visegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina some 3,000 Bosniaks were massacred as well on orders from Mladic and Karadzic.

One truly disturbing instance that occured in Visegrad was when Serb soldiers trapped about 70 Bosniaks alive and set the house on fire.

Prior to setting the house on fire, they raped some of the women in the group, returned them to the house and then set it ablaze.

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#21 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 17:33

In Visegrad throughout the war, they would line people up and execute them, forcing other Bosniaks to throw them in the Drina river.

"Krvava Drina" or "Bloody Drina" is the nickname the River got due to mass executions and bloody bodies thrown into the river.

In Visegrad, there were also concentration and rape camps. One notable one was a former hotel called Vilina Vlas.

Girls as young as 13 were brought here for the sole purpose of sexual torture and rape. Several hundred intimates were held at the camp.

A few years back the survivors of the Visegrad genocide attempted to erect a memorial for victims of genocide. It was destroyed by Serbs.

In the rape camps of Visegrad only few survived, many women died from multiple rapes and beatings, some went insane, some comitted suicide.

In Foca, the same occured. Some 3,000 were murdered there. Rape camps, sexual slavery along with the trafficking of Muslim women was common.

I feel like I'm simply starting to repeat myself. Different towns, same type of murder, rape camps, genocide, torture.

Bosnia is tiny do look it up on the map.

So, all those massacres really as up where you are talking about such a small country with a (at the time) population of about 5 million.

Population after the war went down to 3.5/ 3.7 million.

TW. Srebrenica genocide occured in 1992, 3 years prior to July 11, 2015

Where am I at? Some 300 tweets? Guys, this is a tiny portion of what occured. Books upon books have been written & they don't even cover it.

I think a big part and something largely overlooked when discussing genocide denial in Bosnia is the pure Islamophobic aspect of it.

Bosnia meets every single point of genocide. Every single one. But genocide denial is RAMPANT. Of course, R. Srpska pays good $ for that

But what we have is a situation in which Muslims are the victims, and they're the victims of Christians, not even other Muslims.

And because we have been fed all this Islamophobia and this stereotype of blood thirsty, Muslim terrorists, we can't see past that.

So, because of that, despite ALL the evidence of genocide, mass graves, videos, testimonials we refuse to see Bosnians as victims.

We refuse to see Bosnian Muslims as victims because they were persecuted specifically because of their religion and ethnicity.

A long time ago, I tweeted that Islamophobia kills. It kills and then it denies that it killed you.

Tomorrow I will share more of survivors testimony, as well as information on the key players, war crimes prosecution and the betrayal of UN.

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#22 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 17:52

So @AP and @Reuters have covered Srebrenica but have only used the term massacre and every article on it has been ambiguous.

I want to know why are @AP @Reuters refusing to call Srebrenica a genocide when it was declared as genocide by 2 International courts.

8,372 persons killed in a matter of 3 days is not just a massacre, it is a genocide. An attempt to exterminate Bosnians.

srebrenica360.com/

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#23 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 18:01

Both @AP and @Reuters are engaging in genocide denial by refusing to use the term genocide. Words matter. They matter for the victims.

I called @AP to ask why the word genocide is not being used in their coverage of Srebrenica and was hung up on.

Serbia has banned gatherings to honor the victims of genocide. Serbian leaders have called the number of victims a "lie".

Serbian lobbyists have lobbied for genocide denial. In Srebrenica, survivors of genocide have been arrested for no reason.

Mass media refuses to name their perpetuators or calls it a massacres vs genocide. 20 years later that's where we are at.

The convoy of bodies carrying victims to be burried this year in Potocari, has been attacked by a Serbian nationalist.

Genocide deniers gathers on social media. Ultra nationalist Serbs gather to celebrate the murder of innocent Bosnians.

Everything that happened in the Holocaust, happened in Bosnia but still we simply don't do anything to those who deny the genocide.

So, I mentioned last night that genocide in Srebrenica occurred in 1992 as well.Some call it the prelude to the actual genocide

In 1991, prior to even the start of the war, Radovan Karadzic, a Serb politician and one of the key players in the Bosnian genocide said:

“Within a few days there will be no Sarajevo, there will be over 500,000 dead; within a month the Muslims of Bosnia will be destroyed."

“In the first instance, none of their leaders will remain alive, they will be killed within 3/4 hours.They will have no chance of surviving"

Karadzic's remarks of the annihilation of Muslims addressing the Parliament in 1991

Karadzic's Famous Speech to Parliament with Transcripts (Whole)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU0fhSFH5H4

So, Karadzic was the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs. He played a role and initiated the Sarajevo bloody siege as well as Srebrenica.

Karadzic spent 14 years on the run prior to being arrested in Belgrade in 08 and indicted for genocide, war crimes & crimes against humanity

His case is still pending along with many others.

Momciko Krajisnik is another interesting case of a Serb war criminal. He was indicated for various crimes against humanity, incl genocide.

He was convicted tor crimes against humanity in 2006, and sentenced to 27 years imprisonment. In 2013 he was released from prison

He want back to the R.S, (serbian entity of Bosnia) and was welcomed by thousands of people while Serb nationalist songs played.

He was welcomed by THOUSANDS of Serbs as a hero after being indicted for genocide. His welcome back gathering occured in Pale, near Sarajevo

So there are a LOT of war criminals and I've named a few, Lukic, Arkan, Mladic, Karadzic, Momciko, Milosevic, but there's a ton more.

Here's a good list with all the convicted Serb criminals

www.bosniafacts.info/modern-history/serbian-aggression/9-...

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#24 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 18:15

Interesting thing about Serb war criminals who deny the genocide and plead not guilty at the Hague is that they were all on the run.

Prior to being caught, pretty much all of these individuals attempted to hide. Some stayed hidden for over a decade. Some are still hidden.

Which, I guess begs the questions...if you are not guilty of genocide why run and hide? If there is no evidence of genocide, why run?

Srebrenica is particularly painful, it was one of the larger genocides in Bosnia so give me a couple hours and I'll try and do my best.

Before I get started on the facts and the events that occured at Srebrenica. I want to share a story with you guys

This Sunday, I've organized an event to commemorate the genocide. At this event we will have survivors of the genocide speak.

Throughout the week, I've counseled and prepped survivors for not just this event but other events as well. They shared their story with me.

One woman was 19 years old at the time, she was married and had a 7 month old son. She lost her husband, brother, cousins & uncles in 1 day.

She told me how when she arrived in Potocari, the UN told her that they would be safe and taken care of.

That following day Ratko Mladic entered the town. The Serb army and the UN were shaking hands & all the Bosnians were ordered to sit.

Ratko Mladic turned to the crowd of Bosnians and told them that they should be grateful that the Serbs are saving them.

Ratko Mladic told them that they would be free to go, but the problem is none of the other Bosnians wanted to accept them.

Ratko Mladic then told them that they should be thankful to the Serbs for ethnically cleansing them.

In that moment while Ratko Mladic was speaking to the crowd of Bosnian refugees, she heard a shot go off.

A U.N soldier went right by her carrying the body of the little 5 year old boy that had just been shot by Serb forces.

She told me that the night was worse. That the screams of the people being killed, raped, and torture still sound off in her head.

She told me how she carried her little 7 month old boy while walking through Serbs throwing rockets at them

She told me how the worst was that the Serbs and the UN were telling them they would all die, and then telling them not to worry.

She told me all this through her tears.

So why was Srebrenica so important? Why do we talk about Srebrenica more than the other genocides or massacres?

It's not just because of the number killed, it's the number of murdered plus the time period in which they were murdered plus this fact.

Srebrenica was a United Nations protected town. It was a "safe town" as declared such in by the UNSC Resolution 819 on April 16, 1993.

Prior to the July 11, 2015 genocide, Srebrenica was already under constant and brutal attack by the Serb forces.

Between April until June of 1992, 296 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) villages were torched and burnt.

Srebrenica was really important to the Serbs. Without "cleansing" it of the Muslim population, their plan for a "Greater Serbia" would fail.

And they really, really wanted a Greater Serbia. They really wanted a land without Bosniak Muslims in it.

In 1992, 3 years prior to the Srebrenica genocide, the Serb forces massacred over a 1,000 Bosniaks in Bratunac (near Srebrenica).

They also massacred some over 3,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica as well (1992). As well as thousands upon thousands in surrounding areas.

These mass murders, executions, rapes, were done by the JNA (Yugoslav National Army, Arkan's tigers, and Serb paramilitary

But Serb civilians in these areas would often join in on the killings, rapes, and tortures as well.

All of these were paid by and funded by Serbia, as well as monetary and physical assistance from Greece, Russia and other countries.

During 1992/1993 Serb forces cut off the food and medicine supplies to the Srebrenica & surrounding areas.

Between 1992-1995 Serb forces were very diligent in their torture of the Bosnian Muslim pop. in Srebrenica.

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#25 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 18:40

By July 11, 1995 there were approximate 20,000-30,000 refugees gathered in Potocari seeking protecting from the U.N compound.

People were cramped together, they were panicking, they were scared. They were told they would be safe.

A confession video of Serb soldier in Srebrenica.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri4u_IpCvXE&feature=youtu.be

By July 11, 1995 Srebrenica had fallen to the Serb forces and Mladic had entered the town. Here is his speech
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCEM-OirLBE&feature=youtu.be

He spoke to the Bosnian Muslim population and he assured them safety. He told them not to fear. What a "benevolent" leader he was.

Further footage of Srebenica showing refugees and shootings.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezTydQjq6xI&feature=youtu.be

It was in these days, that Mladic and his forces began to split up the men and women and children.

As mentioned before and seen from survivors testimonials , the women were often subject to brutal rapes and torture.

They were taking the men away to their deaths. This memorial video shows the men lined up on the ground.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK4sQbmXhqw&feature=youtu.be

Here is a FULL testimony of a survivor, Mevludin Oric.
www.documentcloud.org/documents/279442-mevludin-oric-test...

His story is particularly scary because he survived the execution. They lined the men up, shot at them but he fell and pretended to be dead.

He stayed down for hours/until the night with one other survivor. The Serbs had left the bodies and then they ran

He survive along with one other man, that man is somebody who lives in my town and who I've had the chance to speak to

Can you imagine being set for execution amongst 100s of men and surviving and then spending hours amongst dead bodies?

a moving piece on commemorating the Bosnian Genocide
www.muslimarc.org/i-offer-these-words-never-forget/

I want you all to know that as I write these tweets and all the pieces I've written on this genocide, my hands shake, tears fall and I hurt.

Ratko Mladic on July 11, 1995. Watch this video. "Time has come to take revenge on the Muslims"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=edFQTZpf8yM&feature=youtu.be

After, they split up the men and women. The women were put on buses to take them to the "Bosnian territory" but one bus never reached it.

One bus was deliberately directed towards the Serbian territory and we don't know exactly what happened to them and if they survived.

Our keynote speaker tomorrow, will recount how he was in Kladanj at the time of the buses arriving. He relayed the fear & starvation he saw

Tears, hunger, fear and everyone asking "do you know where our brothers/fathers/sons/ are? Are they alive".

During those 3 days, july 11-13, 1995, some people lost entire families. I know one that lost 38 members of her family in ONE day.

Once the men & women were split up, they executed the men but some men started to trek towards the path to safety.

This is why each year there is a March of Peace in Bosnia to remember those who fell during the trekking and those who died in Srebrenica.

During the trekking in 1995, the columns of men would be ambushed, they would be shelled, bombed, shot at. Many, many did not survive it

This video breaks my heart! A Bosnian man was caught by Serb forces and ordered to scream that it was safe.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAUGi_0ytPI&feature=youtu.be
He's telling his son, at the orders of the Serbs, to come down and that it was safe. Look at the psychological manipulation they played.

During these 3 days, 8,372 men and boys were executed by Serb forces. Their bodies were displaced throughout the area.

Every single year since 1995 we have found new mass graves with new bodies and have burried them.

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#26 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 18:47

20 years of finding mass graves. For 20 years we have sat patiently by our phones waiting for that call "We have found his remains"

In 2001 I recieved such a call. It was about my grandfather. They found his bones. My uncles, cousins remains have still not been found.

For many survivors of the genocide this is probably one of the worst things. Because you often wonder if maybe they are safe.

But of course, the truth is that they are not. In Srebrenica almost 7,000 bodies have been identified so far.

Today we put to rest 136 bodies, their bones found this year.

Here are the faces of the thousands murdered in Srebrenica. Look at the 8,372 people whose lives were stolen

www.rferl.org/fullinfographics/infographics/27114531.html#

How did you not hear the screams of 8,372 people? How did you let this happen to us? Why did you let this happen to us?

How did you not hear the tears of the mothers and sisters and daughters? How did they not reach you?

The United Nations peacekeepers watched as women got raped and men were murdered. They watched and shook hands with Serb forces.

Europe and the United States knew of the situation in Srebrenica. They knew of Milosevic, Karadzic and Mladic's plans.

Europe and the United States knew that they had a plan to exterminate us. They knew that they wanted to kill us. They all knew.

And they are all guilty. The blood of all the innocent in Bosnia is on Europe's hands. It is on the hands of the United States.

May the tears of the Bosnian people make you all feel shame. May their screams wake you up at night.

In December of 1995 the war came to an end with the implementation of the Dayton Agreement.

The Dayton Agreement created Republika Srpska. The same people that raped & murdered were given their own entity in Bosnia.

Bosnia, today, is an apartheid country. Those who were displaced from their homes are not able to return b/c their killers live there.

Returnees in Srebrenica and other places are subject to harassment from R.S police as well as arrests.

Bosnia, as well, is suffering very much. Close to 60% are unemployed. Over 15% live under the poverty line.

Their homes are occupied by their aggressors. Their prior riches were stolen by the agressors. They continue to suffer.

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#27 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 18:48

Stone-Throwing Protesters Chase Serbian Prime Minister From Srebrenica Ceremony

www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/07/11/stone_throwing...

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#28 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 19:00

I want to continue to write and tweet but I am emotionally exhausted. I want to thank you all for reading, sharing and offering kind words.

I've tweeted for 5 days and everything I've tweeted is a tiny part of what occured. I could talk about our 4 years of pain forever.

But I want you all to read everything carefully. Read and witness the pain of my people.

I want you all to know about this genocide so that we can learn from it. I beg you all to take one thing away from this: "Don't forget".

Don't forget what happened. Don't forget their pain. Remember the suffering of the Bosnian people. Remember it and learn.

All of this occurred because of hate and fear. All of this occurred because of Islamophobia. All of this can happen again

And in many places throughout the world it is happening again. How many more Srebrenica's will the world allow to happen?

How many people will die this year due to hate, racism, Islamophobia, intolerance? What are we doing to help prevent this?

What are we doing to help survivors of genocide heal? What are we doing to tell their stories? How are we helping victims?

Ramadan in war
www.patheos.com/blogs/hindtrospectives/2015/07/ramadan-in...

Today, that is what I am doing. I am mourning. 8,372 people killed in 3 days. Over 150,000 killed in 3 years.

Never forget. Never forgive.

I would also like to thank @MuslimARC for the opportunity to write my reflections on Srebrenica genocide. www.muslimarc.org/i-offer-these-words-never-forget/ …

Thank you also to @HindMakki for allowing me to write about Ramadan under war/genocide for Patheos/hindtrospectives. www.patheos.com/blogs/hindtrospectives/2015/07/ramadan-in... …

And thank you all for sharing my story and the survivors stories as well. 20 years since the genocide and here we are.

None of the above posts are mine but belong to a user on twitter Arnessa ‏@Rrrrnessa So all credit goes to her. I've also left out many images/vids etc

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#29 [Permalink] Posted on 11th July 2015 19:11

20 years after Srebrenica, the Rohingya are the Bosnians of today

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/07/20-years-after-sreb...

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Remembering Bosnia and Srebrenica

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