Ratko Mladic convicted of orchestrating genocide of Bosnian Muslims

November 22, 2017 6:06 AM

Survivors called Mr. Mladic the Butcher of Bosnia. The deadliest year of the campaign was 1992, when 45,000 people died, often in their homes, on the streets or in a string of concentration camps. Others perished in the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, where snipers and shelling terrorized residents for more than three years, and in the mass executions of 8,000 Muslim men and boys after Mr. Mladic’s forces overran the United Nations-protected enclave of Srebrenica.

The Hunt for Ratko Mladic

How Britain and the US abandoned Srebrenica to its fate

posted by mecran01 (16 comments total)

My goodness, I thought he had pretty much gotten away with it. I am glad he will be locked up pretty much forever.

Red tie -- it figures.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:12 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]

From the article: He called the charges against him “monstrous”. Yes, yes. They are. And you are a monster.
Rot in jail.
Peace to the survivors.
posted by blob at 6:15 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]

I had forgotten that he had not died or been convicted. This is fantastic news, I hope it brings the survivors a small measure of peace.
posted by Hactar at 6:24 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Rot, fucker.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:46 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

I remember watching a documentary or on-the-ground footage of Srebrenica. The parts about people fleeing were so disturbing and have stayed with me for years. Had no idea the trial was going on but good to hear this result.

Re: The NYT article: The part about his health ailments stood out to me for some reason. With that long list of health problems he's suffered and how the prosecution cut down on the charges, I had a knee-jerk "Well that doesn't absolve him!" reaction.

It also makes me wonder about other aging and yet-unprosecuted war criminals out there...
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:50 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

I don't think we've heard from Dee in a long time, I hope she's OK.
posted by mhoye at 6:55 AM on November 22, 2017 [43 favorites]

The Tartu prison here in Estonia is about a mile from my home, and Dragomir Milošević is rotting there, most likely until his death.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 7:04 AM on November 22, 2017 [7 favorites]

Seems a little too close to Russia to be hosting a Serbian prisoner.

Milosevic really should be in Portugal. Preferably in a prison in the Azores.
posted by ocschwar at 7:56 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Milosevic really should be in Portugal.

Thanks but não thanks!
posted by chavenet at 8:30 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]

I was in Bosnia and Croatia during the summer of 1995. Srebrenica happened near us.

Ah, rot in hell, you monster.
posted by doctornemo at 9:00 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]

Ed Vulliamy on the verdict: Ratko Mladić will die in jail. But go to Bosnia: you’ll see that he won.
posted by tavegyl at 10:38 PM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

I lived in Sarajevo for a year. Munira Subasic rode the same bus into town as me regularly. I am sure people in Sarajevo are glad about this result.
That said, lots of war criminals, major and minor remain free all over BiH. There still are mass graves not found, so still people who do not know the fates of their loved ones.
Not one day that I rode a bus or walked that I did not reflect that I could’ve been rubbing shoulders with victims and perpetrators alike. Reminders are everywhere.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:22 PM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

My first letters written to my representatives were about this war. Every night with the news there were reports of such wanton slaughter. It really did shock the conscience. I’m very glad this evil man will never see the light of day again. What atrocities he committed.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:33 AM on November 23, 2017

None of the slaughter was inevitable or unavoidable. As the Gaurdian article outlines in detail, major players for the US, Britain, France and the UN in general knew and had to have known what was coming; they just didn't care enough. Srebrenica was a bargaining chip. When any of these people who stood idly by will answer for their responsibility is anyone's guess.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:36 AM on November 23, 2017

The conviction is bittersweet—Mladic was indeed found guilty of conducting a genocide (amongst numerous other crimes against humanity including terror, deportation, hostage taking) at Srebrenica—yet was found not-guilty for genocide in ten other municipalities.

Mladić’s pogroms included more mass-murder, torture, mutilation and rape, in the camps at Omarska, Trnopolje and Keretem in north-west Bosnia. To the east, in Višegrad, civilians – including babies – were herded alive into houses for incineration, or down to a bridge to be shot, or chopped into pieces, and hurled into the river Drina. Then there was the wholesale demolition of countless towns and villages, and the “cleansing” of all non-Serbs, by death or deportation; the razing of mosques and Catholic churches; the gathering of women and girls into camps for violation all night, every night. And the rest.

Ratko Mladić will die in jail. But go to Bosnia: you’ll see that he won.

The choice to decouple the genocide in Srebenica with the numerous genocides conducted in Bosnia is seen as a mistake made by the ICTY by several commentators, myself included. Mladic has many supporters, sadly, who will see this as a small victory.
posted by standardasparagus at 9:18 PM on November 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Bizarre blast from my past in this photo...

It must have been 1999? 2000? Anyways, I am training on a CELTA course in Vancouver, BC, and we have this one terrible candidate who just doesn't get it, is argumentative, a big threatenting recent immigrant guy. Me and the lead trainer are spending long nights after course hours in discussion with him, trying to get him to withdraw. "If you leave before the first week is up, you can get a full refund..." The lead trainer is a petite UK woman and she needs me there because she feels physically threatened, does not want to be alone in the room with him.

I forget how I came to get this out of him, but in the course of 1 on 1 heart to heart talks he reveals that he is under a lot of pressure becuase CSIS is in ongoing discussions with him because he was Ratko Mladic's personal secretary. He seemed to be under incredible stress, maybe PTSD, and although he did not go into detail he alluded to seeing a lot of terrible shit.

How he managed to get to Canada I have no idea.

I wish I could remember his name, or better remember his face. I am 90% certain he is one of the two guys standing to our right of Mlatko in that photograph.

edit: and yeah, it just clicked. It is the guy closest to the camera, without a moustache. I (tried) to train that guy to be an EFL teacher.
posted by Meatbomb at 12:02 AM on November 26, 2017 [1 favorite]