Genocide+in+Yugoslavia

=﻿Bosnian Genocide=

"The heroes of the world community are not those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not those who can envision neither the prospect of success nor the consequence of failure — but those who stand the heat of battle, the fight for world peace through the United Nations.” – Hubert H. Humphrey



=Yugoslav Wars= The genocide that took place during the Yugoslavian War is imperative to the story of the involvement of the United Nations in genocide. It is the first time since World War II that a conflict has been definitively categorized as a genocide in which individuals have been tried for their involvement in the violence. The Yugoslavian war began in 1991 with Slovenia and Croatia declaring independence from Yugoslavia in June. Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia on February 29, 1992 sparking a conflict that would last from April 1992 to December 1995. The Yugoslav people's army and the Bosnian Serb forces, which were largely supported by Milosevic against the most Muslim Bosniaks.

=﻿United Nations Involvement=



The initial involvement of the United Nations in Yugoslavia began on September 25, 1991 when the UN Security Council unanimously adopted [|Resolution 713] in an attempt to stop the conflict through an embargo. The next year the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was established though [|Resolution 743], the task force was established for 12 months and the aim was to create an environment for a cease-fire. The task force held [|United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs)] which were areas that were strategic locations that the UN deemed necessary to creating a basis for lasting peace.

When the war in Bosnia broke out the UN passed [|Resolution 816], extend the no-fly-zone established by NATO in much of Yugoslavia to many portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By April 12, 1993 most of the Western country had moblized their aircrafts with the intention of fully participating in the no-fly-zone.

-excerpt from Res. 816

As the fighting intensified in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thousands of Muslim Bosnians began to seek refuge in Srebrenica, but these civilians were dying by the dozens each day from starvation, attacks, and sickness. The United Nations reacted to this by passing[| Resolution 819]that all warring parties should treat Srebrenica as a safe area, and all forces should have withdrawn from the area. Following the resolution the UNPROFOR troops were deployed to Srebrenica and by April 21 they reported that were able to successfully demilitarize the town.

=Srebrenica Massacre=



Although the UN was able to successfully defend the city of Srebrenica, after the first onslaught, they were later unsuccessful. Srebrenica was the site of ethnic cleansing by the Bosnian Serb army against mostly Bosnian Muslims. The total dead was over 8,000 people including more thousands IDPs from the surrounding areas. The mass-murder, raping, and destruction is documented across many mediums, like this interview with a [|former Bosnian solider.]

"As the Western alliance stood by, the eastern Bosnian city was overrun. What followed in the towns and fields around Srebrenica is described by Western officials and human rights groups as the worst war crime in Europe since World War II: the summary killing of perhaps 6,000 people. As recounted by the few Muslims who survived, the killing was chillingly methodical, part mass slaughter, part blood sport." This [|New York Times Article] published October 25, 1995, chronicles the events of the genocide.

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Milosevic was later charged with [|war crimes] by International Criminal Courts and Bosnian was eventually allowed to become an autonomous country thanks to the airstrikes by NATO and the support by the UN. But this was a case where the international community intervened much too late in a devastating situation.

