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On the fourth day of his testimony at Radovan Karadzic’s trial, General Michael Rose says that both sides breached the agreement on ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Sarajevo and its outskirts during the course of 1994.
Rose, a UNPROFOR commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, explained that Bosnian forces attacked Serb positions in the outskirts of Sarajevo in the autumn of 1994, but NATO conducted air strikes when Serb forces, acting contrary to the agreement, confiscated a tank from UNPROFOR and opened fire on French peace forces.
“I think the general stand was that the Bosnian Government also agreed not to use heavy weapons, to stop movement of its troops and discontinue attacks from Sarajevo. They did not put their weapons under control, like Serbs did. (…) When your forces took some weapons, and particularly a T55 tank, we asked NATO to conduct air strikes and it did so,” General Rose said.
The Hague Prosecution considers Radovan Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska, responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995.
As he continued his testimony, General Rose said the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, undertook an offensive attack on positions held by Serbs inside the demilitarized zone on Mount Igman in the autumn of 1994. As explained by the witness, NATO did not react on that occasion because it had “become one-sided”.
“They entered those territories, but the UN stopped them, so they situated their forces at that point, located within the demilitarized zone. (…) At that time the NATO policy had already changed and it was not ready to apply force against the Bosnian Government forces.
“I was informed by NATO that no requests for conducting air strikes against Bosnian forces would be accepted,” Rose said, repeating his previous statement that UNPROFOR was a neutral party in the conflict.
General Rose completed his testimony at this hearing. The trial is due to continue on Monday, October 11.
D.S.
