This post is also available in:
A former UN observer in Bosnia, testifying at the trial of Radovan Karadzic, says that Bosnian Serb soldiers captured him and a few of his colleagues and used them as “human shields”.
Hague Prosecution witness Patrick Rechner said that he was captured on May 26, 1995, because NATO forces had conducted air strikes on military targets, including an ammunition warehouse in Pale where he worked as liaison officer, a day earlier.
The witness said that members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, came to his office and said: “If you care about your lives, you will stop the attacks”. He said he was then captured and chained in front of the warehouse.
“A lieutenant colonel approached me and showed me his revolver. He said that if the air strikes did not kill us, he would do so,” the witness said.
The Hague Prosecution charges Radovan Karadzic, former president of Republika Srpska, with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed from 1992 to 1995.
The indictment alleges that during the course of May and June 1995, Karadzic participated in a joint criminal enterprise with the aim of taking UN personnel hostage in order to force NATO to halt air strikes against Bosnian Serb military targets.
Rechner said that he was taken, along with the other hostages, to a bunker which had previously been bombarded by NATO forces, and they were told they would be taken to “the exact locations hit by bombs”.
“They chained me and another observer to a lightning rod in front of a bunker full of ammunition, which had not been hit by bombs. They chained the third observer to the bunker door.
“After that, military officers and government officials came. Jovan Zametica, Karadzic’s advisor, was among them. I asked him what was happening and he said: ‘Times have changed’,” the witness recalled.
At this hearing the participants saw a video recording in which someone told the UN observers: ‘If you die, it will be NATO bombs that killed you”. Among other things, the recording shows two UN members chained to a bridge.
Rechner said he was held prisoner until June 18, 1995.
The trial is due to continue on Thursday, February 3.
A.J.
