Karadzic: Imaginative Excuses for Blocking Convoys

At the trial of Radovan Karadzic, a former Chief of Headquarters of UNPROFOR Command says that a Serb Army general told him he would “make sure” that trams in Sarajevo would be targeted by snipers.

General Adrianus Van Baal said that the frequency of sniping incidents in Sarajevo, particularly those targeting trams, increased during the cease fire period, adding they were attributed to Serbs.

Van Baal was Chief of Headquarters of the UN’s UNPROFOR Command in Bosnia and Herzegovina from February to the end of August 1994.
 
“General Milovanovic complained to me about the fact that trams were running in Sarajevo, leaving the impression of a peaceful situation in the city. He said he would make sure the trams would be selected as targets. This is what happened,” Van Baal said.
 
Manojlo Milovanovic was Chief of the Main Headquarters of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, during the course of the war.
 
Radovan Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska, RS, and Supreme Commander of VRS, is charged with genocide and other crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-95 war.

The indictment alleges that he participated in designing and implementing a shelling and sniping campaign in Sarajevo which resulted in the wounding and murder of thousands of civilians.
 
General Van Baal said he noticed that Karadzic had effective control over the Army, offering several examples to support his statement.

The witness recalled a situation when 600 Serb soldiers surrounded the Canadian Peace Forces, but then withdrew 20 minutes after the indictee had signaled to them to withdraw.
 
“There were some situations which made me believe that when something had to be decided upon, the decisions were made in Pale. These decisions were then implemented in the field,” the witness explained.

Pale was the seat of the RS Government during the course of the war.
 
Van Baal also said that Serbs imposed a series of restrictions on humanitarian convoys bringing supplies to Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde enclaves after June 1994.
 
“Convoys were forced to go back or blocked more often than before. These decisions were motivated, as we were told, by the fact that the convoys were late, there was no reason for them to pass or requests for their passage were not submitted in time…

“Many accusations were heard, saying the convoys were used for smuggling goods to the enclaves, transport of weapons for Muslims, illegal trade… They were very imaginative in finding new excuses to send convoys back to their departure points,” the witness recalled.
 
The witness said that the effects of the blocking of convoys became obvious in the autumn and winter that year. He said that “the situation became more and more dramatic and desperate” in those enclaves, leading to the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995.
 
The Hague Prosecution considers Karadzic responsible for blocking humanitarian convoys travelling to Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde enclaves in an attempt to create unbearable living conditions for their inhabitants.
 
During the course of cross-examination Karadzic asked the witness if UNPROFOR was always given an explanation as to why convoys were stopped or sent back. Van Baal answered affirmatively, adding that the reasons were “not valid”.
 
Karadzic said that Serbs were suspicious about additional quantities of ammunition being imported to the enclaves by UNPROFOR, adding they had the impression that each time a convoy entered one of the enclaves, military activities by Muslim forces would increase in that particular area.  
 
“Serbs worried about the possibility of being defeated. They did not want to contribute to the defeat by approving the passage of convoys.

“Did the Serbian Army search the convoys because it was evil or because it was concerned about the goods that were transported to its enemy? Were Serbs evil or worried?” the indictee asked the witness, who said he “could not guess what was on their mind”.
 
Van Baal said that humanitarian convoys were aimed only at helping civilians and had nothing to do with strengthening military capacities.
 
“Humanitarian convoys never carried military goods. (…) Manifest sheets contained lists of all goods that were transported by convoys.

“Personal belongings were not mentioned in those sheets. They should not have been subjected to search, they should have been left alone. This is what the UN’s rules say. All parties undertook to respect them. However, they were not respected in reality,” Van Baal said.
 
The cross-examination of Van Baal is due to continue on October 28.

M.H.