Unconstitutional Outvoting

Defence witness Nenad Kecmanovic says, at Ratko Mladic’s trial at The Hague, that the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, was caused by an unconstitutional outvoting of Serbs by Muslims and Croats in the Assembly of BiH, when making a decision on holding a referendum on independence of BiH in October 1991.

As said by Kecmanovic, this was the first direct violation of the ethnic equality in BiH, which was prescribed under the Constitution and laws.  

He said that no two-third majority existed for that decision or for the proclamation of the independence of BiH on the basis of the referendum later on.

“The fact that the international community ignored it is unbelievable,” said Kecmanovic, the then Professor at Sarajevo University.

According to Kecmanovic’s testimony, this happened within the context of advocacy by Alija Izetbegovic, leader of the Part of Democratic Action, for establishment of “an Islamic theocracy from Morocco to Indonesia”, which he described in his “Islamic Declaration”, in which “minorities would enjoy limited rights”.  

Kecmanovic further suggested that Izetbegovic was responsible for the breakout of the conflict by reminding about his statement before the Parliament, in which he “gave priority to sovereignty of BiH even in case it was a direct road to war”.   

Kecmanovic explained his participation in the work of the Bosnian Presidency from April to July 1992, after Serb representatives Biljana Plavsic and Nikola Koljevic had left it, by saying that the principle of consensus and veto when making decisions was reintroduced at his request.  

“However, in reality, it was systematically violated,” he said.

Kecmanovic pointed out that Cutileiro’s and all other peace plans foresaw the division of BiH, expressing his surprise by the fact that Serbs were constantly accused of aiming at that.

During the cross-examination the Prosecutor reminded Kecmanovic that, in his previous testimonies at The Hague, he said that Serb forces committed crimes against Muslims in Prijedor.

The witness tried to relativise the statement, saying that, in the meantime, he had received new pieces of information, suggesting that “it did not happen exactly like that”.

Responding to a suggestion by the Prosecutor, Kecmanovic confirmed that he “experienced a shelling” in Sarajevo and that, just like other citizens, he was “intimidated” by it and, just like everybody else, he “feared for his life”. He accepted a suggestion that civilians were wounded and killed by grenades fired from Serb positions surrounding the city.

Mladic, wartime Commander of VRS, is charged with having terrorised the local population in Sarajevo through long-lasting mine-thrower and sniper attacks, committed genocide in Srebrenica, persecuting Muslims and Croats throughout BiH, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, and having taken UNPROFOR members hostage.

Kecmanovic is due to continue answering prosecutor’s questions tomorrow, July 11.