|
 |
|
Bosnian Muslim women weep
near the coffins of their relatives among coffins of Srebrenica
victims displayed at Memorial center of Potocari near Srebrenica, 120
km northeast of Sarajevo, on Saturday.
(Photo: AP) |
|
|
Sarajevo
(Bosnia-Herzegovina): Phillip Ruch's monument to
Srebrenica is a huge jumble of worn shoes, more than 16,000 of them,
each pair representing a victim of Europe's worst massacre since
World War II.
Seen from afar it will spell out UN in gigantic letters.
The "Pillar of Shame" is to be raised in the hills above Srebrenica
with a controversial goal: singling out the United Nations and
international leaders as the ones most responsible for failing to
prevent the mass killings.
Ahead of the 15th anniversary Sunday of the massacre, Ruch said he
is looking forward to the debate the monument is almost certain to
generate when it goes up at some point next year.
The German activist describes his project as a "warning for all
future UN employees never again just to stand by when genocide
unfolds" — alluding to the failure of UN peacekeepers to protect the
Srebrenica victims during the Bosnian war.
On July 11, 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and youths were
slaughtered by Bosnian Serb troops in an enclave supposedly
protected by UN peacekeepers.
The United Nations had declared Serb-besieged Srebrenica, some 90
kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, a protected area for
civilians. But the few hundred Dutch Blue Helmets on the ground were
left short of credible weaponry or a clear mandate to protect the
town.
Srebrenica fell to the Serbs after senior UN commanders dithered on
Dutch requests for air strikes and its overwhelmingly Bosnian Muslim
residents swarmed the UN military base, seeking refuge. But the
peacekeepers allowed the Serbs to take away the townspeople when
Gen. Ratko Mladic, their leader, said they would not be harmed.
The shootings began shortly after. While Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic is now being tried by the UN tribunal at the Hague for
allegedly masterminding Srebrenica, Mladic remains at large. And the
bodies, bulldozed into mass graves, keep turning up by the hundreds
each year.
"Pillar of Shame" creator Ruch says worn shoes have been pouring
into Bosnian collection centers since he launched his appeal for
footwear six weeks ago.
They will be encased in wire mesh, in 8-meter (nearly 9-yard) tall
letters spelling out UN and placed on a hill overlooking the graves
of the Srebrenica victims.
Also displayed — in a way still to be determined — will be names
picked by Bosnian Muslims of UN and other international officials
considered responsible for botching the task of protecting
Srebrenica.
Bosnian Muslim Zlata Konakovic is so fired up by the project she
donated seven pairs of shoes, including ones mailed from Washington
from her son and grandson.
"I knew over 8,000 people were killed but only when you see this
mountain of shoes do you get the picture of how many that is," she
said.
On Sunday, as the Srebrenica commemorations start, Ruch plans to
dump 8,372 collected pairs in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
In Srebrenica, the presidents of both Serbia and Croatia will for
the first time pay respects to victims alongside Bosnian Muslims.
Ethnic distrust continues to plague postwar Bosnia, but the leaders'
joint presence at the Srebrenica ceremonies is meant to be a
powerful sign of reconciliation 18 years after the eruption of
Europe's fiercest post-World War conflict.
The UN will not be represented. But the failure of UN peacekeepers
to protect the Srebrenica victims is vividly etched in the
collective Bosnian Muslim memory.
"They watched genocide — live," said Srebrenica survivor Munira
Subasic, who lost 22 relatives.
Then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a 1999 report that the
United Nations failed at Srebrenica because of errors, misjudgment
and "an inability to recognize the scope of the evil confronting
us." He said the UN
treated Serbs and Muslims equally when they should have made a
"moral judgment" that ethnic cleansing — practiced mostly by the
Serbs — was evil.
An independent study by the Netherlands Institute for War
Documentation cleared the Dutch troops of blame, noting they were
outnumbered, lightly armed, undersupplied, and under instructions to
fire only in self-defense. However, the Dutch government has
accepted "political responsibility" for the mission's failure, and
has given tens of millions of dollars to Bosnia, with a third
earmarked for rebuilding Srebrenica.
But for most Bosnian Muslims, that is not enough.
"We are taking the United Nations to the Court of Human Rights,"
said Subasic, who heads the victims' association Mothers of
Srebrenica. "We will never give up."
|
US
official: Indian Muslims not terrorists
RSS
leaders in CBI net for shielding Ajmer blasts accused:
Two Uttar Pradesh RSS functionaries gave shelter to an Ajmer
blast accused, claim .....
BJP is
anti-Muslim, a lie spread by Congress: Gadkari:
BJP President Nitin Gadkari yesterday accused the Congress of
launching '' false propaganda ....
Gaza
aid ship prepares to set sail from Greece:
A
ship commissioned by a Libyan charity organization made preparations
Friday to set sail to Gaza loaded
.....
Americans reject Muslim veil ban:
Days before French
lawmakers are due to vote on a bill that would make it illegal for
Muslim women to wear full .....
NGO seeks ban on
cloning of farm animals:
Animal rights
organisation Humane Society International Thursday appealed to the
government to prohibit the .....
CNN
fires veteran editor for Mideast over Tweet:
CNN has fired a senior
editor for Middle East news after she published a Twitter message
that said she .....
Honour
killings: Govt. defers decision on Khap Bill, sets up GoM to deal
with issue: 
Comment on this article