Every culture wants to memorialize its dead. Every family needs the missing to be identified to reach closure. Perhaps that is why a wartime mass grave offends something so deep in the human conscience. Little can be said with certainty about the hundreds of bodies discovered last week at Izium, in a pine forest in northeastern Ukraine, other than that they are the beginning of a long story.

Restoring human dignity to the most dehumanising of scenes; heaped anonymous corpses, the reduction of lives to nothing, and the stench of abandonment is a painstaking forensic endeavour.

For many months, perhaps years, the work will continue to match DNA samples, collate the scraps, establish the cause of death, and determine what crimes may have been committed by the Russian forces who fled a week ago.

Any mass grave from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Argentina to Guatemala demands of our humanity the reconstitution of the individual lives ended there.&nbsp;

“On one side in Britain you see the Queen’s dignified burial and on the other this mass grave stemming from mass violence,” said Anjli Parrin, the Kenyan deputy director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “They are two extremes that remind us that the idea of someone missing, buried anonymously, is a violation of a fundamental instinct to honor the dead.”

When President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia retreats, evidence of possible atrocities surfaces. That now seems to be a pattern of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, most recently in Izium. The post-apocalyptic scene last spring in Bucha, near Kyiv, of dozens of corpses arrayed in black plastic bags beneath weeping birches laden with mistletoe has proved to be the prelude to another troubling landscape.

The exhumation of a burial site in a pine forest, after more than five months of Russian occupation of Izium, has revealed one mass grave of Ukrainian Army soldiers, seventeen of them, according to an inscription on a cross. There were also 445 mainly unmarked individual graves. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s commissioner for human rights, spoke of “genocide of the Ukrainian population.”

But genocide&nbsp;requiring the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnicial, racial or religious group, as such,” in the words of the 1948 Genocide Convention is not easily proved. Other international crimes, including crimes against humanity and extrajudicial executions, may also have occurred.

It took nine years for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to rule that the 1995 Serbian killing of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys around Srebrenica constituted genocide. This was the worst single massacre in Europe since 1945. 
It was also a massacre foretold.

For any correspondent covering the war there, as I did, it was clear for a long time that the so-called “safe areas” of Bosnia under the protection of the United Nations were no such thing. The blue helmets of UN troops had become a symbol of impotence. The horror, when it came, was merely a re-enactment, on a different scale, of the eviction and slaughter of the Muslim population of Bosnia by Serbian forces three years earlier, at the start of the war in 1992.

Izium, if the war in Ukraine endures and festers (even for years as seems possible), is unlikely to be the last site of myriad graves lost in the forest. Nor are the horrors emerging in Ukraine new to a nation with a poignant history in this regard, including at Babyn Yar, the ravine in Kyiv where more than 33,000 Jews were massacred in 1941 by the Nazis.

My colleague in Bosnia, Elizabeth Neuffer of the Boston Globe, who was later killed in Iraq, wrote of the Cerska mass grave 27 kilometres&nbsp;northwest of Srebrenica in “Crimes of War,” a book edited by Roy Gutman and David Rieff:

“The corpses were dressed in civilian clothes. They had gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Their decaying hands were bound behind their back.” She continued: “Each part of the human skeleton,&nbsp;some two hundred bones and thirty-two teeth, has its tale to tell.”

They will come to Izium, the forensic pathologists, the ballistic experts, the forensic odontologists examining teeth, the anthropologists, the radiologists, the police investigators, the national and international authorities intent on establishing what violence produced those graves. Establishing the cause and manner and circumstance of death in war is hard. That much I have learned.

“It’s not just the collection of evidence that is difficult, it is preserving it,” Ms Parrin, who has been working on mass graves in the Central African Republic, said. “You are labeling and numbering and photographing under enormous stress and trauma, and you have to demonstrate the chain of custody...who passed what to whom and who locked it in which office and when.” 
It’s easy to get something wrong. Mistaken identity is not unusual.

Before Bosnia, there was Argentina, which I covered in the mid-1980s. Buenos Aires was awakening then to the scope of a national nightmare. Every conversation seemed to end in tears as parents, haunted by desperate imaginings, recalled their children who had been “disappeared” by the military junta. That many of the tens of thousands of “desaparecidos” had been dumped from planes into the South Atlantic between 1976 and 1983 was not yet known.

So did the Argentine military turn “disappear” into a transitive verb and the ocean into a mass grave. I sat and listened. That’s what journalists do: listen through silence, awaiting a clue, the revealing epiphany, the face that crumples like a dynamited building. 
The grief of bereaved parents was overwhelming. Sudden disappearance was too much to bear. There was no farewell and no adequate means to mourn. This twisted minds toward desperate acts.

I took away the conviction that for the bereaved, disappearance into an anonymous mass grave turns every living being into someone with a possible resemblance to a lost child, whose death can never be entirely accepted.

Before Argentina, there was Lithuania. My grandmother came from Zagare, a small Lithuanian town renowned for its cherries. The last Jew there, Aizikas Mendelsonas, died in 2011. When he was born in 1922, there were almost 2,000 Jews in Zagare, with its seven synagogues.

The Nazis ended all that after pushing into Lithuania in June 1941. On October&nbsp;2, 1941, the Jews of Zagare were ordered into the main square before being taken into the woods for execution.

In 1944, the Soviet Red Army, having fought its way into Lithuania, examined a mass grave in the forest outside Zagare and found 2,402 corpses (530 men, 1,223 women, 625 children, and 24 babies), as I discovered in researching a book on my family. A sign in the woods points to the “Graves of the Victims of the Jewish Genocide,” now also commemorated by a monument on the main square.

The hypothetical European fate of my family, had they not left Zagare in time, was to die nameless in a nameless ditch. Perhaps that is why mass graves have haunted me.

These things linger, subliminally or not. Two decades after Srebrenica, a French photographer, Adrien Selbert, showed me photographs of the town, now gathered in a book called “Srebrenica, From Night to Night.” They captured a town overcome by the weight of the past, unable to shake it off, gripped by a kind of sullen idleness. Stray dogs wander empty streets. Neon signs and streetlights glare into vacancy.

It was clear that all the bullets the Serbs emptied into their male victims constituted equal violence upon their female survivors, who were left with the hurt of the unsayable.

What Russia has done, in Izium and elsewhere, is forge a Ukrainian national identity that is more powerful than ever, along with wounds that will be refracted down through the generations.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;

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&nbsp;

Every culture wants to memorialize its dead. Every family needs the missing to be identified to reach closure. Perhaps that is why a wartime mass grave offends something so deep in the human conscience.

Every culture wants to memorialize its dead. Every family needs the missing to be identified to reach closure. Perhaps that is why a wartime mass grave offends something so deep in the human conscience. Little can be said with certainty about the hundreds of bodies discovered last week at Izium, in a pine forest in northeastern Ukraine, other than that they are the beginning of a long story. Restoring human dignity to the most dehumanising of scenes; heaped anonymous corpses, the reduction of lives to nothing, and the stench of abandonment is a painstaking forensic endeavour. For many months, perhaps years, the work will continue to match DNA samples, collate the scraps, establish the cause of death, and determine what crimes may have been committed by the Russian forces who fled a week ago. Any mass grave from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Argentina to Guatemala demands of our humanity the reconstitution of the individual lives ended there. “On one side in Britain you see the Queen’s dignified burial and on the other this mass grave stemming from mass violence,” said Anjli Parrin, the Kenyan deputy director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “They are two extremes that remind us that the idea of someone missing, buried anonymously, is a violation of a fundamental instinct to honor the dead.” When President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia retreats, evidence of possible atrocities surfaces. That now seems to be a pattern of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, most recently in Izium. The post-apocalyptic scene last spring in Bucha, near Kyiv, of dozens of corpses arrayed in black plastic bags beneath weeping birches laden with mistletoe has proved to be the prelude to another troubling landscape. The exhumation of a burial site in a pine forest, after more than five months of Russian occupation of Izium, has revealed one mass grave of Ukrainian Army soldiers, seventeen of them, according to an inscription on a cross. There were also 445 mainly unmarked individual graves. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s commissioner for human rights, spoke of “genocide of the Ukrainian population.” But genocide requiring the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnicial, racial or religious group, as such,” in the words of the 1948 Genocide Convention is not easily proved. Other international crimes, including crimes against humanity and extrajudicial executions, may also have occurred. It took nine years for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to rule that the 1995 Serbian killing of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys around Srebrenica constituted genocide. This was the worst single massacre in Europe since 1945. It was also a massacre foretold. For any correspondent covering the war there, as I did, it was clear for a long time that the so-called “safe areas” of Bosnia under the protection of the United Nations were no such thing. The blue helmets of UN troops had become a symbol of impotence. The horror, when it came, was merely a re-enactment, on a different scale, of the eviction and slaughter of the Muslim population of Bosnia by Serbian forces three years earlier, at the start of the war in 1992. Izium, if the war in Ukraine endures and festers (even for years as seems possible), is unlikely to be the last site of myriad graves lost in the forest. Nor are the horrors emerging in Ukraine new to a nation with a poignant history in this regard, including at Babyn Yar, the ravine in Kyiv where more than 33,000 Jews were massacred in 1941 by the Nazis. My colleague in Bosnia, Elizabeth Neuffer of the Boston Globe, who was later killed in Iraq, wrote of the Cerska mass grave 27 kilometres northwest of Srebrenica in “Crimes of War,” a book edited by Roy Gutman and David Rieff: “The corpses were dressed in civilian clothes. They had gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Their decaying hands were bound behind their back.” She continued: “Each part of the human skeleton, some two hundred bones and thirty-two teeth, has its tale to tell.” They will come to Izium, the forensic pathologists, the ballistic experts, the forensic odontologists examining teeth, the anthropologists, the radiologists, the police investigators, the national and international authorities intent on establishing what violence produced those graves. Establishing the cause and manner and circumstance of death in war is hard. That much I have learned. “It’s not just the collection of evidence that is difficult, it is preserving it,” Ms Parrin, who has been working on mass graves in the Central African Republic, said. “You are labeling and numbering and photographing under enormous stress and trauma, and you have to demonstrate the chain of custody...who passed what to whom and who locked it in which office and when.” It’s easy to get something wrong. Mistaken identity is not unusual. Before Bosnia, there was Argentina, which I covered in the mid-1980s. Buenos Aires was awakening then to the scope of a national nightmare. Every conversation seemed to end in tears as parents, haunted by desperate imaginings, recalled their children who had been “disappeared” by the military junta. That many of the tens of thousands of “desaparecidos” had been dumped from planes into the South Atlantic between 1976 and 1983 was not yet known. So did the Argentine military turn “disappear” into a transitive verb and the ocean into a mass grave. I sat and listened. That’s what journalists do: listen through silence, awaiting a clue, the revealing epiphany, the face that crumples like a dynamited building. The grief of bereaved parents was overwhelming. Sudden disappearance was too much to bear. There was no farewell and no adequate means to mourn. This twisted minds toward desperate acts. I took away the conviction that for the bereaved, disappearance into an anonymous mass grave turns every living being into someone with a possible resemblance to a lost child, whose death can never be entirely accepted. Before Argentina, there was Lithuania. My grandmother came from Zagare, a small Lithuanian town renowned for its cherries. The last Jew there, Aizikas Mendelsonas, died in 2011. When he was born in 1922, there were almost 2,000 Jews in Zagare, with its seven synagogues. The Nazis ended all that after pushing into Lithuania in June 1941. On October 2, 1941, the Jews of Zagare were ordered into the main square before being taken into the woods for execution. In 1944, the Soviet Red Army, having fought its way into Lithuania, examined a mass grave in the forest outside Zagare and found 2,402 corpses (530 men, 1,223 women, 625 children, and 24 babies), as I discovered in researching a book on my family. A sign in the woods points to the “Graves of the Victims of the Jewish Genocide,” now also commemorated by a monument on the main square. The hypothetical European fate of my family, had they not left Zagare in time, was to die nameless in a nameless ditch. Perhaps that is why mass graves have haunted me. These things linger, subliminally or not. Two decades after Srebrenica, a French photographer, Adrien Selbert, showed me photographs of the town, now gathered in a book called “Srebrenica, From Night to Night.” They captured a town overcome by the weight of the past, unable to shake it off, gripped by a kind of sullen idleness. Stray dogs wander empty streets. Neon signs and streetlights glare into vacancy. It was clear that all the bullets the Serbs emptied into their male victims constituted equal violence upon their female survivors, who were left with the hurt of the unsayable. What Russia has done, in Izium and elsewhere, is forge a Ukrainian national identity that is more powerful than ever, along with wounds that will be refracted down through the generations. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

The singular offense of the mass grave: Story of Izium and beyond

Jubilations were witnessed across Croatia after its long-awaited bridge linking its southern Adriatic coast with the rest of the country—as it bypasses&nbsp;a narrow strip of Bosnian territory—was opened for the public.

The 2.4-km cable-stayed bridge was funded by the European Union&nbsp;and built by China, reports BBC.

The Croatian bridge contract was awarded to a Chinese state-owned company, The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). It bid far less than its European rivals, prompting an Austrian company to file a complaint, alleging that CRBC was "price-dumping" and receiving Chinese state aid.

The bridge reaches out from the Croatian mainland to the Peljesac peninsula. The inauguration ceremony started Tuesday early morning, with musical performances and a boat race, while scores of pedestrians clocked selfies on the bridge.

“It is a major thing for people here since they did not even feel like they were living in their own country,” said Joso Miletic, 75, who travelled from his village near the city of Zadar, on the central coast, to watch the opening of the bridge, told AFP news agency. “This is the merging of Croatia into a whole.”

The bridge is regarded as the country’s most ambitious infrastructure projects since Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia&nbsp;in 1991.

Until this bridge was conceived, people used to travel from mainland Croatia to its southern coast via a land belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The present arrangement of the border stems from the fact that when the former Yugoslavia broke up and Croatia became independent in 1991, the new borders of the Croatian coastline were split by a 9-km-long section of Bosnian coastline known as the Neum corridor.

Since Croatia is part of the EU and Bosnia is not, residents trying to travel between the two ends of the Croatian border had to go through two border checks.

But now anyone can drive straight along Croatia's Adriatic coast via the new bridge.

About 85 per cent of the cost of the bridge was funded by the EU, which spent €357m (£300m) using cohesion funds for what it said would improve significantly the everyday lives of Croatians, according to BBC.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

Jubilations were witnessed across Croatia after its long-awaited bridge linking its southern Adriatic coast with the rest of the country—as it bypasses a narrow strip of Bosnian territory—was opened for the public.

Jubilations were witnessed across Croatia after its long-awaited bridge linking its southern Adriatic coast with the rest of the country—as it bypasses a narrow strip of Bosnian territory—was opened for the public. The 2.4-km cable-stayed bridge was funded by the European Union and built by China, reports BBC. The Croatian bridge contract was awarded to a Chinese state-owned company, The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). It bid far less than its European rivals, prompting an Austrian company to file a complaint, alleging that CRBC was "price-dumping" and receiving Chinese state aid. The bridge reaches out from the Croatian mainland to the Peljesac peninsula. The inauguration ceremony started Tuesday early morning, with musical performances and a boat race, while scores of pedestrians clocked selfies on the bridge. “It is a major thing for people here since they did not even feel like they were living in their own country,” said Joso Miletic, 75, who travelled from his village near the city of Zadar, on the central coast, to watch the opening of the bridge, told AFP news agency. “This is the merging of Croatia into a whole.” The bridge is regarded as the country’s most ambitious infrastructure projects since Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Until this bridge was conceived, people used to travel from mainland Croatia to its southern coast via a land belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The present arrangement of the border stems from the fact that when the former Yugoslavia broke up and Croatia became independent in 1991, the new borders of the Croatian coastline were split by a 9-km-long section of Bosnian coastline known as the Neum corridor. Since Croatia is part of the EU and Bosnia is not, residents trying to travel between the two ends of the Croatian border had to go through two border checks. But now anyone can drive straight along Croatia's Adriatic coast via the new bridge. About 85 per cent of the cost of the bridge was funded by the EU, which spent €357m (£300m) using cohesion funds for what it said would improve significantly the everyday lives of Croatians, according to BBC. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Croatia opens Chinese-built bridge around Bosnia amid celebrations

Sara Becarevic was born without a lower left arm in Bosnia, a poor Balkan country known for its widespread social and economic isolation of disabled persons. Despite this, she never believed that it would prevent her from pursuing her dream of being an internationally famous rhythmic gymnast.

Bosnian teen gymnast defies disability to pursue her Olympics dream

Europe-bound migrants are been bottlenecked in Bosnia, with the hope of entering through Croatia one day. Currently, about 8000 migrants stranded bound to live in harsh conditions. Wion brings you more details.

Europe-bound migrants are been bottlenecked in Bosnia

In Bosnia, thousands of migrants are in dire need of proper shelter to survive the harsh zero temperature as their temporary accommodation has burned down.

Migrants stuck in miserable conditions at EU border

The European Union has denounced the living conditions of hundreds of homeless migrants in Bosnia.

The migrants have been left homeless in freezing and rainy conditions since their camp near the northwestern town of Bihac burned down last month.

To this end, EU envoy Johann Sattler said Saturday the conditions were "completely unacceptable".

“The situation is completely unacceptable,” he said&nbsp;

Sattler, the EU’s Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said after a meeting with Bosnia’s Security Minister Selmo Cikotic: "Lives and basic human rights of many hundreds of people are seriously jeopardised."

The aim of the meeting was “to discuss urgent solutions for the extremely concerning migration situation”, the statement said.

Fire engulfed the Lipa migrant centre in northwestern Bosnia on December 23. There were no casualties from the blaze but much of the infrastructure of the site was destroyed.

Police believe the blaze was started deliberately by migrants living there to protest the withdrawal of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which had been running the camp.

The IOM had left complaining that the accommodation was not fit to house people during the cold winter months.

Opened in April, the Lipa camp had never been hooked up with electricity or running water.

Bosnia lies on the so-called Balkans route used since 2018 by tens of thousands of migrants heading towards Western Europe as they flee war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and in Africa.

The country currently hosts some 8,500 migrants.

The European Commission, which finances the running of several migrant camps in Bosnia, has called for another centre in Bihac to be reopened, but local and regional officials oppose the idea.

The UN’s human rights office had already warned against “unacceptable suffering” of the migrants from the Lipa camp, calling for an urgent solution of the issue.

(with inputs)

The European Union has denounced the living conditions of hundreds of homeless migrants in Bosnia. The migrants have been left homeless in freezing and rainy conditions since their camp near the northwestern town of Bihac burned down last month.

The European Union has denounced the living conditions of hundreds of homeless migrants in Bosnia. The migrants have been left homeless in freezing and rainy conditions since their camp near the northwestern town of Bihac burned down last month. To this end, EU envoy Johann Sattler said Saturday the conditions were "completely unacceptable". “The situation is completely unacceptable,” he said Sattler, the EU’s Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said after a meeting with Bosnia’s Security Minister Selmo Cikotic: "Lives and basic human rights of many hundreds of people are seriously jeopardised." The aim of the meeting was “to discuss urgent solutions for the extremely concerning migration situation”, the statement said. Fire engulfed the Lipa migrant centre in northwestern Bosnia on December 23. There were no casualties from the blaze but much of the infrastructure of the site was destroyed. Police believe the blaze was started deliberately by migrants living there to protest the withdrawal of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which had been running the camp. The IOM had left complaining that the accommodation was not fit to house people during the cold winter months. Opened in April, the Lipa camp had never been hooked up with electricity or running water. Bosnia lies on the so-called Balkans route used since 2018 by tens of thousands of migrants heading towards Western Europe as they flee war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and in Africa. The country currently hosts some 8,500 migrants. The European Commission, which finances the running of several migrant camps in Bosnia, has called for another centre in Bihac to be reopened, but local and regional officials oppose the idea. The UN’s human rights office had already warned against “unacceptable suffering” of the migrants from the Lipa camp, calling for an urgent solution of the issue. (with inputs)

EU denounces conditions for hundreds of migrants in Bosnia

Hundreds of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East were left stranded in the open air on Wednesday when an attempt to relocate them to another site in Bosnia after fire wrecked their temporary camp failed, police and migrants said.

Bosnian military sets up tents for stuck migrants

Six people were rescued from the rubble with the help of dogs, Croatia's Mountain Rescue Service said.

Stong 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits central Croatia; Shockwaves felt in Serbia, Bosnia

In Bosnia, a mountain is at the centre of the controversy. Some believe it has magical healing power that it was built by an ancient civilisation, claims that have been busted by experts.

Watch Bosnia’s ‘Healing’ Mountain

Five family members of a Bosnian teenager who forcibly shaved her head over her relationship with a Christian Serb man have been expelled from France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday.

Sources close to Darmanin told AFP those expelled were the girl's parents and three of her siblings.

The 17-year-old's parents were arrested on Friday, after a court in the eastern city of Besancon convicted them of violence against a minor.

They were sentenced to one year in jail, four of them suspended, as were her aunt and uncle, who the girl said had actually shaved her head.

But the judges also barred the parents from French territory for five years.

While the aunt and uncle have been granted refugee status, the parents have been refused it, and were already due to leave France voluntarily.

The girl had arrived from Bosnia-Herzegovina two years ago with her family and had a relationship for several months with a 20-year-old Serb boyfriend, who lived in the same building.

While the families got along, her parents took away her phone and prevented her from contacting they boy once the pair started talking about marriage.

They told her that "we are Muslims, you cannot marry a Christian," prosecutors said after the incident in August.

The court heard how the couple had run away for four days before returning to the apartment where the girl's family lived.

She told the court that the adults took her into her room where she was punched and kicked by her parents, aunt and uncle and had had her head shaved.

After the young man's parents called the police, officers brought the girl to hospital where she was found to have a broken rib and bruises "everywhere", prosecutors said.

the young girl will be cared for by French social services "and will receive a residency permit once she comes of age", junior minister for citizenship Marlene Schiappa said.

The case raised intense emotions in France because it recalled the punishments meted out after the country's World War II liberation to thousands of women who had slept with German soldiers.

Five family members of a Bosnian teenager who forcibly shaved her head over her relationship with a Christian Serb man have been expelled from France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday.

Five family members of a Bosnian teenager who forcibly shaved her head over her relationship with a Christian Serb man have been expelled from France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday. Sources close to Darmanin told AFP those expelled were the girl's parents and three of her siblings. The 17-year-old's parents were arrested on Friday, after a court in the eastern city of Besancon convicted them of violence against a minor. They were sentenced to one year in jail, four of them suspended, as were her aunt and uncle, who the girl said had actually shaved her head. But the judges also barred the parents from French territory for five years. While the aunt and uncle have been granted refugee status, the parents have been refused it, and were already due to leave France voluntarily. The girl had arrived from Bosnia-Herzegovina two years ago with her family and had a relationship for several months with a 20-year-old Serb boyfriend, who lived in the same building. While the families got along, her parents took away her phone and prevented her from contacting they boy once the pair started talking about marriage. They told her that "we are Muslims, you cannot marry a Christian," prosecutors said after the incident in August. The court heard how the couple had run away for four days before returning to the apartment where the girl's family lived. She told the court that the adults took her into her room where she was punched and kicked by her parents, aunt and uncle and had had her head shaved. After the young man's parents called the police, officers brought the girl to hospital where she was found to have a broken rib and bruises "everywhere", prosecutors said. the young girl will be cared for by French social services "and will receive a residency permit once she comes of age", junior minister for citizenship Marlene Schiappa said. The case raised intense emotions in France because it recalled the punishments meted out after the country's World War II liberation to thousands of women who had slept with German soldiers.

France expels Bosnians who shaved daughter's head over relationship

World's best mine-detecting dogs undergo schooling at the global training centre of the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) in a suburb of Sarajevo. Watch report.

Meet Bosnia's mine detecting heroes: World's best mine-detecting dogs

Sniffer alert: Bosnia trains dogs for mine-detection

Srebrenica massacre: Bosnia Muslims mourn their dead after 25 years

Bosnian Muslims on Saturday mark 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II, with the memorial ceremony sharply reduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Organisers said the number of people attending the anniversary -- usually in the tens of thousands -- is likely to be lower than usual because of lockdown measures aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19.&nbsp;

Proceedings are scheduled to start in the morning.&nbsp;

Then, at 1100 GMT, the remains of nine victims identified over the past year will be laid to rest at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, a village just outside Srebrenica that served as the base for the UN protection force, FORPRONU, during the conflict.&nbsp;

On July 11, 1995, after capturing the ill-fated town, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in a few days.

The episode -- labelled as genocide by two international courts -- came at the end of a 1992-1995 war between Bosnia's Croats, Muslims and Serbs that claimed some 100,000 lives.&nbsp;

<img alt="Srebrenica massacre" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7b4a91fe-0081-4c3f-a01d-960385ccdd2d" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Srebrenica%20AFP%201.jpg" />

So far, the remains of nearly 6,900 victims have been found and identified from more than 80 mass graves.&nbsp;

Bosnian Serb wartime military chief general Ratko Mladic, still revered as a hero by many Serbs, was sentenced to life in prison by a UN court in 2017 over war crimes including the Srebrenica genocide. He is awaiting the decision on his appeal.

Radovan Karadzic, another Bosnian Serb wartime political leader, was also sentenced to life in prison in The Hague.&nbsp;

WAR AGAINST DENIAL

The Srebrenica massacre is the only episode of the Bosnian conflict to be described as genocide by the international community.

And while for Bosnian Muslims recognising the scale of the atrocity is a necessity for lasting peace, for most Serbs -- leaders and laypeople in both Bosnia and Serbia -- the use of the word genocide remains unacceptable.

In the run-up to the anniversary, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described Srebrenica as "something that we should not and cannot be proud of", but he has never publicly uttered the word "genocide".

Several thousand Serbs and Muslims live side by side in impoverished Srebrenica, a lifeless town in eastern Bosnia with just a few shops in its centre.

On Friday, the town's Serbian mayor Mladen Grujicic -- who was elected in 2016 after a campaign based on genocide denial -- said that "there is new evidence every day that denies the current presentation of everything that has happened".

<img alt="Srebrenica massacre" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e4b12c10-40ac-4cfc-b380-18e535924589" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Srebrenica%20AFP%202.jpg" />

Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik has also described the massacre as a "myth".

But on Friday, the Muslim member of Bosnia's joint presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, said: "We will tirelessly insist on the truth, on justice and on the need to try all those who have committed this crime".

"We will fight against those who deny the genocide and glorify its perpetrators," he said at the memorial centre where he attended a collective prayer.

In order to avoid large crowds on Saturday, organisers have invited people to visit the memorial centre over the whole month of July.

A number of different exhibitions are on display, including paintings by Bosnian artist Safet Zec.&nbsp;

Another installation, entitled "Why Aren't You Here?" by US-Bosnian artist Aida Sehovic, comprises more than 8,000 cups of coffee spread out on the cemetery's lawn.&nbsp;

"We still haven't answered the question why they are no longer here," she told AFP.

"How could this have happened in the heart of Europe, that people were killed in such a terrible way in a UN protected area? Not to mention the fact that the genocide is still being denied."

Bosnian Muslims on Saturday mark 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II, with the memorial ceremony sharply reduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bosnian Muslims on Saturday mark 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II, with the memorial ceremony sharply reduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Organisers said the number of people attending the anniversary -- usually in the tens of thousands -- is likely to be lower than usual because of lockdown measures aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19. Proceedings are scheduled to start in the morning. Then, at 1100 GMT, the remains of nine victims identified over the past year will be laid to rest at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, a village just outside Srebrenica that served as the base for the UN protection force, FORPRONU, during the conflict. On July 11, 1995, after capturing the ill-fated town, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in a few days. The episode -- labelled as genocide by two international courts -- came at the end of a 1992-1995 war between Bosnia's Croats, Muslims and Serbs that claimed some 100,000 lives. So far, the remains of nearly 6,900 victims have been found and identified from more than 80 mass graves. Bosnian Serb wartime military chief general Ratko Mladic, still revered as a hero by many Serbs, was sentenced to life in prison by a UN court in 2017 over war crimes including the Srebrenica genocide. He is awaiting the decision on his appeal. Radovan Karadzic, another Bosnian Serb wartime political leader, was also sentenced to life in prison in The Hague. WAR AGAINST DENIAL The Srebrenica massacre is the only episode of the Bosnian conflict to be described as genocide by the international community. And while for Bosnian Muslims recognising the scale of the atrocity is a necessity for lasting peace, for most Serbs -- leaders and laypeople in both Bosnia and Serbia -- the use of the word genocide remains unacceptable. In the run-up to the anniversary, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described Srebrenica as "something that we should not and cannot be proud of", but he has never publicly uttered the word "genocide". Several thousand Serbs and Muslims live side by side in impoverished Srebrenica, a lifeless town in eastern Bosnia with just a few shops in its centre. On Friday, the town's Serbian mayor Mladen Grujicic -- who was elected in 2016 after a campaign based on genocide denial -- said that "there is new evidence every day that denies the current presentation of everything that has happened". Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik has also described the massacre as a "myth". But on Friday, the Muslim member of Bosnia's joint presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, said: "We will tirelessly insist on the truth, on justice and on the need to try all those who have committed this crime". "We will fight against those who deny the genocide and glorify its perpetrators," he said at the memorial centre where he attended a collective prayer. In order to avoid large crowds on Saturday, organisers have invited people to visit the memorial centre over the whole month of July. A number of different exhibitions are on display, including paintings by Bosnian artist Safet Zec. Another installation, entitled "Why Aren't You Here?" by US-Bosnian artist Aida Sehovic, comprises more than 8,000 cups of coffee spread out on the cemetery's lawn. "We still haven't answered the question why they are no longer here," she told AFP. "How could this have happened in the heart of Europe, that people were killed in such a terrible way in a UN protected area? Not to mention the fact that the genocide is still being denied."

Bosnia Muslims mourn their dead 25 years after Srebrenica massacre

Bosnia's best-known living painter, Safet Zec, has opened a massive exhibition of his work dedicated to the victims of the 1995 massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

Artist displays Srebrenica paintings at memorial

Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who died in a helicopter crash in January, has been honoured with a giant mural commissioned by sports enthusiasts and painted on the side of an elementary school building in northern Bosnia.

Kobe Bryant honored in Bosnia with giant mural on school wall

Thousands of Bosnians took to the streets on Saturday to protest against bad governance and corruption as senior government officials face graft accusations.

These accusations were related to the procurement of defective ventilators for COVID-19 patients.

The protest was organised by a small moderate party, the Platform for Progress, and joined by leaders of other opposition groups.

People followed coronavirus lockdown guidelines and wore masks. They marched peacefully from Sarajevo's Old Town to the national parliament building.&nbsp;

Many carried yellow balloons with the Bosnian flag.

Bosnia has been plagued by corruption scandals, often linked to officials from the ruling parties, but most of them have not been charged.

In the latest corruption scandal, the premier of Bosnia's autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation, Fadil Novalic, has denied accusations of irregularities in the procurement of the Chinese ventilators.

The protestors said they wanted elections that are not rigged and an end to corruption.

Local elections scheduled for October 4 have been postponed for more than a month due to a lack of funding after the government had failed to pass a 2020 budget.

Thousands of Bosnians took to the streets on Saturday to protest against bad governance and corruption as senior government officials face graft accusations. These accusations were related to the procurement of defective ventilators for COVID-19 patients.

Thousands of Bosnians took to the streets on Saturday to protest against bad governance and corruption as senior government officials face graft accusations. These accusations were related to the procurement of defective ventilators for COVID-19 patients. The protest was organised by a small moderate party, the Platform for Progress, and joined by leaders of other opposition groups. People followed coronavirus lockdown guidelines and wore masks. They marched peacefully from Sarajevo's Old Town to the national parliament building. Many carried yellow balloons with the Bosnian flag. Bosnia has been plagued by corruption scandals, often linked to officials from the ruling parties, but most of them have not been charged. In the latest corruption scandal, the premier of Bosnia's autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation, Fadil Novalic, has denied accusations of irregularities in the procurement of the Chinese ventilators. The protestors said they wanted elections that are not rigged and an end to corruption. Local elections scheduled for October 4 have been postponed for more than a month due to a lack of funding after the government had failed to pass a 2020 budget.

People in Bosnia protest as officials accused of COVID-19 graft

A Bosnian Muslim who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for organising a terrorist group and fighting for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/isis-has-a-new-leader-we-know-exactly-who-he-is-donald-trump-259336">Islamic State</a> (IS) in Syria, a Bosnian court said.

Ibro Cufurovic, from the northwestern town of Velika Kladusa, has been in custody since his extradition from Syria in April. He had previously been detained for about two years by a Kurdish militia in Syria.

The court cited mitigating circumstances while explaining its ruling on Cufurovic, who had used the name Abu Kasim Albosni during his five years in Syria, where he took part in militant activities alongside other Bosnians.

"The defendant admitted he was guilty," said Hasija Masovic, the court council's chairwoman. "At the time when he made the decision to leave for Syria, the defendant was only 19".

Masovic said Cufurovic had repeatedly expressed regret for his actions and had attempted to return to Bosnia, according to the defence and witnesses.

Hundreds of Bosnian citizens are believed to have left to fight for IS in Syria and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/5-years-after-islamic-state-massacre-an-iraqi-minority-is-transformed-by-trauma-264933">Iraq</a>. Many foreign nationals are now in detention camps waiting to be handed over to their countries of origin.

Also Watch: Trump warns Russia, Syria, Iran against killing civilians in Idlib

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Last week, a group of 25 former IS fighters, women and children, some of them orphaned, returned to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/diseases-food-shortages-plague-migrant-jungle-camp-in-bosnia-230757">Bosnia</a>.

Seven men were detained and questioned, while six women and 12 children, among them Cufurovic's wife and children, were taken to a reception centre for further examination and medical assistance.

Cufurovic had told the court that he fought in Syria in 2014 and 2015, but that he was detained in 2016 while trying to escape to Turkey with his family, and imprisoned.

Bosnia's state court has tried and convicted 46 people who returned from Syria or Iraq over the past few years.

A Bosnian Muslim who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for organising a terrorist group and fighting for Islamic State (IS) in Syria, a Bosnian court said.

A Bosnian Muslim who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for organising a terrorist group and fighting for Islamic State (IS) in Syria, a Bosnian court said. Ibro Cufurovic, from the northwestern town of Velika Kladusa, has been in custody since his extradition from Syria in April. He had previously been detained for about two years by a Kurdish militia in Syria. The court cited mitigating circumstances while explaining its ruling on Cufurovic, who had used the name Abu Kasim Albosni during his five years in Syria, where he took part in militant activities alongside other Bosnians. "The defendant admitted he was guilty," said Hasija Masovic, the court council's chairwoman. "At the time when he made the decision to leave for Syria, the defendant was only 19". Masovic said Cufurovic had repeatedly expressed regret for his actions and had attempted to return to Bosnia, according to the defence and witnesses. Hundreds of Bosnian citizens are believed to have left to fight for IS in Syria and Iraq. Many foreign nationals are now in detention camps waiting to be handed over to their countries of origin. Also Watch: Trump warns Russia, Syria, Iran against killing civilians in Idlib × Last week, a group of 25 former IS fighters, women and children, some of them orphaned, returned to Bosnia. Seven men were detained and questioned, while six women and 12 children, among them Cufurovic's wife and children, were taken to a reception centre for further examination and medical assistance. Cufurovic had told the court that he fought in Syria in 2014 and 2015, but that he was detained in 2016 while trying to escape to Turkey with his family, and imprisoned. Bosnia's state court has tried and convicted 46 people who returned from Syria or Iraq over the past few years.

Bosnia jails former Islamic State fighter for four years

Winter poses new threat to migrants in Bosnian forest camp

Amateur divers plunged into a part of history on Sunday (July 28) as they jumped from Old Bridge in the Bosnian city of Mostar as part of a competition celebrating the Ottoman landmark.

Bosnian divers jump off historic bridge to celebrate 15th anniversary of reconstruction

Aid workers sounded the alarm on Wednesday about health and hygiene conditions in a makeshift forest camp in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/karadzic-handed-life-sentence-for-bosnia-war-crimes-204596">Bosnia</a> for hundreds of migrants as they face the spread of scabies and other diseases as well as food shortages.

Over the past 10 days, municipal authorities in Bihac have moved up to 700 migrants from Asia and North Africa who had been sleeping rough in the town to an improvised tent settlement at a former landfill some 8 km (5 miles) from the Croatian border.

The Red Cross is the only relief agency providing hot meals and hygiene items to the migrants at the site at Vucjak and has erected about 50 tents so far as well as improvised quarantine arrangements for the sick.

The European Union and UN agencies have criticised sanitary conditions at the site, which they also say is located in an area still peppered with landmines left over from the 1990s wars in Bosnia.

"The health situation is alarming. Many people are already infected with scabies and there are other health problems too," said Katarina Zoric, a spokeswoman for the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

Scabies is a highly infectious skin disease.

Zoric said the Red Cross could provide only basic medical aid but said some people at the camp were reportedly suffering from tuberculosis and hepatitis. Some had been brought to the camp after surgery.

Snakes

Bosnia, which is not an EU member and was largely bypassed by refugees and asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis, has seen an increase in migrant arrivals since EU members Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia closed their borders.

More than 33,300 migrants have entered Bosnia since last year, of whom around 9,000 have settled in the Bihac area hoping to cross the border into Croatia and thence to western Europe.

The tents at Vucjak are pitched among piles of garbage and muddy pools following recent rainfall. The people used water from tanks to wash in the scorching heat.

"This is a jungle camp," said Mohammad Kamran Khan from Pakistan. "Every day I kill one snake, two snakes, or other animals (that pose a risk to the migrants)."

Zoric said the camp was running out of some food supplies and called for international aid.

The EU said on Tuesday it would provide 14.8 million euros ($16.8 million) to address the needs of migrants and refugees stranded in Bosnia.

The mayor of Bihac, Suhret Fazlic, said he hoped the EU would press state institutions, which are in charge of migration and asylum policies, to take responsibility for the migrants.

"Bihac was literally invaded by migrants," Fazlic told Reuters, adding that the town of 50,000 had provided shelter for at least 5,000 people. He said he was not happy with the Vucjak site and stressed it was just a temporary transit centre.

"A migrant crisis, which is a global problem, cannot be solved in Bihac. It must be solved at the state level, at the regional level and in cooperation with the European Union."

Police sent back to the camp on Wednesday three groups of people who had been found exhausted in the woods. Croatian police had returned them to Bosnia after they walked over a nearby mountain.

"The Croatian police beat us as if we were animals," said Hasnen Arshad, 17, from Pakistan.

Arshad and other migrants also said the Croatian police had smashed their mobile phones and had taken money from them.

"What to do now?", he asked. "No money, no mobile."

Croatian police have repeatedly denied using strongarm tactics against migrants.

Aid workers sounded the alarm on Wednesday about health and hygiene conditions in a makeshift forest camp in Bosnia for hundreds of migrants as they face the spread of scabies and other diseases as well as food shortages.

Aid workers sounded the alarm on Wednesday about health and hygiene conditions in a makeshift forest camp in Bosnia for hundreds of migrants as they face the spread of scabies and other diseases as well as food shortages. Over the past 10 days, municipal authorities in Bihac have moved up to 700 migrants from Asia and North Africa who had been sleeping rough in the town to an improvised tent settlement at a former landfill some 8 km (5 miles) from the Croatian border. The Red Cross is the only relief agency providing hot meals and hygiene items to the migrants at the site at Vucjak and has erected about 50 tents so far as well as improvised quarantine arrangements for the sick. The European Union and UN agencies have criticised sanitary conditions at the site, which they also say is located in an area still peppered with landmines left over from the 1990s wars in Bosnia. "The health situation is alarming. Many people are already infected with scabies and there are other health problems too," said Katarina Zoric, a spokeswoman for the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). Scabies is a highly infectious skin disease. Zoric said the Red Cross could provide only basic medical aid but said some people at the camp were reportedly suffering from tuberculosis and hepatitis. Some had been brought to the camp after surgery. Snakes Bosnia, which is not an EU member and was largely bypassed by refugees and asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis, has seen an increase in migrant arrivals since EU members Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia closed their borders. More than 33,300 migrants have entered Bosnia since last year, of whom around 9,000 have settled in the Bihac area hoping to cross the border into Croatia and thence to western Europe. The tents at Vucjak are pitched among piles of garbage and muddy pools following recent rainfall. The people used water from tanks to wash in the scorching heat. "This is a jungle camp," said Mohammad Kamran Khan from Pakistan. "Every day I kill one snake, two snakes, or other animals (that pose a risk to the migrants)." Zoric said the camp was running out of some food supplies and called for international aid. The EU said on Tuesday it would provide 14.8 million euros ($16.8 million) to address the needs of migrants and refugees stranded in Bosnia. The mayor of Bihac, Suhret Fazlic, said he hoped the EU would press state institutions, which are in charge of migration and asylum policies, to take responsibility for the migrants. "Bihac was literally invaded by migrants," Fazlic told Reuters, adding that the town of 50,000 had provided shelter for at least 5,000 people. He said he was not happy with the Vucjak site and stressed it was just a temporary transit centre. "A migrant crisis, which is a global problem, cannot be solved in Bihac. It must be solved at the state level, at the regional level and in cooperation with the European Union." Police sent back to the camp on Wednesday three groups of people who had been found exhausted in the woods. Croatian police had returned them to Bosnia after they walked over a nearby mountain. "The Croatian police beat us as if we were animals," said Hasnen Arshad, 17, from Pakistan. Arshad and other migrants also said the Croatian police had smashed their mobile phones and had taken money from them. "What to do now?", he asked. "No money, no mobile." Croatian police have repeatedly denied using strongarm tactics against migrants.

Diseases, food shortages plague migrant 'jungle camp' in Bosnia

An Edin Dzeko brace handed Bosnia a 2-0 home win over Northern Ireland in an action-packed Nations League clash on Monday, which further consolidated their place on top of the second tier's Group 3.

The result left the Bosnians on a maximum nine points from three games, ahead of Austria who have three points from two matches. Northern Ireland have none from three games.

Both sides missed chances in an end-to-end contest, with Dzeko firing the home side ahead in the 27th minute when he steered the ball into the bottom left corner from 10 metres after a defensive blunder by Jamal Lewis.

Midfielder George Saville twice came close for Northern Ireland while Dzeko fired over the bar and had a superb goal controversially disallowed for offisde at the other end in a see-saw first half.

Substitute Gavin Whyte missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise in the 56th minute before Dzeko struck again in the 73rd, side-footing the ball past goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell after a defence-splitting pass by Miralem Pjanic.

Bosnia keeper Ibrahim Sehic kept out Saville's piledriver before Northern Ireland hit the woodwork for the third time in the dying minutes, as the home team's defender Ervin Zukanovic deflected a low cross from the right.

An Edin Dzeko brace handed Bosnia a 2-0 home win over Northern Ireland in an action-packed Nations League clash on Monday, which further consolidated their place on top of the second tier's Group 3.

An Edin Dzeko brace handed Bosnia a 2-0 home win over Northern Ireland in an action-packed Nations League clash on Monday, which further consolidated their place on top of the second tier's Group 3. The result left the Bosnians on a maximum nine points from three games, ahead of Austria who have three points from two matches. Northern Ireland have none from three games. Both sides missed chances in an end-to-end contest, with Dzeko firing the home side ahead in the 27th minute when he steered the ball into the bottom left corner from 10 metres after a defensive blunder by Jamal Lewis. Midfielder George Saville twice came close for Northern Ireland while Dzeko fired over the bar and had a superb goal controversially disallowed for offisde at the other end in a see-saw first half. Substitute Gavin Whyte missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise in the 56th minute before Dzeko struck again in the 73rd, side-footing the ball past goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell after a defence-splitting pass by Miralem Pjanic. Bosnia keeper Ibrahim Sehic kept out Saville's piledriver before Northern Ireland hit the woodwork for the third time in the dying minutes, as the home team's defender Ervin Zukanovic deflected a low cross from the right.

Dzeko double gives Bosnia 2-0 win over Northern Ireland

Mladic was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. The tribunal declared that the crimes he committed were &ldquo;among the most heinous known to humankind&rdquo;.

Trials of former high-ranking war criminals are often peppered with drama, and this week&rsquo;s verdict announcement was no exception. Disruption of trials is a way for previously powerful people - usually men - to reclaim some of their lost power.

Halfway through the verdict summary announcement, Mladic requested a break. After a lengthy break, the court was informed that Mladic had high blood pressure, but on medical advice, deemed it appropriate to continue. At this point, Mladic refused to sit and began shouting at the judges: &ldquo;this is a lie&rdquo; and &ldquo;shame on you&rdquo;.

He was thrown out of court and watched the rest of the proceedings from another room. This, unfortunately, meant that victims were unable to see his reaction to the long-awaited verdict and sentencing.

Long road to justice

First indicted by the Tribunal in 1995, Mladic stayed in military resorts, protected even though a fugitive. He later went into hiding until his arrest in Serbia in 2011. Mladic&rsquo;s trial began in 2012, concluded in 2016, with the verdict delivered on November 22.

Mladic, who came to be known as the &ldquo;Butcher of Bosnia&rdquo;, rose through the ranks to become the commander of the Bosnian Serb army in 1992, participating in atrocities committed under Serbian leader Slobodan Milo&scaron;evic&rsquo;s regime. Milo&scaron;evic was also tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, but died before he could be convicted.

Mladic played a leadership role in these atrocities, commanding the army as it committed crimes across the regime. He has been convicted of &ldquo;Joint Criminal Enterprise&rdquo; &ndash; the international equivalent of conspiracy &ndash; alongside other leaders such as Milo&scaron;evic and Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karad?ic. The tribunal found that Mladic was instrumental in the crimes and they would not have taken place without his involvement.

The atrocities included the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted for 44 months from 1992-95. Some 10,000 people died during the siege, including many children. Some of Mladic&rsquo;s other crimes were committed at internment camps such as Omarska and Foca, where thousands were tortured and raped. He has also been held responsible for the kidnapping of UN peacekeepers in order to leverage NATO to stop air strikes.

Convicting the high-ranking Mladic is symbolic and momentous, as he was the commander of the soldiers who carried out these actions.

Perhaps most significant is the conviction for genocide over mass killings at Srebrenica in July 1995. Some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed and buried in mass graves. Identification of remains is ongoing, with thousands of bones and personal belongings still being analysed in hope of a match for families that continue to seek the whereabouts of loved ones. Identification is hampered by the fact that two months after the killings, bodies were moved to alternative mass grave locations.

A welcome day for survivors

The many survivors have waited a long time justice, both for themselves and for their lost loved ones. Some victims travelled to The Hague to hear the verdict first hand.

It is particularly poignant, given that some of the war criminals convicted by the tribunal have already served their sentences and returned to Serbia and Bosnia, now living in communities with their victims. A life sentence for Mladic is a source of satisfaction to the victims; a minimum justice for their suffering and loss.

Legal consequences of this ruling are also substantial. Proving genocide in court is challenging for prosecutors, with the requirement of a &ldquo;special intent&rdquo; to eliminate part or whole of a specific population. Convictions for genocide are rare; only a handful of convicted perpetrators at the ICTY were found guilty of genocide, including Karad?ic and Radislav Krstic, a deputy commander in the Bosnian Serb army.

The confirmation that the Srebrenica massacre was indeed a genocide is important because many Bosnian Serbs continue to deny the fact. Victims hope the ruling will contribute to a broader acknowledgement, which in turn could help the reconciliation process.

Yet others have little hope that the ruling will change things. Srebrenica&rsquo;s Serb mayor Mladen Grujicic still denies the genocide, and many Serbian nationalists still laud Mladic and his fellow war criminals as heroes.

Mladic was found not guilty of one count of genocide, in reference to a broader spate of killings throughout Bosnia. This is in keeping with previous decisions, where Srebrenica has been deemed genocide, but the overall objective of the leadership for the whole of the Yugoslav territory has not.

This verdict is the final judgement to be delivered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, slated to close at the end of this year. Since it was established in 1993, the tribunal has indicted 161 individuals and convicted 84 perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Some 4,650 witnesses have appeared, more than 1,000 of whom testified about the Srebrenica genocide. There are only seven proceedings remaining, with the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals finalising cases. The tribunal has undoubtedly contributed to justice and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.

However, success has not been absolute, with criticism that sentences have been too short. There is also an inevitable post-atrocity denial of crimes committed by perpetrators and their communities, with continued rejection by Serbian communities and politicians of the validity and decisions of the Tribunal.

These 84 convictions are clearly only a small proportion of the thousands of perpetrators. With the wind-up of the tribunal, remaining perpetrators will continue to be tried at local war crimes courts in Bosnia.

Throughout Europe, 14 countries have housed convicted tribunal war criminals in their prisons. Mladic will serve his sentence in a country yet to be determined.

While it may not bring their loved ones back, survivors can have some comfort in knowing the man who ordered and oversaw the atrocities will spend the rest of his life in prison.

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ratko-mladic-the-butcher-of-bosnia-to-spend-life-in-prison-for-genocide-and-war-crimes-87927" rel="nofollow" target="blank">original article</a>.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Survivors can have some comfort in knowing the man who ordered and oversaw the atrocities will spend the rest of his life in prison

Mladic was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. The tribunal declared that the crimes he committed were “among the most heinous known to humankind”. Trials of former high-ranking war criminals are often peppered with drama, and this week’s verdict announcement was no exception. Disruption of trials is a way for previously powerful people - usually men - to reclaim some of their lost power. Halfway through the verdict summary announcement, Mladic requested a break. After a lengthy break, the court was informed that Mladic had high blood pressure, but on medical advice, deemed it appropriate to continue. At this point, Mladic refused to sit and began shouting at the judges: “this is a lie” and “shame on you”. He was thrown out of court and watched the rest of the proceedings from another room. This, unfortunately, meant that victims were unable to see his reaction to the long-awaited verdict and sentencing. Long road to justice First indicted by the Tribunal in 1995, Mladic stayed in military resorts, protected even though a fugitive. He later went into hiding until his arrest in Serbia in 2011. Mladic’s trial began in 2012, concluded in 2016, with the verdict delivered on November 22. Mladic, who came to be known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, rose through the ranks to become the commander of the Bosnian Serb army in 1992, participating in atrocities committed under Serbian leader Slobodan Miloševic’s regime. Miloševic was also tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, but died before he could be convicted. Mladic played a leadership role in these atrocities, commanding the army as it committed crimes across the regime. He has been convicted of “Joint Criminal Enterprise” – the international equivalent of conspiracy – alongside other leaders such as Miloševic and Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karad?ic. The tribunal found that Mladic was instrumental in the crimes and they would not have taken place without his involvement. The atrocities included the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted for 44 months from 1992-95. Some 10,000 people died during the siege, including many children. Some of Mladic’s other crimes were committed at internment camps such as Omarska and Foca, where thousands were tortured and raped. He has also been held responsible for the kidnapping of UN peacekeepers in order to leverage NATO to stop air strikes. Convicting the high-ranking Mladic is symbolic and momentous, as he was the commander of the soldiers who carried out these actions. Perhaps most significant is the conviction for genocide over mass killings at Srebrenica in July 1995. Some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed and buried in mass graves. Identification of remains is ongoing, with thousands of bones and personal belongings still being analysed in hope of a match for families that continue to seek the whereabouts of loved ones. Identification is hampered by the fact that two months after the killings, bodies were moved to alternative mass grave locations. A welcome day for survivors The many survivors have waited a long time justice, both for themselves and for their lost loved ones. Some victims travelled to The Hague to hear the verdict first hand. It is particularly poignant, given that some of the war criminals convicted by the tribunal have already served their sentences and returned to Serbia and Bosnia, now living in communities with their victims. A life sentence for Mladic is a source of satisfaction to the victims; a minimum justice for their suffering and loss. Legal consequences of this ruling are also substantial. Proving genocide in court is challenging for prosecutors, with the requirement of a “special intent” to eliminate part or whole of a specific population. Convictions for genocide are rare; only a handful of convicted perpetrators at the ICTY were found guilty of genocide, including Karad?ic and Radislav Krstic, a deputy commander in the Bosnian Serb army. The confirmation that the Srebrenica massacre was indeed a genocide is important because many Bosnian Serbs continue to deny the fact. Victims hope the ruling will contribute to a broader acknowledgement, which in turn could help the reconciliation process. Yet others have little hope that the ruling will change things. Srebrenica’s Serb mayor Mladen Grujicic still denies the genocide, and many Serbian nationalists still laud Mladic and his fellow war criminals as heroes. Mladic was found not guilty of one count of genocide, in reference to a broader spate of killings throughout Bosnia. This is in keeping with previous decisions, where Srebrenica has been deemed genocide, but the overall objective of the leadership for the whole of the Yugoslav territory has not. This verdict is the final judgement to be delivered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, slated to close at the end of this year. Since it was established in 1993, the tribunal has indicted 161 individuals and convicted 84 perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Some 4,650 witnesses have appeared, more than 1,000 of whom testified about the Srebrenica genocide. There are only seven proceedings remaining, with the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals finalising cases. The tribunal has undoubtedly contributed to justice and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia. However, success has not been absolute, with criticism that sentences have been too short. There is also an inevitable post-atrocity denial of crimes committed by perpetrators and their communities, with continued rejection by Serbian communities and politicians of the validity and decisions of the Tribunal. These 84 convictions are clearly only a small proportion of the thousands of perpetrators. With the wind-up of the tribunal, remaining perpetrators will continue to be tried at local war crimes courts in Bosnia. Throughout Europe, 14 countries have housed convicted tribunal war criminals in their prisons. Mladic will serve his sentence in a country yet to be determined. While it may not bring their loved ones back, survivors can have some comfort in knowing the man who ordered and oversaw the atrocities will spend the rest of his life in prison. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Opinion: Ratko Mladic, the 'Butcher of Bosnia', to spend life in prison

A suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) has been arrested at Sarajevo airport, media and police said today. 
 
The 19-year-old Bosnian, arrested on Saturday after arriving on a flight from Istanbul, was sought by Bosnian authorities for &quot;terrorism&quot; and &quot;organising a terrorist group&quot;, border police said in a statement without elaborating. 
 
Local media identified the man as Almir Dzimic and said he had joined IS in Syria in 2014. 
 
He had previously lived in a village near the northern Bosnian town of Maglaj, known as a stronghold of radical Islam, reports said. 
 
About 40 per cent of the Balkan country&#39;s 3.8 million people are Muslim. The rest are mainly Catholic or Orthodox Christian. 
 
While the vast majority of Bosnian Muslims are moderates, radical Islam arrived during the country&#39;s inter-ethnic war in the 1990s via foreign fighters who flocked from North Africa, Asia and the Middle East. 
 
According to a study published last month, the flow of Bosnian jihadists to Syria and Iraq has almost stopped -- although nearly 200 of them are still there, including 60 minors. 
 
Since 2012, 330 Bosnians have gone to the region to join jihad. Of the 188 men among them, at least 50 have been killed and 47 have returned to Bosnia, said the report by the Sarajevo-based think-tank Atlantic Initiative. 
 
(AFP)

Local media identified the man as Almir Dzimic and said he had joined IS in Syria in 2014

A suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) has been arrested at Sarajevo airport, media and police said today. The 19-year-old Bosnian, arrested on Saturday after arriving on a flight from Istanbul, was sought by Bosnian authorities for "terrorism" and "organising a terrorist group", border police said in a statement without elaborating. Local media identified the man as Almir Dzimic and said he had joined IS in Syria in 2014. He had previously lived in a village near the northern Bosnian town of Maglaj, known as a stronghold of radical Islam, reports said. About 40 per cent of the Balkan country's 3.8 million people are Muslim. The rest are mainly Catholic or Orthodox Christian. While the vast majority of Bosnian Muslims are moderates, radical Islam arrived during the country's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s via foreign fighters who flocked from North Africa, Asia and the Middle East. According to a study published last month, the flow of Bosnian jihadists to Syria and Iraq has almost stopped -- although nearly 200 of them are still there, including 60 minors. Since 2012, 330 Bosnians have gone to the region to join jihad. Of the 188 men among them, at least 50 have been killed and 47 have returned to Bosnia, said the report by the Sarajevo-based think-tank Atlantic Initiative. (AFP)

Suspected IS member arrested in Bosnia's Sarajevo Airport

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