UNDER THE UN FLAG: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND THE SREBRENICA GENOCIDE
978-9958-728-87-7Author: Hasan Nuhanovic
Book: Under the UN Flag: The International Community and the Srebrenica Genocide
ISBN:
Available in: English or Bosnian / 567 pages.
English version available from:
Amazon.co.uk
Other enquiries to:
srebrenicabook@yahoo.com
Foreword to the book:
by Dion van den Berg
(Senior Policy Adviser, IKV Pax Christi)
This book you are now holding in your hands is an important publication!
Numerous are the reports written on the Srebrenica genocide, among
which the UN report (1999), the French Parliament report (2001), the
Dutch NIOD report (2002), and the report of the Dutch Parliamentary
Inquiry on Srebrenica (2003). David Rohde wrote his well-known book
“Endgame - The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica” (1997), and numerous
journalists and authors followed [a.o. Honig & Both (1996),
Westerman & Rijs (1997), Matton (2006)]. Dutchbat III commander
Thom Karremans wrote a book as well, with the somewhat strange title
“Srebrenica. Who cares?” (1998).
But this is a different type of
book, incomparable with all of the other publications. It is the first
comprehensive presentation of facts and observations from the ranks of
the people who suffered most: the Bosniak citizens of and refugees in
Srebrenica. It goes well beyond individual eye-witness statements. It
combines analyses of books and documents with such statements. And as
interpreter for the international forces [Hasan Nuhanovic]
was in
person present at numerous important meetings and in contact with many
people.
Having in mind the loss of lives of more than 8,000 men
and women, primarily the story of the Srebrenica citizens and refugees
should be heard across the world. Regrettably, reality shows that this
is not the case. We all too often neglect their suffering, and ignore
their quest for truth and justice. This has become most visible – in a
very painful way – in the discussions in the Netherlands.
Five
years ago, the neither Dutch government nor NIOD considered it
worthwhile to invite survivors of the Srebrenica genocide to the
presentation of the NIOD report on Srebrenica. The parliamentary
inquiry commission decided (by majority vote) that it would not be
useful to organise special hearings with the survivors – in order to
directly get their information, listen to their assessment of events in
July 1995. So, we from IKV invited survivors to the NIOD presentation,
and we organised over the years regular meetings where they could meet
with members of Dutch parliament. So far, the Dutch government has been
unwilling – even after the resignation of PM Wim Kok and his cabinet,
April 2002, to apologise to the survivors of the Srebrenica genocide
for the mistakes made in July 1995... Logically, IKV's lobby will
continue.
The IKV lobby on Srebrenica would not have been
possible without the gigantic work that Hasan Nunanovic initiated, that
is to collect relevant data, gather and alayse documents, and add the
perspective and crucial information from the part of the citizens and
refugees in Srebrenica. For this book, Nuhanovic undertook the effort
to interview an additional 100 people where other sources remained
indecisive or information was not yet available at all. We were happy
to support this huge endeavour, with financial means and, where useful,
some suggestions or comments on texts. We used the information for our
own IKV publication “Srebrenica – The genocide that was not prevented.”
(2002)
It is a bitter but inevitable conclusion that the need to
listen to the survivors' voices is as big as ever before, in the
Netherlands and elsewhere. What happened in Srebrenica cannot be
undone. What we can do is support – to the
maximum of our capacities – the campaign for truth and justice that
Hasan Nuhanovic and the Srebrenica associations started already many
years ago. This book played and must continue to play an important role
in that work.
Dion van den Berg
www.ikvpaxchristi.nl