June 11, 2005
Embassy of the United States of America
Belgrade

Remarks by Mr. Roderick Moore
Charge d'Affaires
" Srebrenica - Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"
June 11, 2005

First of all, I would like to applaud the organizers of today's conference. As we approach the solemn anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, it is appropriate that we commit ourselves to remembering what happened there ten years ago. The crimes committed in Srebrenica, the most heinous and destructive in Europe since the Second World War, must not be forgotten. This tenth anniversary year should be seen as an opportunity - for introspection, for reflection, for reconciliation, for healing, and, most importantly, for justice.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express publicly my admiration of Natasa Kandic and the Humanitarian Law Center for their inspiring courage, boundless energy, and relentless drive to ensure that the perpetrators of war crimes be brought to justice and that the victims of those crimes be appropriately honored and remembered. Natasa, you and your colleagues are embarked on a noble crusade that deserves the profound gratitude and support of all people who believe in justice.

" Beyond Reasonable Doubt." This is a fitting name for this conference and a fitting topic for us to be discussing. It is an indisputable fact that, ten years ago, Serb forces under the command of Ratko Mladic massacred almost 8000 Bosnians in the enclave of Srebrenica. This atrocity has been documented through thousands of testimonials by witnesses and relatives, through the discovery of numerous mass graves, and even through last year's admission by the government of the Republika Srpska that Serb forces conducted the killings. More recently, the appearance of the now famous videotape should remove the doubts from the mind of any reasonable person about the scope and brutality of this massacre.

Unfortunately, a sense of denial has prevailed among large segments of the population about war crimes committed by Serbs. In public remarks I made on May 12, I noted that polls showed that just over one-third of Serbs believed that war crimes were committed at Srebrenica, despite the acknowledgement of the RS Government itself that these crimes occurred. I noted that less than one-third of Serbs believed that the bodies of over 800 Kosovar Albanians, most of them brutally executed, were located in mass graves in Serbia -- despite the fact that your own government acknowledges this fact. Indeed, these graves contained the bodies of three young American citizens -- the Bytyqi brothers -- who were summarily executed after being illegally detained at the Petrovo Selo MUP facility.

And, more recently, a student group at the Belgrade Law Faculty sponsored a conference that aimed to cast doubt on the crimes at Srebrenica. By attempting to propagate such a dangerously irresponsible myth, they sought to excuse the war crimes perpetrated there. While we respect the right of free speech, the opinions expressed there dishonoured that right in an attempt to fan the flames of chauvinism and ethnic hatred. Such vitriol disgraces the dead on all sides of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

Let me emphasize two points. First of all, we recognize that there were many Serb victims of war crimes during the 1990s -- in Croatia, Bosnia, even Kosovo. But the argument I most frequently hear -- that all sides were guilty of crimes -- does not justify the many crimes committed by Serbs or excuse the perpetrators of those crimes from punishment. Secondly, many in Serbia have reacted defensively to the videotape, demanding that Serbs not be condemned collectively for crimes committed by individuals. I absolutely agree. We do not, nor have we ever, condemned the Serbian people as war criminals. The Serbian people did not commit these crimes; ruthless and unscrupulous individuals committed them. It is these individuals who must face justice before ICTY or domestic courts.

I hope that the broadcast of the Srebrenica videotape, which of course displayed just one tiny fraction of the inhumanity inflicted there in July 1995, will bring about a national catharsis in Serbia. I hope that this image of ethnic cleansing in its most brutal form will cause Serbs throughout this country to more openly face the past. I hope that the tape will remind us that there are still many perpetrators of war crimes living freely and openly among us and that it will stimulate your law enforcement and judicial organs to more aggressively bring such people to justice. I hope that it will persuade the 60% of Serbs who oppose the extradition to The Hague of Ratko Mladic, who was in charge of the forces at Srebrenica, to change their minds. I hope that those who organized the Law Faculty conference and the 50% of Serbs who do not believe that the Srebrenica massacres occurred will acknowledge the magnitude of crimes committed by Serbs in the wars of the 1990s. I hope that they will recognize that their "heroes" of Srebrenica were capable of cowardly shooting frightened, helpless, bound teenagers in the back. And I hope that it causes all of us here to reflect again on the scope of the Srebrenica massacre - a massacre that sent to the grave a number of people equal to --- times the number of attendees in this room right now.

I also hope that the appearance of this tape will invigorate efforts to prosecute and convict the murderers of the Bytyqi brothers and the many other victims whose killers still live freely and openly among us.

I harbor these hopes because I firmly believe that confronting this awful truth represents a critical step towards reconciliation among the peoples of this region and toward ensuring that justice will be fairly meted out to the perpetrators of war crimes.

I believe there is room for some optimism. We applauded the rapid and vigorous action of the Government of Serbia in arresting those involved in the videotaped killings. We welcomed the Government's announced intention to ensure that these and other perpetrators face justice for these crimes. We welcomed the recent transfers to ICTY of numerous individuals accused of complicity in organizing and/or carrying out the Srebrenica massacres. And we have welcomed the assurances by senior Government officials that those indictees still at large, most notably Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, will be delivered to The Hague soon.

We also welcomed the announcement by President Tadic and other leaders here that they will travel to Srebrenica on July 11 to honor the victims of that atrocity. As Under Secretary Nicholas Burns emphasized here on Thursday, this anniversary represents an historic opportunity for Serbia to distance itself from what occurred in 1995 and to promote an enduring reconciliation among the peoples of this region. Let us look forward to this future, while not forgetting the victims of the past.

11. jun, 2005
Ambasada Sjedinjenih Američkih Država
Beograd

Govor gospodina Roderika Mura
Otpravnika poslova
" Srebrenica - Van osnovane sumnje"
11. jun, 2005.

Pre svega bih želeo da pozdravim organizatore današnje konferencije. Dok se približavamo svečanoj i tužnoj godišnjici masakra u Srebrenici, bilo bi prikladno da se posvetimo sećanju na ono što se tamo desilo pre deset godina. Zločini počinjeni u Srebrenici, najgnusniji i najdestruktivniji u Evropi još od drugog svetskog rata, ne smeju biti zaboravljeni. Ova, deseta godišnjica treba da bude prilika - za samoispitivanje, za razmišljanje, i što je najvažnije, za pravdu.

Takođe bih želeo da iskoristim priliku da javno izrazim poštovanje Nataši Kandić i Centru za humanitarno pravo za njihovu inspirativnu hrabrost, beskrajnu energiju i neumoran poriv da obezbede da se počinioci ratnih zločina privedu pravdi, da se žrtvama tih zločina na adekvatan način izrazi poštovanje i da se ne zaborave. Nataša, ti i tvoje kolege ste krenuli u plemeniti krstaški pohod koji zaslužuje duboku zahvalnost i podršku svih ljudi koji veruju u pravdu.

"Van osnovane sumnje" To je zaista podoban naziv za ovu konferenciju. Neoboriva je činjenica da su pre deset godina srpske snage pod komandom Ratka Mladića izmasakrirale skoro 8,000 Bošnjaka u enklavi Srebrenica. Ova svirepost je dokumentovana kroz hiljade svedočenja očevidaca i rođaka, kroz otkriće brojnih masovnih grobnica, čak i kroz prošlogodišnje priznanje Vlade Republike Srpske da su srpske snage sprovodile ubistva. U poslednje vreme, pojava sada poznate video trake treba da ukloni svaku sumnju koju je bilo koji razuman čovek mogao da ima o opsegu i brutalnosti ovog masakra.

Nažalost, osećaj za poricanje je preovladao u velikim segmentima populacije u vezi sa ratnim zločinima koje su počinili Srbi. U izjavama za javnost koje sam dao pre mesec dana, naveo sam da istraživanja javnog mnjenja pokazuju da tek nešto više od jedne trećine Srba veruje da su ratni zločini počinjeni u Srebrenici, uprkos priznanju same Vlade Republike Srpske da su se ovi zločini dogodili. Primetio sam da manje od jedne trećine Srba veruje da su tela preko 800 kosovskih Albanaca, od kojih je većina brutalno ubijena, locirana u masovnim grobnicama u Srbiji - uprkos tome što je vaša vlada priznala ovu činjenicu. I zaista, u ovim grobnicama su se nalazili i tri mlada američka državljanina - braća Bitići - koji su ubijeni posle nelegalnog zatvaranja u Petrovom Selu.

I, u skorije vreme, jedna studentska grupa sa beogradskog Pravnog Fakulteta je sponzorisala konferenciju koja je imala za cilj da baci sumnju na zločine u Srebrenici. U pokušaju da propagiraju tako opasan i neodgovoran mit, tražili su opravdanje za ratne zločine koji su tamo počinjeni. Premda poštujemo pravo na slobodno izražavanje, mišljenja koja su tamo izražena imaju za cilj da obeščaste to pravo, u pokušaju da se raspire plamenovi šovinizma i etničke mržnje. Takva zajedljivost sramoti mrtve na svim stranama u balkanskim sukobima devedesetih.

Dozvolite mi da naglasim dve stvari. Pre svega, mi priznajemo da je bilo mnogo Srpskih žrtava ratnih zločina tokom devedesetih -- u Hrvatskoj, Bosni, čak i na Kosovu. Ali argument koji ja najčešće čujem -- da su sve strane bile krive za zločine -- ne opravdava mnoge zločine koje su počinili Srbi niti oslobadja izvršioce tih zločina od kazne. Druga stvar, mnogi u Srbiji su reagovali odbrambeno na video-traku, zahtevajući da Srbi ne budu osudjeni kolektivno za zločine koje su počinili pojedinci. Ja se u potpunosti slažem. Mi ne osudjujemo, niti smo ikada osudjivali Srpski narod kao ratne kriminalce. Nije srpski narod počinio ove zločine; okrutni i beskrupulozni pojedinci su ih počinili. Upravo ovi pojedinci su ti koji moraju da se suoče sa pravdom pred Medjunarodnim Krivičnim Sudom za Bivšu Jugoslaviju ili pred domaćim sudovima.

Nadam se da će prikazivanje video trake Srebrenice, koja naravno prikazuje samo jedan sićušan delić nečoveštva koji je počinjeno tamo u julu hiljadu devetsto devedeset i pete godine, izazvati nacionalno katarzu u Srbiji. Nadam se da će ova slika etničkog čišćenja u njegovom najbrutalnijem obliku prouzrokovati da se Srbi širom ove zemlje otvorenije suoče sa prošlošću. Nadam se da će nas ova traka podsetiti da postoji još uvek mnogo počinilaca ratnih zločina koji žive slobodno i otvoreno medju nama i da će ova traka podstaći organe koji sprovode zakon u vašoj zemlji i pravosudne organe da agresivnije izvedu takve ljude pred lice pravde. Nadam se da će to uveriti onih šezdeset procenata Srba koji se protive izručenju Ratka Mladića u Hag, čoveka koji je bio nadležan za trupe Bosanskih Srba u Srebrenici, da promene svoje mišljenje. Nadam se da će oni koji su organizovali tribinu na Pravnom Fakultetu kao i pedeset procenata Srba koji ne veruju da se masakr u Srebrenici desio, priznati značaj zločina koje su počinili Srbi u ratovima tokom devedesetih. Nadam se da će oni prepoznati da su njihovi ''heroji'' bili u stanju da kukavički pucaju uplašenim, bespomoćnim, vezanim tinejdžerima u ledja. I nadam se da će to prouzrokovati da se svi mi ovde prisutni zamislimo ponovo nad razmerama masakra u Srebrenici - jednog masakra koji je poslao u grob broj ljudi jednak 40 puta broj prisutnih u ovoj sobi upravo sada.

Takodje se nadam da će pojavljivanje ove kasete osnažiti napore da se sudski gone i osude ubice braće Bitići i mnogih drugih žrtava čije ubice još uvek žive slobodno i otvoreno medju nama.

Ja gajim ove nade zato jer čvrsto verujem da suočavanje sa ovom užasnom istinom predstavlja ključni korak ka pomirenju medju narodima ovog regiona i ka obezbedjivanju toga da će pravda biti pošteno dodeljena počiniocima ratnih zločina.

Ja verujem da ima prostora za optimizam. Mi smo aplaudirali brzoj i snažnoj akciji Vlade Srbije u vidu hapšenja onih koji su bili umešani u ubistva snimljena na video traci. Pozdravili smo najavljenu nameru Vlade da obezbedi da se ovi i drugi počinioci suoče sa pravdom zbog ovih zločina. Pozdravili smo nedavna izručenja Haškom Tribunalu brojnih pojedinaca optuženih za saučesništvo u organizovanju i/ili izvodjenju masakra u Srebrenici. I pozdravili smo uveravanja od strane visokih zvaničnika Vlade da će oni optuženi koji su još uvek na slobodi, a najpoznatiji su Ratko Mladić i Radovan Karadžić, biti izručeni u Hag uskoro.

Takodje smo pozdravili najavu Predsednika Tadića i drugih ovdašnjih lidera da će putovati u Srebrenicu jedanaestog jula da odaju počast žrtvama tog užasa. Kao što je Podsekretar Nicholas Burns naglasio ovde u četvrtak, ova godišnjica predstavlja istorijsku priliku za Srbiju da se distancira od onoga što se desilo hiljadu devetsto devedeset i pete i da pokrene trajno pomirenje medju narodima ovog regiona. Dozvolite nam da se radujemo toj budućnosti, pri tom ne zaboravljajući žrtve pale u prošlosti.

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