Witness Recalls Fall of Zepa
Former member of town’s leadership describes fraught negotiations following Bosnian Serb victory.
Witness Recalls Fall of Zepa
Former member of town’s leadership describes fraught negotiations following Bosnian Serb victory.
A prosecution witness in the trial of former Bosnian Serb army general Zdravko Tolimir described the fall of the eastern Bosnian town of Zepa in July 1995 and the subsequent evacuation of its population.
Both Tolimir and Hague indictee General Ratko Mladic Mladic – who remains at large – are alleged to have been instrumental in the forcible removal of the Bosniak population from Zepa following the capture of nearby Srebrenica.
In video footage screened this week, dated July 26, 1995, Mladic is seen boarding buses filled with Bosniak civilians being evacuated from the town.
The buses are all packed with civilians, sitting not only in the seats but also spilling out into the centre aisles. Mladic delivers a similar speech to each group, “I’m General Mladic. They have been telling you many things about me. I am giving you all your lives back. Don’t come before me or my troops any more – there won’t be any more forgiveness.”
He continues, “I’m sorry it has come to this. But some among you are to blame, not me.”
“There are able bodied men among you,” he tells another group. “I am giving you your lives as a gift… you could all have lived here if your people hadn’t touched us.”
On one of the buses, a woman asks Mladic if he has “any pills for car sickness”. He appears to ignore the question, and another person says, “our children are going to die”.
The footage was shown during the testimony of a former member of the Bosniak leadership in Zepa who personally negotiated with both Tolimir and Mladic in the days leading up to the evacuation of the civilian population.
The prosecution witness testified with digital image distortion, and while his name was public, none of the parties mentioned it in the courtroom.
The witness described a series of fraught meetings he attended with Bosnian Serb military officials, the first one on July 13, shortly after nearby Srebrenica had fallen to Bosnian Serb forces. In the days that followed, some 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were massacred in and around Srebrenica.
Tolimir, who was deputy commander for military intelligence and security in the Bosnian Serb forces, is charged with eight counts including genocide, extermination, murder, and the forced transfer and deportation of Bosniaks from Srebrenica and Zepa in July 1995.
In court this week, the witness described the ultimatum Tolimir delivered to Bosniak representatives of Zepa at the July 13 meeting.
“General Tolimir told us something along these lines: ‘Srebrenica has fallen, and now it’s Zepa’s turn,’ ” the witness recalled.
According to the witness, Tolimir said that the population could either be taken away in buses, or face military occupation.
The witness said he expressed concern about the fate of the town’s able-bodied men of military age.
“I asked him, ‘Does this mean that a 35-year-old man can join his family, get on the bus and leave to territory under the control of [the Bosnian government] army?’” the witness said. “And General Tolimir said, ‘Yes, of course.’”
Prosecuting attorney Nelson Thayer subsequently asked the witness why he was “so afraid” for the men of military age.
“Well look, it was wartime,” the witness answered. “There was the general belief that if one were to fall into the hands of Serbs, one would be taken prisoner… and killed. That was what the fears for the able-bodied men rested on.”
The witness said that this lingering fear regarding the fate of the able-bodied men led him and other Bosniak representatives to reject Tolimir’s July 13 offer.
There was continued shelling of the town, the witness said, until he was summoned for another meeting with both Tolimir and Mladic on July 19.
Video footage played in court depicted Mladic speaking into a radio prior to this meeting, urging Bosnian army commander Avdo Palic to send representatives.
“There is no need for you or your people to die,” Mladic says. “You will not get [this chance] again. You have signed a death sentence for everyone in the territory controlled by you. Do you understand me?”
“Let me talk to someone else so I have a clear conscience about what I intend to do if you continue being unreasonable,” Mladic continues. “Believe me, Avdo… I want to keep my humanity when all this is over.”
The witness attended the July 19 meeting, held at a United Nations Protection Force, UNPROFOR, checkpoint at Boksanica, where details of the evacuation were discussed with both Mladic and Tolimir.
The witness identified Mladic and Tolimir in video footage shot at the meeting.
Mladic demanded that the evacuations begin the next day, July 20, but various issues remained unresolved until July 24. By that point, the witness said, key Bosniak defensive lines around Zepa had fallen, and Bosnian Serb forces were getting closer to the centre of the town.
The population, he said, “was on the brink of panic”.
The witness said he finally agreed to sign a statement regarding the demilitarisation and evacuation of the civilian population, but he said there was no “concrete or clear response” regarding the able-bodied men.
“Would you explain why you signed that agreement and the choice you felt you had?” asked Thayer.
The witness replied, “We were forced to sign whatever text they served us, as long as it ensured the beginning of the evacuation. Whatever it might have been, I would have signed it. There was no alternative.”
Thayer then asked about references to the Geneva conventions which were included in the document.
“Logically one would assume that it… was in fact a cover for those operations that were not in compliance with the Geneva conventions,” the witness answered. “Probably the evacuation of the civilian population was not in compliance with the Geneva Conventions. But at that point, I did not give it a second thought.”
He added that there was “no discussion” of the Bosniak population ever returning to Zepa.
“Why not, sir?” asked Thayer.
“The territory was being taken over and there was no reference to any return,” the witness answered.
He confirmed testimony he gave in a previous trial, where he said that according to what he heard from Mladic, “the evacuation of the civilian population would be carried out by General Tolimir together with [Bosnian army commander] Avdo Palic”.
Because the centre of Zepa was not yet fully under Bosnian Serb control, the witness agreed to remain at the UN checkpoint at Boksanica during the evacuations to “ensure General Tolimir’s safety”.
The witness said that he may have seen General Tolimir in the centre of Zepa before he left for Boksanica, but he wasn’t “one hundred per cent sure”.
Subsequent video footage from July 26 showed the accused shaking hands with Palic, the Bosnian army commander, as civilians boarded the buses. Palic was later taken prisoner by Bosnian-Serb forces, the witness said, and his remains were found some years ago in a mass grave.
The witness said that he too was arrested shortly after the civilian evacuation, and not released until early 1996. The arrest occurred at the UN checkpoint at Boksanica, in full view of Ukrainian peacekeepers, he added.
“While we were being arrested, there were a couple of UNPROFOR soldiers standing by… who turned the other way,” the witness said.
“Did you form any impressions, based on your time in Boksanica, of these Ukrainian peacekeepers?” asked Thayer.
“From what I saw… they were a collection of frightened young men who happened to find themselves in this predicament, so they were not able to do anything significant,” the witness said.
Tolimir, who is representing himself, began questioning the witness shortly before the trial adjourned for the week, focusing mainly on maps. The cross-examination will continue next week.
Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
