Massacres at Srebrenica

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DATE-TIME 25 July 95 20:42 FROM Vershbow, Alexander R. CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL SUBJECT Subject: Massacres at Srebrenica [CONFIDENTIAL] TO Bass, Peter E. Cicio, Kristen K. Emery, Mary C. Hall, Wilma G. Veit, Katherine M. CARBON_COPY Drew, Samuel N. Gardner, Anthony Marshall, Betty A. Maxfield, Nancy H. Peters, Mary A. Schmidt, John R. Vershbow, Alexander R.

[CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY 1.37]

TEXT_BODY

For TL and SRB:

Whatever you think of Galbraith's recommendation re Zepa, the fact of Serb mass killings at Srebrenica is becoming increasingly clear. Grim reading.

PREC: IMMEDIATE CLASS: CONFIDENTIAL DTG:251907Z JUL 95

FM: AMEMBASSY ZAGREB TO:SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6565

CONFIDENTIAL ZAGREB 002788

NODIS

E.O. 12356: DECL: 07/25/00 TAGS: PREL, PHUM, BK, HR SUBJECT: POSSIBLE MASS EXECUTION OF SREBRENICA MALES IS REASON TO SAVE ZEPA

1. A UN OFFICIAL HAS RECOUNTED TO ME AN INTERVIEW SHE CONDUCTED OF A SREBRENICA REFUGEE IN TUZLA. THE ACCOUNT, WHICH SHE FELT WAS HIGHLY CREDIBLE, PROVIDES DISTURBING EVIDENCE THAT THE BOSNIAN SERBS HAVE MASSACRED MANY, IF NOT MOST, OF THE 5,000 PLUS DECLASSIFIED PER E.O. 13526

[CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY]

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MILITARY AGE MEN IN THEIR CUSTODY FOLLOWING THE FALL OF SREBRENICA.

2. IF THE BOSNIAN SERB ARMY MASSACRED THE DEFENDERS OF SREBRENICA, WE CAN BE SURE A SIMILAR FATE AWAITS MANY OF THE 16,000 PEOPLE IN ZEPA. THE LONDON DECLARATION IMPLICITLY WRITES OFF ZEPA. IN VIEW OF THE NUMEROUS ACCOUNTS OF ATROCITIES IN SREBRENICA AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A MAJOR MASSACRE THERE, I URGE RECONSIDERATION OF AIR STRIKES TO HELP ZEPA.

3. THE SREBRENICA REFUGEE IS A 35-YEAR-OLD MAN. HE FLED SREBRENICA AS THE SERBS TOOK OVER, BUT WAS LATER ROUNDED UP IN A FOREST ALONG WITH SEVERAL THOUSAND OTHER REFUGEES. AT LEAST OVERNIGHT HE WAS HELD IN A SMALL BUILDING PACKED WITH MEN. THROUGH THE NIGHT THE SERBS TOOK OUT MEN IN SMALL GROUPS AND THEY WERE NOT SEEN AGAIN. THE REFUGEES WERE TRANSPORTED IN TRUCKS AND BUSES TO A STADIUM, APPARENTLY AT BRATUNAC. ALONG THE WAY, SERBS FIRED INTO THE TRUCKS AND BUSES APPARENTLY KILLING NUMEROUS REFUGEES.

4. AT THE STADIUM, GENERAL MLADIC ADDRESSED THE PRISONERS, TAUNTING THEM THAT "THEIR ALIJA" HAD BEEN UNABLE TO HELP THEM AND THAT THE MUSLIMS OUGHT TO HAVE STAYED IN YUGOSLAVIA. HE THEN ASSURED THE MEN THAT, IF THEY WERE COOPERATIVE, THEY WOULD BE RETURNED TO THEIR FAMILIES. AT THIS STAGE, THE MEN WERE BOUND WITH HANDS TIED BEHIND THEIR BACKS.

5. FROM THE STADIUM, THE MEN WERE TAKEN ON TRUCKS TO KONJEVIC POLJE. THEY WERE TAKEN FROM THE TRUCKS, MADE TO LIE DOWN, AND THEN MACHINE GUNNED. THIS REFUGEE SURVIVED BECAUSE THE BULLET GRAZED HIS TEMPLE, CREATING A VERY BLOODY APPEARANCE BUT DOING LITTLE REAL DAMAGE. AFTER THE SOLDIERS LEFT, HE, AND ANOTHER MAN WHO ALSO SURVIVED, HID IN A DITCH. THE SOLDIERS CAME BACK AND BULLDOZED THE BODIES.

6. ACCORDING TO THE UN SOURCE, THE MAN HAD MARKS ON HIS WRISTS FROM WHERE HIS HANDS HAD BEEN BOUND. HE ALSO HAD WOUNDS ON HIS LEGS AND ARMS FROM WHERE MACHINE GUN BULLETS HAD SPRAYED ROCKS ONTO HIM.

7. THE REFUGEE BELIEVES THAT ALL THE MEN IN THE STADIUM WERE MURDERED IN THIS WAY. [illegible] WHO ALSO INTERVIEWED SREBRENICA REFUGEES IN TUZLA (PLEASE PROTECT), TOLD ME THAT [illegible] ALSO BELIEVES THAT THOUSANDS MAY HAVE DIED IN TRANSIT TO KONJEVIC POLJE OR AT THE EXECUTION SITE.

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8. IF THIS ACCOUNT IS ACCURATE, THERE MAY BE NO SURVIVORS OF THE MEN ROUNDED UP IN SREBRENICA. WE SHOULD REDOUBLE EFFORTS TO SEE THESE MEN. IF THE SERBS REFUSE ACCESS, THE IMPLICATIONS ARE OBVIOUS.

9. AGAIN, IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO PREVENT A SIMILAR TRAGEDY AT ZEPA. ZEPA'S DEFENDERS VALIANTLY CONTINUE TO HOLD ON. UNDOUBTEDLY THEY REALIZE THE FATE THAT AWAITS THEM. THEY SHOULD NOT BE ABANDONED. GALBRAITH

[CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY]