I note in passing that the ICTY places the death toll at-and-around Srebrenica at approximately 8,000, not 2,000. Also that the majority of those killed were civilians, not “prisoners of war”. The Dutch government agrees, as does the IWPR. Then of course there’s the Republika Srpska’s official apology, which set the number at “several thousand” including “many” civilians.

I’m guessing you’re pulling your information from the first “official” RS report — it gave that same figure of 2,000, and the same claim that all the victims were combatants. It was subsequently withdrawn, but it’s still in wide circulation among Serb nationalists and their friends.

Doug M.

The organ allegation makes perfect sense in a way that the human blood banks do not. An army such as the VJ has already means to get the necessary blood for its troops. It could certainly get the necessary blood from volunteers. It had no use for human blood banks. The KLA, as part of organised crime, had kidnapped scores of people for terror purposes, and had a wonderful way to both increase terror and make some money mafia style on the side. Win-win as far as the KLA is concerned.

As for any risks, there were none. Chechen rebels committed gruesome crimes including dismemberments of Western citizens and yet the media was uniformly singing their praises and bashing the Russians despite that. The KLA knows that there is no crime big enough that it can commit to end the unconditional Western support it is getting.

At any rate, the Israelis did the same thing at el-Arish during the Six Day War. No one considered to be respectable is accusing them of genocide for that act.

As for your speaking out in favour of organ harvesters, that’s your own problem. Claiming it to be impossible is a cop out. Organised crime involved in white slavery is capable of almost anything to make money…

It’s likely that some of the victims of the butchery were some of these white slaves taken from Ukraine and Moldavia, you know, countries that are so much better off as allies of Nato.

Just one detail here: Del Ponte;s book actually reads “Among the prisoners who were taken to these barracks were women from Kosovo, Albania, Russia and other Slavic countries.” It says nothing about Serbs. Of course, in the unlikely event this story does actually have some truth, it is quite plausible that many of those from Kosovo were K Serbs, though since she also says “Albania”, it suggests the aleged operators didn’t have many ethnic biases. Why would they if they were out to make a buck? This actualy calls into question even more the suggestion, from Del Pontes version based even more fully on hearsay, that high ranking KLA members approved or were involved. More likely K Albanian criminals with merely criminal aims. The KLA may not be nice, but blowing up that alleged aspect is merely an attempt to demonsie in order to delegitimise their legitimate struggle for an independent Kosova.

Finally:

“Richard Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 8:14 pm Doug M,
My understanding is that a total of 95,000 people died in the various conflicts surrounding the breakup of Yugoslavia, all ethnic groups confounded. Do we have an idea of the breakdown by ethnic group of those killed?”

Here’s my detailed answer to that – which conclusively shows how much bullshit was the left-liberal idea that Bosnia was a mere “civil war” between “three sides”:

http://mihalisk.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-many-and-who-died-in-bosnia.html

Most people in Serbia accept that some very torrid things occurred in Srebrenica, although figures might be disputed. My opinion is a dignified silence is better than denial. Whatever went on there is not to the credit of the Serbs.

Still, its a positive, if there is any chance of finding substance to these allegations it wont be through Serbian requests, it will be through pressure from outside:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/12/warcrimes.kosovo

Also see the British Daily Telegraph.

(“Shot as POWs”? WTF?)

Doug M.

The KLA zone in question here is that of the recently-acquitted Ramush Haradinaj. He is also known for a mass grave containing 60 bodies near Donji Ratis that was discovered 9 September 1998 which was not mentioned at his so-called trial.

There was no massacre in Srebrenica. Rather, prisoners of war from Izetbegovic’s 28th Division were shot in the Zvornik area. The 28th had broken out of Srebrenica the 11th July 1995 and and many were captured in subsequent days. As many as 2,000 of them were shot as PoWs.

The Serbian government arrested suspects in connexion with these shootings, men linked to the Croat Erdemovic convicted at The Hague for the shootings. When Zoran Djindjic took power on 5 October 2000, the suspects were almost immediately released.