STUDYING GENOCIDES

Genocide of the Muslims in Bosnia

Introduction

The guide Studying Genocides presents nine genocides recognized by the UN, Canada, or Quebec. Here, discover the case of the genocide of the Muslims in Bosnia, presented through four sections: the first section provides context for the study with a map, highlights, and a timeline; the second offers a problematization of the case under study; the third examines essential elements of the historical context; and the fourth section describes the genocide according to the six stages of the genocidal process.

EXCERPT FROM AN ACCOUNT

“Until 1992, life was good in Srebrenica. No one differentiated between the various ethnic groups. The war surprised us. We were surprised that our Serbian neighbours began listening to Milošević, who said that all Muslims had to be killed in order to establish Greater Serbia.”

Kada Hotic, survivor (translation)1
Illustration of Bosnian Muslim women in fine clothes, 1896 Credit: Guillaume Capus, The British Library, Wikimedia Commons
1971
Appearance in the census of the category “Muslims” for Bosnians of Muslim faith
1971
1992-1995
Conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina
1992-1995
1991
Start of threats by the Serb leader in Bosnia-Herzegovina against the Muslims
1991
1992
Croats and Bosniaks living in Bosnia-Herzegovina proclaim independence, but the Serbs refuse and establish their own territory
1992
1993
Creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
1993
1995
Srebrenica massacre
1995
2007
The International Court of Justice calls the massacre a genocide
2007
  • The genocide target the Muslim population of Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • Rape of more than 300 000 Muslim women by the Bosnian Serbs in order to “contaminate the race”
  • Deportation and mass murder of Muslims, who were seen as a disease to be eradicated and the source of all the country’s problems
  • Strong anti-Muslim propaganda inciting hatred of the Muslims
  • Pillage, execution, rape and deportation of Muslim communities by the Serbian and Croatian army to cleanse the nation and sow fear
  • Establishment of concentration camps (408 in Bosnia on Serbian territory alone)
  • Between 100 000 and 200 000 officially registered deaths
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country in Europe
  • Between 1992 and 1995, but anti-Muslim discrimination began toward the end of the 19th century
  • Bosnian Muslims were the victims of genocide.
  • The army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was the perpetrator of the religious massacre.
  • The media, the Orthodox Church, and the Croatian and Serbian peoples and their governments were allies of the perpetrators.

We have developed a comprehensive document that outlines and summarizes the entire narrative. Please download, print, and utilize it for your teaching and study purposes.

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Pictures

Illustration of Bosnian Muslim women in fine clothes, 1896 Credit: Guillaume Capus, The British Library, Wikimedia Commons
Photograph of Radovan Karadžić, President of the Bosnian Serb Republic between 1992 and 1996, at his original sentencing. He was sentenced for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war in 2016, then again in 2019 on appeal. Credit: ICTY
Photograph of Serbs protesting the return of Muslim refugees near Gajevi, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1997 Credit: SPC Gerald T. James, National Archives Catalog
Photograph of the seat of the Bosnian government on fire after Serbian bombings, 1992 Credit: Mikhail Evstafiev, Wikimedia Commons
Photograph of Muslim women leaving the city of Jušići, Bosnia-Herzegovina, following a breakdown in the Dayton Peace Accord, 1996. Inhabitants had only 72 hours to gather a few things and leave their homes. Credit: SPC Cabello, National Archives Catalog
Photograph of houses in Lička Jesnica, Croatia, destroyed during the War of Independence. Their inhabitants probably belonged to the wrong ethnic group. Credit: Falk2, Wikimedia Commons
Sixteenth-century Russian miniature showing the legendary Battle of Kosovo Polje between the Slavs and the Ottomans, in which Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović lost his life. This battle is regularly used in nationalist Serbian propaganda. Milošević organized one of his largest nationalist rallies for the 600th anniversary of the battle in 1989. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Layout of the Čelebići concentration camp according to prisoners (the red crosses indicate the killing sites). The conditions there were particularly inhumane. This was a piece of incriminating evidence submitted to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Credit: Photos reproduced with the authorization of the ICTY
Photograph of the shed at the former Čelebići concentration camp in Konjic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, taken in 2017. The conditions there were particularly inhumane. Credit: J. Nyča, Wikimedia Commons
Photograph of the Stari Most bridge in Mostar over the Neretva river in 2008. It was destroyed by Croatian forces in November 1993, symbolizing the isolation of the Muslims in the ghetto of the old town on the east side of the river. It was rebuilt in 2004. Credit: R. Boulay, Wikimedia Commons
Photograph of Communist and future leader Tito (right) in 1943, at the Battle of Sutjeska Credit: W. S. Orović, Wikimedia Commons
Cover page of the Italian newspaper Domenica del Corriere illustrating the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife the Duchess, in Sarajevo, by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914 Credit: New York Public Library, Wikimedia Commons
Illustration of a Bosniak soldier under the Ottoman Empire, 1885 Credit: New York Public Library, Wikimedia Commons
Photograph of a young Serbian Orthodox girl in traditional garb, 1896 Credit: The British Library, Wikimedia Commons
Map representing the “Greater Serbia” according to the Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Šešelj, an extreme rightwing nationalist party, in the late 1980s. Credit : Дмитрий-5-Аверин, Wikimedia commons

Testimonials

“Until 1992, life was good in Srebrenica. No one differentiated between the various ethnic groups. The war surprised us. We were surprised that our Serbian neighbours began listening to Milošević, who said that all Muslims had to be killed in order to establish Greater Serbia.”

Kada Hotic, survivor (translation)1

“We were in Kosarac. The Serbs threw us out of our houses and put us in buses. Those who refused were killed on the spot. I saw them kill 25 men. . . . In all, 2500 to 3000 people were executed. The others were sent to the camps in Trnopolje in Prijedor, to a mine in Ljudija. In one of the camps, there were 150 summary executions. In Preza, the company Keraterm was turned into a concentration camp. In Omaska, five people were jailed and beaten to death. The survivors went crazy. . . . They want to exterminate us. For me, that’s obvious.”

Mr. Behlil, Bosniak refugee in Travlik33 [translation]

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