UN officials actively facilitated the Srebrenica massacre through refusal and collusion.

Evidence

At Srebrenica, British diplomats first watered down the safe area resolution. Next, Yasushi Akashi and other UN officials refused to use all necessary means to get convoys through to the enclave, turning it into an abode of hunger and misery. Then Akashi issued a UN report suggesting that Srebrenica be abandoned-a clear green light to the Serb army. On June 5, 1995, the Serb army violated the safe area and drove two thousand desperate refugees into the center of town, but the UN refused to enforce its mandate to deter attacks. The Dutch officers drank a toast with Uteneral Mladic and wrote him a document stating the civilians had been treated properly, while Mladic had a pig slaughtered before the Dutch commander’s eyes as an example of what happened to his “enemies” and as Mladic was having thousands of Srebrenica residents led away for slaughter. The Dutch soldiers retreated in their armored vehicles, running over and killing a number of desperate residents trying to flee the killings. When they returned to the Netherlands, they were decorated for heroism. — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 664

Categorization

• SHARE: The detail of Dutch peacekeepers being decorated for heroism after running over fleeing civilians is a striking, specific fact for anyone studying the UN’s legacy in Bosnia.