Ambreen YousufThe death of Ratko Mladic, the infamous Bosnian Serb general and convicted war criminal, marks the end of one of the darkest chapters in history.
Yet, his death does not close the window of pain and suffering for thousands of Bosniaks – many of them survivors, some others family members of those killed by the Butcher of Bosnia.
And most of all, Mladic’s death brings into sharp focus the sufferings of Palestinians and the war crimes committed by the state of Israel over the past three years. And the inaction of a world which refuses to see the genocide unfolding right before its eyes.
To understand Mladic - he died in The Hague at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence for his war crimes – we must look back to July 1995, when he led a group of Bosnian Serb soldiers into the town of Srebrenica with the intent to clear it of the non-Serb population.
According to findings by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), upon entering the town, he declared, “we give this town to Serb people as a gift,” by which he meant to forcibly remove the Bosniaks and Croats from the country.
Later, in the presence of international media, he emphasised the need to eliminate Bosnia’s non-Serb populace, either temporarily or permanently.
Mladic was not just a monstrous general but the chief architect of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, convicted of many crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
As commander of Bosnian Serb forces, he ordered the siege of UN-declared safe Bosniak areas (Bihac, Gorazde, Srebrenica, Zepa, and Sarajevo), held UN soldiers hostage and blocked the Vance-Owen Peace Plan.
He also masterminded the systematic torture and execution of Bosniaks and Croats in concentration camps such as Omarska, Manjaca, Keretem, and Trnopolje.
Mladic’s role in orchestrating the Srebrenica genocide, in which at least 8,372 Bosniak men and boys were separated from their families, transported, and killed by the Bosnian Serb army, is well documented and was affirmed by both the ICTY and the United Nations.
Despite extensive court proceedings, ICTY findings, and testimonies of survivor witnesses detailing and proving his primary role in the genocide, Mladic remained at large for nearly 16 years, moving to different locations within Serbia.
Eventually, he was detained in northern Serbia, indicted by the international tribunal, and transferred to The Hague. The court found him guilty of at least 11 charges, including two counts for genocide.
But he pleaded guilty to none and brazenly denied the genocide in Srebrenica.
Wounds that never healed
Mladic’s case has been one of the most significant cases before the ICTY.
It raises serious questions about the functioning and capacity of the legal systems, particularly the ICTY and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
What exposes the global judicial system is the fact that the fate of thousands of people who disappeared during war is still unknown.
Hence, the gap between the legal system and survivors’ lived experiences persists, although his capture and trial have marked a major success for the tribunal.
Some survivors of the Bosnian War and relatives of victims of Srebrenica have expressed that they found solace in Mladić’s death, while it hardly mattered to others, as it reawakens their traumatic memories of the war.
Women who endured the worst atrocities, particularly sexual abuse, are still dealing with long-term psychological effects, negatively influencing their lives today.
According to studies, many survivors are still suffering from panic attacks, nightmares, and persistent anxiety because of reliving their traumatic experiences.
A study shows that at least 57 percent of women in Bosnia who have suffered sexual violence during the war continue to meet clinical criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are struggling to reconcile with the past events even after decades.
Sexual violence is often employed as a weapon of war, used by perpetrators to take revenge and to punish, terrorise, and humiliate their victims.
In the Bosnian context, such violence was not confined to women and young girls, but young boys and elderly men were also among the worst sufferers, subject to the worst forms of sexual violence.
Many survivors contend that Mladic’s death cannot compensate for the scale of loss and suffering he has orchestrated and therefore offers them no relief.
Lessons for the world
While justice does not necessitate death for each wrongful death, it does demand an end to hatred and an apology, something that is not observed in the case of any convicted war criminal, many of whom instead exhibit deep resentment toward victims.
More than 30 years after the end of the Bosnian war, survivors are still waiting for justice and accountability.
Their experiences and trauma are influenced by both the past events and present situations, especially the denial of genocide.
The rhetoric of genocide denial is so prevalent in the Balkans that it is frequently combined with toxic narratives, such as negationism, revisionism, and triumphalism.
Such narratives get reinforced when convicted war criminals such as Ratko Mladic, whose aim was to create ethnically pure Serbia by eradicating Muslims and Croats, are awarded and glorified.
The horrific atrocities unfolding before our eyes in Gaza bear many similarities to those that occurred in Srebrenica over thirty years ago.
From bombing civilian infrastructure and using rape as a tool of war to blocking humanitarian aid convoys, every single incident is recurring.
Yet, the international community, including the European Union and the United States, stand by in silence and inaction.
In stark reality, what enables the loss of human lives is both the inaction and the injustice of those who can prevent such brutalities.
Thus, the lessons learned from the earlier experiences must not be forgotten or remain confined to history books, commemoration events, or memorial sites; they must instead serve a purpose to stop genocides from happening anywhere on Earth.
The world must act now to uphold international law and human rights and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes. It will help break the cycle of impunity and vengeance.
