Hellish Suffering of Bosniaks in Besieged Srebrenica (1993)

Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada
Published: August 20, 2010  

Author: Daniel Toljaga

Part I/III - Starvation in Pre-Genocide Srebrenica: There was a constant and serious shortage of food in pre-genocide Srebrenica causing starvation to peak in the winter of 1992/1993. Many Bosniak refugees, particularly women and children, were in an extremely emaciated state due to malnutrition and many of them died from starvation.

A very rare footage you are about to see shows just how desperate the humanitarian situation was in Srebrenica in March 1993, more than two years before the Srebrenica genocide. What follows is the first of three extracts of news programmes broadcast by ABC News with footage shot by Tony Birtley, a British reporter, showing the scenes of starvation in Srebrenica in March 1993. I’ve obtained the clip from the “ICTY Court Records” database of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Please watch it ↓

PART II/III - Desperation and Resistance in Pre-Genocide Srebrenica: The following footage is the second of three extracts of news programmes broadcast by ABC News with footage shot by Tony Birtley showing Srebrenica in March 1993, more than two years before the Srebrenica genocide. I’ve obtained the clip from the “ICTY Court Records” database of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

You will be able to see, what Tony Birtley described, as “the sheer panic and the desperation of the people. And to see women to throw their babies into the back of trucks and hope that someone will grab them and take them to safety.” In addition, there are very rare scenes of Srebrenica defenders, including a battle tank they managed to capture from the Serbs. Please watch it ↓

PART III/III - Scenes from Hell in Pre-Genocide Srebrenica: The following is the final of three extracts of news programmes broadcast by ABC News with footage shot by Tony Birtley, a British reporter, showing disturbing scenes of catastrophic situation in Srebrenica in March 1993, more than two years before the Srebrenica genocide. You will see desperate and homeless refugees, wounded and dead Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) children, and – perhaps the most disturbing scene caught on tape – a wounded five year old boy dying in the hands of a Canadian U.N. soldier.

I’ve obtained the clip from the “ICTY Court Records” database of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Please watch it ↓