Subject: BosNet NEWS - Dutch Major Franken From Srebrenica From: Nermin Zukic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ B o s N e t - Sept. 6, 1995 ======================================================================== Also available on Usenet as BIT.LISTSERV.BOSNET ________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send mail to DOC.IC.AC.UK, WITHOUT the subject: UNSUB BOSNEWS. Default format is set to DIGEST, if you have problems please contact moderator(s). ________________________________________________________________________ Source frankti@euronet.nl (Frank Tiggelaar) Brandpunt televison visits Srebrenica In their program of August 27 21:30 local time, Brandpunt showed footage shot in Srebrenica yesterday. The town had become a 'ghost town' said the reporter. The Serb mayor of Srebrenica, M. Deronic, in an interview stated that some 3000 Muslims and about one thousand Serbs were killed when the Serbs conquered the town. He also admitted executions had taken place : "We were no saints, but a figure of thousands of executions is untrue" (Qoute taken from the Dutch subtitling). He also admitted that there are mass graves in the area, saying "with so many casualties in such a short time, you cannot bury people individually". He showed the camera-crew the football ground which had been rumoured to be a site of mass-graves, but all that could be seen where open trenches with newly laid telephone cables. Yugoslavia's Vreme commentator Micha Vasic said in the program that he could not believe that 4000 people had died during the short fight that took place in Srebrenica. He considered that figure much too high, and most likely an attempt to "make up for many civilian dead". The mayor of Srebrenica told the reporter that he is considering to claim damages from the UN or The Netherlands for the machinery that had apparently been bulldozed to the sides of a large factory hall, which was used to park armoured vehicles. On the 30-minute program DutchBat Colonel G. Kremer told reporters that he had personally seen violations of the Geneva Conventions, and that he could not imagine why Major Franken had signed a declaration to the Bosnian Serbs, stating the "...Serbian authorities had correctly carried out the evacuation of Srebrenica". The original signed document was shown to the reporter in Srebrenica by 'mayor' Deronic. Kremer told that he had seen, during the 'evacuation' of Srebrenica, how a father in his early twenties had to hand over the baby he was carrying in his arms to a Bosnian-Serb soldier before being put on a convoy. ==== Parliamentary hearings ? ==== The social-democrat leader in Parliament today threatened the Dutch three-party coalition Government with Parliamentary hearings (in which a committee of representatives from all parties may hear any citizen under oath) should the Minister of Defense's explanation for what happened in Srebrenica not be clear enough. Other parties share the same view, so there will be a majority in favor of the hearings should Minister of Defense Voorhoeve fail to satisfy Parliament. Political analysts say the image of Mr Voorhoeve is severely damaged, even if Parliament accepts his explanations on Thursday, when there is a special session of Parliament (Summer reces would normally have ended on Sept 15th) ________________________________________________________________________ Opinions expressed/published on BosNews/BosNet-B do NOT necessarily always reflect the views of (all of the members of) Editorial Board, and/or moderators, nor any of their host institutions. Zeljko Bodulovic Dzevat Omeragic Davor Wagner Nermin Zukic