BLUE HELMETS AND RED HANDS: HOW THE UN’S FAILURE TO PROTECT SREBRENICA IN JULY 1995 TURNED INTO GENOCIDE
BLUE HELMETS AND RED HANDS: HOW THE UN’S FAILURE TO PROTECT SREBRENICA IN JULY 1995 TURNED INTO GENOCIDE

Summary/Abstract: One of the bloodiest operations of the Bosnian War took place in July 1995, when Serbian forces occupied the town of Srebrenica. The survivors` testimonies describe the capture of the city, the meticulously executed process of ethnic cleansing and the attitude of the UN troops stationed in Potočari. The Dutch Battalion operating under the UN’s mandate, responsible to protect the refugees in the area, not only that failed to prevent the genocide, but completely withdrew on July 21st, 1995, leaving tens of thousands of refugees at the mercy of the Serbian forces. Meanwhile, blindfolded and bound, thousands of boys and men—whose only "crime" was being male and Muslim—were transported to remote locations, where they were executed cold-heartedly. As the turquoise waters of the Drina swallowed the bodies of the brutally slaughtered men and children, and the soil could no longer absorb the blood that was covering it, the Dutch soldiers celebrated in Zagreb, enjoying a "well-deserved beer." In 1996, when the first mass graves were uncovered, the world was shaken to its core, as the haunting images of Srebrenica unveiled the failure of the international community to prevent the atrocities that defied the very essence of humanity.

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