SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina
The Srebrenica genocide is the biggest failure in human history, according to a Dutch commander who served in the Balkans during those dark days.
Ludy de Vos was commander of the Dutch battalion serving in the UN peacekeeping forces for Srebrenica during the war in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995.
Visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina on the eve of the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, Vos shared with Anadolu Agency his memories of Srebrenica and thoughts about the genocide.
More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces attacked the UN "safe area" of Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch troops tasked with acting as international peacekeepers.
The events in Srebrenica could not have been predicted, argued De Vos.
"It was our duty to ensure the safety of the people in the safe zone and to keep civilians and Bosnian soldiers living outside this zone away from Serbian troops," he remembered.
De Vos said that many civilians left their homes in the surrounding villages and took refuge in Srebrenica but that not enough food aid was reaching the region.
'We had the feeling something bad would happen'
De Vos said that he realized that things had started to change during his days in Srebrenica, adding that the Serb troops nearby were growing stronger and giving him the feeling that “something bad was going to happen.”
"What happened in Srebrenica in July 1995 is the greatest failure of human history, and in particular the international community responsible for that region," said De Vos.
De Vos said he regrets not being able to stay until the last moment in Srebrenica.
"Srebrenica is a place full of memories for me. [Even] years later it is difficult to return there. What happened here not only influenced the Dutch soldiers who served in the region, but also the other Dutch soldiers who never set foot in the region," said De Vos.
De Vos added that some Dutch soldiers who served in Srebrenica at the time committed suicide as they blamed themselves for not being able to stop the genocide.
Srebrenica was besieged by Serb forces who were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form their own state.
The UN Security Council had declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. However, Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic -- later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide -- overran the UN zone.
The Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing about 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone. Some 15,000 Srebrenica people fled into the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 of them in the forests.
