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Presentation of Srebrenica Historical Project and NGO Dveri Srpske about the Srebrenica massacre |
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 On September 15, 2009, Srebrenica Historical Project and Belgrade-based NGO, Dveri Srpske, organized a public presentation in Banski dvor in Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, about the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The immediate reason for this presentation was to introduce the latest issue of “Dveri,” the quarterly magazine of the organization by the same name.
Taking part in the presentation were Stefan Karganović, president of Srebrenica Historical Project, Vladan Glišić, member of the editorial board of “Dveri,” Dr. Ljubiša Simić, senior research assistant of SHP, and Michele Altamura, president of Banja Luka-based Italian NGO, “Elteboro.”
Stefan Karganović stressed that the popular picture about Srebrenica events, based mostly on wartime propaganda, bears little resemblance to reality. That is an important reason why contextual and politically neutral research into these events must be relentlessly pursued and every attempt by partisans and political beneficiaries of the “official Srebrenica narrative” should be strongly resisted.
Vladan Glišić informed the audience about the values and vision of Dveri, which he described as an organization of young people determined to live as “free human beings.” He urged for research into Srebrenica, an issue which he termed “completely open,” to continue unhindered and he pointed out that it is fully in the interest of the Serbian side in that controvery for all the facts to become known. The latest issue of his magazine “Dveri,” which features more than two dozen critical essays on Srebrenica-related issues by Serbian and international researchers and scholars was conceived to facilitate that process.
Michele Altamura discussed the official Srebrenica narrative as disinformation, focusing on perceptions of this crime in his native Italy and in the EU. He urged that the process of exhumations be completed as quickly as possible in order to bring closure and to arrive at a reliable account of what actually happened.
Dr. Ljubiša Simić presented the results of his forensic critique of ICTY Srebrenica autopsy reports. At the heart of the official story is the misconception that one autopsy report, or „case“ (there are 3568 of them), equals one body. But that is not correct. About half of the cases consist of body fragments or just a few bones which does not allow for any meaningful forensic conclusions to be drawn. In order to establish with acceptable precision the number of persons in Srebrenica mass graves, Dr. Simic counted their right and left femur bones, starting from the hypothesis that the femur is one of the sturdiest sceletal components and that the number of these bones is therefore one of the most reliable indicators of how many individuals were in fact buried. The results of his analysis show the presence of 1919 right and 1923 left femur bones. He concluded that the total is under 2000 victims in all thirteen Srebrenica mass graves and that, based on the patterns of injury they exhibit and other factors such as the presence of ligatures and blindfolds, they were evenly divided between those who were probably executed and those who were more likely to have been killed in military action, which is a „legitimate“ cause of death and cannot give rise to a charge of genocide.
The speakers took questions from members of the audience at the conclusion of the presentation. |
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