Prosecution Expert Testifies About Srebrenica & Mass Graves
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Milosevic Trial – The Hague – Court Room One
Day 277, 26 January 2004
THE HAGUE – For more than five years, Prosecution Investigator Dean
Manning has been investigating mass graves and the bodies exhumed from
them in the area around Srebrenica, said to be the site of the worst
massacre of civilians since WWII. At one time or another, he has visited
every mass grave site, several at the time they were exhumed. Today, he
submitted his report to the Trial Chamber hearing the case against
Slobodan Milosevic, but cautioned that the investigation is still not
complete. Large numbers of body parts have not yet been identified.
Identified grave sites remain to be exhumed. And investigators anticipate
finding additional mass graves. [Dean Manning was one of the leaders
of the very small team of investigators working for the Office of the
Prosecutor. Their ‘investigation’ of mass graves was simply a matter of
liaison withthe ICMP (the US-run, Bosnian Muslim staffed body with formal
responsibility for such investigations), the United Nations and the various
western intelligence services. They did not carry out professional criminal
investigations of their own.]
Mr. Manning reported to the Court that the “minimum minimal number of
individuals” (MMNI) which have been identified from the mass graves is
2,541. It is an “extraordinarily conservative” number, he testified. Serb
forces dug up bodies from primary burial sites and reburied them, using
heavy equipment which mangled and crushed the corpses, making
identification as well as establishing a firm number of bodies extremely
difficult. Mr. Manning said the estimated number killed at Srebrenica,
between 7500 and 8000, is based on the number identified as missing.
individuals” (MMNI) which have been identified from the mass graves is
2,541. It is an “extraordinarily conservative” number, he testified. Serb
forces dug up bodies from primary burial sites and reburied them, using
heavy equipment which mangled and crushed the corpses, making
identification as well as establishing a firm number of bodies extremely
difficult. Mr. Manning said the estimated number killed at Srebrenica,
between 7500 and 8000, is based on the number identified as missing.
[Two problems here: first, the ICMP has never shared its information
with anyone – and never will, as it has total immunity to refuse any
request to do so. Second, there were no population records for
Srebrenica in 1995; consequently the claimed matching of some 8,000
bodies to the list of those reported missing was entirely without scientific
basis. There are also grave doubts about the DNA identifications
produced by the ICMP because their methodology has never been made
public for independent review.]
Beginning his cross examination by asserting that even one execution such
as those described in Srebrenica is a war crime, Milosevic nevertheless
questioned the numbers in Mr. Manning’s report. Alleging intense fighting
in the area between the Bosnian Army and VRS (Army of Republika Srpska),
the Accused asked how the investigator distinguished between bodies killed
in combat and those executed. The witness described finding bodies with
hands bound behind them and/or blindfolded. Investigators recovered 423
ligatures. Though bodies were decomposed and skeletal, some were clearly
shot in the head; others were found leaning in a forward position which
indicated they’d been shot in the back. Mr. Manning explained it was
likely the 1,440 bodies for which cause of death was not established were
also executed because of the way they were found lying among the other
bodies in the mass graves. [Several problems here also. First, the
as those described in Srebrenica is a war crime, Milosevic nevertheless
questioned the numbers in Mr. Manning’s report. Alleging intense fighting
in the area between the Bosnian Army and VRS (Army of Republika Srpska),
the Accused asked how the investigator distinguished between bodies killed
in combat and those executed. The witness described finding bodies with
hands bound behind them and/or blindfolded. Investigators recovered 423
ligatures. Though bodies were decomposed and skeletal, some were clearly
shot in the head; others were found leaning in a forward position which
indicated they’d been shot in the back. Mr. Manning explained it was
likely the 1,440 bodies for which cause of death was not established were
also executed because of the way they were found lying among the other
bodies in the mass graves. [Several problems here also. First, the
chaotic nature of the search for mass graves. A number of sites were
confidently identified by the US within weeks of the fall of Srebrenica on
the basis of satellite pictures. By early 1996 almost all had been
completely discounted. By 1998 so few bodies had been recovered, with
only a handful identified, that serious questions were being asked about
the veracity of the Srebrenica official narrative. This was when the ridiculous
cover-up theory was first putforward, alleging that the Serbs had mounted
an enormous and pointless operation to dig up the bodies and transfer
them to other sites in much the same area. Second, the old chestnut about
ligatures being proof of execution comes up again. Ligatures have
often been used throughout history to help the process of burying bodies
by gathering them together for loading and transportation to gravesites.
Many conflicts took place in Bosnia during the 20th century. In addition,
somewhere between 1.5 million and 3 million Serbs were executed in
Croatian-run extermination camps in Bosnia during WW2, with bodies
being randomly buried in great haste. In any event the mixed army /civilian
column was a legitimate target for military attack and that the Muslims
were well aware of the likelihood of many being killed in combat -it suited
their wider political purpose of meeting the 5000 deaths threshold set by
Clinton for U S intervention. ]
Milosevic suggested that many of the individuals could have been part of
the column of 15,000 men fleeing toward Tuzla. Mr. Manning testified that
the column may have included as many as 30,000 men and boys. Only the
forward part was armed and able to break through Serb lines, he said. The
middle and rear of the column were captured and transported to the killing
sites. There was no way to determine how many from the column were killed,
though he testified that a large number from both the column and the men
held at Potocari were executed. When asked how many men were captured, Mr.
Manning said an exact figure wasn’t available because “people who know it
were either killed or are captors not willing to provide it.” [Mr Manning’s
the column of 15,000 men fleeing toward Tuzla. Mr. Manning testified that
the column may have included as many as 30,000 men and boys. Only the
forward part was armed and able to break through Serb lines, he said. The
middle and rear of the column were captured and transported to the killing
sites. There was no way to determine how many from the column were killed,
though he testified that a large number from both the column and the men
held at Potocari were executed. When asked how many men were captured, Mr.
Manning said an exact figure wasn’t available because “people who know it
were either killed or are captors not willing to provide it.” [Mr Manning’s
suggestion that the column of men could have numbered 30,000 is absurd
– for that to be true there would need to have been 65,000 people in
Srebrenica before it fell to the Serbs. The consensus estimate of the aid
agencies working in Srebrenica was 38,000.]
Nevertheless, videotapes and telephone intercepts indicate thousands of
Bosnian Muslim men and boys were rounded up, from the column and Potocari,
and held captive. Survivors, witnesses and a few perpetrators have
testified that the captives were then transported to sites where they were
killed. The exhumations, investigation and identification of bodies are
ongoing. [Curiously the videotapes and telephone intercepts were merely
Bosnian Muslim men and boys were rounded up, from the column and Potocari,
and held captive. Survivors, witnesses and a few perpetrators have
testified that the captives were then transported to sites where they were
killed. The exhumations, investigation and identification of bodies are
ongoing. [Curiously the videotapes and telephone intercepts were merely
described in what were claimed to be contemporary transcripts but the
recordings themselves were never provided to the court. Survivors and
witnesses could not be verified in any way and confessions from
‘perpetrators’ were invariably the product of plea bargaining – a powerful
means of extracting confessions for a court that prided itself on finding all
Serbian defendants guilty and on sentencing them to extraordinarily severe
sentences.]
Both the Accused and Branislav Tapuskovic, amicus curiae, questioned Mr.
Manning about the ages of those killed. While most could be classified of
military age (between 17 and 55), the witness said there were also boys as
young as 9 and men in their 80’s and 90’s, as well as individuals who were
infirm. What the Accused and the Amicus are suggesting is that the vast majority
of bodies found in the mass graves near Srebrenica were men killed in
combat, as evidenced by their military age and the severity of fighting in
the region. Mr. Manning testified that forensic evidence (ligatures,
blindfolds, tied hands, position of bodies, etc.) contradicts this. The supposition
Manning about the ages of those killed. While most could be classified of
military age (between 17 and 55), the witness said there were also boys as
young as 9 and men in their 80’s and 90’s, as well as individuals who were
infirm. What the Accused and the Amicus are suggesting is that the vast majority
of bodies found in the mass graves near Srebrenica were men killed in
combat, as evidenced by their military age and the severity of fighting in
the region. Mr. Manning testified that forensic evidence (ligatures,
blindfolds, tied hands, position of bodies, etc.) contradicts this. The supposition
has also been contradicted in court by survivors of the massacre, one of its
perpetrators, a UN officer and the extensive written testimony of Miroslav Deronjic,
head of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS)in Bratunac and Radovan Karadzic’s
man, who described the thousands of prisoners captured from the column, as well
as men and boys who sought UN protection in Potocari and were turned over to the
Bosnian Serbs, the plan to “kill them all,” and its execution. [The points in these
three paragraphs must be seen in the context that recovery of alleged Srebrenica
victims was in the hands of an organisation controlled by the U.S. and more than
90% staffed by Bosnian Muslims.The elaborate steps taken to ensure that the
results of the grave investigations and DNA Identifications made by the ICMP
could never be accessed for independent scrutiny raise the obvious question ‘if your
evidence is so solid, why do you refuse to let anybody else see it?’]
Submitted by Judith Armatta on 27 January, 2004 – Updated: 27 January 2004
15:05
