The destroyed material consisted of approximately 1000 pieces of identification, photographs and articles of clothing belonging to the victims found in the mass graves .
The chief prosecutor stated the poor state of paper and clothing as the reason for destroying the material, making it impossible to archive the items. A list of the destroyed material has been made and photos of the items have been taken.
Worst war crime since World War II
The Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa are enraged at the destruction of items once belonging to the deceased. “We will speak to the president of the former Yugoslavia tribunal about this next month”, said spokespersonMuniba Subasic after the meeting with Brammertz. “This is scandalous”.
|
The Muslim enclave of Srebrenica was taken over by the Bosnian Serbs in July 1995. Shortly before the takeover, the UN had declared Srebrenica a safe haven for Bosnian Muslims. After the takeover, approximately 8000 Muslims were murdered by the Serbians – the most serious war crime to be committed on European soil since World War II.
Destruction of the material was brought to light by journalists with the Balkan Investigative Reporters Network. They then informed the mothers ofSrebrenica of their findings.
Standard procedure
“It is normal that investigators from The Hague take everything they find back with them,” a spokesperson for the mothers said during a telephone interview. “When graves are exhumed by locals, any items found are given to the next of kin.”
Brammertz said that the destruction of material from gravesites is standard procedure, if the material is no longer being used as evidence during UN court proceedings and if it poses a risk to public health.
There are no universal rules governing the destruction of evidence. How it is dealt with is a matter for the former Yugoslavia tribunal to decide.
Criminal lawyer Axel Hagedorn is surprised by the tribunal’s actions. He represents the mothers of Srebrenica who are now demanding that the Netherlands pay them compensation. According to Hagedorn, the destroyed evidence could theoretically contain DNA material belonging to the perpetrators.
