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On Monday 13JUL2020, a MINUSCA convoy travelling through the northwest of RCA, more specifically in Gedze, Nana-Mambéré area, was attacked by insurgents of the 3R armed Group (Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation).

In that attack, a Rwandese peacekeeper was killed and several other were injured. We would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased blue helmet, and wish fast recover to the wounded peacekeepers.

There are 14 armed groups fighting in RCA. They all signed together with the RCA central authorities a Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in February 2019. The UN was invited to help the country in the protection of civilians and support the transition processes.

The UN Secretary-General – António Guterres – expressed his deepest condolences to the family of the victim, and to the people and Government of Rwanda, condemning the attack and calling on the Central African Republic authorities to spare no effort in identifying the perpetrators so that they can be brought to justice.

But the question is:

WHEN WILL PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT KILLING BLUE HELMETS CAN BE CONSIDERED A WAR CRIME?

A peacekeeper is not just another combat casualty, like many other these rebels may be doing daily … it is a war crime … something severely punished in an international court of justice.

But then again, most indicted war criminals, from previous wars, seemed to have taken that status in an easy going way. Maybe they even vaunt about it. Look at the example of General Ratko Mladic in Bosnia. The guy even used to go for skiing, in Sarajevo, under the nose of the International Forces, and no one ever caught him then. He was only presented to court decades later, when he was very sick and needing medical care.

On 16^th November 1995, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague) indicted Radovan Karadzic – President of Republika Srpska – and General Ratko Mladic – Commander of the VRS – both accused to be directly responsible for the atrocities committed in July 1995, against the Bosnian Muslin population of the UN Safe Area of Srebrenica. On the words of the International Criminal Tribunal’s Prosecutor – Judge Fouad Riad:

– “After Srebrenica fell to besieging Serbian forces in July, 1995, a truly terrible massacre of the Muslin population appears to have taken place. The evidence tendered by the Prosecutor describes scenes of unimaginable savagery: thousands of men executed and buried in mass graves, hundreds of men buried alive, men and women mutilated and slaughtered, children killed before their mothers’ eyes, a grandfather forced to eat the liver of his own grandson. These are truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history”.

25 year ago, on the 11th of July 1995, the Bosnian Serb Army leaded by General Ratko Mladic, entered Srebrenica with an overwhelming firepower, and occupied the Muslim Town, after having bombed it with heavy artillery on the previous day. General Mladic brought along with him a paramilitary group called “The Scorpions” tailored to “solve unconventional situations”. This was a group of unscrupulous men claiming to be volunteer combatants for the “Greater Serbia”. They would do the dirty jobs forbidden by the international conventions, whenever and wherever it was necessary.

Many Muslim families sought refuge inside and around the Dutch Contingent in the UN compound. They were hoping the Serbs would respect the UN flag and no harm would come to them; but they were wrong. In order to keep General Mladic, and the VRS, clear of blame, the “Scorpions” embraced the task to “deal with that situation”. The men were separated from their families; some were executed at the site and others were taken away, never to be seen again.

On that day’s afternoon the NATO jets finally appeared; but it was too late. Attacking the VRS inside the town meant killing blue helmets and civilians. Mladic had the Dutch peacekeepers in his hands and threatened to kill them if NATO would strike.

After having the situation under his control, General Mladic authorized the opening of a corridor connecting Srebrenica to Tuzla – a large Muslin city in the Bosnian territory – allowing the Muslin families to exit Srebrenica using their own means. As a result, a long column of people walked for five days, through mountain roads, in the direction of Tuzla. During that forced march they were attacked several times each day. On 16th July at 17:00, the column reached Tuzla, and reported that between 5.000 to 8.000 Military Age Men had been shot dead and thrown into mass graves.

Read everything about the last year of the Bosnian War on: https://www.amazon.de/Bosnia-95-Peacekeeping-zone-English-ebook/dp/B08B1NK3FL/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=bosnia+95&qid=1592383718&sr=8-1

Print on demand – https://www.amazon.com/dp/9893306671

Let us not forget the worst war in Europe since WWII

Congratulations to Norway and Ireland, India and Mexico who won the open seats on the Security Council for the 2021-2022 term, in a highly competitive race among the Western European and Others Group (Weog) and the Asia-Pacific and Latin America-Caribbean regions.

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The race is still open for the African seat, between Djibouti and Kenya.

#peacekeepinginawarzone

A cultura de Lições Aprendidas não é compatível com a postura Kamikaze.

Nas operações militares, os corajosos não são os temerários mas sim aqueles que sentem o medo e arranjam uma forma de o contornar para continuar a operar. O ponto do menor receio coincide com o ponto de perigo máximo, a partir do qual se começam a produzir “heróis mortos” … e esses; só servem para serem um nome numa parede ou numa estátua … não ajudam os que cá ficam com a sua experiência vertida para Lições Aprendidas que contribuam para evitar situações.

Em Sarajevo (1995), o “excesso de confiança” era o maior fornecedor de clientes para os cemitérios locais (e havia vários).

https://www.kobo.com/pt/en/ebook/bosnia-95