Sarajevo Shelling "Disproportionate" but not "Intentional"
Bosnian Serb corps commander speaks of “collateral damage” of war.
Sarajevo Shelling "Disproportionate" but not "Intentional"
Bosnian Serb corps commander speaks of “collateral damage” of war.
The former commander of Bosnian Serb forces in Sarajevo testified this week that he spoke many times with defendant Radovan Karadzic about the use of “disproportionate” force against the besieged city.
General Stanislav Galic, who was commander of the Bosnian Serb army’s Sarajevo-Romanija Corps from September 1992 to August 1994, was at the tribunal to testify as a defence witness in Karadzic’s trial.
In 2003, the tribunal sentenced Galic to 20 years in prison for commanding a sniping and shelling campaign against Sarajevo that ultimately killed some 12,000 civilians. His sentence was increased to life imprisonment on appeal in 2006.
Galic began his testimony on April 15, but was unable to complete it until this week due to scheduling issues.
Prosecutors allege that Karadzic, who was president of Bosnia's self-declared Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996, planned and oversaw the 44-month siege of Sarajevo. His army is accused of deliberately sniping at and shelling the city’s civilian population in order to “spread terror” among them. He also faces charges relating to the massacre of more than 7,000 men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995.
The indictment alleges that Karadzic was responsible for crimes of genocide, persecution, extermination, murder and forcible transfer which "contributed to achieving the objective of the permanent removal of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from Bosnian Serb-claimed territory".
He was arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 after 13 years on the run.
“How often did Dr Karadzic tell you that your forces were using artillery in a disproportionate fashion against Bosnian [government] held Sarajevo?” prosecuting lawyer Carolyn Edgerton asked witness Galic when the cross-examination resumed this week.
“Well, at every one of these top level meetings…[but] it’s not like he called up me every day and talked about that,” Galic said.
Edgerton asked whether the witness could estimate how often these meetings occurred.
“Well, that topic was present all the time. Let’s be clear on that. There was a war going on all the time. There was always this evaluation whether it was proportionate or disproportionate. There was fighting every day,” Galic said.
“Can we understand you to be saying that Dr. Karadzic frequently raised this issue with you?” Edgerton asked.
“Well, it was raised, because it was a burden on all of us, myself and President Karadzic. There is no secret about that, and we were looking for a solution, how to resolve that, what to do. These were not small problems as far as area of Sarajevo is concerned. It was not just excessive artillery. There was a series of other problems we discussed for five days, ten days; I can no longer recall,” Galic said.
“As a result of these discussions, what did Dr Karadzic tell you to do?” Edgerton asked.
“In relation to what?” Galic said.
“In relation to the information he gave you that SRK [Sarajevo-Romanija Corps] forces were using artillery against Bosnian-held Sarajevo in disproportionate way,” Edgerton asked, specifying that she meant the city itself.
“Well in relation to that problem, what we were asking for is quite clear. All of us, especially President Karadzic, [wanted] to reduce this to a minimum, related to military necessity and objectives. That is a simple answer,” Galic said.
He added that “it’s hard when you’re looking at only what one side did, and you’re not looking at the other side….giving a one sided interpretation is a major problem. We did order – we took measures that can be taken in wartime. I would kindly ask you to understand me along those lines.”
“Did Dr Karadzic tell you that disproportionate use of artillery in Sarajevo had caused civilian casualties?” Edgerton asked.
“He didn’t have to tell me that. I mean everybody saw that. That there was a war going on and fire came from both sides. During the examination-in-chief I spoke about that. I said that losses were possible and they did happen. I’m talking about disproportionate use and not the intentional targeting of civilians,” Galic said.
The prosecutor then asked whether Galic ended the disproportionate use of artillery into the area of the city held by the Bosnian government.
“I could stop that only if I could stop the war. I, as a corps commander, could not have done that. I consider such questions to be unfair. I told you how such casualties happen. These are collateral damage in war,” Galic said. “I mean, for you to say, ‘Did you stop it?’ – I could have only have stopped it if I could stop the war as such.”
Edgerton also asked the witness about letters of protest sent by the United Nations peacekeeping force known as UNPROFOR regarding shelling attacks on UN positions in Sarajevo. One letter, dated February 21, 1993, indicated that Galic “well knew where UN positions that were endangered and damaged were located” and “called for an investigation”, Edgerton said.
“Even when you got these kinds of details and this kind of specific information, you were singularly unresponsive, weren’t you?” Edgerton asked.
“Where does it say I didn’t do anything?” Galic retorted.
“Did you answer this protest, then, General? Is that your evidence?” Edgerton asked.
The witness replied, “It’s really difficult to remember what anyone wrote 20 years ago. I might remember some details, but not all of them. I don’t know now.”
“In the course of your tour, did you ever answer any protest with anything other than a denial?” Edgerton asked.
When Galic did not give a direct answer to this question, Edgerton repeated it.
“Look, my answer was not a denial,” the witness said. “I first checked, and then whatever reports I received from my sub-units, I referred those reports further. [Subordinates] would tell me it was their response to fire, or they didn’t open fire. If they responded to fire, it was a legitimate action. There was nothing to investigate. I did not receive any more information.”
Presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon then asked where Galic ever “admitted responsibility” for any of the incidents that evoked protests.
“I could not admit anything because I did not have enough information to admit to such an incident. How can I admit to something that was just said to me?” Galic said.
The trial continues next week.
Rachel Irwin is IWPR’s Senior Reporter in The Hague.
