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| Former Commander of Bosnian Serb Army Is Convicted of Genocide | Former Commander of Bosnian Serb Army Is Convicted of Genocide |
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| PARIS — A former senior commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Zdravko Tolimir, was convicted of genocide on Wednesday and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killings of thousands of prisoners near the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995. | PARIS — A former senior commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Zdravko Tolimir, was convicted of genocide on Wednesday and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killings of thousands of prisoners near the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995. |
| Judges at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, voting 2 to 1, said Mr. Tolimir had been found guilty because as the army’s head of intelligence he not only knew of the plans to commit “horrific mass murder” of Bosnian Muslim prisoners but also played a pivotal role in the crime. He “deliberately participated” in the destruction of the Muslim communities under United Nations protection in the towns of Srebrenica and Zepa, the judges said. | Judges at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, voting 2 to 1, said Mr. Tolimir had been found guilty because as the army’s head of intelligence he not only knew of the plans to commit “horrific mass murder” of Bosnian Muslim prisoners but also played a pivotal role in the crime. He “deliberately participated” in the destruction of the Muslim communities under United Nations protection in the towns of Srebrenica and Zepa, the judges said. |
| The presiding judge, Christoph Flügge of Germany, stressed several times that Mr. Tolimir, 64, had failed in his duty to protect the prisoners of war before they were led away to the killing sites, inside buildings and on open fields. The crimes that followed were “massive in scale, severe in intensity and devastating in their effect,” he said. | The presiding judge, Christoph Flügge of Germany, stressed several times that Mr. Tolimir, 64, had failed in his duty to protect the prisoners of war before they were led away to the killing sites, inside buildings and on open fields. The crimes that followed were “massive in scale, severe in intensity and devastating in their effect,” he said. |
| Mr. Tolimir, a general, was the right-hand man of the overall Bosnian Serb Army commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic, whose trial was in progress in a nearby courtroom while the genocide verdict was issued. | Mr. Tolimir, a general, was the right-hand man of the overall Bosnian Serb Army commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic, whose trial was in progress in a nearby courtroom while the genocide verdict was issued. |
| When Judge Flügge said, “Mr. Tolimir, you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” the defendant stood and listened, eyes cast down, then made the sign of the cross several times. | When Judge Flügge said, “Mr. Tolimir, you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” the defendant stood and listened, eyes cast down, then made the sign of the cross several times. |
| For the tribunal dealing with crimes after the breakup of Yugoslavia, the verdict was its fifth conviction for genocide. Two former Bosnian Serb officers, both subordinates of Mr. Tolimir, had earlier been given life sentences. Two other Bosnian Serbs are serving 35-year prison terms for aiding and abetting genocide. | For the tribunal dealing with crimes after the breakup of Yugoslavia, the verdict was its fifth conviction for genocide. Two former Bosnian Serb officers, both subordinates of Mr. Tolimir, had earlier been given life sentences. Two other Bosnian Serbs are serving 35-year prison terms for aiding and abetting genocide. |
| The court has issued genocide convictions thus far only for crimes committed in Srebrenica, angering victim and human rights groups that are convinced that genocide also occurred in northern and eastern Bosnia, where Serbian forces first began their brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in 1992, expelling many thousands of non-Serbs. Others were imprisoned, tortured, raped and at times burned alive in their own homes. | The court has issued genocide convictions thus far only for crimes committed in Srebrenica, angering victim and human rights groups that are convinced that genocide also occurred in northern and eastern Bosnia, where Serbian forces first began their brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in 1992, expelling many thousands of non-Serbs. Others were imprisoned, tortured, raped and at times burned alive in their own homes. |
| During the Bosnian war, from 1992 to 1995, an estimated 100,000 civilians and fighters were killed, including Croats and Serbs, but most of the victims were Muslim civilians. The war began after Bosnians tried to break away from Yugoslavia, and Serbs launched a violent campaign to create lands only for Serbs. During that campaign and in subsequent fighting, 1.5 million people were displaced. | |
| Besides genocide, Mr. Tolimir was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution. Mr. Tolimir, who acted as his own lawyer, denied any responsibility for events in Srebrenica, saying he left after it was taken by Serbian forces. | |
| Judges found that he went to Zepa, where three civilian and military leaders were captured and subsequently killed. There he oversaw the removal of the civilian population and the destruction of homes and a mosque. Although only three leaders were killed, the judges’ summary said, this had an important symbolic purpose, “signaling there was no hope for survival of this community.” | |
| The trial, which went on for 242 days, was interrupted a number of times due to Mr. Tolimir’s ill health. But he insisted on representing himself. | |
| He and the four witnesses he called in his defense variously argued that the Serb forces near the United Nations enclaves were there to fight “terrorists” who were using the zones as bases from which to attack Serbs. They also said only several hundred were killed during the operations, rather than the more than 7,000 whose bodies have been identified. Muslims in the area were not persecuted, the defense argued, but left voluntarily. |