Multimedia Collection
Safe Haven: The United Nations and the Betrayal of Srebrenia
VHS
39 minutes
DR1313.7 .A85 S31 1996
On July 12, 1995 the U.N. designated Safe Area of Srebrenica fell to the Bosnian Serbs. Eight thousand residents are missing - presumed killed - in perhaps the most atrocious war crime committed since World War II. The Serbian Army Commander Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic have been charged by the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. But this documentary investigates the possibility of complicity - knowing or not - by the commanders of the United Nations forces in Bosnia.
In an investigation conducted over several months, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Roy Gutman, Cabell Bruce, and director Ilan Ziv uncovered intelligence missives, secret U.N. documents, and confidential reports which are the bases for serious charges: U.N. officials grossly miscalculated the Serb government's aggressive designs, ignored their own intelligence, and gave up air defense capabilities, which could have saved Srebrenica. And then, after the fact, they misrepresented the massacre.
SAFE HAVEN details how U.N. Special envoy Yashushi Akashi and French General Bernard Janvier, head of the U.N. protection force in the former Yugoslavia, agreed not to use force against the Serbs in exchange for French hostages. This "gentlemen's agreement" betrayed the solemn promise of protection made to the people of Srebrenica, and ultimately may have led to the massacres. As a result of this startling report, both men, as well as others involved in the siege of Srebrenica are under investigation by various governing bodies.
Contact Us
(541) 737-2538
valley.circ@oregonstate.edu
