UN Tribunal unseals charges against Bosnian Serb involved in Srebrenica massacre

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today unsealed the indictment against a former Bosnian Serb commander for war crimes linked to the killings of thousands of Muslims captured from the "safe area" of Srebrenica in 1995.

The indictment against Vinko Pandurevic, who is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, had been confirmed on 2 November 1998 and amended on 27 October 1999.

According to the charges, Mr. Pandurevic was Commander of the "Zvornik Brigade" from December 1992 to November 1996, which was involved in the July 1995 attack on the Srebrenica "safe area" and the subsequent killing and execution of Bosnian Muslim men and boys.

The indictment alleges that between about 11 July 1995 and 1 November 1995, Mr. Pandurevic killed and caused serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, "intending to destroy a part of the Bosnian Muslim people as a national, ethnical or religious group." He allegedly "planned, instigated, ordered or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution" of the "opportunistic killings" and "organized mass executions" of thousands of captured Bosnian Muslim men and boys from the Srebrenica "safe area."

Following these events, Mr. Pandurevic and units under his command participated in various attempts "to conceal and cover up the killings and executions," including the burial of the victims' bodies in isolated sites scattered throughout a wide area, and the digging up of bodies from initial mass graves to transfer them to so called secondary graves.

In other news, the Tribunal yesterday granted the provisional release of four Bosnian Muslims who had surrendered voluntarily, ordering them to return to the court's headquarters in The Hague in order to stand trial next year.