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GENOCIDE IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
By Hikmet Bila
Turkish Press, MI
Feb 28 2007
CUMHURIYET- It is very upsetting to see that in hundreds of years
nothing has changed. Especially after World War II, efforts to protect
human rights on an international basis led to high hopes.
Crimes against humanity were condemned, and heavy punishments were
foreseen for violators.
But soon we could see that this was only political trickery, a
strategic ruse. A serious crime against humanity like genocide has
also become a tool to advance political and strategic interests.
Genocide is still in the eye of the beholder, as is crime and
punishment.
Twelve years ago, a grave crime against humanity was committed in
Bosnia. Thousands of Bosnians were slaughtered by Serbians. Thousands
of women were raped. Countless old people and children were killed
by snipers. And all of Europe sat and watched this tragedy unfold.
One incident was particularly unbelievable. Srebrenica was declared
a 'safe area' by the United Nations, and thousands of Bosnians took
shelter by laying down their arms. This 'safe area' was to be protected
by Dutch UN troops. But Serbian troops besieged the area and asked
the Dutch troops to hand over the Bosnian civilians to them. And the
Dutch troops did so. The Serbians slaughtered 8,000 civilians, and
the Dutch soldiers did nothing but watch this massacre. Then they did
toasts with these Serbian butchers. Moreover, recently, these Dutch
soldiers were decorated with state medals in the Netherlands.
This week the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled
that the killing of 8,000 Bosnians in Srebrenica was a 'genocide,'
but that Serbia was not guilty of this crime. For this reason, Serbia
isn't obligated to pay compensation to Bosnians!
On the one side, calling events which happened more than 90 years ago
during Ottoman rule a 'genocide' and charging the Republic of Turkey
with responsibility for these events, which have no relation to them
... On the other side, clearing people responsible for the Srebrenica
genocide where the graves are still fresh. Here is the situation of
the concept of human rights from the view of the court ...
This week, victims of another massacre were being commemorated on
its 15th anniversary. On Feb. 25, 1992 Armenians killed some 1,000 of
civilians in the village of Hocali, in Karabagh. Two hundred of them
were women and children. In addition to this mass killing, countless
Azerbeijanis were slaughtered in a number of villages. About 2 million
Azerbeijanis were exiled from their homes and became immigrants in
other regions of Azerbaijan, and they still are.
They're trying to survive under very harsh conditions.
The world is blind to them. Europe is deaf to them.
As I said previously, genocide still lies in the eye of the beholder,
along with massacres, crimes and punishments. Under certain political
and strategic calculations, a genocide can be cleared, while others
may not be even seen. Is this the modern world?
By Hikmet Bila
Turkish Press, MI
Feb 28 2007
CUMHURIYET- It is very upsetting to see that in hundreds of years
nothing has changed. Especially after World War II, efforts to protect
human rights on an international basis led to high hopes.
Crimes against humanity were condemned, and heavy punishments were
foreseen for violators.
But soon we could see that this was only political trickery, a
strategic ruse. A serious crime against humanity like genocide has
also become a tool to advance political and strategic interests.
Genocide is still in the eye of the beholder, as is crime and
punishment.
Twelve years ago, a grave crime against humanity was committed in
Bosnia. Thousands of Bosnians were slaughtered by Serbians. Thousands
of women were raped. Countless old people and children were killed
by snipers. And all of Europe sat and watched this tragedy unfold.
One incident was particularly unbelievable. Srebrenica was declared
a 'safe area' by the United Nations, and thousands of Bosnians took
shelter by laying down their arms. This 'safe area' was to be protected
by Dutch UN troops. But Serbian troops besieged the area and asked
the Dutch troops to hand over the Bosnian civilians to them. And the
Dutch troops did so. The Serbians slaughtered 8,000 civilians, and
the Dutch soldiers did nothing but watch this massacre. Then they did
toasts with these Serbian butchers. Moreover, recently, these Dutch
soldiers were decorated with state medals in the Netherlands.
This week the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled
that the killing of 8,000 Bosnians in Srebrenica was a 'genocide,'
but that Serbia was not guilty of this crime. For this reason, Serbia
isn't obligated to pay compensation to Bosnians!
On the one side, calling events which happened more than 90 years ago
during Ottoman rule a 'genocide' and charging the Republic of Turkey
with responsibility for these events, which have no relation to them
... On the other side, clearing people responsible for the Srebrenica
genocide where the graves are still fresh. Here is the situation of
the concept of human rights from the view of the court ...
This week, victims of another massacre were being commemorated on
its 15th anniversary. On Feb. 25, 1992 Armenians killed some 1,000 of
civilians in the village of Hocali, in Karabagh. Two hundred of them
were women and children. In addition to this mass killing, countless
Azerbeijanis were slaughtered in a number of villages. About 2 million
Azerbeijanis were exiled from their homes and became immigrants in
other regions of Azerbaijan, and they still are.
They're trying to survive under very harsh conditions.
The world is blind to them. Europe is deaf to them.
As I said previously, genocide still lies in the eye of the beholder,
along with massacres, crimes and punishments. Under certain political
and strategic calculations, a genocide can be cleared, while others
may not be even seen. Is this the modern world?