Balkans War

9 Stories

Serbia, Croatia Cleared of Genocide

ICJ says claims of genocide in Balkan Wars were not proven

(Newser) - Neither Serbia nor Croatia committed genocide in the wake of Yugoslavia's collapse, the International Court of Justice says in a verdict this morning from the Hague, per Reuters . In a case filed in 1999, Croatia had claimed Serbia committed genocide, including during a three-month occupation in Vukovar, during the...

Serbia, Bosnia Crack Case of 1993 Massacre

15 people arrested today

(Newser) - Police in Serbia and Bosnia arrested 15 people today in a wartime massacre case that traumatized the Balkans and came to symbolize a culture of impunity that still shields notorious wartime death squads and their masters. Prosecutors from Serbia and Bosnia, bitter wartime enemies, say they worked together to crack...

Honeybees Trained to Find Land Mines

Move over, dogs and rats

(Newser) - Honeybees are better known for producing delicious condiments than saving lives, but all that could change thanks to a team of Croatian researchers, who are training them to find unexploded land mines. Bees have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to find food, so the researchers are reprogramming...

Serbia Finally Sorry for Srebrenica

Stops short of calling massacre 'genocide'

(Newser) - Serbia moved closer to getting into the EU yesterday when its parliament condemned the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys. Despite opposition from Serb nationalists, an overwhelming majority voted in favor of the resolution that "strongly condemned" Europe's worst mass killing since World War II...

Karadzic Refuses to Leave Cell for Trial

Proceedings halted as alleged war criminal boycotts

(Newser) - The long-awaited trial of Radovan Karadzic was halted just 15 minutes after opening because the former Bosnian Serb leader refused to leave his cell and attend the proceedings. Although prosecutors in The Hague asked the judges to continue in his absence, the presiding magistrate suspended the proceedings until tomorrow. The...

Serb Cousins Convicted of Burning 132 People Alive

Torched houses after locking Muslims inside

(Newser) - Two Serb cousins were convicted yesterday by the UN tribunal in the Hague of burning scores of Bosnian men, women, and children to death during the early 1990s. Milan Lukic was sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of "at least 132 Muslim people," whom he locked...

Gift Cows Give Hope to Kosovo War Widows

Aid group helps heal the wounds of war in Europe's fledgling country

(Newser) - A Dutch organization is helping steer Kosovo's war widows toward a brighter future, Radio Free Netherlands reports. Many were left to fend for themselves after losing loved ones in the war against Serbia; now the Dutch group The Bridge is giving them cows to put food on the table and...

Brits Bust Quiet Locksmith Suspected in '91 War Crimes

Serb linked to brutal Balkan war massacres

(Newser) - A locksmith living quietly in northern England has been arrested for involvement in one of the most notorious massacres of the Balkan wars, reports the Times of London. Milorad Pejic, an ethnic Serb who now holds a British passport, faces trial for war crimes during the 87-day siege of Vukovar,...

Still Hunting the World's Most Wanted Man

12 years later, architect of Bosnian massacre remains at large

(Newser) - He ordered mass murders, used gang-rape as a military weapon, and coined the term "ethnic cleansing" in the Balkans War, but a dozen years later Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic still roams the hills where he once wrought havoc. With Karadzic still a fugitive from international justice, the Guardian ...

9 Stories