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Ana Sofia Ruiz

Ms. Harris

AP Seminar Pd: 1

10 December 2019

Cultural Lens in Bosnia-Herzegovina Genocide

“‘As a child it was very scary, we had to sleep at night in a forest or in abandoned houses,

even during the harsh winters. Schools had been shut and there was no longer electricity. It has

taken my childhood away and my home away. I still have nightmares’" said Vernesa Subasic,

survivor of the Bosnian Genocide when asked about her horrific experiences (“Bosnian War

Survivor"). As presented, Subasic’s lucid memory as a child reflects into adulthood. Though a

significant amount of time has passed, her mind is stuck in a never-ending loop of suffering.

According to “Genocide in Bosnia”, the Bosnian Genocide began in 1992 when Serbia wanted to

eliminate Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) with military equipment and various tactics such as the

use of concentration camps and torture methods such as raping women and girls. Using the

cultural and social lens, it will give a broad view of how religion, ethnic identity, and gender

played a role in those that partook in the genocide. It is necessary to address because without any

acknowledgement, the victims will be overwhelmed with suppression and isolation in their

society. The actions and consequences may be repeated in the future which indicates that this

genocide lacks uniqueness. Due to the treatment of the Bosniaks, gendercidal attacks, and lack of

acknowledgement, there may be a need to properly educate the Serbian civilians.

The mistreatment of the Bosniaks give key input on how their cultural values were

affected. Erna Mackic partakes in the chair of the Association of Court Reporters in Sarajevo.
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Her years of experience and dedication to the genocide provide her with a variety of

persepectives during the genocide. According to Mackic, “The attacks [in the Siege of Sarajevo]

were mainly conducted during the day...[and] were not a response to any military threats.” The

Siege of Sarajevo is a key event during the genocide in which Yugoslavic Armies sieged the

capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Her perspective shows how the Bosniaks were unable to fight

back as they were attacked during their daily life. Part of their daily life was to practice the

religion of Islam in their religious structures. Helen Walasek was Deputy Director of Bosnia-

Herzegovina Heritage Rescue and expert in the genocide. In her article, she explores how the

cultural aspects were affected in the genocide. “Ethnic cleansing, cultural genocide, the

intentional destruction of religious structures and historic monuments, obliterating the built

symbols of a group and their heritage, attacks on diversity and pluralism” (Walasek). Her

perspective agrees with Mackic’s because they both establish how the Bosniaks were

intentionally targeted for their cultural identity. Because of the destruction of their sites, their old

cultural heritage is lost from the past. If the Serbs were to be educated on how the destruction

affected Bosnian culture, they would realize how significant this was for the Bosniaks. This may

have been unitintial for the Serbs; however, Walasek claims that earsing those cultural aspects

were planned out. “Those vicious well-planned campaigns directed at civilians aimed squarely at

eradicating any trace of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s historic diversity and traditions of coexistence

among different ethnoreligious groups” (Walasek). She adds on to Mackic’s argument because

she includes how the Serbs devised a plan to suppress any form of their culture in order to

achieve a mono-culture of only Serbs. Walasek uses Serbian killing methods in order to logically

explain how they attempted to suppress and isolate the Bosniak’s culture. Other than religion,

another social injustice was that they were targeted differently based on their gender.
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A clear difference between the treatment of the female victims and the male victims can

be seen when looking back to the planned out methods of killing and torure the Serb’s utilized.

Rana is a female victim who was raped by Serbian officials, giving a first hand perspective on

how other Bosniak women may have been raped. “‘One of [the soldiers] told me to undress but I

said no. He hit me and pushed me to the ground. It was the same man who had set fire to my

house. Then he raped me. The other soldiers stood around and watched. He told them to rape me

too and so I was raped again. Twice,’” (Turton). Sue Turton utilizes a victim’s experience during

the genocide in a way to strengthen her arguement that what they had to go through was

unjustified. In a way, Turton’s perspective agrees with Mackic’s because they both mention how

the Bosniaks did not have the choice to defend themselves. Turton explains how many Bosnian

women suffer from the past since they were mistreated which eventually led to psychological

problems. Age was not taken into consideration when Serbian officials decided to rape a female.

Turton uses another victim, Kelima Dautovic, specifically because she recalls how young

teenage girls would be targeted on purpose and even says that the officials preferred younger

girls. “The girls would come back the next morning totally exhausted but no one would talk

about it. They were ashamed. We all knew silently what had happened but no one discussed it”

(Turton). She uses this key experience to emphasize how helpless these girls were like Mackic

and Walasek did, except that Turton believes that being female was more of a potential danger

than being Muslim. She also thinks that there is a lack of acknowledgement on behalf of all of

the men who raped innocent women. If they were able to hear the female perspective, maybe the

attacks would learn from their mistakes and accept what they did in the past was unjust. A

Doctor of Philosophy named Adam Jones gives insight on the male perspective and how they

were treated. His perspective explains that men were key victims in the genocide; “An estimated
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8000 ‘Bosnian men and boys’ were slaughtered in perhaps the only massacre that is generally

framed in public discourse, as a gender-selective atrocity against the male population” (Jones).

Jones’ perspective disagrees with Turton because she believes that women were the ones that

suffered the most, but he says that men had to go through more terrifying situations. He

completely disregards the women and only focuses on male Bosniaks. He evaluates his view by

directing his article to logos—giving statistics— rather than focusing on pathos—giving a

victim’s story. The Serbian perspective reflected the actions that they took towards the Bosnian

Muslims.

The Serbian perspective believes that the Bosnian Muslims deserved the suffering;

therefore, they engaged in ethnic cleansing to create a ‘pure and uniform’ country. The article

“Bosnian Genocide” uses the historical lens to give a dee understanding of what happened and

why. This article gives multiple perspectives including the Serbian point of view. “Serbs tried to

cover up mass graves by moving bodies to mining sites where they would be mangled by mining

equipment or drenched in chemicals before being thrown into mine pits” (“Bosnian Genocide”).

There is little to no acknowledgement from the Serbs as it is seen in their actions. The need of

education to Serbs is key to achieve peace with the Bosniaks to avoid further isolation. “Bosnian

[Genocide’s]” position agree’s with Walasek’s because they both explain a use of plan that the

Serbs made, not only to erase the Bosniaks, but also to cover up their actions to avoid any type of

consquence. David Rohde is an American author who won the Pulitzer Prize for International

Reporting because of his coverage of the Bosnian-Herzegovina Genocide. He describes the

intention behind the genocide and why Ratko Mladic, the former head of the Serbian Army.

“Mladić’s forces ‘deliberately shelled and sniped the civilian population of Sarajevo,’ while the

residents were ‘walking with their children, fetching water, collecting wood or while at the
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market’” (Rohde). Mladić knew that this chaos was happening and did nothing about it because

he did not care. Rohde uses the Siege of Sarajevo, like Mackic, so that he can discuss how the

Serbs killed the Bosniaks. His word choice suggest that the Serb’s targets were intentional as

Walasek describes. Rohde then uses evidence during Mladić’s convection to show what his drive

to commit genocide was. “In their verdict, the judges cited as part of Mladić’s motivation his

repeated statements that Muslim fighters in Srebrenica had killed Serb civilians earlier in the

war” (Rohde). Mladić believes that a sense of revenge could be justified for mass murder. He

thinks that it was the right thing to do which disagrees with all views presented except the article

“Bosnian Genocide” since both point of views believe that the genocide was not a big deal.

Proper education for today’s Serbians is necessary because of the treatment of the

Bosniaks, gendercidal attacks, and lack of acknowledgement. Bosnians and Serbs often get a

biased or one-sided story to the genocide which may give a false view of what—historically—

happened. Regardless, the cultural and social aspects are important when discussing the Bosnia-

Herzegovina genocide because they allow a clear understanding of why the genocide started and

continued in the first place.

Total Word Count: 1481

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Works Cited

“Bosnian Genocide.” World Without Genocide, http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/

genocides-and-conflicts/bosnia. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.

“Bosnian War Survivor Reveals How Ratko Mladic Genocide 'Took' Her Childhood.”

BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/42080013/bosnian-war-survivor-reveals-how-

ratko-mladic-genocide-took-her-childhood. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.

“Genocide in Bosnia.” Holocaust Museum Houston, https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide

in-bosnia-guide/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019.

Jones, Adam. “Gendercide: Examining Gender-Based Crimes against Women and Men.”

ResearchGate, March 2013 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235728095_

Gendercide_Examining_Gender-Based_Crimes_against_Women_and_Men. Accessed 9

Dec. 2019.

Mackic, Erna. “Siege of Sarajevo: perpetrators of deadly attacks remain unprosecuted.” Social

Europe, 13 March 2019. https://www.socialeurope.eu/siege-of-sarajevo. Accessed 8

Dec. 2019.

Rohde, David. “Why Did Ratko Mladic Commit Genocide Against Bosnia’s Muslims.” The

New Yorker, 26 Nov. 2017. www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-did-ratko-mladic

commit-genocide-against-bosnias-muslims. Accessed 15 Oct. 2019.

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Turton, Sue. “Bosnian War Rape Survivors Speak of Their Suffering 25 Years On.” The

Independent, 21 July 2017. www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/bosnia-war-rape

survivors-speak-serbian-soldiers-balkans-women-justice-suffering-a7846546.html.

Accessed 2 Oct. 2019.

Walasek, Helen. “Ethnic Cleansing, War Crimes and the Destruction of Cultural Heritage: Not

Syria, but Bosnia Twenty Years Ago.” OpenDemocracy, 22 Feb. 2016.

www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/ethnic-cleansing-war-crimes-and

destruction-of-cultural-heritage-no/. Accessed 1 October 2019.