Bosnian Serb General Mladic To Stand Trial For Crimes Against Humanity
Ratko Mladic, the former commanding general of the Bosnian Serb Army during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992-1995, having been a fugitive for 16 years, stood in the dock at the International Court in The Hague last Friday, was arraigned, and will stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity that were committed under his command.
His once pugilistic and braggadocious pose was gone–he had aged considerably and a stroke had left his arm frail.
Mladic’s ideologically driven military operations were  responsible  for the siege of Sarajevo, the longest war exacted on any city in history to macabre results:  the murders of 10,000 people, including 1,600 children. Sarajevans ran out of space to bury their dead and were forced to use a football field as a cemetery. The land encircling a 1984 Olympics facility, that was once the pride and joy of  all Bosnians–but especially so for Sarajevans–had sadly become a burial ground for eternity.
Mladic’s lustful and lethal handiwork was not satisfied with the destruction of Sarajevo. His forces took over Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, a small village near the Serbian border and before the day was done it is estimated that 8,000 Muslim men and boys–all civilians, were murdered by Mladic’s army and buried in unmarked mass graves dotting the beautiful landscape of Eastern Bosnia that belies these monstrous crimes.
Mladic, arrested in Northern Serbia on May 26th, was wanted for some of the most heinous war crimes committed on the continent of Europe since World War II. There are not adequate words to describe the horror this man wrought upon the Muslim and to some extent, the Croat population of Bosnia. He was a monster, whose daughter also suffered for his conduct, when she committed suicide in 1994 while studying at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade during the war.
In the aftermath of the Bosnian War, I was privileged to work on the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords, brokered by the Clinton Administration in November 1995. As a human rights officer and later as political advisor and spokesperson for the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was deeply involved in assisting the peoples and the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina confront the consequences of the war, while transitioning to a post-conflict, democratic form of government.
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The lesson is that difference, when demonized by reckless leaders in societies that eventually spiral out-of-control, end up as broken shards of communities, with such deep enmity that it will surely take at least one generation to recover for Bosnia, if not more, as one such example. In America, there are those who still argue the purpose and cause of the Civil War, an occurrance of nearly 150 years ago.
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This experience changed my life forever and brought me to new understanding about the long-term viability of states, when an effort is engaged to push for reconciliation between former warring parties, it can not be accomplished without providing mechanisms that truly afford those aggrieved parties with some tangible form of justice.
The arrest by Serbian police of Mladic is a huge step forward for Bosnia and provides an opportunity for Serbia to begin a legitimate European Union accession process.
No one should ever forget what Mladic and his cohort of dangerous and grandiose leaders heaped upon the peoples of the Former Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic and the subordinates who carried out their orders, directly participated in the destruction of this country out of ideology and hatred of “other.”
An accounting of Mladic’s crimes  has now begun, and so long overdue.
To actually see Mladic standing in the dock at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia brings some sense of justice — that finally, the law caught up with Mladic and he has been justly called to task before an international  court and the world for an accounting of his unspeakable crimes.
Bosnia and countries like it, including in our own (the current hatred exhibited in the U.S. toward immigrants, Muslims, people of Arab descent and LGBT persons), present a cautionary tale about the repudiation of diversity. The lesson is that difference, when demonized by reckless leaders in societies that eventually spiral out-of-control, end up as broken shards of communities, with such deep enmity that it will surely take at least one generation to recover for Bosnia, if not more, as one such example. Â In America, there are those who still argue the purpose and cause of the Civil War, an occurrance of nearly 150 years ago.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=g1JyxFoejsI%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US
Thus, it is not surprising in the 16 years since the war ended, that a nascent LGBT movement in Sarajevo can barely get itself off the ground without facing violence in 2008. It was driven underground a year later when it chose to celebrate a virtual Pride celebration via billboards and on-line public service announcements and skipped staging a 2010 Pride event altogether as it regroups.
For countries to be sustainable in post-conflict, a safe process must unfold that embraces difference as a strength within Bosnia and the region as a whole. While Mladic’s arrest is important for Serbia, its democracy remains quite fragile and without wholesale acknowledgement by its government leaders, could simply be a “one off” availing a calculating Serbia access to the process to enter the EU, without admitting responsibility for terrible crimes.  Croatia and Kosovo’s leaders must demonstrate that delivering war criminals to the Hague and through their national courts, establishes a resolute respect for the rule of law, thus an accounting that can set new terms for a peaceful future that is sustainable.
So next month at Potocari, when newly identified remains are buried in an annual ritual of sorrow, it will mark the first time that Ratko Mladic, the executioner of Srebrenica, is behind bars. May peace be a gift and a salve to all those sorrowful souls who have suffered such heartbreaking loss. May peace be your gift.
(Image:Â Srebrenica Coffins Prepared for Burial at Potochari, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2004, by Tanya Domi.)
Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Institute affiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.
Read Tanya Domi’s most-​recent previous article at The New Civil Rights Movement, “Weinergate: Las Vegas Bettors Playing The Odds.“
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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”
“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.
Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).
The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.
A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.
“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.
“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”
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Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”
In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”
Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”
“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”
The original video is here.
See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.
Caution: the video is disturbing.
Ole Miss taking care of business. pic.twitter.com/JiL9hs2pHz
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 3, 2024
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Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.
While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.
But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.
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“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”
The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.
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NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.
“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”
Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.
“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”
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“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.
“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”
One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.
But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”
Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”
Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.
“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.
“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”
Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.
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Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
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