Bosnian Serb jailed for genocide role

Milorad Trbić, an officer of the erstwhile Bosnian Serb army, has been sentenced to 30 years in jail by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for his role in the Srebrenica Massacre of 1995, in which over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed.

The court found that, as the Duty Operations Officer of the Zvornik Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska in July 1995, Trbić "significantly contributed to the implementation" of the massacre, and did so "with genocidal intent".

Meanwhile, talks aiming to resolve disputes over power sharing in the loose federal structure of Bosnia-Herzegovina have apparently stalled. According to Valentin Inzko, the Austrian diplomat serving as the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, "Bosnia is in a state of paralysis".

The possibility of a return to violence has been voiced by some observers. Although that is highly unlikely, it seems the wounds have still not healed.

Bosniak war widow wants church off her land

Fata Orlović, a Bosnian Muslim woman from the village Konjević Polje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has been waging a battle for several years to get a Serbian Orthodox church removed from her property. Orlović was expelled from her village during the Bosnian War, and her husband was killed in the war. When she returned in 2000, she found that a church had been constructed on her land, right in front of her house.

Ever since, she has been appealing to the authorities to remove the church. The Bosnian Serb authorities have relented, and are now planning to dismantle the church building and move it to a different location.

It is not dislike for Christianity that motivates Orlović. As she says, "It doesn't bother me that it's a church.... I respect churches as much as mosques. But if they want a church they should just put it on their land instead of mine. I respect all nations and religions, but I can't respect people building on my land."

According to James Rodehaver, the Human Rights Director of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) office in Sarajevo, "If she doesn't get the church off her land you will never have a society that is governed by the rule of law.... The legacy of the war would never be resolved" (BBC).

This story does show that Bosnia has come a long way since the war, though. The very fact that the Bosnian Serb authorities are taking Mrs Orlović's request seriously and are willing to remove the building that was illegally placed on her land -- despite the fact that it is as politically sensitive a building as a church -- speaks volumes.

Bosnian War death toll revised downwards

A study entitled "The Bosnian Book of Dead", conducted over the course of three years by the Research and Documentation Centre located in Sarajevo, has concluded that 97,207 people were killed in the Bosnian War (1992-1995).

According to the Centre, about 65% of those killed were Muslims (Bosniaks), 25% were Serbs, and 8% were Croats (BBC).

I'm glad that this number is only half the original estimate of 200,000. But it is still shocking that this many people were killed in a Europe that had supposedly learned the lessons of the two World Wars.

Muslims suffered disproportionately in the war: although 65% of those killed in the war were Muslims, the community represented only 41% of the population of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991.