How the Bosnian Genocide Started (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:00) [Music] (00:00:01) [Applause] (00:00:03) You're looking at Nicola Gardovich. (00:00:06) He's the father of the groom, Milan, (00:00:08) who's getting married today, and he (00:00:10) couldn't be more proud. Their small (00:00:12) apartment in Sievo is bursting at the (00:00:15) seams with friends and family all ready (00:00:17) to celebrate the newlyweds. (00:00:20) It's a day of joy and probably the (00:00:23) happiest day of Nicola's life. (00:00:27) But in less than 3 hours, Nicola will be (00:00:32) dead. (00:00:33) [Music] (00:00:36) >> It's the early 1990s. (00:00:39) Yugoslavia is a state made up of several (00:00:41) different ethnicities. Serbs, Croats, (00:00:44) Slovenines, Bosnjaks, and Albanians to (00:00:47) name a few. And it's falling apart. (00:00:50) Years of corruption, inflation, rising (00:00:53) nationalism, and tension between the (00:00:55) many ethnic groups has finally reached a (00:00:57) breaking point. And now, less than a (00:01:00) year ago, Serbian President Slopped Milo (00:01:04) took control of the shared Yugoslav (00:01:06) military. He's now the most powerful man (00:01:09) in Yugoslavia. (00:01:10) Publicly, he's begun talking about (00:01:12) uniting all Serbs into one giant state (00:01:16) without Croats, Albanians, or Bosnjaks. (00:01:19) To most it sounds like ethnic cleansing. (00:01:22) And for Bosnia's president, Aaliyah is (00:01:25) Begovich, it's clear what needs to (00:01:27) happen. Bosnia will leave Yugoslavia. (00:01:31) He's called for a vote of independence. (00:01:33) And as expected, his Bosnian Serb (00:01:35) colleagues are far from pleased. (00:01:49) This is Radavan Karajic, leader of the (00:01:52) Bosnian Serbs. And right now he's (00:01:55) speaking in parliament with a message (00:01:57) for Isovich, (00:01:59) a threat. (00:02:10) [Music] (00:02:12) Karajic has just openly threatened the (00:02:14) president. (00:02:47) Despite the public threats from his (00:02:49) Serbian rival, Isovich is convinced that (00:02:52) Karajic is bluffing. (00:02:55) And for a moment, it looks like he's (00:02:57) right. On the day of the vote, nothing (00:02:59) happens apart from a Serbian boycott, (00:03:02) which was expected. And with a Bosnjak (00:03:05) and Croat majority, Isat Begovich wins. (00:03:09) Back at the wedding of Nicola's son, (00:03:11) Milan and his bride, Diana, no one's (00:03:14) thinking about the risk of a civil war. (00:03:17) With the ceremony over, the wedding (00:03:19) guests drive to Sievo's old part of town (00:03:21) for the reception. Along the way, they (00:03:24) wave Serbian flags from their cars, honk (00:03:27) their horns through the streets, and (00:03:28) sing out of the windows. By pure chance, (00:03:32) the party convoy passes a known Bosnjak (00:03:34) gangster walking on the side of the (00:03:36) street. And when he sees the Serbian (00:03:38) flags, he's furious. (00:03:43) [Music] (00:03:45) [Applause] (00:03:47) >> Offscreen, the man has just entered the (00:03:49) car park with a gun. (00:03:53) [Applause] (00:04:00) Nicola Gardovich is dead. By all (00:04:03) accounts, it was a case of being at the (00:04:06) wrong place at the wrong time. But it (00:04:09) doesn't matter. Serb leaders are quick (00:04:11) to call it proof their communities are (00:04:13) no longer safe, while Bosnjak officials (00:04:16) call it the act of a reckless criminal. (00:04:18) To make matters worse, the gunman, (00:04:20) though quickly identified, is not (00:04:22) arrested. (00:04:25) That same evening, armed Serb militias (00:04:28) loyal to Karaj throw up barricades and (00:04:30) checkpoints across Sievo. Local police (00:04:33) are completely powerless and within (00:04:35) hours, the capital is effectively under (00:04:38) Serb control. The next day, Isizovich (00:04:41) and Karajic meet to calm things down and (00:04:44) hopefully bring an end to the tension (00:04:45) before it escalates any further. What is (00:04:49) Begoich doesn't know is that Karajic has (00:04:52) already been given backing from (00:04:53) Miloshvich and Croatia's president to (00:04:56) split Bosnia. In secret, Milosvich (00:05:00) starts to transfer Bosnian Serbs from (00:05:02) the Yugoslav army directly into (00:05:04) Carajit's Bosnian units. Overnight, his (00:05:08) force goes from a few scattered militias (00:05:10) to more than 80,000 troops. On top of (00:05:13) that, Milosovich also sends his (00:05:15) soon-to-be infamous paramilitary. (00:05:18) Among them are some of Serbia's most (00:05:20) hardcore ultraists, and they've been (00:05:23) given one order, to remove anyone that (00:05:26) isn't Serbian, by any means necessary. (00:05:30) Their first target is the city of Belina (00:05:33) in northeastern Bosnia in early April of (00:05:35) 1992 (00:05:39) It takes the heavily armed Serbian (00:05:40) forces just 3 days to capture the city. (00:05:44) On the final day, the soldiers track (00:05:46) down and round up any known Bosnjaks and (00:05:49) supporters of Isizette Begoich. They're (00:05:51) then lined up on the side of the streets (00:05:53) and the town square and executed. (00:05:59) The ethnic cleansing of Bosnia has begun (00:06:04) in Sievo. Tens of thousands of Bosnjaks, (00:06:07) Croats, and Serbs flood the city center, (00:06:10) marching together for peace. Suddenly, (00:06:14) some of the demonstrators decide to (00:06:16) march towards Karaj's party (00:06:18) headquarters, the Holiday Inn. (00:06:22) [Music] (00:06:23) They don't know that Karaj has placed (00:06:25) snipers on top of several buildings (00:06:27) around the hotel. And as the crowd (00:06:29) attempts to storm the lobby, they open (00:06:32) fire. (00:06:34) [Applause] (00:06:39) Six people die (00:06:42) across the east of Bosnia. Karajit's (00:06:44) units move into towns with largely (00:06:46) Bosnjak populations. Civilians are (00:06:49) dragged from their homes, beaten in the (00:06:51) streets, or taken away at gunpoint. In (00:06:54) Zornic alone, around 2,000 people vanish (00:06:57) in just a few days. (00:07:00) Any remaining survivors are told to (00:07:02) leave the city. (00:07:05) A week ago, 49,000 Bosnjaks lived in (00:07:08) Zornik. Now, not a single one remains. (00:07:13) Five centuries of Islamic life and (00:07:15) culture have been wiped out. (00:07:18) It doesn't take long before the Bosnian (00:07:20) Serb forces control 3/4 of Bosnia. And (00:07:24) so, their final target, Sievo, is next. (00:07:28) For the next four years, Karajic will (00:07:31) bomb the city every single day, hitting (00:07:34) homes, hospitals, and schools. Food, (00:07:38) water, and electricity will run out (00:07:40) after just a few months. Over 100,000 (00:07:43) people will die, and more than 2 million (00:07:46) will be displaced. (00:07:50) Not until in late 1995, after NATO air (00:07:53) strikes forced Milosvich to negotiate (00:07:56) peace, the Bosnian war and genocide will (00:07:59) end. (00:08:01) Karajic was arrested in 2008 after more (00:08:04) than a decade in hiding. (00:08:06) Milosvich was arrested in 2001 and sent (00:08:10) to the Hague soon after. Both were (00:08:12) charged with genocide and crimes against (00:08:15) humanity. (00:08:16) Karajic was found guilty on all accounts (00:08:19) and sentenced to 40 years in prison. (00:08:22) Milosovich died of a heart attack in (00:08:24) 2006 in his cell before his trial could (00:08:27) conclude. (00:08:29) For Izzovich, peace came at a price. (00:08:32) >> You have seen what war has wrought. You (00:08:36) know what peace can bring. (00:08:39) Seize this chance and make it work. In (00:08:43) an effort to end the war quickly, the US (00:08:46) focused on securing peace at any cost. (00:08:49) Seeing Bosnia's government exhausted and (00:08:51) surrounded, it was decided that the (00:08:53) burden of compromise would fall on them. (00:08:58) The result was a peace deal that left (00:09:00) nearly half the country under Bosnian (00:09:02) Serb control and built a state divided (00:09:05) into two. (00:09:07) More than 30 years later, many Bosnjak (00:09:10) and Croat families still haven't (00:09:11) returned to the homes that were taken (00:09:13) from them during the war. Thousands who (00:09:16) survived extreme human rights abuses are (00:09:19) still waiting for justice. But with the (00:09:22) international trials long over and (00:09:24) leaders in Bosnia's Serb controlled (00:09:26) region denying many of the crimes ever (00:09:28) taking place, the chances of that ever (00:09:30) happening are almost zero. (00:09:34) As for the man who killed Nicola (00:09:36) Gardovich in 2007 on his way to morning (00:09:40) prayers, he was shot and killed outside (00:09:42) his apartment in Sievo. (00:09:45) His killer was never found. (00:09:49) [Music]