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U.N. investigators unearth evidence of 'civilian massacre'
July 13, 1996
Web posted at: 8:45 p.m. EDT (0045 GMT)
SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- International war crimes investigators discovered chilling evidence this week suggesting that a civilian massacre occurred near the former U.N. enclave of Srebrenica.
Forensics experts excavating a mass grave unearthed skeletons still in civilian clothes, many with their hands wired behind their backs, according to Bill Haglund, a member of the United Nations forensics team. (281k AIFF or WAV sound)
The investigators have exhumed some 60 corpses from a forest slope west of Srebrenica. It's the first of several sites to be excavated in coming weeks.
Many of the victims' skulls were shattered, apparently by high velocity bullets. Shell casings found among the tightly packed bodies suggest that those who were wounded were finished off as they lay among the dead, Haglund said.
The investigators are working under the auspices of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, Netherlands.
The evidence contradicts Bosnian Serb claims that the victims were armed soldiers. It also puts more pressure on the international community to act on arrest warrants for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Ratko Mladic.
About 8,000 Muslims were reported missing after separatist Serbs overran Srebrenica in July 1995. Testimony from witnesses indicates most, if not all, were executed or killed in ambushes as they fled the region.
Suspected grave sites were pinpointed by execution survivors or satellite and spy plane photographs provided by the United States to the U.N. Security Council late last year.
CNN's Vicki Barker and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Muslim women mourn loss at Srebrenica - July 12, 1996
- International arrest warrants issued for Karadzic, Mladic - July 11, 1996
- Bodies uncovered at mass graves in Bosnia - July 9, 1996
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