Retirees Threaten Srpska

These were not sad and impotent protests of retirees that could until recently be witnessed all over Bosnia-Hercegovina, but a massive, fierce and desperate rebellion. We witnessed an astonishing sight: elderly men and women, whose faces and clothing, as well as their shouts, betray neglect and humiliation, are confronting armed to the teeth policemen, and refusing to concede ground!

by Ivan LOVRENOVIC

Feral Tribune, Split, Croatia, November 18, 2004

If crisis is the permanent way of life in all of Dayton Bosnia-Hercegovina, this applies even more to its "Serb part", the Republic of Srpska. From its earliest days this strange territorial-political construct has experienced one cycle of crisis after another, each phase bringing into question "its very survival". Taken as a whole, the crisis there has two aspects: an internal one reflecting the catastrophic social and material position of its population, and an external one reflecting various forms of international pressure aimed at its gradual "de-nazification" (dismissals of Karadzic's appointees from government, demands for the arrest of war criminals, orders to investigate and admit to the crime in Srebrenica, etc).

Overblown Criticism

Yet at the other pole of this state of permanent instability and crisis lies the fact that Srpska, like a cat, appears to have an inexhaustible number of "lives", managing to extricate itself from each crisis, however difficult this may be or appear, seemingly undiminished in strength and endurance. It is public knowledge that this is due to international policy, which for reasons of its own maintains Bosnia-Hercegovina - hence also Srpska within it - in its present dysfunctional and provisional existence. To be fair, however, one should not neglect the other factor that enables - for how long? - this absurd and unviable contraption to survive all challenges. I am referring to the tenacious ethnic collectivism, with its unfathomable reserves of mental energy, that in Srpska still keeps a firm and heavy grip on any possibility of the visible expression of civic-individual political or cultural orientations.

Over the past few days RS has found itself enveloped by yet another of its typical crises, leading its political authorities yet again loudly to proclaim: "If this or that is not done, the existence of Srpska will be called into question ..."

Once the B-H constitutional court had adopted the Srpska government's report on the 1995 massacres in Srebrenica, the next event in the international calendar was marked by Paddy Ashdown's speech to the UN Security Council, in which he sharply warned that Srpska was blocking Bosnia-Hercegovina's path to EU and NATO by ignoring its obligations towards the Hague tribunal: i.e. by failing to arrest Karadzic, Mladic and others indicted for war crimes. Then came the report by the Hague tribunal's president Theodor Meron to the UN General Assembly, in which he accused Srpska of its singular failure to cooperate with the Tribunal, adding that the latter's historic mission will not be completed until all the major indictees have been brought to justice.

Action In Pale

Finally, there is the impending report by Carla del Ponte to the United Nations, which, unless something dramatic happens, will lead to serious measures being adopted by the international community against Bosnia-Hercegovina and Srpska. Banja Luka takes a serious view of all this. At the same time as Theodor Meron was speaking on the East River, Srpska president Dragan Cavic was visiting Belgrade, where he demanded help in this regard from Serbia's premier Vojislav Kostunica and president Boris Tadic. "I made it very clear that we expect the Serbian leaders to cooperate in this task, since it is clear that a number of individuals indicted by The Hague, who are citizens of Srpska, currently live in Serbia", Cavic stated on his return. He also announced that the Srpska police will do its duty, and that one could expect fresh arrests within days. Indeed two days later Srpska special police arrested, all by itself, eight individuals indicted for the kind of crimes that The Hague has decided may be investigated by local courts. What is interesting is the fact that all of them had been indicted by the public prosecutor of the Sarajevo canton, and that the arrested were promptly handed over to his office. The police action involved Pale, Lukavica near Sarajevo, and Foca. Those arrested include Jovan Skobo, Cvetko Novakovic, Momir Glisic, Goran Vasic, Zeljko Mitrovic-Gilmar, Veselin Cancar, Dragoje Radovanovic-Srce and Momir Skakavac.

Satirical Impression

Skobo was a high police officer in Pale during the war, while Vasic and Cancar have already been tried for war crimes. The Srpska interior minister Darko Matijasevic has announced new arrests, stressing that the police will "do all that is required in pursuance of full cooperation with The Hague, without any reservations."

But in order to give a full picture of Srpska everyday life these days, one must mention also the huge wave of demonstrations by elderly retirees affecting Banja Luka, Prijedor, Bosanska Gradiska and other cities. These were not the sad and impotent gatherings of old people normally witnessed throughout Bosnia-Hercegovina, but a massive, angry and bitter rebellion. They presented an astonishing sight: elderly men and women, whose faces and dress and also shouts displayed all their humiliation and neglect, confronted strong and heavily equipped "specials" yet refused to concede any ground! The result: the police used force and there were many injured.

It should not be thought that the arrest of the eight - or those that are supposed to follow - is the sign of a radical turn in Srpska. That would not happen even if they arrested Karadzic - though this is not likely to happen, since it is a matter of agreement transcending the level of Banja Luka. Nor will the retirees' protests and the still more massive ones to come make any difference. Yet one cannot escape the impression that the two events taken together do tell a new and previously unthinkable story: Serb police arresting Serb heroes and beating up elderly retired Serbs.