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Subscribe to RSSTUZLA, Bosnia -- Fika was 15 years old, and her sister 17, when they were captured and repeatedly raped by Bosnian Serb soldiers who swept through eastern Bosnia early in the country's 1992-95 war.
"We were forced to watch each other being raped, and I still feel my pain and the pain of my sister," she said. "They wanted us to admit we were spies, so they beat us till they knocked out our teeth."
Twenty years on, Fika is among thousands of Bosnian Muslim women whose search for recognition and support from the Bosnian state is being blocked by Bosnian Serb leaders who fear a wave of compensation claims. Her sister died at the hands of their torturers.
Rights groups are losing patience, warning that the psychological toll is only getting worse with time.
"The silence surrounding the wartime rape of women in the Serb Republic ... is deafening," Amnesty International wrote in October.
Fewer than 40 rape cases have been prosecuted in the 17 years since the war ended, and legislation at the state level to extend compensation and rehabilitation rights to rape victims of the war is gathering dust.
On the 17th anniversary of Europe's worst massacre since World War II, Muslims in Bosnia attended funeral services for 520 newly identified victims. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
The lesson of Bosnia has spurred a push by Britain to raise awareness of sexual violence in war when it takes over the chairmanship of the G8 group of nations next year.
'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladic goes on trial over slaughter at Srebrenica
The British government plans to send police officers, lawyers, psychologists and forensic experts to Bosnia and other conflict and post-conflict countries to work with local authorities.
A delicate balance of Muslims, Serbs and Croats, Bosnia was torn apart as federal Yugoslavia dissolved. An estimated 100,000 people died, most of them Muslims. Some estimates put the number of women raped at up to 35,000, again the majority of them Muslims.
With peace, the country was split into two autonomous regions - the Serb Republic and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, home to mainly Muslims and Croats. The country is ruled by a system of ethnic quotas, with each region enjoying a high level of autonomy and the central state often left powerless to legislate over the entire territory.
The story of Fika, as she asked to be called, is indicative. She declined to give her real name, fearing the stigma attached to many wartime rape victims in Bosnia. Reuters reached her through a non-governmental organization that helps rape victims.
Caught up in a wave of ethnic cleansing of Muslims from eastern Bosnia, Fika was captured and held at a Serb-run detention camp in the town of Vlasenica. She says she lost count of how many times she was raped by her captors.
Finally released, Fika fled to the northern town of Tuzla, now part of the Federation, dropped out of school and struggled to support her mother and younger sister.
Fifteen years ago Tuesday, a peace treaty negotiated by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was signed, ending the war in Bosnia. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Horrors of Srebrenica massacre set out at Mladic trial
Now 34 and a mother, she has not told her three children what happened to her, nor will she return to her home in Vlasenica, which is now part of the Serb Republic and where she believes her rapists still live.
Three years ago, spurred by recurring nightmares, she raised the courage to report two of them to police in the region, but charges were never brought.
She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and receives $330 per month from the Muslim-Croat Federation as compensation.
Those like her who live in the Serb Republic receive nothing, however, because the law there only recognizes those who can prove damage to at least 60 percent of their body as civilian victims of war, disregarding psychological trauma.
'Line of blood': 11,541 red chairs symbolize victims of siege of Sarajevo
Fika told her husband what happened to her, but says she regrets doing so because of the toll it has taken on their marriage.
"I have no idea what keeps me going," Fika said. "My heart is rotten."
"For me, the war never ended. And it never will,” she added.
At least three unsuccessful bids have been made in recent years to enshrine the rights of wartime rape victims in state law. Bosnian Muslims accuse the Serb Republic of blocking their efforts.
Srebrenica: The story that will never end
Amnesty International said the Serb Republic "is still failing to acknowledge the needs of wartime rape survivors - indeed, the existence of a problem at all."
Bosnian Serb War Invalids Minister Petar Djokic said his government was exploring ways to resolve the issue.
"We have already discussed this with some non-governmental organizations dealing with this problem to see how we can resolve this institutionally in the best way," Djokic told Reuters, "without creating another problem for ourselves through any attempted abuse of the social support system.”
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Leave a Comment:
Speaks well for the human race.
Actually, Idiots, former Yugoslavia was full of weapons back then.
The good Christians of Yugo land raped and beat children in the name of GOD. Sorry, no film at eleven. judging by the ones I have known, Yugos are just plain evil. they willingly followed the genocide plans of Milosevic. Just like the Germans in WW2
It's what you do that matters, not what country you're a citizen of. Do you blame all birds for the one that pooped on your car?
And what you're also forgetting is that there were German citizens who helped smuggle Jews out of Germany and Nazi-occupied countries to save their lives, and many, like Oskar Schindler, who tried to save as many as they could.
Again, you can't blame all birds for the one that pooped on your car.
Amanda you appear to be plain ignorant.
Excellent point george. They were completely willing to follow Milosevic because they were fighting crazy, radical, suicide bomber, lunatic muslims. Those peoples value of life is completely different from ours. This is a reason they weren't at war for 10 years and got no where (i.e. Afghanistan). We should let other people deal with problems in their own way. I don't agree with it and the US doesn't follow these kind of practices, but other countries have different problems we will never understand.
Jazz:
Please explain how I am 'ignorant'.
I don't believe that a person is 'evil' just because they were born in a specific country, speak a specific language, call their God by a specific name, have skin of a specific color. I believe that everyone has a personal choice in what they decide to do, and because of that each one has personal responsibility. You evaluate on a person-by-person basis, instead of painting all people of a specific country with the same broad brush.
It's what you do that matters.
george pauljohn,
You have no idea what you're talking about. There were atrocities committed by all 3 sides in Bosnia: Croation, Muslim, Serbian. I met a Serbian man who went into a Serbian house and found 2 Serb children baked in an oven by Muslims. The sad part is that the muslims are actually Serbs whose ancestors were forced to convert by the Ottoman Turks. They walk around bearing Serbian last names and refuse to acknowledge that they are all the same people. If your last name is O'Malley, then there's a solid chance that at some point your family was Irish.
Also, the 35,000 rape number has been proven to be false. This article is irresponsible and using old headlines put together by PR companies hired by Croatians.
In addition, let's not forget that in WW2 Croatians sides with the Nazis and executed 750,000 Serbs in such brutal ways that they shocked the German SS with their brutality. And the flag that Croatia uses today is the same flag they used when they were a fascist state in WW2, therefore the flag is fascist. You'd think they would have chosen a different flag to separate themselves from the image of a fascist Croatia when they murdered all those people. With the help of the Catholic Church I might add.
Before you go condemning people, do some research so you know what you're talking about. I don't comment on Syria because I know nothing about it and I am 100% sure that what the media tells me is in no way accurate.
Amanda.. I know that all birds have the propensity to poop on my car. Especially those flying rats called pigeons. (Just saying...)
Steve--no, not all birds--those that live in your locality have the opportunity (depending on where it's parked, how far you drive, etc.) but there's no way that ALL birds poop on your car, as not all birds live where you live. And some birds, like the flightless Kiwi, have virtually NO opportunity to poop on anyone's car. ;)
I agree, it does speak about the human race. Allowing one's self to get raped is horrible. And then she goes and tells her husband. Like hey, I got raped and din't prevent it, what is the guy suppose to do with that information??? Then, after doing all that, she has the gusto to ask the government for money, like THEY did something wrong. What is wrong with people in the world these days???
Is this an estimate or more like a guesstimate??? Who is doing the tabulating and how??? Do they really think that everyone has come forward??? What about those who died??? Who speaks for them???
The 35,000 number comes from old headlines at the start of the conflict. Muslims and Croatians hired PR firms to promote themselves and make Serbs look evil. They created these headlines by fabricating numbers to shock the world with how "evil" Serbs are.
Truth is the number is nowhere close to that and just as many Serbian women were raped as Muslim or Croatian.
Probably have that many per day throughout the middle-east and zero prosecutions.
Ex-Israeli president jailed for rape
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/03/201132274448124639.html
Qaddafi's ex-Prime Minister goes on trial for mass rape and graft
http://www.arabnews.com/middle-east/qaddafi%E2%80%99s-ex-pm-goes-trial-mass-rape-graft
Pakistan is starting to change theior laws on prosecution of rapists:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/11/16/pakistan_amends_rape_laws/
In Jordan these guys face the death npenalty for rape:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-487965/British-students-raped-Middle-East-men-pretending-save-drunks.html
Three people were hanged in Iraq for murder and rape:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/02/3_hanged_as_iraq_resumes_death_penalty_enforcement/
Three people hanged in Iran for murder and rape:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8653780/Iran-public-hanging-video-emerges.html
Iranian Pastor faces death penalty for rape:
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-30/middleeast/world_meast_iran-christian-pastor_1_violent-crimes-apostasy-execution?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST
So while yes, the punishment for rape and sex crimes against women could use vast amounts of improvement throughout the Middle East, your assertion that there have been zero prosecutions is erroneous.
Sure, no victims on the other side. There were no muslim war criminals. No rapes of Serbian women. Right.
Agreed. This was a terrible conflict (I don't think anyone would deny that), but they were fighting a type of enemy that uses human shields, children, suicide bombers and women to propagate their hate and religion. Terrible chapter in human history. However they need to just let this go it was 20 years ago there are more important things to worry about in that region.
A voice of reason! All the people need to let it go, move on, and fix their countries. There is so much poverty and destitution there that they need to focus on that instead.
@ Adrian
sure there were victims on the other side, but nowhere near the number of 35,000.... Also, as you can read in the article the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is paying restitution to civilian victims of the war, whereas the Serb Republic is completly denying that anything happened.
@ jazz
please list your sources .... And, if you are comparing Bosnian Muslims to terrorist (regardless of religion) then there is no arguing with you. You should really read upon the conflict before commenting on these topics.
@mb
reading through your posts it seems you are the one having a hard time letting go of what happened in WWII(~60+ yrs. ago), Ottoman Empire (~100+ years ago) and are trying to excuse the Serbs for what they did recently (1992-1995).
There is no excuse for atrocities but everybody should acknowledge that Serbs were not the only ones committing them. In addition, the atrocities committed against Serbs were never reported and the ones committed by Serbs were greatly exaggerated.
My comments on the history of the area are for background info and to gain a little insight into the mentality of all the people there.
Regardless of which side they are on these women have been permanently altered by the actions of their rapists. They may learn to live with their mental and emotional (for some also physical) scars, but they will always remember what happened to them. It's very asinine and insensitive to tell anyone that has been raped to "let it go"/"move on" and the fact that their rapists have gone unpunished is unacceptable!
knowsrightandwrong,I agree with your comments.
With the common lack of value which is placed upon women almost worldwide, and little regard for their lives, such atrocities will continue with little fear of being punished in such third world countries.
It is only when countries become more aligned with the ideals of democracy that one usually finds women being afforded similar rights as men.Including freedom from physical assaults and unjust persecutions.
The higher the degree of civilization, the more women gain equal status, history has shown. The more backwards, the less. There have been some rare exceptions, with matriarchal systems in place.
While I would agree with you on the third world countries bit, I would like to point out that prevailing attitudes in reference to rape here in the US may not be much better in some cases.
There was an article some months back about a 14 year old girl gang-raped in TX by a gang of 20 males, 14 adults and six juveniles. The males threatened that if she told they would kill her family, and as her mother was sick in the hospital and her father unemployed, and she was trying to take care of two little sisters (and there were some reports that they may have been homeless) she never told anyone until one of her classmates went to a teacher with a cellphone video taken by one of her attackers of her being raped with a bottle. The authorities declined to prosecute at first as the juveniles were stars of the local high school football team, and as stories circulated of her wearing makeup and trying to look older, and it wasn't until the lead investigator went over his boss's head and took it to state authorities that anyone was arrested and prosecution began. Opinion is still riding high in that town that this girl 'asked for it' by wearing makeup and older-looking clothes and because she never told anyone what was going on.
40 prosecutions out of 35,000 crimes beats the SEC and Justice Department in the recent and ongoing Wall Street/Banking industry indictments which at last count number zip.
Better than Holder is doing with illegal immigration also.
Eric Holder is the Attorney General. Immigration is Janet Napolitano's Dept of Homeland Security's authority under USCIS/ICE/CBP divisions.
Can we get back on topic here?
And this is why men shouldn't be in charge of anything
This is getting so old. It's the bad Serbs again...
Serbs were under the Turkish yoke for almost 450 years, and have acquired their rules of war such as mass rapes from their masters. Primitive, cruel, thieving, mass-murdering, terror-inducing -these are the Serbian tools of war.
Yeah, and Muslims who blow up their own market to make it look like Serbs are awesomely good people. Give me a break.
What about the 300,000 Serbs who were forced out of their homes (they had lived there for centuries) in a matter of days by Croatia who live in refugee camps to this very day?
There were atrocities on all sides and to paint Serbs as evil while exonerating the others is both inaccurate and morally wrong.
There is a history of violence there which includes the Ottoman Turks, Fascist Croatia during WW2, Albanians illegally immigrating into Kosovo and terrorizing Serbs by destroying their homes and businesses and raping young girls, etc, etc.
ALL PARTIES should own up to what they did and move on. There are worse problems over there than dwelling on the past.
@mb
get out of "the bubble".....!!!!!
do the muslims of today forget that it was the so called western powers that helped put a stop to this!!! yet what we get today are suicide bombers as a thank you
The Media has always took sides with the Muslims. Where are the prosecutions of killing people to sell the organs of non believers? Show me one...
This will sound cold to greedy capitalists and bleeding-heart types. War is hell. Sh** happens. It's tragic and horrible for victims. Likewise certain crimes are abhorrent. Victims may have all sorts of physical and emotional damage that can last a lifetime. But what is justice? Vengeance? What is closure? Seeing your abuser in prison or hanging? Nonsense!
I look at witnesses at executions as vampires not people who will feel better seeing the murderer of their loved one die on a gurney. Those who sue for monetary damages I see as vultures not people who will be healed or comforted from their damage by money beyond doctor or therapist bills.
We all suffer one kind of abuse or another from family, from criminals, from invading armies, from corporate collusion, from government, from pit bulls, from psychopaths, ad infinitum. Suing won't change what has occurred or prevent further occurrences. Mass imprisonments or Texas-style executions won't bring back to life a corpse or restore virginity to a rape victim.
You're right...you do sound cold...as in cold-hearted!
Not cold hearted just aware of the harsh reality and except it for what it is.
Bosnia will never prosecute their own soldiers for this, because the Bosnians still hate the Muslims and don't see that they did anything wrong.
rape-murder-power war-lords human rytes -is an atrossity to all mankind
at the end of every day one thing is certen -the sun will set....and tomarrow the
sun will rise....wrong place-ryte place ....is the destiny of all of us as human beings seek not sympathy but compassion......when u close ure eyes at sleep ...think of the goodness u have dun-or-will work on tomaro when the sun rises-intel'suggests we on earth who kno all to well pain suffering hunger war/crimes-street crimes-poison....we have and will addapt for better days are just a thought away.......mm