Episode 3: The fall of Srebrenica

Duration: 40 mins

July 1995 - the fall of Srebrenica is one of the toughest chapters of the Bosnian war. It only took 10 days for the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica to fall. The two MSF staff stationed there at the time witnessed the Bosnian Serb force’s attack.

Around 8,000 men and boys over the age of 16 were massacred by Bosnian Serb forces in the enclave.

But how does this happen with hundreds of UN peacekeeper in a so-called ‘safe zone’? Having trusted the UN Protection Force’s commitment to protect the enclave and its population, must MSF accept partial culpability for or complicity in the UN’s abandonment of the enclave and the ensuing massacre of the population? Didn’t MSF give the population the false impression that it would be safe as long as the team was present? And what mechanisms did MSF put in place so that they could speak out over the UN’s inability to protect the people of Srebrenica?

Image: © Olivier Jobard/MYOP