Bosnian Timeline

BOSNIAN CONFLICT TIMELINE: 1992 – Present By J.M. Roberts Sub-feature to WEEKENDER magazine August 4, 2006

1992 – War breaks out and Serbs quickly assume control of over half the republic. Ethnic cleansing is rampant in the newly proclaimed Serb Republic but also widespread in Muslim and Croat-controlled areas. 1993 – The conflict becomes extremely complex. Muslims and Serbs form an alliance against Croats in Herzegovina, rival Muslim forces fight each other in north-west Bosnia, Croats and Serbs fight against Muslims in central Bosnia. The UN creates 6 safe havens for Bosnian Muslims; they include Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihac, Zepa, Gorazde and Srebrenica. 1995 July – Safe havens Srebrenica, Zepa, and Tuzla are overrun by Serb forces. Thousands of Bosnian men and boys are separated from their families and massacred, despite the presence of Dutch UN troops. 1995 November – Dayton peace accord signed, effectively ending the war in Bosnia. It creates two entities of roughly equal size, one for Bosnian Muslims and Croats, the other for Serbs. Each has its own president, government, parliament, and police force. Overarching these entities is a central Bosnian government and rotating presidency. 1995 – Dayton Accord establishes the Office of the High Representative. The representative is given vast powers to impose decisions in cases where the authorities are unable to agree, or where political and economic interests are considered to be at stake. 1996 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia begins work in The Hague. Drazen Erdemovic, a Croat conspirator and the first of the war criminals, is sentenced to five years in prison. 2000 September – Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters take to the streets of Belgrade to demand Milosevic’s resignation. 2001 April – Milosevic is arrested after an early-morning stand-off at his home. 2001 August – Hague war crimes tribunal finds Bosnian Serb Gen Radislav Krstic guilty of genocide in Srebrenica. Krstic sentenced to 46 years. Three other Muslim generals indicted for war crimes. 2002 February – Trial of Slobodan Milosevic, indicted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, begins in The Hague. 2002 March – Serbian authorities, in cooperation with The Hague tribunal, issue arrest warrants for Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and three other top Milosevic aides. Former Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, commits suicide 2003 March – Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic is assassinated in Belgrade. 2004 May – Prominent journalist Dusko Jovanovic shot dead. He had previously alleged corruption in the Montenegrin leadership. 2006 February – International Court of Justice in The Hague begins hearings in genocide case brought by Bosnia-Herzegovina against Serbia and Montenegro.

2006 March – Slobodan Milosevic found dead in his cell in The Hague. He is buried in his hometown of Pozarevac, but is refused a state funeral. 2006 June – Montenegro declares independence. Serbia responds by declaring itself independent sovereign successor state to Union of Serbia and Montenegro. All tolled: Between February 1992 and November 1995, an estimated 110,000 dead and 2.2 million displaced internally or as refugees.