VU Research Portal Lost in Srebrenica Rijsdijk, E.A.C. 2012 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Rijsdijk, E. A. C. (2012). Lost in Srebrenica: Responsibility and Subjectivity in the Reconstructions of a Failed Peacekeeping Mission. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 Lost in Srebrenica Responsibility and Subjectivity in the Reconstructions of a Failed Peacekeeping Mission ISBN: 9789086595938 © Erna Rijsdijk, 2012 All rights reserved. Save exceptions stated by the law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system of any nature, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, included a complete or partial transcription, without the prior written permission of the proprietor. Cover photo: Eva Lutter (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker), “ Pillar of Shame ,” Srebrenica memorial by Philip Ruch, Berlin 2010 Cover design: Adzer van der Molen Printed by FZ/Reprografie VU University VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT Lost in Srebrenica Responsibility and Subjectivity in the Reconstructions of a Failed Peacekeeping Mission ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. L.M. Bouter, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid op donderdag 2 februari 2012 om 15.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Erna Akkelina Christine Rijsdijk geboren te Haarlemmermeer promotor: prof.dr. W.G. Werner Dedicated to those who got lost in the international community PhD reading committee: Professor Louise Amoore, Durham University Professor David Campbell, Durham University Professor Thomas Spijkerboer, VU University Professor Wouter Veraart, VU University Professor Jaap de Wilde, University of Groningen This research was supported by the following organisations: University of Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom) The Netherlands Defence Academy (Nederlandse Defensie Academie, NLDA) VU University Britisch Council Chevening Scholarships Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds (Reiman - De Bas Fonds, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) International Federation of University Women (Ida Smedley MacLean International Fellowship, Geneva, Switzerland) Acknowledgements 9 1. Introduction : Confronting global trouble 13 2. Lost in International Relations theory : Subjectivity, ethics and responsibility 29 3. Lost in definitions : The making of Srebrenica into a global problem 41 4. Lost in revisionism : The relationality of truth 61 5. Lost in instrumentalism : The depoliticisation of military action, diplomacy and genocide 75 6. Lost in hard knowledge : Uncertainty, intelligence failures and the “last minute genocide” of Srebrenica 93 7. Lost in social order : State narratives and the memory of trauma 113 8. Lost in codification : Resisting state narratives and the strive for healing, closure and objectivity 129 9. Lost in closure : Visions for the future 151 Bibliography 159 Samenvatting (Dutch Summary) 173 Acknowledgements Many people have supported me on the long and winding road that has led to the completion of this PhD thesis. I would like to thank Gerd Junne and Marianne Marchand for encouraging me to develop a PhD research proposal during my postgraduate certificate year at the Research Centre for International Political Economy (RECIPE) of the University of Amsterdam. Marianne introduced me to David Campbell who invited me to come to the University of Newcastle for my PhD research. David’s research on Bosnia enlightened my research on Srebrenica and I thank him for supervising the first part of my project. I am very grateful for his open mindedness towards my theoretical experiments. These experiments may not always have been efficient nor effective, but they have certainly helped me to find my own research perspectives. At the University of Newcastle my office roommates and friends Marieke de Goede and Martin Coward have added a special touch to my stay there. With Marieke I have started my adventure abroad. Together, we found our social and intellectual ways in academia and in many other activities like those related to fundraising. I thank her for that as a friend. I thank Martin for introducing me to Newcastle and for challenging my views in many debates. Together with his partner Alis Coward he offered me his very generous hospitality and care, notably, when I was ill and needed it most. The cooperation with David, Marieke and Martin also found special ground in our reading group “Ralph”. With Ralph we had many inspiring evening debates on a range of philosophical works relevant to our research. I am indebted to several organisations that awarded me grants without which my study in the United Kingdom would not have been possible. Consequently, I would like to thank the University of Newcastle for its tuition waivers and for the international student award. I am also very grateful to the British Council for having awarded me the Chevening Scholarships. Further substantial support was provided by the Dutch Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds (Reiman- de Bas Fonds) and the International Federation of University Women (Ida Smedley Maclean International Fellowship, Switzerland). The Academic Council on the United Nations and the British International Studies Association awarded me travel grants. 9 The remaining financial gaps were filled by teaching jobs, editorial work, offering research assistance and my parents. I thank my parents for their financial safety net, but most of all for their endless trust and moral support of my undertakings. My engagement with Srebrenica was strengthened by the work of the Werkgroep Nederland-Srebrenica (WNS). This non-government organisation was founded by Abel Hertzberger and Magda van der Ende after they had met women from Srebrenica in February 1996, just after the war. Their activities focused on raising the women’s questions in the Netherlands and to strengthen a Dutch commitment to post-war Srebrenica. They started small-scale projects in Srebrenica with Dutch volunteers. The projects were not only aimed at restoring communication and interaction between the inhabitants and former inhabitants of Srebrenica but also between the Dutch and the Srebrenicans, and furthermore at facilitating a return of Bosnian Muslims to the town. I thank WNS for having invited me to join them on one of their trips to Srebrenica, for introducing me to several groups of survivors, for showing me their projects and, finally, for asking me to join the Board of their Foundation, which kept me in contact with the situation of post-war Srebrenica. To see the way that the WNS responded to the women of Srebrenica and how WNS have shaped conditions of possibility for a range of alternative transnational relations, were real eye-openers to me. Special thanks to Aida Begovic who was able to flee from Srebrenica, together with her family, before it finally fell to the Serbs. She and her family offered me their heart- warming hospitality in Sarajevo when I visited there the Red Cross, the International Commission on Missing Persons and the Mothers of Srebrenica for my research. Not having been able to finish my PhD project in Newcastle, I returned to the Netherlands where I combined my research with the position of University Lecturer at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) in Breda. This was quite a challenge in a military organisation that was so intertwined with my research theme. Nevertheless, I praise and thank my colleagues of the NLDA for being patient with me and for providing me with the academic freedom to pursue my critical research project in my own way. I owe special thanks to my colleague Jolanda Bosch, who often showed a radar-like sensitivity to my mental dips. Her words of understanding were much appreciated. Many thanks go to several UN Bosnia veterans from the Netherlands and the UK who shared their thoughts on the UN mission with me. I am also grateful for the discussions I had with the members of Stari Most on their views on the Dutch involvement in Srebrenica. Stari Most member Jehanne van Woerkom showed a passionate and artistic engagement with survivors and I very much appreciate that she shared her personal and artistic investigations 10 into the meaning of their grief with me. My thanks go to VPRO journalist Huub Jaspers for the many discussions we had on the question of foreknowledge of the fall of Srebrenica and to Dion van den Berg for updating me on the Srebrenica views and activities of IKV Pax Christi. Over the years, the International Justwatch Discussion List on war crimes and transitional justice has been a invaluable source of information for my research. I thank Andras Riedlmayer (Harvard University) and Thomas Keenan (Bard College) for setting up and moderating this list and for the helpful exchanges we had. I would like to thank the members of our international and interdisciplinary research group VIEW on International Politics and Law. I mention the long-term members of the group Tanja Aalberts, Maarten Rothman, Rens van Münster, Jaap de Wilde and Wouter Werner to thank them for their constructive comments on my work over the years.