French expert: “The life of Serbs in Sarajevo in the 90s was worth nothing”
French expert and member of the independent International Commission on the Suffering of the Serbs in Sarajevo from 1991 to 1995, military doctor Patrick Barriot said that the trauma suffered by the Serbs in the 90s affects new generations of this people.
The expert stated this during the II International Conference dedicated to the work of independent commissions in Sarajevo and Srebrenica, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
An expert in military and disaster medicine, retired Colonel Barriot knows Bosnian issues firsthand, having worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war in the 90s.
“The consequences for Serbs from this war are disorders caused by post-traumatic stress, including anxiety, depression, fear, insomnia, not only affecting people who have direct traumatic experiences, but also their family members,” the expert said. – There is also a collective transmission of post-traumatic disorder from person to person, almost like an infection, and from generation to generation (we are still talking about two generations of the same family who are in physical contact).
Such transmission can take place in words, legends, stories, and can even be subconscious, wordless, because parents can convey them to their children with the help of their attitude, behavior, and non-verbal language. Anxiety, depression, aggression, drug addiction and alcohol abuse are the consequences of this trauma.”
According to Patrick Barriot, members of the International Commission conducted a study in which they randomly selected people from a list of citizens of the Republika Srpska who lived in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995.
Two questionnaires were used - a standard one for diagnosing post-traumatic syndrome in individuals or groups (during, for example, road accidents or natural disasters), as well as a special one, which was adapted to the situation in Sarajevo and Bosnia, including specific questions taking into account the context of the war in Bosnia. Questionnaires were completed during the interviews.
“We identified post-traumatic syndrome in generations who experienced either one or two wars (World War II and the war of the 90s - ed.). At the same time, according to the second questionnaire, we saw that the younger generation, which did not have direct contact with these historical events, but they had the same characteristics as previous generations, that is, we see a collective transmission of post-traumatic stress.
The very last question on the survey was about the most traumatic event people had experienced: they told us about nearby murders, rapes and tortures (either witnessed or been the subject of them), they recalled how they were kicked out of their homes, numerous deaths of loved ones, desecration of graves,” - said the expert.
A retired French colonel said that the Serbs in BiH were subjected to a campaign of demonization and a campaign of terror, one aspect of the latter being the creation of a network of prisons in Sarajevo, where the most unimaginable atrocities took place.
More than two hundred members of the Serbian community were reported missing, with official figures being underestimated.
“The current Bosnian Serb population suffers from these traumas from two conflicts in the 20th century. These wounds that remain from wars do not heal, but we can at least not pour salt on them and not add fuel to the fire.
The suffering of the Serbs must be recognized and attention paid to it so that justice can finally prevail. The violence against the Serbs has never been properly assessed as a crime against humanity. At the same time, it is necessary to avoid a situation where one of the parties to the conflict is completely whitewashed.
The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made great efforts to cover up the crimes committed against the Serbian population. And they do not allow the remains to be exhumed.
It is necessary to prevent the desecration of churches and cemeteries, which continues to this day. The Serbs cannot even rest in peace in a city that was once tolerant and multi-ethnic,” concluded Patrick Barriot.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.