On 11 October 1996, Bosnian Serb security forces assaulted Michael Kirsch, a freelance journalist and cameraman working for Insight News Television Limited (INTV) of Great Britain. Kirsch was videotaping a destroyed house in Jusici, a Muslim village now under the control of the Bosnian Serb Republic, when, according to Kirsch’s own account of the incident, […]
On 11 October 1996, Bosnian Serb security forces assaulted
Michael Kirsch, a freelance journalist and cameraman working for
Insight News Television Limited (INTV) of Great Britain. Kirsch
was videotaping a destroyed house in Jusici, a Muslim village now
under the control of the Bosnian Serb Republic, when, according
to Kirsch’s own account of the incident, ten Serb police with AK-
47 assault rifles ran from around the house and yelled, “Don’t
move or we’ll shoot!” He said that the soldiers then ordered him
to stop filming. Two Serb police then “took turns shoving and
kicking me” while they tried to take his camera. Kirsch said that
police knocked him to the ground, spat on him and pointed their
guns at him. He said that he had tried to hand off his camera to
a Danish International Police Task Force officer, but a Serb
policeman pointed his gun at the Danish officer and ordered him
to give up the camera. Kirsch also reported that a United States
Army cameraman, operating under the Peace Implementation Force
(IFOR) command, filmed the entire scene. IFOR retrieved Kirsch’s
camera the next day and returned it to him, but the videocassette
inside was missing. Kirsch and INTV requested copies of the IFOR
videotape of the attack but these requests have been denied.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
ensure that Michael Kirsch’s videocassette is returned
blatant lack of fidelity to the Dayton peace accords, which
guarantee freedom of movement and freedom of expression
throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Appeals To
Flavio Cotti
Chairman
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Vienna, Austria
Fax: +41 31 322 5320
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.