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General Rupert Smith describes a meeting that he attended in Belgrade on 15 July 1995, with Slobodan Milošević and Bosnian Serb Army commander, General Ratko Mladić. On that date, General Smith testified that they knew that a substantial number of Bosnian Muslim men from Srebrenica were unaccounted for, but did not know the scale of the killings that were on-going:
"Q. …Did the meeting split into military and political groups?
A. Yes, it did.
Q. You were in the military group. What happened in that?
A. We started with everyone together, and very soon after we started, Mr. Milošević directed Mladić to go with me and sort out the recovery of the Dutch Battalion and access to prisoners and so forth, and we went off separately and held our meeting to discuss that.
Q. In what terms did the accused instruct Mladić and with what apparent authority?
A. They were -- he was clearly the superior of Mladić. He referred to Mladić by his Christian name and Mladić was deferring to him."
General Rupert Smith testified that on the basis of that 15 July 1995 meeting, Slobodan Milošević must have known about the killings that were going on in Srebrenica:
"Q. … were you able to form a view about whether Milošević had any knowledge after the event of the killings at Srebrenica? Just yes or no to that.
A. Yes, I did form --
Q. The question is how were you able to form a view before I invite you to offer it to the Chamber.
A. Because of the meeting that took place on the 15th of July, there must have been -- he must have understood - and he had Mladić there - they must have known what had gone on."
General Rupert Smith provided valuable evidence about the relationship between Slobodan Milošević and one of his alleged principal co-perpetrators, General Ratko Mladić, commander of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), which the Prosecution alleged directly committed numerous crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his capacity as UNPROFOR, commander, General Smith met with Ratko Mladić on a number of occasions, and with Slobodan Milošević on 15 July 1995, in the meeting referred to above. Based on these meetings, General Smith formed the view that Slobodan Milošević did have influence over the Bosnian Serb leadership.
An example of Slobodan Milošević’s influence that General Smith referred to surrounded the release of UNPROFOR hostages in June 1995. VRS forces had seized some 40 UNPROFOR personnel on 27 May 1995 and used some as human shields to ward off NATO bombing. When General Smith called Mladić to tell him that using detainees as human shields was illegal under international law, Mladić responded that only a few detainees were at key points that were vulnerable to NATO attack. General Smith testified that international pressure was brought to bear on Slobodan Milošević, and the hostages were released in June 1995.
General Smith also provided evidence that the VRS received significant support from Belgrade. He said that either General Ratko Mladić, or VRS General Zdravko Tolimir, who would later be indicted by the Tribunal, told him that they were paid by Belgrade. General Smith also gave evidence that Serbia provided the VRS with information from its air defense system.
General Sir Rupert Anthony Smith, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst is a career British military officer. Since 1964, he served in a number of areas in the world, including the Gulf War in 1991. After commanding the UN peacekeeping force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, General Smith led the British Army in Northern Ireland from 1996 to 1998. From November 1998 until September 2001, he was NATO’s Deputy Supreme Commander Europe, covering NATO’s bombing campaign in Kosovo, called Operation Allied Force. General Smith had retired from the British Army by the time he testified in October 2003.
General Rupert Smith testified on 9 October 2003. Read his full testimony.