PHILIP DONNELLY,
Sir, - Those who survived the bloody break-up of the former Yugoslavia could be forgiven for regarding cynically the protests voiced by Mary Robinson concerning the treatment of Al-Qaeda combatants being detained by the United States at its base in Cuba.
In mid-July 1995, some 7,000 Muslim men and boys taking refuge in the United Nations-designated "safe area" of Srebrenice were rounded up by the Serbian army and led away to be executed en masse. A UN Security Council resolution (536) had explicitly directed that the enclave should be defended, if necessary, by force of arms. Despite this unambiguous mandate, peacekeeping troops responsible for the security of Srebrenice stepped aside and watched while civilians were marched to their death.
In the weeks leading up to this atrocity, UN analysts repeatedly assured the world's media that reports of aggressive Serbian intent were baseless. Senior officers serving with the UN Protection Force on the ground similarly refused to countenance the possibility of an imminent attack. Muslim defenders of the enclave had their heavy weapons and tanks taken from them by the international community. NATO air support was never called upon.
It was the United States that, eventually, put a halt to the expansionist juggernaut of Serbian nationalism. The entire Balkan conflict of that decade constitutes a shadowy chapter in UN history, around which many unanswered questions remain. One issue that was resolved was that of the UN's powerlessness in the face of rogue states with brutal ideologies and fascistic leaders bent on inflicting war and suffering on others.
In criticising American detention methods, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights might like to consider how the Taliban dealt with their own captured enemies. These unfortunates could expect to be shot, beheaded, and some cases, locked in metal containers and left to die.
On these occasions one supposes the Geneva Convention was left to gather dust on a shelf in the Kabul library, if such an institution still existed. - Yours, etc.,
PHILIP DONNELLY,
St Albans,
Hertfordshire,
England.
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Sir, - Tony Allwright (January 19th) wants to search for a new convention to handle the US prisoners in Cuba. He need look no further than the American Bill of Rights. - Yours, etc.,
UNA O'BRIEN,,
Law Library,
Dublin 7. ... ...
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Sir, - Dostoyevsky said one could judge the degree of civilisation of a country by the condition of its prisons. Your front-page photograph of January 21st says it all!- Yours, etc.,
DAVID HICKEY.
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
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Sir, - The more we love America, the more we need to be concerned about the treatment of prisoners by the US military. They who degrade other human beings degrade themselves. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL GREHAN,
Glenavy Park,
Dublin 6W.