How do you punish a crime committed nearly 30 years ago in a country at war? This is the question facing Italy and other western countries as they respond to the report of “Sniper Tourism” in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1990s.
In February, Ezio Gavazzeni, an Italian journalist, along with two Italian lawyers, handed over a 17-page file, detailing their findings from nearly three years of research, to Milan’s Attorney General. The subject was the 1992-1995 Bosnian War and actions committed during the siege of Sarajevo. Their findings showed that Italians, Americans, British, Germans, Russians and other western nationals paid Bosnian Serb Forces to shoot civilians in the city.
The file states that these Sniper Tourists would pay over 100,000 Euros ($116,000) to go to Bosnian Serb positions on the hills surrounding Sarajevo to fire down upon civilians. It was also in the files that different prices would be assigned to different people; shooting a woman or child was more expensive than shooting a man.
Now, the question arrives of what are the charges and how will countries prosecute those who partook in this crime? In Italy, after the case was passed onto the Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale (ROS), Italy’s Anti-Terrorist Unit, the charges brought up were “voluntary murder aggravated by cruelty and abject motives.” The main way that individuals who are found to be suspects would be prosecuted is like this, on a country level. As of now, however, no other countries have opened up formal investigations into this matter. It is unknown if certain countries might brush these reports under the rug in this way. For example, it was well documented with film that Eduard Limonov, the late communist politician and Russian poet, traveled to the hills around Sarajevo in 1992 and fired a heavy machine gun into the city. He received no charges or penalties from this stunt. In fact, he remarked to one of the leaders of the “tour” that “we Russians should take example from you.”
This leaves very few pathways for how some of these other foreign nationals can be prosecuted. Though it should be said that it would be unknown if those suspects would be extradited to Bosnia to face court there. Also, it cannot be ruled out that since they traveled across European borders and paid money to now convicted war criminals if they are called before the International Criminal Court or other international courts to face judgement from the bodies that prosecute war crimes. Since it is early in the investigation we can only speculate. The way these individuals would be brought in depends on who is prosecuting them. If it is on an international level within a country where Interpol is active. Interpol would instruct local, state and federal police in arresting said suspects. I believe that if suspects are named within the United States, the US should send The United States Marshal Service or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to arrest these people. Make these people afraid of judgment the same way they made Bosnians afraid in the 90’s.
If these investigations gain momentum and individuals are brought up on the charges, I believe that suspects be brought up on genocide charges as well or at least war crimes. Since the main Bosnian Serb military group’s leader, Radovan Karadžić, running these tours was found guilty of crimes against humanity and other counts of genocide. These individuals should at least receive the charge relating to targeting non-combatants or funding a genocide against the people of Bosnia.
At this time the number of those who paid for the tours are unknown, but the ROS is said to be taking this investigation extremely seriously. Italian police have stated that they have a list of witnesses that they are attempting to contact to begin to identify individuals involved.
Still, this investigation doesn’t come without scrutiny. According to one BBC article, British soldiers who were stationed in Bosnia at the time claimed that it would’ve been difficult to accomplish sniper tourism due to the number of checkpoints around Sarajevo during the war. Some say that foreign snipers on the hills might have been an urban myth proliferated by hearsay from Bosnian troops and officials during the siege.
As for now, it is unknown if this investigation will result in convictions but for those who lived through this dark point in modern history, maybe it brings them a sense of peace that western nations are attempting to hold people accountable for crimes against Bosnians.