Ratko Mladic, a war criminal convicted over the first genocide on European soil since the second world war, has died prison in The Hague at the age of ۸۴.
Earlier this year, Serbia requested that Mladic be allowed to receive medical treatment outside prison, saying his health condition was “serious” and that he “required serious medical treatment”.
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The United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said that Mladic was receiving adequate medical care while in detention.
Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, Mladic was one of the best-known and most notorious military commanders of the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia.
International courts convicted him of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the ۱۹۹۲–۱۹۹۵ war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was sentenced to life in prison
The most notorious part of his criminal legacy is linked to the genocide in Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Serbia.
Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic’s command seized Srebrenica in July ۱۹۹۵, despite the UN declaring the municipality a “safe area”. After the enclave fell, more than ۸,۰۰۰ Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were killed by Mladic’s forces in the days that followed.
Some of the civilians were captured and executed at locations in and around Srebrenica. Others were killed after attempting to flee through the forests towards territory controlled by the army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The bodies of victims were later discovered in numerous mass graves, while many were identified years after the war. The remains of around ۱,۰۰۰ victims are still being sought. International courts established that the killings constituted genocide.
Srebrenica has remained a symbol of one of the gravest crimes committed in Europe since the second world war.
From the Yugoslav army to commander of the army of Republika Srpska
Mladic was born in the village of Bozanovici near Kalinovik, about ۴۰km (۲۵ miles) south of Sarajevo.
He began his military career in the Yugoslav People’s army and gradually rose through the military’s command structure.
When Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in the spring of ۱۹۹۲, following Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnian Serbs established their own political and military structures and proclaimed Republika Srpska, which controlled territory covering roughly half of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time.
In May ۱۹۹۲, Mladic was appointed commander of the Republika Srpska’s army. Over the next three and a half years, he sought to seize parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by the army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the capital Sarajevo, devastating areas in his path. However, his forces failed to achieve major territorial gains in several key areas.
The political and military leadership of Republika Srpska sought to separate Serb-controlled territories from Bosnia and Herzegovina and create a separate, territorially contiguous Serb state within the country. Republika Srpska would formally become one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities under the ۱۹۹۵ Dayton Peace Agreement.
Mladic’s forces were involved in a large number of atrocities across Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In addition to the Srebrenica genocide, international courts found Mladic responsible for a campaign of terror against Sarajevo’s civilian population, the hostage-taking of UN peacekeepers and other crimes.
The Siege of Sarajevo
Sarajevo was surrounded by Bosnian Serb forces for almost ۴۴ months. From positions on the surrounding hills, they shelled the city and used snipers against its residents.
More than ۱۱,۵۰۰ people from all ethnic groups were killed, while many others were wounded or displaced.
The Sarajevo Siege, which Mladic directed, became one of the defining episodes of the Bosnian war and one of the longest sieges of a capital city in modern history.
After the war ended in ۱۹۹۵, Mladic evaded arrest and spent almost ۱۶ years in hiding. He became one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives accused of war crimes.
He was arrested in Serbia in May ۲۰۱۱ in the village of Lazarevo, near Zrenjanin, at the home of a relative. Several days later, he was transferred to The Hague, where his trial began before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
His arrest was one of the key conditions set by the international community for Serbia’s progress towards closer relations with the European Union. Belgrade faced political and financial pressure from Western countries to cooperate with the tribunal and transfer Mladic to The Hague.
In ۲۰۱۷, the tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment. The courts established his individual criminal responsibility for a number of crimes.
Mladic in Serbia
Although his convictions were final, Mladic continues to have support among sections of the Serbian public and political circles in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In Banja Luka, Belgrade and other areas with predominantly Serb populations, murals depicting him can still be seen. Some members of the public continue to portray him as a military hero rather than a convicted war criminal.
That attitude towards Mladic is part of a broader problem of confronting the legacy of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While international courts have established facts concerning the genocide and other crimes, political and social divisions over the country’s wartime past remain deeply entrenched.
Denial of the Srebrenica genocide and the glorification of convicted war criminals remain serious problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to data from the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, ۱۴۹ cases of public denial of the Srebrenica genocide were recorded during the first quarter of ۲۰۲۶, including statements by public figures. That represents an increase compared with ۲۰۲۵, when ۹۹ such cases were recorded.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in May ۲۰۲۴ establishing July ۱۱ as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the ۱۹۹۵ Genocide in Srebrenica.
The resolution was intended to preserve the memory of the victims and promote a culture of remembrance, while also reaffirming the importance of confronting genocide denial and preventing the recurrence of such crimes.
