Date: November 2, 1995
Author: Valentina Krčmar, Thornhill, Ontario
Addressed to: Letters to the Editor, The Globe and Mail
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 3_Part2_Part51.pdf
About This Letter
In this letter dated November 2, 1995, Valentina Krčmar writes to The Globe and Mail following the article “Killing Fields of Srebrenica Were Wake-up Call to West” (October 30, 1995). Her words are solemn yet unsparing, demanding accountability for the failures of the international community — particularly the Dutch peacekeepers stationed in Srebrenica during one of the most horrific massacres of the Bosnian War.
Krčmar begins by drawing a pointed comparison between Canada’s response to misconduct by its own peacekeepers in Somalia and the silence surrounding the Dutch role in Srebrenica.
“When the Canadian Peacekeeping forces transgressed in Somalia, our Canadian government took the only path it could: disbanded the Airborne Regiment that brought shame to Canada and its peacekeeping forces.”
She praises Canada’s willingness to confront its moral failures head-on — to investigate, to take responsibility, and to ensure such acts would never disgrace the country again. Against this, she poses a searing question:
“Now when we hear ominous rumblings about the Srebrenica affair in Bosnia, and shameful behaviour of the Dutch peacekeepers who handed over the civilians from the UN compound to Serbs for the slaughter, I wonder what is the Dutch government going to do?”
Krčmar acknowledges the immense difficulty of defending Srebrenica militarily but condemns the absence of will to protect civilians. The atrocities committed under the supposed protection of the UN left an indelible stain not only on the Netherlands but on the entire international order that claimed to stand for peace.
Her outrage intensifies as she references disturbing reports that some Dutch soldiers in Srebrenica wore T-shirts depicting a peacekeeper strangling a Bosnian child — a grotesque symbol of moral decay within the very forces meant to safeguard life.
“Since it was reported by Associated Press that the Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica were wearing T-shirts depicting the picture of a peacekeeper strangling a Bosnian child, asking for a piece of candy, shouldn’t we be informed who from the UN was part of such a dirty game?”
Krčmar’s closing question lingers like an indictment:
“Canada has taken responsibility for the actions of its peacekeepers; will Holland do the same?”
Through her unflinching words, Krčmar calls for truth, justice, and moral courage — not as abstract ideals but as duties owed to the thousands who were betrayed in Srebrenica. Her letter is both a lament and a demand: that nations face the darkness within their own actions, and that the promise of peacekeeping never again become a shield for inhumanity.
