Alija Izetbegovic
Encyclopedia
Alija Izetbegović (8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosniak
activist, lawyer
, author
, philosopher and politician
, who, in 1990, became the first president
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. He served in this role until 1996, when he became a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, serving until 2000. He was also the author of several books, most notably Islam Between East and West and the Islamic Declaration.
; he was one of five children born to a distinguished but impoverished family descended from former Ottoman
aristocrat
s from Belgrade
who fled to Bosnia in 1868, after Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. His grandfather, Alija, was the mayor of Bosanski Šamac. While grandfather Alija was a soldier in Üsküdar
, he married a Turkish woman called 'Sıdıka Hanım'. After the marriage they moved to Šamac and had 5 children. His father, an accountant, declared bankruptcy in 1927, and the next year the family moved to Sarajevo
. Izetbegović became closely involved in Bosniak society as he grew up during the 1930s and 1940s. With a devoted family and Muslim
upbringing, he received a secular education
, eventually graduating from law school
in Sarajevo. At this time he also joined the Mladi Muslimani (Young Muslims), a controversial organization that aided Bosniak refugees during World War II. When the Young Muslims became torn between supporting the SS Handschar
(a SS Mountain Division of Nazi Germany
, composed of Muslim Bosniaks) or the Partisans (Communist resistance group led by Josip Broz Tito
), Izetbegović supported the pro-nazi faction of the group. After the war, Izetbegović was arrested in 1946 and sentenced to 3 years in prison due to his activities during the war. Once free, he earned a law degree at Sarajevo University
and remained engaged in politics.
law in Bosnia, and banned the publication. The declaration remains a source of controversy. It was used by Serb nationalists to justify the war, often quoting the declaration as an intent to create an Iranian style Muslim republic in Bosnia. Passages from the declaration were frequently quoted by Izetbegović's opponents during the 1990s, who considered it to be an open statement of Islamic fundamentalism. The opinion is shared by some Western authors such as John Schindler. Izetbegović vigorously denied such accusations. British
author Noel Malcolm
asserted that the Serb nationalist interpretation of the Declaration was false propaganda and offered a more benevolent reading of the declaration. Explaining that it was "a general treatise on politics and Islam, directed towards the entire Muslim world; it is not about Bosnia and does not even mention Bosnia" and that "none of these points can be described as fundamentalist." Malcolm argues that Izetbegović's views were much more thoroughly expressed in his later book, Islam between East and West, where he presented Islam as a kind of spiritual and intellectual synthesis
which included the values of West Europe."
Izetbegović wrote what is however regarded as his central work, the book Islam between East and West, in 1980. It explores the notion that "Islam is the only synthesis capable of unifying mankind's essentially dualistic
existence".
) were tried before a Sarajevo court
for a variety of offences, principally hostile activity inspired by Muslim nationalism, association for purposes of hostile activity and hostile propaganda. Izetbegović was further accused of organizing a visit to a Muslim congress in Iran
. All of those tried were convicted and Izetbegović was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. The verdict
was strongly criticised by Western human rights
organisations, including Amnesty International
and Helsinki Watch
, which claimed that the case was based on "communist propaganda", and the accused were not charged with either using or advocating violence. The following May, the Bosnian Supreme Court conceded the point with an announcement that "some of the actions of the accused did not have the characteristics of criminal acts" and reduced Izetbegović's sentence to twelve years. In 1988, as communist rule faltered, he was pardoned and released after almost five years in prison. His health had suffered serious and lasting damage.
at the end of the 1980s prompted Izetbegović and other Bosniak activists to establish a political party, the Party of Democratic Action
(Stranka Demokratske Akcije, SDA) in 1989. It had a largely Muslim character; similarly, the other principal ethnic groups in Bosnia, the Serbs and Croats, also established ethnically based parties. (The Communist Party renamed itself the Party of Democratic Changes.) The SDA won the largest share of the vote, 33% of the seats, with the next runners-up being nationalist ethnic parties representing Serbs and Croats. Fikret Abdić
won the popular vote for president among the Bosniak candidates, with 44% of the vote, Izetbegović closely behind with 37%. According to the Bosnian constitution, the first two candidates of each of the three constitutient nations would be elected to a seven-member multi-ethnic rotating presidency (with two Croats, two Serbs, two Bosniaks
and one Yugoslav); a Croat took the post of prime minister and a Serb the presidency of the Assembly. Abdić agreed to stand down as the Bosniak candidate for the Presidency and Izetbegović became President.
Bosnia's power-sharing arrangements broke down very quickly as ethnic tensions grew after the outbreak of fighting between Serbs
and Croats
in neighboring Croatia
. Although Izetbegović was to due to hold the presidency for only one year according to the constitution, this arrangement was initially suspended due to "extraordinary circumstances" and was eventually abandoned altogether during the war as the Serb and Croat nationalistic parties SDS and HDZ abandoned the government. When fighting broke out in Slovenia
and Croatia in the summer of 1991, it was immediately apparent that Bosnia would soon become embroiled in the conflict. Izetbegović initially proposed a loose confederation to preserve a unitary Bosnian state and strongly urged a peaceful solution. He did not subscribe to the peace at all costs view and commented in February 1991 that I would sacrifice peace for a sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina ... but for that peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina I would not sacrifice sovereignty. By the start of 1992 it had become apparent that the rival nationalist demands were fundamentally incompatible: the Bosniaks and Croats sought an independent Bosnia while the Serbs wanted it to remain in a rump Yugoslavia dominated by Serbia. Izetbegović publicly complained that he was being forced to ally with one side or the other, vividly characterising the dilemma by comparing it to having to choose between leukaemia and a brain tumour.
In January 1992, Portuguese
diplomat José Cutileiro drafted a plan, later known as the Lisbon Agreement, that would turn Bosnia into a triethnic cantonal state. Initially, all three sides signed up to the agreement; Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, Radovan Karadžić
for the Serbs and Mate Boban
for the Croats. Some two weeks later, however, Izetbegović withdrew his signature and declared his opposition to any type of division of Bosnia, supposedly encouraged by Warren Zimmermann
, the United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia
at the time.
on independence for Bosnia as a Europe
an condition for recognition of Bosnia as an independent state, despite warnings from the Serbian members of the presidency that any move to independence would result in the Serbian-inhabited areas of Bosnia seceding to remain with the rump Yugoslavia
. The referendum was boycotted by Serbs, who regarded it as an unconstitutional move, but achieved a 99.4% vote in favour on a 67% turnout (which almost entirely constituted of the Bosniak and Croat communities). The Bosnian parliament, already vacated by the Bosnian Serbs, formally declared independence from Yugoslavia on February 29 and Izetbegović announced the country's independence on March 3. It did not take effect until 7 April 1992, when the European Union
and United States
recognised the new country. Sporadic fighting between Serbs and government forces occurred across Bosnia in the run-up to international recognition. Izetbegović appears to have gambled that the international community would send a peacekeeping force upon recognising Bosnia in order to prevent a war, but this did not happen. Instead, war immediately broke out across the country as Serb and Yugoslav Army forces took control of large areas of Bosnia against the opposition of poorly-equipped government security forces.
Initially the Serb forces attacked non-Serb civilian
population in Eastern Bosnia. Once town
s and village
s were securely in their hands, the Serb forces - the military
, the police
, the paramilitaries and, sometimes, even Serb villagers – applied the same pattern: Bosniak houses and apartments were systematically ransacked or burnt down, Bosniak civilian
s were rounded up or captured, and sometimes beaten or killed in the process. Men and women were separated, with many of the men detained in the camps. The women were kept in various detention centres where they had to live in intolerably unhygienic conditions, where they were mistreated in many ways including being raped repeatedly. Serb soldiers or policemen would come to these detention centres, select one or more women, take them out and rape them.
Izetbegović consistently promoted the idea of a multi-ethnic Bosnia under central control, which in the circumstances seemed a hopeless strategy. The Bosnian Croats, disillusioned with the Sarajevo government and supported militarily and financially by the Croatian government, increasingly turned to establishing their own ethnically-based state of Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
in Herzegovina
and Central Bosnia. The Croats pulled out of the Sarajevo government and fighting broke out in 1993. In most areas local armistices were signed between the Serbs and Croats (Kreševo
, Vareš
, Jajce
). Croat forces started their first attacks on Bosniaks in Gornji Vakuf
and Novi Travnik
, towns in Central Bosnia on June, 1992, but the attacks failed. The Graz agreement
caused deep division inside the Croat community and strengthened the separation group, which led to the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing
campaign against Bosniak civilians. The campaign planned by the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military
leadership
from May 1992 to March 1993 and erupting the following April, was meant to implement objectives set forth by Croat nationalists in November 1991. Adding to the general confusion, Izetbegović's former colleague Fikret Abdić established an Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia
in parts of Cazin
and Velika Kladuša
municipalities in opposition to the Sarajevo government and in cooperation with Slobodan Milošević
and Franjo Tuđman. Abdić's faction was eventually routed by the Bosnian Army. By this time, Izetbegović's government controlled only about 25% of the country and represented principally the Bosniak community.
For three and a half years, Izetbegović lived precariously in a besieged Sarajevo
surrounded by Serb forces. He denounced the failure of Western countries to reverse Serbian aggression and turned instead to the Muslim world, with which he had already established relations during his days as a dissident. The Bosnian government received money and arms. Following massacres on Bosnian Muslims by Serb and, to a lesser extent, Croat forces, Arab volunteers came across Croatia
into Bosnia to join the Bosnian Army. They were organized into detachment called El-Mudžahid. The number of the El-Mudžahid volunteers is still disputed, from around 300 to 1,500. These caused particular controversy: foreign fighters, styling themselves mujahiddin, turned up in Bosnia around 1993 with Croatia
n identity documents and passports. They quickly attracted heavy criticism amplified by Serbian and Croatian propaganda, who considered their presence to be evidence of violent Islamic fundamentalism at the heart of Europe. However, the foreign volunteers became unpopular even with many of the Bosniak population, because the Bosnian army had thousands of troops and had no need for more soldiers (especially controversial ones who could undermine their reputation as a defending army), but for arms. Many Bosnian Army officers and intellectuals were suspicious regarding foreign volunteers arrival in central part of the country, because they came from Split
and Zagreb
in Croatia, and were passed through the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia without problems unlike Bosnian Army soldiers who were regularly arrested by Croat forces. According to general Stjepan Šiber
, the highest ranking ethnic Croat in Bosnian Army, the key role in foreign volunteers arrival was played by Franjo Tuđman and Croatian counter-intelligence
underground with the aim to justify involvement of Croatia in Bosnian War and mass crimes committed by Croat forces. Although Izetbegović regarded them as symbolically valuable as a sign of the Muslim world's support for Bosnia, they appear to have made little military difference and became a major political liability. The entity defence minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Hasan Čengić, was closely associated with Iran
and his dismissal in 1996 was a major US demand/condition for the funding and equipping of the Bosnian Federation Army.
In mid-1993, Izetbegović agreed to a peace plan that would divide Bosnia along ethnic lines but continued to insist on a unitary Bosnia government from Sarajevo and on the allocation to the Bosniaks of a large percentage of Bosnia's territory. The war between the Bosniaks and Croats was eventually ended by a truce brokered with the aid of the Americans in March 1994, following which the two sides collaborated more closely against the Serbs. From around this time onwards, NATO became increasingly involved in the conflict with occasional "pinprick" bombings conducted against the Bosnian Serbs, generally following violations of ceasefires and the no-fly zone over Bosnia. The Bosnian Croat forces benefited indirectly from the military training given to the Croatian Army by the American military consultancy Military Professional Resources, Inc. In addition, the Croatians provided considerable quantities of weaponry to the Bosnian Croats and much smaller amounts to the Bosnian Army, despite a UN weapons embargo
. Most of the Bosnian Army's supply of weapons was air-lifted from the Muslim world, specifically Iran - an issue which became the subject of some controversy and a US congressional investigation in 1996.
In September 1993, the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (Drugi bošnjački sabor) officially re-introduced the historical ethnic name Bosniaks instead of the previously used Muslim in former Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav Muslim by nationality policy was considered by Bosniaks to be neglecting and opposing their Bosnian identity because the term tried to describe Bosniaks as a religious group not an ethnic one. To quote Bosnian politician and president Hamdija Pozderac
: "They don't allow Bosnianhood but they offered Muslimhood. We shall accept their offer, although the name is wrong, but with it we'll start the process." In discussion with Josip Broz Tito
(1971).
and the 2nd Markale massacre, the U.S. and NATO launched a four week intensive bombing campaign which destroyed Bosnian Serb command and control system. This allowed the Croatian and Bosniak forces to overrun many Serb-held areas of the country, producing a roughly 50/50 split of the territory between the two sides. The offensive came to a halt not far from the de facto Serb capital of Banja Luka
. When the Croat and Bosniak forces stopped their advance they had captured the power plants supplying Banja Luka's electricity and used that control to pressure the Serb leadership into accepting a cease fire.
The parties agreed to meet at Dayton, Ohio
to negotiate a peace treaty under the supervision of the United States. Croatian and Serbian interests were represented by President Tuđman and President Milošević respectively. Izetbegović represented the internationally recognised Bosnian Government.
After the Bosnian War
was formally ended by the Dayton peace accord in November 1995, Izetbegović became a Member President of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. His party's power declined after the international community installed a High Representative
to oversee affairs of state, with more power than the presidents or parliaments of either the Bosniak-Croat or Serb entities. He stepped down in October 2000 at the age of 74, citing his bad health. However, Izetbegović remained popular with the Bosniak public, who nicknamed him Dedo (which in Bosnian
means granpa
). His endorsement helped his party to bounce back in the elections of 2002.
He died in October 2003 of heart disease
complicated by injuries suffered from a fall at home.
from Ulica Maršala Tita
(Marshall Tito Street) and the Sarajevo International Airport
in his honour. Following objections from politicians from Republika Srpska
, the international community, and UN envoy Paddy Ashdown
, both initiatives failed.
His grave at the Kovači cemetery in Sarajevo was badly damaged by a bomb on the morning of 11 August 2006. The identity of the bomber or bombers has not been determined.
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy
described Izetbegović's wartime career in a favorable documentary called Bosna!
In October 2006, his son Bakir
(born 1956) was elected to a four-year term in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a representative of the SDA
. Four years later, in October 2010, he too was elected to the Presidency as the Bosniak member.
to indict him on war crimes and other charges. An ICTY investigation of Izetbegović was started, but terminated when he died.
Available in Bosnian
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
activist, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, philosopher and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who, in 1990, became the first president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. He served in this role until 1996, when he became a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the head of state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Overview:...
, serving until 2000. He was also the author of several books, most notably Islam Between East and West and the Islamic Declaration.
Early life
Izetbegović was born in the town of Bosanski Šamac, situated in the north of BosniaBosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
; he was one of five children born to a distinguished but impoverished family descended from former Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
s from Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
who fled to Bosnia in 1868, after Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. His grandfather, Alija, was the mayor of Bosanski Šamac. While grandfather Alija was a soldier in Üsküdar
Üsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
, he married a Turkish woman called 'Sıdıka Hanım'. After the marriage they moved to Šamac and had 5 children. His father, an accountant, declared bankruptcy in 1927, and the next year the family moved to Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. Izetbegović became closely involved in Bosniak society as he grew up during the 1930s and 1940s. With a devoted family and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
upbringing, he received a secular education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, eventually graduating from law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
in Sarajevo. At this time he also joined the Mladi Muslimani (Young Muslims), a controversial organization that aided Bosniak refugees during World War II. When the Young Muslims became torn between supporting the SS Handschar
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Its recruits were composed of Muslim Bosniaks. The Handschar division was a mountain infantry formation, the equivalent of the German "Gebirgsjäger" ...
(a SS Mountain Division of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, composed of Muslim Bosniaks) or the Partisans (Communist resistance group led by Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
), Izetbegović supported the pro-nazi faction of the group. After the war, Izetbegović was arrested in 1946 and sentenced to 3 years in prison due to his activities during the war. Once free, he earned a law degree at Sarajevo University
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo is the first university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was originally established in 1531 as a Madrasah or Islamic Law college, with a modern university being established and expanded on top of that in 1949. Today, with 23 faculties and around 55,000 enrolled students, it...
and remained engaged in politics.
Dissident and activist
In 1970, Izetbegović published a manifesto entitled the Islamic Declaration, expressing his views on relationships between Islam, state and society. The authorities interpreted the declaration as a call for introduction of ShariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law in Bosnia, and banned the publication. The declaration remains a source of controversy. It was used by Serb nationalists to justify the war, often quoting the declaration as an intent to create an Iranian style Muslim republic in Bosnia. Passages from the declaration were frequently quoted by Izetbegović's opponents during the 1990s, who considered it to be an open statement of Islamic fundamentalism. The opinion is shared by some Western authors such as John Schindler. Izetbegović vigorously denied such accusations. British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Noel Malcolm
Noel Malcolm
Noel Robert Malcolm FBA FRSL is a modern English historian, writer, and columnist.-Life:Malcolm was educated at Eton College , read History at Peterhouse, Cambridge, wrote his doctorate dissertation at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was for a time Fellow of Gonville and Caius College,...
asserted that the Serb nationalist interpretation of the Declaration was false propaganda and offered a more benevolent reading of the declaration. Explaining that it was "a general treatise on politics and Islam, directed towards the entire Muslim world; it is not about Bosnia and does not even mention Bosnia" and that "none of these points can be described as fundamentalist." Malcolm argues that Izetbegović's views were much more thoroughly expressed in his later book, Islam between East and West, where he presented Islam as a kind of spiritual and intellectual synthesis
Intellectual synthesis
Intellectual Synthesis is a broad term describing scholarly endeavors meant to unify and fuse a large amount of information into a single integrated body of knowledge...
which included the values of West Europe."
Izetbegović wrote what is however regarded as his central work, the book Islam between East and West, in 1980. It explores the notion that "Islam is the only synthesis capable of unifying mankind's essentially dualistic
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
existence".
Imprisonment
In April 1983, Izetbegović and twelve other Bosniak activists (including Melika Salihbegović, Edhem Bičakčić, Omer Behmen, Mustafa Spahić and Hasan ČengićHasan Cengic
Hasan Čengić is the former Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
) were tried before a Sarajevo court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
for a variety of offences, principally hostile activity inspired by Muslim nationalism, association for purposes of hostile activity and hostile propaganda. Izetbegović was further accused of organizing a visit to a Muslim congress in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. All of those tried were convicted and Izetbegović was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. The verdict
Verdict
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
was strongly criticised by Western human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organisations, including Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and Helsinki Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, which claimed that the case was based on "communist propaganda", and the accused were not charged with either using or advocating violence. The following May, the Bosnian Supreme Court conceded the point with an announcement that "some of the actions of the accused did not have the characteristics of criminal acts" and reduced Izetbegović's sentence to twelve years. In 1988, as communist rule faltered, he was pardoned and released after almost five years in prison. His health had suffered serious and lasting damage.
Presidency
The introduction of a multi-party system in YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
at the end of the 1980s prompted Izetbegović and other Bosniak activists to establish a political party, the Party of Democratic Action
Party of Democratic Action
The Party of Democratic Action is a Bosniak national political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:The Party of Democratic Action was founded in May 1990 by Alija Izetbegović, representing the Bosnian Muslim population...
(Stranka Demokratske Akcije, SDA) in 1989. It had a largely Muslim character; similarly, the other principal ethnic groups in Bosnia, the Serbs and Croats, also established ethnically based parties. (The Communist Party renamed itself the Party of Democratic Changes.) The SDA won the largest share of the vote, 33% of the seats, with the next runners-up being nationalist ethnic parties representing Serbs and Croats. Fikret Abdić
Fikret Abdic
Fikret Abdić is a politician and businessman from Bosnia and Herzegovina, convicted of war crimes against Bosniaks in the region of Velika Kladuša....
won the popular vote for president among the Bosniak candidates, with 44% of the vote, Izetbegović closely behind with 37%. According to the Bosnian constitution, the first two candidates of each of the three constitutient nations would be elected to a seven-member multi-ethnic rotating presidency (with two Croats, two Serbs, two Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
and one Yugoslav); a Croat took the post of prime minister and a Serb the presidency of the Assembly. Abdić agreed to stand down as the Bosniak candidate for the Presidency and Izetbegović became President.
Bosnia's power-sharing arrangements broke down very quickly as ethnic tensions grew after the outbreak of fighting between Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
in neighboring Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Although Izetbegović was to due to hold the presidency for only one year according to the constitution, this arrangement was initially suspended due to "extraordinary circumstances" and was eventually abandoned altogether during the war as the Serb and Croat nationalistic parties SDS and HDZ abandoned the government. When fighting broke out in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Croatia in the summer of 1991, it was immediately apparent that Bosnia would soon become embroiled in the conflict. Izetbegović initially proposed a loose confederation to preserve a unitary Bosnian state and strongly urged a peaceful solution. He did not subscribe to the peace at all costs view and commented in February 1991 that I would sacrifice peace for a sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina ... but for that peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina I would not sacrifice sovereignty. By the start of 1992 it had become apparent that the rival nationalist demands were fundamentally incompatible: the Bosniaks and Croats sought an independent Bosnia while the Serbs wanted it to remain in a rump Yugoslavia dominated by Serbia. Izetbegović publicly complained that he was being forced to ally with one side or the other, vividly characterising the dilemma by comparing it to having to choose between leukaemia and a brain tumour.
In January 1992, Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
diplomat José Cutileiro drafted a plan, later known as the Lisbon Agreement, that would turn Bosnia into a triethnic cantonal state. Initially, all three sides signed up to the agreement; Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
for the Serbs and Mate Boban
Mate Boban
Mate Boban was a Bosnian Croat politician and the only president of the short lived and self proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia that existed between 1991−1994 during the Bosnian war.-Pre-war life:...
for the Croats. Some two weeks later, however, Izetbegović withdrew his signature and declared his opposition to any type of division of Bosnia, supposedly encouraged by Warren Zimmermann
Warren Zimmermann
Warren Zimmermann was a diplomat, humanitarian and the last US ambassador to Yugoslavia before its disintegration into civil war.-Background:...
, the United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia
United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia
The nation of Yugoslavia was formed on December 1, 1918 as a result of the realignment of nations and national boundaries in Europe in the aftermath of The Great War. The nation was first named the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929...
at the time.
War in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Genocide
In February 1992, Izetbegović called a national referendumReferendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on independence for Bosnia as a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an condition for recognition of Bosnia as an independent state, despite warnings from the Serbian members of the presidency that any move to independence would result in the Serbian-inhabited areas of Bosnia seceding to remain with the rump Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. The referendum was boycotted by Serbs, who regarded it as an unconstitutional move, but achieved a 99.4% vote in favour on a 67% turnout (which almost entirely constituted of the Bosniak and Croat communities). The Bosnian parliament, already vacated by the Bosnian Serbs, formally declared independence from Yugoslavia on February 29 and Izetbegović announced the country's independence on March 3. It did not take effect until 7 April 1992, when the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
recognised the new country. Sporadic fighting between Serbs and government forces occurred across Bosnia in the run-up to international recognition. Izetbegović appears to have gambled that the international community would send a peacekeeping force upon recognising Bosnia in order to prevent a war, but this did not happen. Instead, war immediately broke out across the country as Serb and Yugoslav Army forces took control of large areas of Bosnia against the opposition of poorly-equipped government security forces.
Initially the Serb forces attacked non-Serb civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
population in Eastern Bosnia. Once town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
s and village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s were securely in their hands, the Serb forces - the military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
, the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, the paramilitaries and, sometimes, even Serb villagers – applied the same pattern: Bosniak houses and apartments were systematically ransacked or burnt down, Bosniak civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s were rounded up or captured, and sometimes beaten or killed in the process. Men and women were separated, with many of the men detained in the camps. The women were kept in various detention centres where they had to live in intolerably unhygienic conditions, where they were mistreated in many ways including being raped repeatedly. Serb soldiers or policemen would come to these detention centres, select one or more women, take them out and rape them.
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was an unrecognised entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina that existed between 1991 and 1994 during the Bosnian war. It was proclaimed on November 18, 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, and claimed to be a separate or distinct "political,...
in Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
and Central Bosnia. The Croats pulled out of the Sarajevo government and fighting broke out in 1993. In most areas local armistices were signed between the Serbs and Croats (Kreševo
Kreševo
Kreševo is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity.-Settlements:• Alagići• Bjelovići• Botunja• Bukva• Crkvenjak• Crnički Kamenik• Crnići• Deževice...
, Vareš
Vareš
Vareš is a town and municipality in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, famous for the local mining activities and production of iron. It is part of the Zenica-Doboj Canton and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-About Vareš:...
, Jajce
Jajce
Jajce is a city and municipality located in the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity...
). Croat forces started their first attacks on Bosniaks in Gornji Vakuf
Gornji Vakuf
Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje is a town and municipality in Central Bosnia , located between Bugojno, Prozor, Kupres, Novi Travnik and Konjic. It is under the administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
and Novi Travnik
Novi Travnik
Novi Travnik is a town and municipality in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located south of Travnik on the road to Bugojno...
, towns in Central Bosnia on June, 1992, but the attacks failed. The Graz agreement
Graz agreement
The Graz agreement was a partition agreement signed between Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić and Bosnian Croat leader Mate Boban on 6 May 1992 in the town of Graz, Austria. The agreement was meant to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina between Republika Srpska and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia...
caused deep division inside the Croat community and strengthened the separation group, which led to the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing
Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing
The Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing, also known as the Lašva Valley case, refers to numerous war crimes committed during the Bosnian war by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military leadership on Bosnian Muslim civilians in the Lašva Valley region of Bosnia-Herzegovina...
campaign against Bosniak civilians. The campaign planned by the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
leadership
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
from May 1992 to March 1993 and erupting the following April, was meant to implement objectives set forth by Croat nationalists in November 1991. Adding to the general confusion, Izetbegović's former colleague Fikret Abdić established an Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia
Western Bosnia
The Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia was a small unrecognized entity in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
in parts of Cazin
Cazin
Cazin is a town and municipality in northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Croatia. It is located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cazinska Krajina is named after Cazin...
and Velika Kladuša
Velika Kladuša
Velika Kladuša is a city and municipality in the far northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located near the border with Croatia. The closest city is Cazin, and a bit farther, the cities of Bihać and Bosanski Novi. Across the border, it is not far from Cetingrad...
municipalities in opposition to the Sarajevo government and in cooperation with Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
and Franjo Tuđman. Abdić's faction was eventually routed by the Bosnian Army. By this time, Izetbegović's government controlled only about 25% of the country and represented principally the Bosniak community.
For three and a half years, Izetbegović lived precariously in a besieged Sarajevo
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
surrounded by Serb forces. He denounced the failure of Western countries to reverse Serbian aggression and turned instead to the Muslim world, with which he had already established relations during his days as a dissident. The Bosnian government received money and arms. Following massacres on Bosnian Muslims by Serb and, to a lesser extent, Croat forces, Arab volunteers came across Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
into Bosnia to join the Bosnian Army. They were organized into detachment called El-Mudžahid. The number of the El-Mudžahid volunteers is still disputed, from around 300 to 1,500. These caused particular controversy: foreign fighters, styling themselves mujahiddin, turned up in Bosnia around 1993 with Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n identity documents and passports. They quickly attracted heavy criticism amplified by Serbian and Croatian propaganda, who considered their presence to be evidence of violent Islamic fundamentalism at the heart of Europe. However, the foreign volunteers became unpopular even with many of the Bosniak population, because the Bosnian army had thousands of troops and had no need for more soldiers (especially controversial ones who could undermine their reputation as a defending army), but for arms. Many Bosnian Army officers and intellectuals were suspicious regarding foreign volunteers arrival in central part of the country, because they came from Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
and Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
in Croatia, and were passed through the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia without problems unlike Bosnian Army soldiers who were regularly arrested by Croat forces. According to general Stjepan Šiber
Stjepan Šiber
Stjepan Šiber was a war time general of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After finishing high school in Gradacac, he went to Ljubljana where he finished schooling at the military academy. Afterward, he became an officer in the Yugoslav People's Army. By 1992, he had become a...
, the highest ranking ethnic Croat in Bosnian Army, the key role in foreign volunteers arrival was played by Franjo Tuđman and Croatian counter-intelligence
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
underground with the aim to justify involvement of Croatia in Bosnian War and mass crimes committed by Croat forces. Although Izetbegović regarded them as symbolically valuable as a sign of the Muslim world's support for Bosnia, they appear to have made little military difference and became a major political liability. The entity defence minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two political entities that compose the sovereign country of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The two entities are delineated by the Inter-Entity Boundary Line...
, Hasan Čengić, was closely associated with Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and his dismissal in 1996 was a major US demand/condition for the funding and equipping of the Bosnian Federation Army.
In mid-1993, Izetbegović agreed to a peace plan that would divide Bosnia along ethnic lines but continued to insist on a unitary Bosnia government from Sarajevo and on the allocation to the Bosniaks of a large percentage of Bosnia's territory. The war between the Bosniaks and Croats was eventually ended by a truce brokered with the aid of the Americans in March 1994, following which the two sides collaborated more closely against the Serbs. From around this time onwards, NATO became increasingly involved in the conflict with occasional "pinprick" bombings conducted against the Bosnian Serbs, generally following violations of ceasefires and the no-fly zone over Bosnia. The Bosnian Croat forces benefited indirectly from the military training given to the Croatian Army by the American military consultancy Military Professional Resources, Inc. In addition, the Croatians provided considerable quantities of weaponry to the Bosnian Croats and much smaller amounts to the Bosnian Army, despite a UN weapons embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
. Most of the Bosnian Army's supply of weapons was air-lifted from the Muslim world, specifically Iran - an issue which became the subject of some controversy and a US congressional investigation in 1996.
In September 1993, the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (Drugi bošnjački sabor) officially re-introduced the historical ethnic name Bosniaks instead of the previously used Muslim in former Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav Muslim by nationality policy was considered by Bosniaks to be neglecting and opposing their Bosnian identity because the term tried to describe Bosniaks as a religious group not an ethnic one. To quote Bosnian politician and president Hamdija Pozderac
Hamdija Pozderac
Hamdija Pozderac was a Bosniak communist politician and the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1971- 74. He was a vice president of the former Yugoslavia in late 1980s, and was in line to become the president of Yugoslavia just before he was forced to resign from politics in 1987...
: "They don't allow Bosnianhood but they offered Muslimhood. We shall accept their offer, although the name is wrong, but with it we'll start the process." In discussion with Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
(1971).
Ending the war
In August 1995, following the Srebrenica massacreSrebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
and the 2nd Markale massacre, the U.S. and NATO launched a four week intensive bombing campaign which destroyed Bosnian Serb command and control system. This allowed the Croatian and Bosniak forces to overrun many Serb-held areas of the country, producing a roughly 50/50 split of the territory between the two sides. The offensive came to a halt not far from the de facto Serb capital of Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...
. When the Croat and Bosniak forces stopped their advance they had captured the power plants supplying Banja Luka's electricity and used that control to pressure the Serb leadership into accepting a cease fire.
The parties agreed to meet at Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
to negotiate a peace treaty under the supervision of the United States. Croatian and Serbian interests were represented by President Tuđman and President Milošević respectively. Izetbegović represented the internationally recognised Bosnian Government.
After the war
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
was formally ended by the Dayton peace accord in November 1995, Izetbegović became a Member President of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. His party's power declined after the international community installed a High Representative
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the Dayton Peace Agreement to oversee the civilian implementation of this agreement. The High Representative and the OHR represent the...
to oversee affairs of state, with more power than the presidents or parliaments of either the Bosniak-Croat or Serb entities. He stepped down in October 2000 at the age of 74, citing his bad health. However, Izetbegović remained popular with the Bosniak public, who nicknamed him Dedo (which in Bosnian
Bosnian language
Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
means granpa
Grandparent
Grandparents are the parents of a person's own parent, whether that be a father or a mother. Every sexually-reproducing creature who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic grandparents, eight genetic great-grandparents, sixteen genetic great-great-grandparents, etc...
). His endorsement helped his party to bounce back in the elections of 2002.
He died in October 2003 of heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
complicated by injuries suffered from a fall at home.
Personal life and other information
Alija Izetbegović died in October 2003 in Sarajevo. Following his death there was a drive to rename a part of the main street of SarajevoSarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
from Ulica Maršala Tita
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
(Marshall Tito Street) and the Sarajevo International Airport
Sarajevo International Airport
Sarajevo International Airport , also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located southwest of the railway station in the capital city of Sarajevo in the suburb of Butmir....
in his honour. Following objections from politicians from Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
, the international community, and UN envoy Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
, both initiatives failed.
His grave at the Kovači cemetery in Sarajevo was badly damaged by a bomb on the morning of 11 August 2006. The identity of the bomber or bombers has not been determined.
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French public intellectual, philosopher and journalist. Often referred to today, in France, simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" movement in 1976.-Early life:...
described Izetbegović's wartime career in a favorable documentary called Bosna!
In October 2006, his son Bakir
Bakir Izetbegovic
Bakir Izetbegović is a Bosniak politician. Izetbegović is a member of the Party of Democratic Action and son of the late Bosnian president, Alija Izetbegović. In 2010, he was elected to be the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Career:Izetbegović graduated with a degree in...
(born 1956) was elected to a four-year term in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a representative of the SDA
Party of Democratic Action
The Party of Democratic Action is a Bosniak national political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:The Party of Democratic Action was founded in May 1990 by Alija Izetbegović, representing the Bosnian Muslim population...
. Four years later, in October 2010, he too was elected to the Presidency as the Bosniak member.
War crimes accusations
Serbian institutions twice petitioned the International Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
to indict him on war crimes and other charges. An ICTY investigation of Izetbegović was started, but terminated when he died.
Writings
Available in English- Islam Between East and West, Alija Ali Izetbegović, American Trust Publications, 1985 (also ABC Publications, 1993)
- Inescapable Questions: Autobiographical Notes, Alija Izetbegović, The Islamic Foundation, 2003
- Izetbegović of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Notes from Prison, 1983-1988, Alija Izetbegović, Greenwood Press, 2001
- Notes From Prison - 1983-1988
- The Islamic DeclarationThe Islamic DeclarationThe Islamic Declaration was written by Alija Izetbegović. Originally published in 1969–70, and republished in 1990 in Sarajevo, it presents his views on Islam and modernization....
, Alija Izetbegović, s.n., 1991
Available in Bosnian
- Govori i pisma, Alija Izetbegović, SDA, 1994
- Rat i mir u Bosni i Hercegovini (Biblioteka Posebna izdanja), Alija Izetbegović, Vijece Kongresa bosnjackih intelektualaca, 1998
- Moj bijeg u slobodu: Biljeske iz zatvora 1983-1988 (Biblioteka Refleksi), Alija Izetbegović, Svjetlost, 1999
- Islamska deklaracija (Mala muslimanska biblioteka), Alija Izetbegović, Bosna, 1990
Further reading
- Terror Attack: Alija Izetbegovic's Grave Damaged by Explosion - Reuters, Aug 11, 2006
- Alija Izetbegovic: 1925-2003: Biographical information, book reviews and excerpts from Ummah.eu, Inc.
- "The leader caught without a land", The Times (UK), 4 February 1993
- "Dead Bosnia Hero Focus of War Crimes Inquiry" New York Times, October 23, 2003
- "Obituaries; Alija Izetbegović, 78; Led Bosnia Through War", Los Angeles Times, 20 October 2003
- "Obituary: Alija Izetbegović: Bosnia's first president, a devout Muslim who fought for his country's survival in war and peace during the 1990s", The Guardian (UK), 20 October 2003
- Bosnia: A Short History, Noel Malcolm, 1996
- Galvanizing Fear of Islam: The 1983 Trial of Alija Izetbegović in Context, Aimee Wielechowski, 1996
- The Two Faces of Islam, Stephen Schwartz, 2002
- Inescapable Questions: Autobiographical Notes, Alija Izetbegović, The Islamic Foundation, 2003