If you knew where Karadzic was hiding, how would you report it (and collect the $5 million reward)?

The State Department's website, www.rewardsforjustice.net, offers information on international fugitives and rewards in thirteen languages. Surprisingly, Serbo-Croatian is not one of those languages, meaning that potential informants in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro who do not speak English are effectively precluded from reporting tips and information on fugitive war criminals to the US government.

I'm certain that there are Serbs, Bosnians, and Montenegrins who would love to send Radovan Karadzic to the Hague. But what can they really do? Even if they know where Karadzic is, their only local contacts are local police (and not surprisingly, Karadzic will probably only stay in those places where local police will protect his coterie). Most would never see NATO, EU, or American officials or forces, and wouldn't know how to report information. A rewards website in Serbo-Croatian could bridge this gap, but it doesn't exist.

The Rewards for Justice site offers "up to $5,000,000 Reward" for information leading to the capture of Karadzic.

Potential informants who do speak English or one of the other languages in RFJ can submit anonymous tips on the website, or call 1-800-US REWARDS with information.

Karadzic "still in the forest"

I just heard from a friend in Republika Srpska with an interest in finding Karadzic. My friend writes on recent Karadzic (K. man) hunting developments:

"K. man is still in the forest. There were some small moves, no success. All shit regarding this matter is the same."

Remembering Karadzic's role in Srebrenica

In March 1995, Radovan Karadzic issued a directive to his military (Vojnik Republika Srpska, or VRS) to close in on the Muslim safehaven of Srebrenica, in response to raids by the ABiH (Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina - an all Muslim force at the time) against Serb territories. Karadzic's infamous "Directive 7" ordered the VRS to:

"[C]omplete the physical separation of Srebrenica from Zepa as soon as possible, preventing even open communication between individuals in the two enclaves. By planned and well-thought out combat operations, create an unbearable situation of total insecurity with no hope of further survival or life for the inhabitants of Srebrenica."

The VRS then moved in and occupied Srebrenica, and initiated a campaign of terror and killings that left over 7000 dead.