Belgium may open probe in ‘sniper tourism’ in 1990s Sarajevo
The remarks follow a Milan investigation into claims that wealthy foreign nationals paid to shoot at civilians from surrounding hills, with Bosnian Serb forces allegedly organizing these “human safaris.” The probe was launched after journalist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a complaint based on his research.
Italian media reported that several Italian civilians, described as “radical far-right war tourists,” allegedly joined Serb sniper units to fire on civilians for entertainment. Van den Wyngaert, who served at the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, said she had never encountered evidence of such practices.
She noted that while Belgian nationals could not be tried by the ICC—since it did not exist at the time—Belgian prosecutors could pursue a domestic investigation. The acts, committed by civilians, would not fall under the laws of war but could be prosecuted as murder or potentially as crimes against humanity, which have no statute of limitations.
The siege of Sarajevo lasted 3½ years, killing more than 11,500 civilians, including 1,601 children, amid the broader Bosnian War, which left over 100,000 dead and displaced some 2 million people.
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