Witness to War Crimes
Witness to War Crimes
The Memoirs of a Peacekeeper in Bosnia
Colm Doyle
Edited by Kenneth Morrison
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by
Pen & Sword Military
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire Philadelphia
Copyright Colm Doyle 2018
ISBN 978 1 52673 6 116
eISBN 978 1 52673 6 123
Mobi ISBN 978 1 52673 6 130
The right of Colm Doyle to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
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This book is dedicated to my wife Grainne and our children Elaine, Mark, Sheena and Shane, who endured my many absences on peacekeeping tours of duty abroad. Thank you all for your enthusiastic and constant support.
Acknowledgements
M y thanks are due to all the following people: Dermot Cogan for his friendship, loyalty and sage advice; Pandelis Botonakis and the late Jean-Loup Eychenne for being great teammates; Vitor Ferreira for being an outstanding deputy; Darko Ivi for being the perfect interpreter and someone whose good humour was infectious; Lieutenant Colonel Slobodan Dimitrijevi of the JNA, an officer and gentleman; Professors Zoran Paji and Borisa Starovi of the University of Sarajevo for their insightful knowledge and support; Lord (Peter) Carrington for selecting me as his Personal Representative in Bosnia; Ambassador Jos Cutileiro for believing I could make a difference; Martin Bell for a special friendship between journalist and soldier and for starting me on this memoir journey; Annette McElligott for crossing the ts and dotting the is; and Professor Kenneth Morrison, who gave so generously of his time to bring my Bosnian memoir from draft to book form. Thank you one and all.
I pray that my grandchildren will never have to experience the brutality of war and hope that this memoir will encourage them to work in their adult lives towards a peaceful, just and inclusive world.
Abbreviations
ADL : Armistice Demarcation Line
AO : Area of Operations
APC : Armoured Personnel Carrier
DFF : De Facto Forces
DPKO : Department of Peacekeeping Operations
EC : European Community (now the European Union)
ECMM: European Community Monitor Mission
FCA : Forsa Cosanta Aitiul (Irish Reserve Defence Force)
FCO : Foreign and Commonwealth Office
HDZ : Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica. The Croatian Democratic Union Bosnia
HOM : Head of Mission
HQ : Headquarters
HVO : Hrvatsko Vijee Obrane. Croatian Defence Council
ICA: Israeli-controlled Area
ICRC : International Committee of the Red Cross
ICTY : International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
IDF : Israeli Defence Force
IFOR : Implementation Force
JNA : Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija. The Yugoslav Peoples Army (Yugoslav Federal Army)
MOU : Memorandum of Understanding
NATO : North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NCO : Non-commissioned Officer
NGO : Non-governmental Organization
OGG : Observer Group Golan
OGG-D : Observer Group Golan-Damascus
OGL : Observer Group Lebanon
OP : Observation Post
OSCE : Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe (formerly CSCE)
PfP : Partnership for Peace
PLO : Palestinian Liberation Organization
RAF : Royal Air Force
RCC : Referendum Coordinating Committee
ROG : Referendum Observer Group
RS : Republika Srpska. The Serbian Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina
RSK : Republika Srpska Krajina. The Republic of Serbian Krajina
RTE : Radio Telefis Eireann. Irelands national broadcasting organization
SAR : Serb Autonomous Region
SDA : Stranka Demokratske Akcije. The Party for Democratic Action (Muslim)
SDS : Srpska Demokratska Stranka. Serbian Democratic Party (Bosnia)
SLA : South Lebanon Army
SPO : Srpski Pokret Obnove. Serbian Renewal Movement
TDF : Territorial Defence Force
TO : Teritorijalna Odbrana. Territorial Defence
UN : United Nations
UNDOF : United Nations Disengagement Observer Force
UNEF : United Nations Emergency Force
UNFICYP : United Nations Force in Cyprus
UNHCR : United Nations High Commission for Refugees
UNIFIL : United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
UNMLOY : United Nations Military Liaison Officers Yugoslavia
UNPA : United Nations Protected Areas
UNPROFOR : United Nations Protection Force
UNSC : United Nations Security Council
UNTSO : United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
VBL : Vehicule Blinde Legar (French light armoured vehicle)
VRS : Vojska Republike Srpske. Army of Republika Srpska
Foreword
T he Irish Defence Forces, to their credit, are not primarily a fighting but a peacekeeping organization. They are used to taking part in what is sometimes termed Operation Sitting Duck caught in the middle of others wars. They have served with distinction in many conflicts, from the Congo to Lebanon. The Army, more than any other, has punched beyond its weight, and it has paid the price: eighty-six of its soldiers have lost their lives on United Nations peacekeeping duty.
One of its most remarkable soldiers was Colm Doyle, a quiet man from Drogheda, who rose from Cadet to Colonel in a 43-year career. He served under the United Nations flag in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus. But for his most prominent exploits he was not in army uniform. In 1991, as Yugoslavia was beginning to disintegrate, he was seconded from the Irish Army to serve as a European Community Monitor in Bosnia. He started in the northern city of Banja Luka, and then very quickly became the European Community Monitor Missions Head of Mission in Sarajevo. He was widely and uniquely seen by all groups Serbs, Muslims and Croats as being a fair, unbiased mediator. He earned their trust more than anyone else did, and after Lord Carrington became President of the Hague Conference, set up by the European Community in an attempt to avert the wars in former Yugoslavia, he was appointed Carringtons representative on the ground.
