“Human safari”: new testimony reveals wealthy tourists paid to hunt civilians in Sarajevo

During the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s, rich Italians paid to shoot civilians, prosecutors have heard. The so-called human safari was run by the Serbian military who besieged the city from surrounding hills. Journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni has brought the allegations to Milanese public prosecutors this week.

The story centres on rich Italians and other nationalities who supposedly paid to kill innocents. The BBC reports there were different prices paid for killing men, women or children. An Instagram post by Warrior Women for Liberation said the individuals were far-right linked and paid up to £70,000 for the trips: Gavezzeni’s submission said the killers: “paid to be able to kill defenceless civilians”. The siege lasted from 1992-1996 — the longest siege of a capital city in history. Anna Paulina Luna said:

 

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A US congresswoman has now pledged to track down Americans who may have taken part:

Regarding the alleged ‘murder tourism’ discussed below, I have opened an investigation into this matter and am in contact with the Bosnian Consulate as well as the Italian Embassy.

 

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Were Brits also involved?

Up to 11000 people are thought to have died in the siege. It is not known how many may have been killed by these death tourists. The BBC said:

Evidence gathered by Gavazzeni, which includes the testimony of a Bosnian military intelligence officer, is now being examined by Italian counter-terrorism prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis.

The officer said he passed the information onto Italian intelligence in 1993. By 1994, the Italians said the issue had been handled and the practice stopped.

News account Comrawire said:

Prosecutors allege that not only Italians but also Germans, French, British, and other Westerners paid to take part in shooting civilians.

 

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According to Gavazzeni:

There were no political or religious motivations. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction.

Foreign forces were also stationed around the city during the war. Some UK military sources maintained to the BBC that the stories were an urban myth.  But in 2007, a US military veteran testified that there were ‘tourist shooters’ in and around the city.

Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal in 2016.

These emerging accounts of a “human safari” show how the Sarajevo siege may still hold some of its darkest truths untold.