C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

305Albright shows the photosOn 10 August, Albright produced the photos of the disturbed ground where the executed men wereburied. 1669 They were also passed on to the Ministry of Defence by the US Embassy in The Hague. 1670If the Dutch Government wanted to see more photos or more detailed photos then Washington wouldbe prepared to look favourably on this request. 1671 The DPKO did not, however, receive the sametreatment because, on the same day, all that Annan’s advisor, Tharoor, received was a copy ofAlbright’s speech. He did not get the photos because of ‘technical difficulties’. 1672 He would get themon 15 August through a separate briefing. DPKO was also shown a sketch of a classified photo of awider area one kilometre north of Nova Kasaba. The actual photo was not released. 1673On 18 August, Minister Voorhoeve received an answer to the memo he had sent two weeksbefore. In the meantime, the Albright photos had been published. The US military attaché also hadsome classified detailed imagery of the vicinity of Srebrenica, but they could betray the technologicalpossibilities of the satellite. For this reason, his government had instructed him not to release them. Butit would not object if they were studied, analysed and interpreted by government photo analysts at theDefence Crisis Management Centre (DCBC). The Royal Netherlands Air Force was therefore asked tomake a team of photo analysts available on 21 August. 1674On the same day, American representatives showed the strictly classified satellite photos toanalysts of the Air Force. During the weekend Joup Schouren and his colleagues were allowed to brieflyanalyse the photos at the DCBC under the watchful eye of an US colonel. Schouren would have likedto have inspected them at the Volkel air base, but this was not allowed. The Americans did not offertheir own interpretation of the photos. Standard details were also missing, including the type of film,the time, the height and the focal distance of the lens for calculating the scale of the photos. The onlyavailable information was the date and the position. After a short analysis the photos had to bereturned directly to the US Embassy. 1675However, an erroneous observation is presumably made here by Schouren. Time, date andgeographic co-ordinates are standard annotations for any sort of imagery, but altitude and focal lengthare definitely not. This observation clearly comes from a TACRECCE person (which Schouren was),where such information is normally imbedded in the photo with a matrix arrangement. It does notapply to UAV imagery, U2 imagery, or any sort of satellite imagery. 1676One interpretation of Albright’s satellite photos was as follows: two groups of ‘possible’prisoners were discernible on a football pitch near Nova Kasaba, 19 kilometres west of Bratunac andSrebrenica and five kilometres south of Konjevic Polje: one of approximately 100 persons and one ofapproximately 500 persons. Both groups were seated on the ground and surrounded by twenty or sosentry posts. There were five vehicles at the entrance to the football pitch. On the photos Schourensaw a football pitch with guards, space for loading people onto transport, people (some of whom werekneeling), two bulldozers and two T-55 tanks with a bulldozer blade, a hole in the ground, buses andtrucks.He could also see a British Warrior in UN colours driving in a bus convoy. It was not a DutchAPC; the British had lost a few Warriors to the VRS earlier in the war. Schouren counted 600 menkneeling at an assembly point. There was also a camp enclosed by fencing, which reminded him of1669 ‘US Reveals Photographs of Apparent Mass Grave’, International Herald Tribune, 10/08/95 and ‘Up to 2,700 MassacredBy Serbs, UN is Told, International Herald Tribune, 11/08/95.1670 MoD, DCBC, Box 61.US Army Attaché to Commander Hilderink, 11/08/95.1671 MoD, DJZ. Permanent NATO representative to Foreign Ministry, No. 1147, 11/08/95.1672 UNNY, DPKO. Annan to Akashi, No. 2686, 11/08/95.1673 Confidential Collection (8), Annan to Akashi, No. MSC 2720, 15/08/95 plus a copy of photos.1674 MoD, DS, No. DE01107, Acting Commander of Defence Staff Schouten to Minister Voorhoeve, No. S95/061/3269,18/08/95.1675 Interview with J. Schouren, 04/12/99 and J.J.C. Voorhoeve, 13/03/97.1676 Confidential information (80) and confidential interview (54).