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Witness to War Crimes: The Memoirs of a Peacekeeper in Bosnia
The early 1990s saw Europe’s first conflict for almost 40 years when bitter fighting broke out in the former Yugoslav republic. Colonel Colm Doyle of the Irish Army found himself in the midst of this appalling civil war when in October 1991 he became first a European Community Monitor and almost immediately Head of the Monitor Mission in besieged Sarajevo. After six months he was appointed Personal Representative to Lord Carrington, Chairman of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia.
In this overdue memoir, he describes his role mediating, negotiating and persuading political and military leaders of all sides to halt the seemingly inexorable path to all-out war. He arranged ceasefires, visited prisoner-of-war camps, extricated election monitors and organised hostage releases. His experiences made him a key witness at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague at the trials of Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic.
With his unprecedented access, Doyle’s personal account can claim to be one of the most significant works on the brutal Bosnian War.
In this overdue memoir, he describes his role mediating, negotiating and persuading political and military leaders of all sides to halt the seemingly inexorable path to all-out war. He arranged ceasefires, visited prisoner-of-war camps, extricated election monitors and organised hostage releases. His experiences made him a key witness at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague at the trials of Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic.
With his unprecedented access, Doyle’s personal account can claim to be one of the most significant works on the brutal Bosnian War.
296 pages, Hardcover
Published June 25, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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July 11, 2019Colm Doyle is my cousin. He is an amazing man with amazing stories.
July 11, 2021
A very interesting and well written memoir by a very capable and courageous man who was not afraid to make decisions on the ground as required. The book covers his time in the Balkans from Aug 1991 to September 1992. There are two final chapters (fascinating) recounting his participation in the war crimes trials at the Hague in later years.
The book is so interesting and well written that my only regret was that it covers such a short period of the overall Balkans conflicts.
The book is so interesting and well written that my only regret was that it covers such a short period of the overall Balkans conflicts.
February 8, 2020
Very interesting book and highly recommend ed for anyone into the serbs muslim conflict in bosnia.Mr Doyle seems very smart and has a lot to tell.I wish this is not going to be the only book to write.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews