User talk:The Dragon of Bosnia/Prijedor massacres

Background

Following Slovenia’s and Croatia’s declarations of independence in June 1991, the situation in the Prijedor municipality rapidly deteriorated. During the war in Croatia, the tension increased between the Serbs and the communities of Bosniaks and Croats.

Bosniaks and Croats began to leave the municipality because of a growing sense of insecurity and fear amongst the population which was caused by Serb propaganda which became increasingly visible. The municipal newspaper "Kozarski Vjesnik" started publishing allegations against the non-Serbs. The Serb media propagandised the idea that the Serbs had to arm themselves. Terms like Ustasha (Ustaše), Mujahideen (Mudžahedini) and Green Berets (Zelene beretke) were used widely in the press as synonyms for the non-Serb population. Radio Prijedor disseminated propaganda insulting Croats and Bosnian Muslims. As one result of the takeover of the transmitter station on Mount Kozara in August 1991 by the Serbian paramilitary unit the Wolves of Vucak, TV Sarajevo was cut off. It was replaced by broadcasts from Belgrade and Banja Luka with interviews of Serb radical politicians and renditions of Serb nationalistic songs which would previously have been banned.

Political developments before the takeover

At the session on January 7, 1992, two days prior to the proclamation of the Republic of Serbian People of B&H, the Serb members of the Prijedor Municipal Assembly and the presidents of the local Municipal Boards of the SDS implemented Instructions for the Organisation and Activity of Organs of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Extraordinary Circumstances adopted earlier on December 19 1991 and proclaimed the Assembly of the Serbian People of the Municipality of Prijedor. Milomir Stakić, later convicted by ICTY of mass crimes against humanity against Bosniak and Croat civilians, was elected President of this Assembly. Ten days later, on January 17, 1992, the Assembly endorsed joining the Serbian territories of the Municipality of Prijedor to the Autonomous Region of Bosnian Krajina in order to implement creation of a separate Serbian state on ethnic Serbian territories.

On April 23, 1992, the SDS decided inter alia that all Serb units immediately start working on the takeover of the municipality in co-ordination with JNA (later Army of Serbia and Montenegro and Army of Republika Srpska). By the end of April 1992, a number of clandestine Serb police stations were created in the municipality and more than 1,500 armed Serbs were ready to take part in the takeover.

Takeover

A declaration on the takeover prepared by the Serb politicians from SDS was read out on Radio Prijedor the day after the takeover and was repeated throughout the day. When planning the anticipated takeover, it was decided that the 400 Serb policemen who would be involved in the takeover would be sufficient for the task. The objective of the takeover was to take over the functions of the president of the municipality, the vice-president of the municipality, the director of the post office, the chief of the police etc.

In the night of the April 29/30, 1992, the takeover of power took place. Employees of the public security station and reserve police gathered in Cirkin Polje, part of the town of Prijedor. Only Serbs were present and some of them were wearing military uniforms. The people there were given the task of taking over power in the municipality and were broadly divided into five groups. Each group of about twenty had a leader and each was ordered to gain control of certain buildings. One group was responsible for the Assembly building, one for the main police building, one for the courts, one for the bank and the last for the post-office.

ICTY concluded that the takeover by the Serb politicians was as an illegal coup d'état, which was planned and coordinated a long time in advance with the ultimate aim of creating a pure Serbian municipality. These plans were never hidden and they were implemented in a coordinated action by the Serb police, army and politicians. One of the leading figures was Milomir Stakić, who came to play the dominant role in the political life of the Municipality.

Massacres

After the takeover, civilian life was transformed in a myriad ways. Tension and fear increased significantly among the non-Serb population in Prijedor municipality. There was a marked increase in the military presence of Serb formations in the town of Prijedor. Armed soldiers were placed on top of all the high rise buildings in Prijedor town and the Serb police established checkpoints throughout the town of Prijedor.

In the Stakić case, the ICTY concluded that many people were killed during the attacks by the Serb army on predominantly Bosnian Muslim villages and towns throughout the Prijedor municipality and several massacres of Bosnian Muslims took place and that a comprehensive pattern of atrocities against Bosnian Muslims in Prijedor municipality in 1992 had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Propaganda

After the takeover, Radio Prijedor propagated Serb nationalistic ideas characterising prominent non-Serbs as criminals and extremists who should be punished for their behaviour. One example of such propaganda was the derogatory language used for referring to non-Serbs such as mujahedin, Ustasa or Green Berets. Both the printed and broadcast media also spread what can be only considered as blatant lies according to ICTY conclusion about non-Serb doctors: Dr. Mirsad Mujadžić of the Bosniak politicians was accused of injecting drugs into Serb women making them incapable of giving birth to male children and Dr. Željko Sikora, a Croat, referred to as the Monster Doctor, was accused of making Serb women abort if they were pregnant with male children and of castrating the male babies of Serbian parents. Moreover, in a "Kozarski Vjesnik" article dated June 10, 1992, Dr. Osman Mahmuljin was accused of deliberately having provided incorrect medical care to his Serb colleague Dr. Živko Dukić, who had a heart attack. Dr. Dukić’s life was saved only because Dr. Radojka Elenkov discontinued the therapy allegedly initiated by Dr. Mahmuljin. The appeals were broadcast aimed at the Serbs to lynch the non-Serbs. Moreover, forged biographies of prominent non-Serbs, including Prof. Muhamed Ćehajić, Mr. Crnalić, Dr. Eso Sadiković and Dr. Osman Mahmuljin, were broadcast. According to ICTY conclusion in Stakić verdict Mile Mutić, the director of Kozarski Vjesnik and the journalist Rade Mutić regularly attended meetings of Serb politicians (local authorities) in order to get informed about next steps of spreading propaganda.

Strengthening of Serb forces

In the weeks following the takeover, the Serb authorities in Prijedor worked to strengthen their position militarily in accordance with decisions adopted on the highest levels. On May 12, 1992, the self-appointed Assembly of the Serbian People established the Serbian Army under Ratko Mladić’s command by bringing together former JNA (later Army of Serbia and Montenegro and Army of Republika Srpska) units.

Major Radmilo Željaja issued an ultimatum calling for all Bosniak citizens to hand over their weapons to the Serbian Army and to declare their loyalty to the Serbian Republic and to respond to the mobilisation call-ups. The ultimatum issued also contained a threat that any resistance would be punished. For the most part, the civilian population complied with these requests turning in their hunting rifles and pistols as well as their permits and in the belief that if they handed in their weapons they would be safe. House searches performed by soldiers of the homes of the non-Serb population were common and any weapons found were confiscated.

Marking of non-Serb houses

Many non-Serbs were dismissed from their jobs in the period after the takeover. The general tendency is reflected in a decision of the Serb regional authorities i.e. Crisis Staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK) dated June 22, 1992, which provides that all socially-owned enterprises, joint-stock companies, state institutions, public utilities, Ministries of the Interior, and the Army of the Serbian Republic may only be held by personnel of Serbian nationality.

The announcements broadcast on the radio also obliged non-Serbs to hang a white cloth outside their homes as a demonstration of their loyalty to the Serbian authorities. Charles McLeod, who was with the ECMM and visited Prijedor municipality in the last days of August 1992, testified that while visiting a mixed Serb/Bosnian Muslim village he saw that the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) houses were identified by a white flag on the roof. This is corroborated by the testimony of Barnabas Mayhew (ECMM), who testified that the Bosnian Muslim houses were marked with white flags in order to distinguish them from the Serb houses.

Attack on Hambarine

Hambarine was predominantly Bosniak village in Prijedor municipality. On May 22, 1992, Serb controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) issued an ultimatum to the residents of Hambarine. The residents were to surrender several individuals alleged involved in attack on JNA. The ultimatum was not complied with and around noon the next day the shelling of Hambarine began. The shelling came from three directions from the north-west in the Karane area, from the area of Urije and from the area of Topic Hill. There were two or three Serb tanks and approximately a thousand soldiers during the attack. The bombardment of Hambarine continued until about 15:00. The Bosniak residents tried to defend the village, but they were forced to flee to other villages or to the Kurevo woods to escape the shelling. There were approximately 400 refugees, mostly women, children and elderly people, who fled Hambarine as a result of the attack that saw the Serb soldiers kill, rape and torche houses. A military operation was consequently concentrated on the Kurevo forest.

Attack on Kozarac

The area of Kozarac, surrounding Kozarac town, comprises several villages, including Kamičani, Kozaruša, Susici, Brđani, Babići. Before the Bosnian War approximately 98 to 99% of the inhabitants of Kozarac were Bosniaks, and the rest of the population were Gypsies, Ukrainians, Croats and Serbs.

After the Serb takeover of Prijedor, the population of Kozarac tried to control the perimeter of their town and organized patrols. After the attack on Hambarine, another ultimatum was issued for the town of Kozarac. Radmilo Željaja delivered the ultimatum on Radio Prijedor, threatening to raze Kozarac to the ground if residents failed to comply. Following the ultimatum, negotiations took place between the Bosniak and the Serb sides which were unsuccessful. Stojan Župljanin, later accused of war crimes by ICTY and one of the most wanted fugitive besies Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, who led the Serb delegation, said that, unless his conditions were met, the army would take Kozarac by force. As of May 21, 1992, the Serb inhabitants of Kozarac started to leave the town. Kozarac was subsequently surrounded and the phone lines were disconnected. On the night of 22 and 23 May 1992, detonations could be heard in the direction of Prijedor and fires could be seen in the area of Hambarine.

The attack started on May 25, 1992 and ended on May 27, at 13:00 hrs. Military convoy comprising two columns approached Kozarac, they opened fire on the houses and checkpoints and, at the same time, shells were fired from the hills. The shooting was aimed at people fleeing from the area. The shelling was intense and unrelenting. Over 5,000 Serb soldiers and combatants participated in the attack. Serb forces included 343rd Motorised Brigade (an enlarged motorized battalion) supported by two 105 mm howitzer batteries and one M-84 tank squadron. After the shelling, Serb forces shot people in their homes and that those who surrendered were taken to a soccer stadium of Kozarac where some men were randomly shot. After the people had been killed or fled their homes, the soldiers set fire to the houses. There was extensive destruction of property in Kozarac as a result of the attack. The houses had been not only destroyed, but leveled to the ground using heavy machinery. The medical centre in Kozarac was damaged during the attack. The attack continued until May 26, 1992 when it was agreed that the people should leave the territory of Kozarac. A large number of people in Kozarac surrendered that day. The Serb authorities explained that all those who wished to surrender should form a convoy and that a ceasefire would be in effect during this period. It was later learned that when the convoy , which left that day, reached the Banja Luka-Prijedor road the women and men were separated. The women were taken to Trnopolje and the men to Omarska and Keraterm concentration camps, which shocked the world when BBC reporters discovered them. A large numbers of women and children arrived in Prijedor on the day of the attack. The Prijedor intervention platoon, led by Dado Mrđa, Zoran Babić and others intervened and began to mistreat the women and children. Some time later in that day, buses arrived, and they ordered women and children to board these buses for Trnopolje camp.

No wounded had been allowed out of Kozarac. For example, according to Dr. Merdžanić's testimony befor ICTY he had not been given permission to arrange the evacuation of two injured children, one of whom had her legs completely shattered, and he had instead been told that all the dirty Muslims (in Serbian language: balija) should die there, as they would be killed in any event. In the attack at least 100 people were killed, and 1,500 deported to concentration camps. A report sent by colonel Dragan Marčetić to the Serb Army Main Staff dated May 27, 1992 states that the wider area of Kozarac village, i.e. the area of the village of Kozaruša, Trnopolje, Donji Jakupovići, Gornji Jakupovići, Benkovac, Rakovic has been entirely freed of Bosniaks (80–100 Bosniaks were killed, about 1,500 captured and around 100–200 persons were at large on Mt. Kozara).

The Report of the Commission of Experts in Bosnia v. Serbia Genocide Case before the International Court of Justice states that the attack on Kozarac lasted three days and caused many villagers to flee to the forest while the soldiers were shooting at ‘every moving thing’. Survivors calculated that at least 2,000 villagers were killed in that period. The villagers’ defence fell on May 26. Serbs then reportedly announced that the villagers had 10 minutes to reach the town’s soccer stadium. However, many people were shot in their homes before given a chance to leave. One witness reported that several thousand people tried to surrender by carrying white flags, but three Serb tanks opened fire on them, killing many.

Camps

During and after Kozarac and Hambarine massacres, Serb authorities set up concentration camps and determined who should be responsible for the running of those camps.

Keraterm camp

Keraterm factory was set up as a camp on or around May 23/24, 1992. There were four rooms in the camp, Room 2 being the largest and Room 3 the smallest. By late June 1992, there were about 1,200 people in the camp. Every day people were brought in or taken away from the camp. The numbers increased considerably by late July. The detainees were mostly Bosnian Muslims and Croats. The detainees slept on wooden pallets used for the transport of goods or on bare concrete in a big storage room. The conditions were cramped and people often had to sleep on top of each other. In June 1992, Room 1 held 320 people and the number continued to grow. The detainees were given one meal a day, made up of two small slices of bread and some sort of stew. The rations were insufficient for the detainees.