War crimes against Serbs 1991. — 1995.

location: According to the 1991 Croatian census, Vukovar was ethnically mixed and almost evenly split between the two main groups: Serbs (31,445, or 37.35 %) and Croats (36,910, or 43.8 %). In the town centre there were 47 % Croats and 32 % Serbs. It is also worth noting that 35 % of marriages were mixed. By the 2011 census, Vukovar had 27,683 inhabitants, of whom 57.37 % were Croats and 34.87 % were Serbs. Since the administrative boundaries of the town no longer correspond to those of 1991, a direct comparison is impossible, but it is clear that the relative number of Serbs living in the town has not significantly declined, largely thanks to the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region.

time of crime: From June 1991 to summer 1992

description of crime: Vukovar rightly holds a special place in the dominant public discourse on the Croatian war. However, what is continually unjustly suppressed are the facts about murders, kidnappings, robberies, and expulsions of Serbs in that town, which began in June 1991, before actual war events had reached the town. These crimes are mostly associated with Tomislav Merčep, who served as Secretary of the Municipal Secretariat for National Defence in Vukovar from 10 June to 13 August 1991, and the units he commanded. Even before the conflict flared up, during spring 1991, fear and mutual distrust gripped Vukovar as a result of events elsewhere in Croatia. The situation worsened after the clash and murder of twelve Croatian policemen in Borovo Selo on 2 May 1991. Many residents began leaving the town out of fear for their safety. One witness described the atmosphere at that time:

By about three in the afternoon, once people returned from work, the town became eerily deserted. When it got dark, people would go down to their cellars. There wasn’t a night without some explosion or gunfire echoing across the town. If you heard the screeching of car brakes near your house at night, you knew an explosion would follow in moments. They shot at houses, and constant telephone threats caused many to leave Vukovar. These departures became mass exoduses once news of night arrests and disappearances spread.

One of the first war victims in Vukovar was Jovan Jakovljević: on 29 June at around 11 p.m., a group of armed men claiming to be policemen arrived at his home. When he refused their summons and asked them to return the following day, they threatened to blow up his house. He then came outside and was shot dead at the entrance.

On 25 July 1991, uniformed members of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) came for Savo Damjanović at his workplace and took him away; never to be seen again. On 31 July, Mladen Mrkić, after presenting his annual report at a meeting of the Workers’ Council of Vupik on the completed harvest, instead of going home, was forced into a vehicle by six uniformed men, according to witnesses. Two unmarked cars drove him to the Territorial Defence headquarters and no one saw Mrkić ever again after that day. Željko Paić suffered the same fate on 10 August 1991 when ZNG members stopped him on his way into town. These are not isolated incidents but exemplify the crimes perpetrated in Vukovar in 1991. Information about these events was reported by the government commissioner for Vukovar, Marin Vidić Bili, who in August 1991 addressed a warning letter to President Franjo Tuđman, Prime Minister Franjo Gregurić, and opposition leaders. In it he stated that Tomislav Merčep, “surrounded by people of dubious moral and professional standing, former criminals, had absolutely taken control of everything in the Municipality of Vukovar, not refraining from violent and repressive measures against the citizens of the Municipality of Vukovar (illegal breaks into private flats, verbally and in writing sending people seeking accommodation into abandoned flats, looting apartments, confiscating private vehicles, violent arrests for interrogation, and even executions)”.

In a 1997 interview with Feral Tribune, Vidić reported that he had visited the blown‑up house of a Serb SDP councillor, and the apartment of a municipal worker which armed men broke into and looted. He also said that in spring and summer 1991 “people disappeared and never reappeared”. As Vidić’s letter shows, Merčep’s actions completely blocked the work of the police, the ZNG, and administrative bodies, creating general chaos. After intervention by Josip Manolić, Merčep was airlifted to Zagreb and appointed as assistant in the Ministry of the Interior (MUP). In an interview immediately after the fall of Vukovar, asked whether he had done everything he could during his time there (prior to the still unexplained arrests and transport to Zagreb in early August 1991, after which he became an adviser to Minister Ivan Vekić), Merčep replied: “I did all I could, but not all I intended. Petrova Gora still needed clearing of those who had taken up arms, putting them under control, and securing the area between Bogdanovci and Sajmište. That was on my mind, but I did not manage to do it. The rest was cleared.” He acknowledged that during his operations “people lost their heads” and asked about the numerous corpses floating down the Danube, he said: “I am not saying that not a single corpse floated in Vukovar. In such a large area, in such a situation, anyone could have done what they wanted. However, we controlled everything in Vukovar, so that did not happen to any significant extent.”

victims: A complete, named list of all Serb victims killed or subjected to some form of abuse in the Vukovar area during the war has not been definitively established, and spirited debates regarding this issue continue. Estimates range from several dozen to over 120 killed. Below is a list of some Serb victims in Vukovar for whom there is high certainty that they were murdered or similarly harmed. Documented killings extend into 1992, reflecting the treatment of the civilian population by the new authorities.

1. Akik, Anđa (-), born 1 January 1905,
   date of death: 11 October 1991
2. Andrić, Stana (Jovo/Dušan), born 15 June 1928,
   date of death: 16 November 1991
3. Bingulac, Tihomir (Maksim), born 19 September 1951,
   date of death: 19 September 1991
4. Bingulac, Savo (-), born 1 January 1939,
   date of death: 17 January 1992
5. Bogdanović, Boško (Ljubomir), born 2 June 1950,
   date of death: 2 August 1991
6. Bogić, Stevan (Jovan), born 19 June 1947,
   date of death: 13 September 1991
7. Bućan, Petar (Milan), born 11 September 1959,
   date of death: 29 October 1991
8. Bulajić, Ilinka (Jovan), born 13 July 1925,
   date of death: 18 November 1991
9. Bulajić, Milosav (Vidak), born 22 January 1914,
   date of death: 18 November 1991
10. Bunjac, Slavomir (Dušan), born 10 July 1971,
    date of death: 16 October 1991
11. Ciganović, Dušan (Milan), born 31 May 1946,
    date of death: 17 October 1991
12. Čečavac, Goran (Miroslav), born 25 January 1990,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
13. Čečavac, Miroslav (Čedo), born 14 March 1966,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
14. Čečavac, Slađana (Josip), born 29 October 1972,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
15. Ćirić, Predrag (Đorđe), born 6 February 1951,
    date of death: 1 November 1991
16. Čizmar, Mihajlo (Vladimir), born 8 August 1953,
    date of death: 21 August 1991 (Ruthenian)
17. Čupić, Stanoja (Boško), born 10 October 1953,
    date of death: 20 November 1991
18. Dadić, Zdravko (Stevan), born 15 November 1949,
    date of death: 16 July 1991
19. Damnjanović, Savo (Stojko), born 27 January 1959,
    date of death: 25 July 1991
20. Dedić, Dušan (Ostoja), born 2 February 1930,
    date of death: 29 October 1991
21. Drača, Obrad (Luka), born 27 February 1953,
    date of death: 29 July 1991
22. Dragišić, Slavko (Žarko), born 15 May 1933,
    date of death: 1 August 1991
23. Đekić, Vojislav (Stevan), born 29 September 1947,
    date of death: 28 October 1991
24. Đukić, Milorad (Petar), born 3 April 1936,
    date of death: 13 October 1991
25. Đuranec, Goran (Tomislav), born 2 August 1969,
    date of death: 30 October 1991
26. Đuričić, Milenko (Ilija), born 18 June 1953,
    date of death: 13 July 1991
27. Filipović, Stanoja (Jovan), born 15 May 1929,
    date of death: 20 September 1991
28. Filipović, Zoran (Milan), born 26 November 1969,
    date of death: 25 July 1991
29. Grabić/Grebić, Dragan (Ratko), born 1 January 1967,
    date of death: 1 August 1991
30. Grbić, Boško (Milan), born 6 January 1941,
    date of death: 13 November 1991
31. Grubišić, Petar (Nikola), born 10 February 1934,
    date of death: 13 November 1991
32. Grujić, Darinka (Ivan), born 25 February 1941,
    date of death: 1 November 1991 (Yugoslav)
33. Inić, Marko (Ratko), born 1975,
    date of death: 16 November 1991, identity unconfirmed
34. Inić, Ratko, born 19 October 1952,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
35. Inić-Janković, Milena (Radoslav), born 2 August 1949,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
36. Inić, Stevan (Stevan), born 27 September 1927,
    date of death: 1 May 1991, killed in confrontation
37. Jakovljević, Jovan (Marko), born 6 March 1940,
    date of death: 29 June 1991
38. Jakovljević, Tomislav (Radivoj), born 17 June 1928,
    date of death: 11 November 1991
39. Jakovljević, Vida (Jovan), born 21 November 1924,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
40. Kitić, Goran (Mitar), born 23 November 1966,
    date of death: 9 February 1992
41. Kitić, Milica (-), born 28 May 1942,
    date of death: 1 September 1991
42. Knežević, Borislav (Božo), born 11 June 1978,
    date of death: 28 September 1991
43. Kovačević, Tihomir (Mirko), born 1 July 1950,
    date of death: 5 November 1991
44. Lalić, Stojan (Ilija), born 6 October 1923,
    date of death: 10 October 1991
45. Lalić, Vukosava (Novak), born 4 September 1918,
    date of death: 16 October 1991
46. Latinović, Čedo (Nikola), born 23 June 1934,
    date of death: 11 October 1991.
47. Lukić, Ana (Antun), born 19 April 1944,
    date of death: 16 November 1991 (Croatian)
48. Lukić, Boško (Dragoljub), born 8 January 1952,
    date of death: 14 September 1991
49. Lukić, Konstantin (Svetislav), born 13 September 1940,
    date of death: 18 November 1991
50. Malecki, Stefan/Stjepan (Ludvig), born 5 March 1933,
    date of death: 13 November 1991, circumstances of death unconfirmed
51. Manjoš, Ivanka (Mile), born 7 July 1951,
    date of death: 14 March 1992
52. Marčeta, Golub (Vid), born 4 April 1908,
    date of death: 11 October 1991, circumstances of death unconfirmed
53. Marčeta, Milica (Đuran), born 15 February 1927,
    date of death: 11 October 1991, circumstances of death unconfirmed
54. Marjanović, Dušan (Jovan), born 9 March 1936,
    date of death: 29 September 1991
55. Markov, Jovan (Veljko), born 25 July 1933,
    date of death: 17 November 1991
56. Marković, Ljubomir (Mileta), born 10 March 1935,
    date of death: 8 November 1991
57. Mijatović, Dragan (Stojan), born 1 January 1964,
    date of death: 4 July 1991
58. Milinković, Milica (Lazar), born 27 August 1920,
    date of death: 30 October 1991
59. Milošević, Branimir (Ilinka), born 1 January 1981,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
60. Milošević, Ilinka (Pero), born 18 May 1959,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
61. Milunović, Miloje (Miodrag), born 1 January 1954,
    date of death: 5 July 1991, identity and circumstances of death unconfirmed
62. Miodrag, Slavko (Dušan), born 28 December 1932,
    date of death: 30 July 1991
63. Mirjanić, Branko (Vladimir), born 17 November 1935,
    date of death: 30 July 1991
64. Miščević, Nikola (Mile), born 2 February 1937,
    date of death: 8 December 1991
65. Mišić, Nedeljko (Jovan), born 7 June 1953,
    date of death: 10 September 1991
66. Mrkić, Mladen (Đorđe), born 7 November 1938,
    date of death: 31 July 1991
67. Nađ, Miodrag (Janko), born 28 July 1966,
    date of death: 4 May 1991
68. Nedić, Premil (Mitar), born 20 October 1952,
    date of death: 17/18 September 1991
69. Nedučić, Uroš (Arso), born 12 May 1943,
    date of death: 17 November 1991
70. Nikolić, Ljubomir (Milentije), born 6 September 1944,
    date of death: 16 July 1991
71. Nikolić, Miloš (Radivoj), born 3 February 1958,
    date of death: 6 September 1991
72. Novaković, Ana (Stojan), born 1 January 1950,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
73. Nunić, Rajko (Branko), born 7 March 1936,
    date of death: 13 November 1991
74. Oreščanin, Milka (Pavle), born 8 February 1911,
    date of death: 10 October 1991
75. Oreščanin, Mirko (Nikola/Petar), born 13 February 1913,
    date of death: 10 October 1991
76. Paić, Željko (Milić), born 3 October 1960,
    date of death: 10 August 1991
77. Pavić, Radoslav (Mile), born 30 June 1966,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
78. Pavić, Sava/Savka (Simo), born 1 January 1929,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
79. Pavlović, Milojka (-), born 16 September 1925,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
80. Pavlović, Nada (Milojka), born 15 May 1955,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
81. Pavlović, Zoran (Nikola), born 1 January 1974,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
82. Pavlović, Zorica (Nikola), born 15 August 1976,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
83. Pelić, Velimir (Milan), born 11 March 1961,
    date of death: 23 October 1991
84. Petrović, Dušan (Ljubomir), born 8 May 1958,
    date of death: 24 September 1991
85. Ponjević, Simo (Milan), born 9 October 1957,
    date of death: 26 June 1991
86. Radić, Milan (Ilija), born 30 March 1930,
    date of death: 1 October 1991
87. Rakić, Predrag (Vaso), born 22 November 1967,
    date of death: 1 October 1991
88. Roknić, Stevo (Božo), born 20 February 1961,
    date of death: 2 October 1991
89. Skeledžija, Vlado (Nikola), born 29 August 1930,
    date of death: 30 July 1991
90. Smiljanić, Momčilo (Boško), born 1 January 1932,
    date of death: 17 September 1991
91. Stojanović, Stojan (Jovan), born 11 June 1941,
    date of death: 4 July 1991
92. Stojšić, Radovan (Dušan), born 24 November 1921,
    date of death: 15 July 1992
93. Stupar, Bogdan (Ranko), born 27 December 1950,
    date of death: 29 July 1991
94. Sučević, Branko (Dmitar), born 6 August 1929,
    date of death: 7 October 1991
95. Škorić, Božo (Miloš/Mićo), born 8 January 1952,
    date of death: 16 July 1991, circumstances of death unconfirmed
96. Tošković, Teodor (Miloš), born 7 January 1950,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
97. Trajković, Velimir (Stojan), born 1 April 1930,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
98. Travaš, Milan (Ljubica), born 29 October 1944,
    date of death: 16 November 1991
99. Turukalo, Nedeljko (Obrad), born 1 October 1958,
    date of death: 30 October 1991
100. Vezmar, Milan (-), born 8 May 1930,
     date of death: 5 November 1991 / 11 November 1991, circumstances of death unconfirmed
101. Višić, Branko (Simo), born 1 January 1937,
     date of death: 10 November 1991
102. Vladisavljević, Svetislav (Nikola), born 25 May 1957,
     date of death: 2 November 1991
103. Vojnović, Ilija (Nenad/Đukan), born 9 October 1927,
     date of death: 1 October 1991
104. Vorkapić, Ilija (Savo), born 1 January 1898,
     date of death: 16 October 1991
105. Vorkapić, Jelica (Ilija), born 1 January 1906,
     date of death: 16 October 1991
106. Vračarić, Milica (Čedo), born 21 September 1924,
     date of death: 16 November 1991
107. Vučetić, Jovan (Milan), born 28 January 1953,
     date of death: 29 October 1991
108. Vučinić, Ljuban (Ignjatija), born 25 August 1943,
     date of death: 27 July 1991
109. Vučković, Slobodan (Rade), born 3 May 1955,
     date of death: 4 July 1991
110. Vučković, Zlatko (Josip), born 23 March 1956,
     date of death: 26 August 1991, circumstances of death unconfirmed
111. Vuković, Ilija (Milan), born 5 March 1942,
     date of death: 16 November 1991
112. Vuković, Evgenija/Eugenija (Janko), born 14 April 1950,
     date of death: 16 November 1991
113. Zorić, Milorad (Simo), born 11 November 1934,
     date of death: 12 November 1991
114. Žegarac, Milan (Mane), born 30 October 1947,
     date of death: 7 October 1991 (residence: Novi Sad)

location: According to the 2011 population census, Osijek had 83,496 inhabitants, of whom 979, or 0.91%, were Serbs. According to the 1991 census, there were 165,253 inhabitants living in the area of the city of Osijek, of whom 33,146, or 20%, were Serbs. The territorial and administrative structure changed significantly between 1991 and 2011, making direct comparisons unrepresentative, but even when considering only the number of inhabitants who lived exclusively in Osijek’s urban settlements in 1991, the figure was 104,761, of whom 15,985, or 15.3%, were Serbs. It is entirely clear that the proportion of the Serbian population in Osijek has shown one of the most drastic declines in all of Croatia since 1991.

time: From July to December 1991

Description of crimes: In the second half of 1991, while Osijek was on the front line of the war, abductions, disappearances, detentions, torture, and murders of Serbs who remained in the city occurred within Osijek itself. The crimes committed against Serbian civilians in Osijek are publicly known under the colloquial names “Garage” and “Sellotape”. The “Garage” case refers to the abductions and torture of Serbian civilians in the building of the Municipal Secretariat for National Defence, chaired by Branimir Glavaš, while the “Sellotape” case refers to the murders of Serbian civilians whose hands were bound with adhesive tape at the time of their killing, on the banks of the Drava River. At least ten people were killed in this manner.

While serving as Secretary of the Municipal Secretariat for National Defence, Branimir Glavaš established, equipped, and armed a military unit under the Secretariat, which at the time was informally referred to by various names: the Headquarters Company, the Headquarters Crew, the Protection Crew or Branimir’s Osijek Battalion, and was later officially named the 1st Osijek Defence Battalion. Some members of this unit carried out orders and committed crimes against Serbs living in Osijek.

On 31 August 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion brought two individuals into one of the garages in the courtyard next to the Secretariat, one of whom was Čedomir Vučković. Throughout the day, members of the unit beat Čedomir Vučković with their hands, feet, and parts of weapons. In the evening, Zoran Brekalo, also a member of the unit, drained acid from a car battery and forced Vučković to drink it. Due to the severe pain caused by the acid, Vučković broke through the garage door and ran into the courtyard, where Krunoslav Fehir fired several shots at him. Two bullets hit him in the abdomen and arm, but according to the court medical expert, Čedomir Vučković died from sulphuric acid poisoning.

On 26 November 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion took Branko Lovrić from his family home at 11 Sisak Street, deprived him of his liberty, and detained him in a house at 30 Dubrovnik Street. From that house, unidentified members of the group took him to the bank of the Drava River and killed him.

On 3 December 1991, Stjepan Bekavac, Tihomir Valentić and Zdravko Dragić, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion, intercepted Alija Šabanović in front of the residential building where he lived in the Sjenjak neighbourhood. They arrested him, transported, and detained him in the basement of the house at 30 Dubrovnik Street. Later, unidentified members of the same group took him from that house to the bank of the Drava River, where they killed him by shooting him in the head with a firearm. Afterwards, they threw his body into the river.

On 7 December 1991, Stjepan Bekavac, Tihomir Valentić, and Zdravko Dragić, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion, took Radoslav Ratković from his family home and transported him to the house at 30 Dubrovnik Street, where they bound his hands with adhesive tape (or Sellotape), beat him and interrogated him about his alleged hostile activities. After they left, two unidentified soldiers continued beating him and then took him to the riverbank near Tvrđa. There, Dino Kontić handed an automatic weapon to Zdravko Dragić and ordered him to shoot Ratković. Dragić fired one shot, hitting Ratković in the cheek, causing him to fall into the river. Dragić then fired another shot from a different rifle, but Radoslav Ratković survived and managed to swim out of the Drava River. On 7 December 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion took Dr Milutin Kutlić from his home in Mrežnica Street, bound him with adhesive tape, brought him to the bank of the Drava River, shot him in the head with a firearm and threw the body into the river.

On an unspecified date in the first half of December 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion took Svetislav Vukajlović from his home at 12 Vrt Street, bound him with adhesive tape, brought him to the bank of the Drava River, shot him in the head with a firearm and threw his body into the river.

On an unspecified date during December 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion arrested an unidentified woman, bound her with adhesive tape, brought her to the bank of the Drava River, shot her in the head with a firearm and threw her body into the river.

On 29 December 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion took Bogdan Počuča from his house at 19 Wilson Street, bound him with adhesive tape, brought him to the bank of the Drava River, shot him in the head with a firearm, and threw his body into the river.

On 12 July 1991, members of Branimir’s Osijek battalion arrested Nikola Vasić and brought him to the basement of the Municipal Secretariat for National Defence, where they beat him with their hands, feet, weapon parts, and batons, inflicting serious injuries.

Victims covered by the verdict against Branimir Glavaš, Ivica Krnjak, Gordana Getoš Magdić, Dino Kontić, Tihomir Valentić and Zdravko Dragić are as follows:

1. Grubić, Jovan (Stevan), born 25 September 1951 / 25 August 1951,
   date of death: 13 November 1991
2. Kutlić, Milutin (Đuro), born 30 June 1941,
   date of death: 7 December 1991
3. Ladnjak, Petar (-), born 22 December 1927,
   date of death: 11 December 1991
4. Lovrić, Branko (Milan), born 16 May 1950,
   date of death: 26 November 1991, declared deceased as of 6 June 1993, body not recovered
5. Počuča, Bogdan (Simo), born 15 September 1938,
   date of death: 29 December 1991 Stanar,
6. Milenko (Milan), born 4 July 1948,
   date of death: 25 December 1991 Šabanović,
7. Alija (Ređep), born 5 August 1947,
   date of death: 3 December 1991 (Macedonian)
8. Vučković, Čedomir (Petar), born 1 January 1933,
   date of death: 31 August 1991
9. Vukajlović, Svetislav (Milivoj), born 24 January 1929,
   date of death: 10 December 1991

Two unidentified individuals.

Victims covered by the verdict against Fred Marguš and Tomislav Dilber are as follows:

1. Bulat, Svetozar (Milan), born 6 September 1938,
   date of death: 20 November 1991
2. Bulat, Vukašin (Svetozar), born 17 October 1957,
   date of death: 20 November 1991
3. Grandić, Ljubomir (Blagoje/Blagoja), born 7 July 1944,
   date of death: 23 November 1991
4. Gvozdenović, Dragica (Petar), born 10 June 1944,
   date of death: 23 November 1991
5. Gvozdenović, Stevan (Stevo), born 15 August 1939,
   date of death: 23 November 1991
6. Pavitović, Savo (-), born 1 January 1947,
   date of death: 25 November 1991
7. Vico, Nedeljka (Luka), born 13 May 1938,
   date of death: 22 November 1991
8. Vico, Nikola (Marko), born 7 February 1933 / 12 February 1933,
   date of death: 22 November 1991

Other victims:

1. Amanović, Radojka (Jovo), born 12 May 1940,
   date of death: 29 February 1992
2. Arsenić, Spomenka (Ana), born 25 March 1956,
   date of death: 29 February 1992
3. Baletić, Veselko (-), born 1 January 1935,
   date of death: 29 January 1992
4. Bekić, Dragan (Ilija), born 7 October 1931,
   date of death: 17 September 1991
5. Bekić, Dušan (Dragan), born 4 April 1954,
   date of death: 17 September 1991
6. Bošnjak, Duško (Dragutin), born 5 May 1948,
   date of death: 19 November 1991
7. Čuča, Stevan (-), born -,
   date of death: 13 April 1992 / 16 April 1992, circumstances
   of death not confirmed
8. Drpić, Janja (Simo), born 10 October 1910,
   date of death: 12 March 1992
9. Drpić, Radoslav (Božo), born 4 August 1939,
   date of death: 12 March 1992
10. Đekić, Milorad (Novak), born 12 October 1957,
    date of death: 1 August 1991
11. Goluža, Zoran (Ante), born 5 December 1965,
    date of death: 26 November 1991
12. Knežević, Milan (Stevo), born 22 November 1947,
    date of death: 1 July 1991 (Killed in Tenja, together with Josip Reihl Kir and Goran Zobundžija)
13. Lazić, Stevan (Petar), born 26 December 1945,
    date of death: 15 May 1992
14. Ličina, Nikola (Nikola), born 2 February 1961,
    date of death: 30 December 1991
15. Mitrović, Čedomir/Čedo (-), born 1 January 1936,
    date of death: 20 May 1992
16. Patković, Mile (Nikola), born 8 November 1940,
    date of death: 6 January 1992
17. Petković, Đorđe (Vojin), born 6 April 1946,
    date of death: 7 September 1991
18. Pokrajac, Zdravko (Mirko), born 27 May 1958,
    date of death: 1 August 1991
19. Romić, Njegoslav (Joco), born 12 July 1939,
    date of death: 17 September 1991
20. Rusić, Milenko (-), born 15 May 1930,
    date of death: 5 December 1991
21. Stanković, Dobrivoje (-), born 22 February 1931,
    date of death: 14 June 1992
22. Stojnović, Mirko (Živko), born 1 January 1934 / 1 January 1935,
    date of death: 5 December 1991
23. Vukas, Đuro (Stevo), born 4 November 1933,
    date of death: 18 April 1992
24. Zarić, Čedomir (Vlajko), born 17 January 1954,
    date of death: 8 December 1991
25. Zarić, Vlajko (-), born 1 January 1933,
    date of death: 8 December 1991

Judicial consequences: On 8 May 2009, the War Crimes Chamber of the County Court in Zagreb delivered a verdict declaring the accused Branimir Glavaš, Ivica Krnjak, Gordana Getoš Magdić, Dino Kontić, Tihomir Valentić, and Zdravko Dragić guilty of committing a war crime against the civilian population in Osijek in 1991. Branimir Glavaš was sentenced to ten years in prison. On 2 June 2010, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia reduced the prison sentences handed down in the first-instance ruling, sentencing Branimir Glavaš to eight years’ imprisonment, Ivica Krnjak to seven years, Gordana Getoš Magdić to five years, Dino Kontić to three years and six months, Tihomir Valentić to four years and six months, and Zdravko Dragić to three years and six months. At the beginning of 2015, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia overturned the Supreme Court verdict by which Branimir Glavaš had been sentenced to eight years in prison for war crimes. Branimir Glavaš was released from custody, which he had been serving in a prison in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia did not assess the merits of the conviction, dealing only with procedural issues, the release of the primary convict, Branimir Glavaš, did not serve justice for the victims or for the majority of the other convicts, all of whom had already served their prison terms. Following this decision, Glavaš, although convicted in the first-instance for crimes against civilians, became a member of the newly constituted Croatian Parliament, a move that was opposed by numerous civil society organisations who called for legislative changes. On 16 October 2017, the County Court in Zagreb commenced proceedings in the retrial of the case “Glavaš et al.” by reading out the indictment. The accused, who had in the meantime served their sentences, declared that they did not consider themselves guilty of the charges laid out in the indictment. On 27 October 2023, the County Court in Zagreb once again found Branimir Glavaš guilty of committing a war crime against Serbian civilians in Osijek during the Homeland War, for which he had already served the majority of his previous sentence. The appeals process is ongoing.

Proceedings were also conducted before the County Court in Osijek against Fred Marguš and others (indictment of the County State Attorney’s Office in Osijek no. K-DO-54/05 dated 26 April 2006). On 21 March 2007, the War Crimes Chamber of the County Court in Osijek found the accused Marguš and Dilber guilty and sentenced them to imprisonment. The accused Marguš was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Dilber was sentenced to three years. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia amended the verdict of the County Court in Osijek and imposed a 15-year prison sentence on the accused Marguš. The verdict against Tomislav Dilber was upheld.

Description of crimes: Although there were no mass crimes against Serbs in the area of the town of Virovitica or in its wider administrative region — no killings or disappearances on a scale comparable to those in Gospić or Sisak — we are aware of several incidents in which crimes were committed against civilians by members of Croatian forces, and these will be addressed here. Furthermore, in some smaller places around Virovitica, incidents such as nighttime gunfire, threatening phone calls, and hand grenades thrown into yards were not so rare that they could be dismissed as isolated incidents. Those who were killed were mostly prominent or well-known individuals, which undoubtedly contributed to fear and the emigration of the Serb population from the area. Although it is certain that some younger men joined Serbian military and paramilitary units at the start of the war, this cannot account for such a significant disproportion, both in absolute numbers and in the relative share of Serbs in the local population. Among the well-documented cases is that of civilian Bogdan Mudrinić, who remains missing to this day. He was taken from his home in Virovitica without a warrant for questioning and never returned. As far as is known, he was beaten to death in the military prison in the Virovitica barracks, and his body was later removed from the prison and never seen again. A similar fate befell Dr. Ranko Mitrić, who was arrested at his workplace in the hospital, where, according to a criminal complaint filed against him, he allegedly attacked a Croatian soldier with a knife. Although the complaint was filed by the civilian police, on the same day the incident occurred, 1 November 1991, he was taken into custody by military police. After interrogation, in which members of the intelligence services also participated, he was handed over to the police and then again to Croatian soldiers. The following day, Dr Mitrić was killed, and his body was thrown into a manhole, which was then blown up with explosives. In Virovitica, Ranko Starović went missing in July 1991, followed by 76-year-old Stevan Radlović in early August 1991. On 16 August 1991, 16-year-old Slobodan Poplašen disappeared, and Mićo Petrović, who went missing on 5 September, has also never been found. In December 1991, in Pčelić near Virovitica, Milenko Momčilović (born in 1928) was killed, and his remains are still being searched for. Duško Šaponja was taken from his home in Jasenaš on 11 January 1992, tortured, and killed. His body was thrown into a roadside canal and found the morning after the crime. After the killing, one of the perpetrators returned to Duško’s home and raped his wife. In April 1992, in the village of Majkovac Podravski, which was administratively joined to nearby Žlebina in 2001, individuals identifying themselves as military police took away Vladimir Grubor, who, 22 years later, is still considered a missing person. These are not all the cases of killings and/or disappearances of Serb civilians in the Virovitica area. Not all occurred under the same circumstances, nor is it certain that they were committed by the same perpetrators, but there is a noticeable pattern of civilian suffering between the summer of 1991 and the spring of 1992. In light of these facts, the fear of those who directly or indirectly witnessed these events, and their decision to leave their homes at the time, should be understood.

Victims:

1. Forkapa, Dobrivoj (Nikola), born 1 January 1928,
   date of death: 23 December 1991, motives for the murder have not been confirmed
2. Grubor, Vladimir (Dragan), born 3 July 1953,
   date of death: 18 April 1992
3. Košutić, Bosiljka (Lazar), born 14 January 1928,
   wounded on 24 September 1992, died from injuries on 28 September 1992
4. Ljuština, Nikola (Ilija), born 1 January 1919,
   wounded in December 1991, died from the effects of beatings
   in early 1992
5. Mitrić, Ranko (Mirko), born 8 July 1960,
   date of death: 2 November 1991
6. Momčilović, Milenko (Mihajlo), born 17 May 1928,
   date of death: 10 December 1991
7. Mudrinić, Bogdan (Milan), born 15 May 1952,
   date of death: 11 December 1991
8. Petrović, Mićo (Mićo), born 10 November 1939,
   date of death: 5 September 1991
9. Poplašen, Slobodan (Milan), born 22 February 1975,
   date of death: 16 August 1991
10. Radlović, Stevan/Stevo (Nikola), born 8 March 1915,
    date of death: 29 August 1991
11. Starović, Ranko (Dimitrije), born 21 October 1954,
    date of death: 20 July 1991
12. Šaponja, Duško (Slavko), born 15 September 1961,
    date of death: 10 January 1992
13. Zekonja, Slavko (Đorđe), born 2 August 1933,
    date of death: 12 December 1991

Judicial consequences: In the criminal proceedings against four individuals accused of the deaths of Dr Ranko Mitrić and Bogdan Mudrinić, the County Court in Bjelovar issued an acquittal in March 2006, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court three years later. In April 1992, the Military Court in Bjelovar sentenced Darko Pil and Ivica Majetić, members of the Croatian Army (HV), to 15 and 12 years in prison respectively for the crime committed against Duško Šaponja and his wife. The other cases have not yet been prosecuted. The civil claim for non-material damages filed by the wife of the missing Bogdan Mudrinić was rejected due to the statute of limitations, and she was ordered, along with her co-plaintiffs, to pay 10,087.50 Croatian kuna in legal costs. The issue of collecting these legal costs was resolved only with a decision by the Government of the Republic of Croatia to write off the claims in December 2023. Due to the fact that the perpetrators were known and convicted, Duško Šaponja’s wife seemingly had an easier task in obtaining compensation, but after a favourable second instance ruling, the Supreme Court also rejected her compensation claim on the grounds of statutory limitation. The case currently stands before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In November 2018, Ljubica, Goran, and Zoran Mudrinić filed a constitutional complaint due to the inaction of the County State Attorney’s Office in Bjelovar, and in 2019 the Constitutional Court issued a ruling awarding them 70,000 Croatian kuna in compensation for the failure to conduct an effective investigation.

In a ruling issued in March 1994, the County Court in Bjelovar found the accused, Goran Šoh, guilty for the events of 24 September 1992, around 10 p.m., stating that “having arrived in the yard of house no. 51 in A. Hebrang Street in Gradina […], owned by Radovan Košutić, and having entered the shed entrance, upon noticing a passenger vehicle parked in the yard, with the intent to damage the vehicle and although he could have known and expected that household members might be present in the yard and in the room in front of which the bomb fell, he activated and threw a hand grenade M-52. At that moment, Bosiljka Košutić happened to be nearby, and as a result of the explosion she suffered extensive abdominal lacerations with rupture of the abdominal wall and injury to the small intestine, traumatic destruction of her right lower leg, and a fracture of the right ulna. These injuries led to endotoxaemic shock, from which, despite receiving medical care at the Virovitica Medical Centre, she died on 28 September 1992.” The remaining cases have not yet been prosecuted in court.

The remaining cases have not yet been prosecuted in court.

According to the 2011 census, Novska has 13,518 inhabitants, of whom 4.74% are Serbs. According to the 1991 census, the Municipality of Novska had 24,696 inhabitants, with 21.78% being Serbs. Although Novska no longer administratively covers the same area as in 1991 and has fewer residents today, there has been a significant change in the ethnic composition of the population, most notably seen in the sharp decline in the number of Serbs living in this area over the years.

Period: November and December 1991

Description of crimes: In the autumn and winter of 1991, Novska was on the front line of the war in Croatia. On 21 November 1991, around 10 p.m., several Croatian soldiers broke into the house of Mihajlo Šeatović. They took him to a neighbouring house where his neighbours Ljuban Vujić and Mišo and Sajka Rašković were already held captive. All four were then killed with cold weapons and firearms. According to descriptions in the indictment, the victims were killed in an especially cruel and brutal manner. The woman was found naked, with her throat and chest slit, and riddled with gunfire. The men had their fingers, testicles, and genitals cut with knives; they were stabbed, their joints and bones crushed, their throats cut, and they were riddled with automatic rifle fire. On 18 December 1991, Croatian Army members entered the house of Petar Mileusnić in Novska and, after initial mistreatment, shot and killed Goranka Mileusnić, Vera Mileusnić, and Blaženka Slabak, while seriously wounding Petar Mileusnić. They left the house believing Petar Mileusnić was dead.

Victims:

1. Rašković, Mišo (Nikola), born January 1942
2. Rašković, Sajka/Saveta (Dragan), born 4 March 1950
3. Šeatović, Mihajlo (Jovan), born 27 June 1944
4. Vujić, Ljubomir (Stanko), born 4 May 1936
5. Mileusnić, Goranka (Petar), born 4 April 1970
6. Mileusnić, Vera (Viktor), born 12 May 1940
7. Slabak, Blaženka (Josip), born 17 February 1941

Judicial consequences: In 1992, the Military Prosecutor’s Office in Zagreb filed charges against Dubravko Leskovar and Damir Vid Raguž for the crime of murder, not for war crimes against the civilian population. On 10 November 1992, the court panel issued a decision to suspend the criminal proceedings based on the then applicable Law on Amnesty from Criminal Prosecution and Proceedings for Crimes Committed in Armed Conflicts and the War against the Republic of Croatia. A new trial began at the County Court in Sisak on 8 March 2010, when the main hearing started against Damir Vid Raguž and Željko Škledar, accused of committing war crimes against the civilian population in Novska on 21 November 1991. On 16 April 2010, Damir Vid Raguž was found guilty in a first-instance verdict and sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Željko Škledar was acquitted. On 10 July 2012, the Appeals Panel session was held, and the first-instance verdict was overturned. On 7 February 2013, Damir Vid Raguž and Željko Škledar were acquitted in a first-instance ruling by the County Court in Zagreb. In 1992, an investigation was conducted into war crimes committed in the house of Petar Mileusnić, targeting Željko Belina, Ivan Grgić, Dubravko Leskovar, Dejan Milić, and Zdravko Plesec, for the crimes of murder and attempted murder. The proceedings concluded on 2 November 1992 with a decision to discontinue the criminal case under the Law on Amnesty. On 23 September 2010, the County Court in Sisak initiated proceedings against the accused Željko Belina, Dejan Milić, Ivan Grgić, and Zdravko Plesec, former Croatian Army members, charged with committing war crimes against the civilian population by killing Goranka and Vera Mileusnić, Blaženka Slabak, and wounding Petar Mileusnić in Novska in December 1991. On 19 November 2010, the War Crimes Panel of the County Court in Sisak issued a dismissal ruling, considering the matter res judicata. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia annulled the first-instance dismissal ruling regarding the first accused Belina and the second accused Milić. Following a retrial, the War Crimes Panel of the County Court in Zagreb found the accused guilty on 8 March 2013. Belina was sentenced to ten years in prison, and Milić to nine years. The families of the victims did not receive appropriate satisfaction, neither moral nor financial. They were further victimised because they were required to pay court costs for lost lawsuits in which they sued the Republic of Croatia, holding it responsible for crimes committed by identified members of the Croatian Army. In 2004, Marica Šeatović, wife of the murdered Mihajlo Šeatović, initiated a claim for compensation from the Republic of Croatia due to her husband’s death. The Municipal Court in Novska rejected it, reasoning that the rifle used in the massacre at the Rašković family home “was involved in actions during the Homeland War” and that the perpetrators “were drunk and outraged by the fall of Vukovar.” She appealed to the court in Sisak, but her claim was also rejected, and she was ordered to pay court costs amounting to 8,500 Croatian kuna. In 2008, she brought the case to the Supreme Court, which returned it to Sisak and then again to Novska, where the judge once again ruled against her. Marica was again ordered to pay court costs, this time amounting to 10,000 Croatian kuna. From her pension of 1,600 Croatian kuna, Marica Šeatović paid the state almost 20,000 Croatian kuna while the killers of her husband remained free. The situation regarding the collection of court costs was only resolved by the Croatian Government’s decision to write off claims in December 2023.

Marino Selo is located in western Slavonia, in Požega-Slavonia County, within the jurisdiction of the town of Lipik. It is important to emphasise that the victims most commonly associated with the crime referred to as the Marino Selo crime were actually civilians from the neighbouring villages of Klisa and Kip.

Period: From November 1991 to February 1992

Description of crimes: In November 1991, members of the military police unit of the 76^th Independent Battalion of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) searched the homes of Serbs in the villages of Kip and Klisa, looking for hidden weapons. Some civilians were arrested and taken to an improvised prison located in a room of a fisherman’s house near Marino Selo (Ribnjak). In the premises of the fisherman’s house, members of the Croatian National Guard physically and psychologically abused the detained Serb civilians. Between November 1991 and February 1992, at least 24 civilians passed through this prison, and 17 of them died as a result of the abuse.

Victims — abused, tortured, and killed:

Kip

1. Bunčić, Branko (Stevo), born 1 January 1954
2. Danojević, Mijo/Dimitrije (Ilija), born 22 August 1937
3. Gojković, Filip (Petar), born 11 June 1933
4. Gojković, Gojko (Gojko), born 1 January 1937
5. Gojković, Mijo (Nikola), born 10 August 1928
6. Gojković, Nikola (Dimitrije), born 12 December 1927
7. Gojković, Zorka, born 7 October 1940
8. Krajnović, Nikola (Teodor), born 22 December 1927
9. Novković, Petar (Stevan), born 26 May 1940
10. Popović, Jovo (Simeon), born 4 May 1922
11. Popović, Milan (Petar), born 5 July 1929
12. Popović, Petar (Nikola), born 2 February 1944

Klisa

1. Cicvara, Josip (Jovo), born 20 July 1914
2. Gojković, Rade (Gojko), born 13 December 1943
3. Kukić, Slobodan (Vićan), born 29 April 1949
4. Maksimović, Savo (Cvijo), born 14 February 1947
5. Žestić, Jovo (Pavle), born 12 July 1933

Judicial consequences: On 13 March 2009, the County Court in Požega announced a verdict finding the defendants Damir Kufner, Davor Šimić, Pavao Vancaš, Tomica Poletto, Željko Tutić, and Antun Ivezić guilty of the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian population. On 23 March 2010, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia annulled the verdict of the War Crimes Council of the County Court in Požega due to procedural errors and delegated the case to the County Court in Osijek. On 13 June 2011, by the verdict of the County Court in Osijek, Tomica Poletto was sentenced to 15 years and Željko Tutić to 12 years of imprisonment for war crimes against the civilian population. Damir Kufner, Pavao Vancaš, and Antun Ivezić were acquitted, while the charges against Davor Šimić were dropped. The appeal hearing at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia was held on 22 November 2011, where the first-instance verdict was fully upheld.

On 29 October 1991, members of the Požega civil protection and police began enforcing an evacuation order for all residents from 26 villages with exclusively or predominantly Serb populations, located in the Požega Valley at the foothills of the Papuk and Psunj mountains. The order had been issued the previous day by the Crisis Staff of the Slavonska Požega Municipality. The evacuation, which was to be completed within 48 hours, covered the villages of Oblakovac, Čečavački Vučjak, Jeminovac, Šnjegavić, Čečavac, Koprivna, Rasna, Pasikovci, Kujnik, Orljavac, Crljenci, Sloboština, Milivojevci, Podsreće, Vranić, Nježić, Požeški Markovac, Klisa, Ozdakovci, Poljanska, Kantrovci, Gornji Vrhovci, Lučinci, Oljasi, all specifically named in the order, with Smoljanovci and Ruševac added later, where according to the 1991 census, 2,120 people lived. Of these villages, only Poljanska, Orljavac, and Lučinci had mixed ethnic populations, while the others were inhabited exclusively by Serbs. The evacuation did not include the Croatian villages of Ivandol, Deževci, Perenci, Toranj, and Biškupci, which border the Serb villages. These villages were designated as “collection areas” for the residents.

Period: From October to November 1991

Description of crimes: The written evacuation order, posted in public places on 28 October 1991, stated that “recently, Chetnik terrorist forces and JNA units have increasingly endangered the civilian population in the western part of the Slavonska Požega Municipality through their combat activities” and that the evacuation was carried out “to protect their lives and to enable a more successful defence of the defensive positions of Croatian forces in that area.” Some residents of the 26 villages subject to the evacuation order complied as demanded by the Crisis Staff, but others chose to remain in their homes. Although the population was promised during the evacuation that they would find everything as they left it upon their return, soon after the evacuation, looting, arson, and mining of Serb houses began. According to some data, over the following months, more than 600 residential and farm buildings were burned and mined. Residents of the villages Čečavački Vučjak and Šnjegavić largely refused to evacuate, and some of the residents from the evacuated villages sought refuge in those villages. On 10 October 1991, units of the 121st Brigade from Nova Gradiška and the 123rd Brigade from Slavonska Požega began a large-scale clearing operation in the areas of the villages Čečavački Vučjak, Šnjegavić, Jeminovac, Sinlije, and Ruševac. During the “clearing” operations, Croatian forces killed at least forty residents in these villages. The majority of those killed were Serbs, mostly elderly civilians. On 11 December 2000, a mass grave was excavated in Šnjegavić, where the bodies of 13 people were found. Identification of the remains is still pending. The remains of most of the killed have yet to be found.

Missing and killed civilians by village:

Šnjegavić

1. Milošević, Mileva (Marko), born 25 August 1938
2. Protić, Bosiljka (Sava), born 18 May 1908
3. Protić, Draga (Dušan), born 10 May 1931
4. Protić, Milan (Jovo), born 19 September 1928
5. Protić, Ljubomir (Mladen), born 10 June 1938
6. Protić, Stanko (Ignjatija), born 14 March 1922
7. Radmilović, Ana (Stojan), born 27 July 1927
8. Radmilović, Anka (Luka), born 27 September 1938
9. Radmilović, Ilija (Stanko), born 2 August 1951
10. Radmilović, Milan (Stevan), born 7 January 1935
11. Stanković, Anđa (Nikola), born 23 May 1921
12. Živković, Janko (Nikola), born 24 June 1924

Čečavački Vučjak

1. Carević, Ljubica (Stevan), born 14 January 1926
2. Carević, Milan (Dimitrije), born 26 February 1920
3. Dulić, Jagoda (Petar), born 19 August 1917
4. Dulić, Mile (Marko), born 15 November 1952
5. Dulić, Radojka (Savo), born 25 October 1943
6. Ivanović, Branko (Joco), born 9 November 1964, perished in combat
7. Ivanović, Mileva (Ivan), born 21 September 1944
8. Trkulja, Marija (Marko), born 27 September 1937
9. Starčević, Jagoda (Petar), born 1 January 1905 / 1 January 1911
10. Starčević, Milka (Stevan), born 25 July 1919
11. Starčević, Radojka/Anđa (Lazo), born 14 July 1928
12. Starčević, Rajko (Ljubomir), born 1 March 1956, status unclear
13. Šimić, Milka (Božo), born 4 October 1914
14. Šimić, Milka (Marko), born 21 September 1930
15. Živković, Nikola (Janko), born 25 October 1950

Ruševac

1. Čičković, Kata (Luka), born 23 November 1911
2. Miličić, Jagoda (Pavle), born 1 January 1911
3. Ranosavljević, Ana/Stana (Kojo), born 10 February 1909
4. Ranosavljević, Mijo (Ćiro/Nestor), born 14 October 1905
5. Ranosavljević, Stevo (Mijo), born 4 December 1928
6. Trlajić, Anđa (Jakov), born 2 May 1925
7. Trlajić, Ljuba (Jakov), born 27 April 1929
8. Vasić, Đuro/Georgije (Andrija), born 18 April 1912

Čečavac

1. Radić, Jovo (Kosta), born 14 January 1915
2. Radić, Mila (Dušan), born 6 May 1919

Jeminovac

1. Mijatović, Mile (Pajo), born 1 January 1907
2. Radmilović, Milan (Jovo), born 10 October 1910

Oljasi

1. Davidović, Nikola, born 1 January 1947, found dead in the forest two months after the military operation, likely died from natural causes

Ozdakovci

1. Milinković, Marija (Petar), born 1 January 1907, circumstances of death unconfirmed

Sinlije

1. Bamburač, Svetozar (Lazo), born 12 December 1920
2. Živković, Jagoda (Milan), born 1 January 1918
3. Živković, Jovan (Mile), born 1 January 1914

Judicial consequences: On March 17, 2000, the first criminal complaint was filed against unknown individuals connected to this crime, but to date, no one has been held accountable for these crimes.

The crime in question was committed in Poljana, a village located 25 kilometres by road from Pakrac towards Kutina. In 1991, under the administrative structure at the time, the village belonged to Pakrac, while today it is part of the municipality of Lipik. The settlement is more widely known by the name Pakračka Poljana, which roughly corresponds to its location, and likely also because the official name of the village until 1981 was Poljana Pakračka. In 1991, it had a population of 669, the majority of whom were Croats (60.69%), with a significant number of Czechs (22.27%). There were 27 inhabitants of Serb nationality. Today, Poljana has 547 residents. Data on the current ethnic composition of the population is not available for settlements that do not have the status of a municipality or town.

Period: From October 8 to mid-December 1991

Description of crimes: In the autumn of 1991, a reserve unit of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) of the Republic of Croatia was stationed in Pakračka Poljana. During the specified period, members of this unit brought unlawfully detained Serbian civilians, as well as a small number of Croats, to the local Community Centre, which had been turned into an improvised prison. There, they were interrogated, frequently beaten and tortured, and many were killed. People were most often taken from their homes and were routinely asked for and stripped of money and valuables, including cars; on one occasion even a vacuum cleaner and an iron were taken. Some prisoners were tortured with electric shocks, had salt poured into their wounds or vinegar applied to them, they were struck with blunt objects, knives were used, several women were raped, and detainees were forced to raise their hands in a salute accompanied by the phrase “For Homeland — ready!” when their torturers entered. They were subjected to numerous other forms of abuse. However, this brief description of torture accounts for only part of the crime, as dozens of people were killed by firearms or beatings in the area of Pakračka Poljana. Serbian civilians were most commonly brought to the camp from villages in the areas of Pakrac, Kutina, and Daruvar, although at least three were brought from Zagreb, where the same unit was also stationed at the Velesajam exhibition grounds. Victims were most often executed at close range with gunshots to the head, and then buried in shallow graves, mostly in the vicinity of Poljana.

Victims:

1. Budić, Dušan (Đuro), born 1 March 1941,
   date of death: 8 December 1991 / 10 December 1991
2. Cicvara, Mirko (Josip), born 22 August 1940,
   date of death: 19 October 1991
3. Grujić, Marko (Marko), born 18 February 1950,
   date of death: 31 October 1991
4. Gunjević, Milan (Ljubomir), born 16 April 1952,
   date of death: 10 October 1991, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
5. Harambašić, Ljubomir/Ljuban (Đuro), born 6 May 1931 / 6 May 1932,
   date of death: 8 October 1991
6. Ignjatović, Mladen (Josip), born 5 December 1955,
   date of death: 20 October 1991
7. Ignjatović, Pavle/Pavao (Nikola), born 14 July 1929,
   date of death: 13 October 1991
8. Ignjatović, Stoja (Božo), born 24 June 1933,
   date of death: 18 October 1991
9. Ivošević, Miloš (Milan), born 1 January 1945 / 1 January 1946,
   date of death: 28 November 1991
10. Kutić, Tejkan (Tomo/Toma), born 18 February 1933 / 22 November 1933,
    date of death: 21 November 1991
11. Miletić, Milorad (Vaso), born 1 January 1958 / 1 January 1959,
    date of death: 1 November 1991 / 28 November 1991
12. Miletić, Siniša (Vaso), born 1 January 1963,
    date of death: 1 October 1991 / 1 November 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed
13. Miletić, Vaso/Vasilije (Stojan), born 28 November 1932,
    date of death: 28 November 1991
14. Paić/Pajić, Rade (Đuro), born 19 December 1955 / 8 January 1955,
    date of death: 28 November 1991
15. Radić, Konstantin (Jovan), born 25 November 1930,
    date of death: 19 October 1991
16. Radonić, Milan (Dušan), born 7 October 1956 / 4 October 1956,
    date of death: 29 October 1991 / 1 December 1991, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
17. Rajčević, Pero (Stanko), born 20 August 1947,
    date of death: 11 October 1991
18. Stojaković, Veljko (Jovan), born 31 March 1945,
    date of death: 1 November 1991
19. Subanović, Ostoja (Ivan), born 14 September 1952,
    date of death: 16 September 1991 / 16 October 1991
20. Velebit, Božo (Nikola), born 25 August 1942,
    date of death: 13 October 1991 / 19 October 1991
21. Vučković, Ljubica (Rade), born 10 August 1930,
    date of death: 20 October 1991
22. Vučković, Mihajlo (Mile/Milan), born 5 October 1931,
    date of death: 18 October 1991

Judicial consequences: In a judgment by the County Court in Zagreb in September 2005, a total of 30 years of imprisonment was handed down for proven cases of unlawful imprisonment, torture, looting and murder. Munib Suljić, as the first accused, was sentenced to ten years; Siniša Rimac received eight years; Igor Mikola, five years; Miroslav Bajramović, four years; and Branko Šarić, three years. In May 2006, the Supreme Court increased Suljić’s sentence to 12 years. Igor Mikola had been in hiding since the first-instance verdict was delivered and was only arrested in July 2014 in Peru, where he awaits extradition to Croatia. Tomislav Merčep, as the (informal) commander of this group, was arrested in December 2010. An indictment against him was filed six months later, in June 2011, before the County Court in Zagreb, charging him on the basis of command responsibility for crimes committed in Pakračka Poljana, as well as, on the same grounds, for the murder of the Zec family. In July 2015, the County State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb amended the factual and legal description in the indictment against Merčep. Instead of charging him with command responsibility, he was now accused of failing to prevent members of the unit from committing war crimes against civilians. Compared to the first indictment, which held him personally responsible as commander for the arrest of 52 individuals, and the torture and murder of a total of 43, the new indictment limited the charges to his failure to act to prevent subordinates from committing war crimes against civilians. The Zagreb County State Attorney’s Office explained the change by stating that “the legal qualification of the criminal offence remained the same, and the defendant is still charged with the same criminal offence — a war crime against the civilian population under Article 120 of the Basic Criminal Code of the Republic of Croatia (BCC RH), in conjunction with Article 28 of the same Code.” However, it continued, since “the factual description of the offence has been aligned with the facts established during the hearing, the accused T.M. is now charged, as the de facto commander of the Ministry of the Interior’s reserve unit, with failing to prevent members of the unit from committing war crimes against the civilian population.” More than 20 years had passed between the commission of the crimes and the beginning of the trial. The first-instance proceedings were ongoing. On 1 December 2015, the trial began anew due to the opinion of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia that all criminal proceedings should be conducted under the provisions of the new Criminal Procedure Act. During the hearing, the case file was reviewed, along with a large amount of documentary evidence and the testimonies of 150 witnesses; two witnesses, Jordan Atanasoski and Igor Mikola, were heard in court. On 12 May 2016, the Zagreb County Court delivered its judgment against Tomislav Merčep, finding him guilty of the criminal offence of a war crime against the civilian population (Art. 120 BCC RH in conjunction with Art. 28) and sentencing him to five years and six months of imprisonment. The Supreme Court later increased the sentence to seven years. Nearly a quarter of a century after the unlawful arrests of Pero Rajčević and Đorđe Gunjević (11 October 1991), the survivors saw their suffering acknowledged. Had Merčep, as the effective commander of the unit, acted upon their arrests, the subsequent crimes against those detained, tortured and killed might never have occurred. The crimes might also have been prevented if the police, who were informed shortly after the abductions, had acted in time. The judgment provides belated recognition to the families of those killed in Pakračka Poljana and Zagreb; it includes the murder of the Zec family in December 1991 but, regrettably, omits 25 victims who remain unidentified. Under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, Tomislav Merčep was ordered into investigative custody. He was convicted, pending final judgment, for failing, as the actual commander of a reserve unit of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia stationed in Pakračka Poljana and at the Zagreb Velesajam exhibition grounds, and as an advisor to the Ministry from October to December 1991, to prevent his subordinates from unlawfully arresting and abusing a total of 31 civilians brought from Zagreb, Kutina, Ribnjak, Janja Lipa, Bujavica, Međurić, Zbjegovača, and Pakračka Poljana, of whom 23 were killed.

Today, Voćin is the seat of the Municipality of Voćin, which, according to the 2011 census, has 2,832 inhabitants, of whom 211 are Serbs. According to the 1991 census, out of a total of 1,569 inhabitants, 1,009 were Serbs.

Period: December 1991

Description of crimes: From August to December 1991, the area of Voćin and the surrounding villages was under the control of Serbian forces, including volunteer paramilitary units known as the Šešelj’s Men and the White Eagles (Beli orlovi). During this period, numerous crimes were committed against the Croatian population in Voćin and the neighbouring villages (Lager Sekulinci, Prevenda, and Kometnik). However, with the withdrawal of Serbian units and the arrival of the Croatian Army in Voćin and the surrounding area, crimes against the civilian population did not cease. On 13 December 1991 and in the days that followed, killings and disappearances of Serbs who had remained in their villages occurred. Many of them have still not been found. The fact is that today, the mention of Voćin is automatically associated with the crimes committed against Croats in 1991, while only a very small part of the public is aware of the crimes committed against Serbs in the same area, which once again highlights the need for further investigation and prosecution of crimes against all civilians in the Voćin region. According to available data, 33 local residents were killed over the course of those few days.

Victims:

Sekulinci

1. Bojčić/Panić, Lazar (Lazo), born 20 April 1933
2. Kovačić, Danka (Dragić), born 10 February 1934
3. Kovačić, Joco (Milan), born 1 October 1929
4. Kovačić, Jovan (Tejo), born 10 May 1947
5. Radulović, Petar (Milan), born 1 January 1932
6. Vasiljević, Rajko (Vid), born 1 January 1935

Kometnik

1. Jorgić, Branko, identity of the person has not been confirmed
2. Jorgić, Dušan (Petar), born 5 August 1930
3. Jorgić, Lazar (Mijo/Mihajlo), born 31 March 1936
4. Veselinović, Stevan (Vojislav/Vojin), born 12 June 1940
5. Vukašinović, Dimitrije (Stevo), born 3 November 1937
6. Zubić, Stevan (Pantelija), born 15 May 1928

Gornji Meljani

1. Bolić, Božo (Pero), born 1 January 1932
2. Bolić, Uroš (Nikola), born 1 January 1917
3. Radmilović, Radomir (Ljubić), born 12 August 1958
4. Smoljanić, Gavro (Gajo), born 11 August 1950

Hum

1. Jorgić, Petar (Pane), born 2 October 1925
2. Lukić, Branko (Stojan), born 1 January 1934
3. Radojević, Smilja (Rade), born 3 November 1924

Voćin

1. Dragojević, Milka (Neđo), born 1 January 1906
2. Ojkić, Lazo (Jovan), born 1 January 1936
3. Vuković, Krista, born 1 January 1925, identity of the person has not been confirmed

Đuričić

1. Ivković, Božica (Jovan), born 7 January 1906
2. Kokić, Slavko (Petar), born 1 January 1930
3. Vučković, Pantelija (Lazo), born 9 February 1915

Ćeralije

1. Bojanić, Pero (Božo), born 1 January 1950
2. Dobrić, Zdravko (Stevo), born 19 February 1930
3. Dobrić, Anka (Dragić), born 1 January 1930
4. Lazić, Slobodan (Stevo), born 20 May 1951

Rijenci

1. Vučković, Borislav (Mirko), born 2 August 1947

Bokane

1. Matić, Jovan (Jovan), born 1 January 1935 (missing)
2. Nenadović, Stojan, born 8 May 1922

Macute

1. Grabić, Milorad (Mile), born 27 September 1933

Judicial consequences: No one has been held accountable for the crimes committed in Voćin in 1991, and no judicial proceedings related to these events have been initiated.

Until 1991, Medari was part of the Municipality of Nova Gradiška, and today it belongs to one of the youngest municipalities in Croatia, the Municipality of Dragalić. According to the 1991 census, Medari had 452 inhabitants, of whom 367 were Serbs. According to the most recent census in 2011, the village has 211 residents. Detailed data on the ethnic composition of the population are not yet available.

Date: 1 May 1995

Description of the crime: On the first day of Operation Flash, 1 May 1995, at around 6 a.m., members of the Croatian Army entered the village of Medari and committed a war crime against civilians they found in their homes. Twenty-one people were brutally killed using both firearms and cold weapons. The scale of the crime is underscored by the fact that among the victims were three children and eleven women, and most of the men were elderly. The youngest victim was 7 years old, the oldest 88, and as many as seven members of a single family (the Vuković family) were killed. All the victims were of Serbian nationality. According to statements from the victims’ families, the residents of Medari believed that, in the event of the Croatian Army entering the village, they would be protected by UNPROFOR, whose base was located in the immediate vicinity of the village.

Victims:

1. Burojević, Ljeposava, born 1 January 1912/1925
2. Burojević, Milan (Đuro), born 1 January 1935
3. Čanak, Rade (Mile), born 1 January 1907
4. Čanak, Draginja (Mile), born 1 January 1919
5. Dičko Grmuša, Ruža (Uroš), born 13 June 1943
6. Dičko, Željko (Petar), born 10 June 1967
7. Đumić Kvakić, Draga (Pavao), born 7 January 1919
8. Grmuša, Jovan (Blagoje), born 1 January 193
9. Mrkonja/Mrkonjić, Jelena (Jovo), born 1 January 1936
10. Ninković, Anka (Milan), born 20 April 1915
11. Popović, Nikola (Tomislav), born 17 November 1927 / 4 February 1927
12. Popović, Nada (Rade), born 31 May 1933
13. Tomić, Zorka (Stanko), born 16 November 1923
14. Vlajsavljević, Katarina (Stevo), born 1 January 1930
15. Vuković, Anđelija (Jovan), born 5 January 1959
16. Vuković, Cvijeta (Dušan), born 8 April 1950 / 15 March 1950
17. Vuković, Dragana (Milutin), born 13 February 1988
18. Vuković, Goran (Ranko), born 18 December 1984
19. Vuković, Gordana (Ranko), born 18 October 1987
20. Vuković, Milutin (Stanoje), born 16 June 1945
21. Vuković, Ranko (Stanoje), born 1 April 1955

Regarding Dragan Romanić (born 1 January 1935), subsequent verifications established that the person died a natural death in 1990.

Information on the exhumation and identification of the victims: On 3 July 2010, the exhumation of the remains of 28 persons was completed from a mass grave located within the local cemetery in the village of Trnava. At the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zagreb, on 29 March 2011, the following victims were identified: Cvijeta Vuković, Anđelija Vuković, Ranko Vuković, Milutin Vuković, Gordana Vuković, Goran Vuković, Dragana Vuković, Ruža Dičko, Željko Dičko, and Jovan Grmuša; and in April 2012: Kata Vlajsavljević, Zorka Tomić, Draga Đumić, and Anka Ninković.

Judicial consequences: To date, no one has been criminally held accountable for the crime in Medari. The procedure is still in the pre-investigation phase and is conducted against unknown perpetrators. Until the exhumation of the victims’ remains in Medari in 2010, the case was in the hands of the County State Attorney’s Office in Slavonski Brod, but in 2010 the case was transferred, by decision of the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia (DORH), to the County State Attorney’s Office in Osijek. However, no indictment has yet been filed for the crime in Medari. The Vuković sisters, whose parents and younger sister were killed in the crime, initiated a compensation lawsuit on 4 September 2006 before the Municipal Court in Nova Gradiška, based on the Act on the Responsibility of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused by Members of the Croatian Armed Forces and Police during the Homeland War. That same court dismissed the claim as unfounded on 4 November 2009. The Civil-Administrative Department of the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb rejected the request for an out-of-court settlement because, in their interpretation, this was not a war crime, but civilians who suffered war damage. Based on costs incurred from the civil procedure initiated in relation to the claim for compensation for non-material damage due to the killing of the parents and minor sister, the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Nova Gradiška initiated foreclosure proceedings on the Vuković sisters’ property.

According to the 1991 census, Sisak had 45,792 inhabitants, of whom 10,829, or as much as 23.64%, were Serbs, while according to the 2011 census, the Town of Sisak had 69,281 residents, of whom only 5,897, or 7.46%, were Serbs. Although the administrative area of the Town of Sisak no longer covers the same territory as in 1991, making precise comparative analysis difficult, it is clear that the decline in the number of Serbs in this area has been drastic.

Period: From 1991 to 1995

Description of crimes: In the autumn of 1991, Sisak was almost on the front line. A large number of Croats from Petrinja and the surrounding area arrived in the town, a smaller portion of Serbs left, and the situation of those who remained was especially difficult. Several different groups of armed individuals, members of Croatian military units and police units, intimidated, abused, tortured, and killed Serbs in Sisak. Their apartments were searched for weapons, they received threatening phone calls, were taken from their homes and workplaces, and many of those taken were later found dead or are still listed as missing. The executions of Serbs in Sisak were often preceded by torture. Beatings, broken arms and legs, knife stabs, and even decapitation were all confirmed by reports from the Pathology Department of the General Hospital in Sisak. By order of the District Court in Sisak at the time, autopsies or external examinations were performed on 64 bodies of those killed, and these findings testify to the brutality of the crimes committed. Detentions, torture, and killings of Serbs took place at locations called Barutana, ORA, and Jodno. A large number of these crimes are attributed to two notorious units active in Sisak during the war: the Wolves (Vukovi) and the Handžar Division. The activities of these units have not been fully clarified to this day, but it is known that the Handžar Division was led by Ekrem Mandal, a miner employed in a mine in Labin, originally from Novi Pazar, and the unit was mostly composed of Muslims with around 80 members. The Wolves were a smaller unit with 20 to 30 members. Both units were part of the reserve forces of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP).

Victims: A full list of victims, or even the total number of those killed or subjected to abuse in the Sisak area during the war, has not been fully established, and fierce debates on the subject continue. Estimates range from several dozen to more than 600 killed. What can be stated with certainty is that several dozen Serbs were killed in various ways in the Sisak area.

Below is the list of victims issued by the association Forum for Human Rights from Sisak.

List of victims from the indictment against Vladimir Milanković and Drago Bošnjak:

Killed/missing:

1. Vlado Božić
2. Zoran Vranešević
3. Branko Oljača
4. Željko Vila
5. Evica Vila
6. Marko Vila
7. Dušan Vila
8. Mlađo Vila
9. Nikola Trivkanović
10. Zoran Trivkanović
11. Berislav Trivkanović
12. Jovan Crnobrnja
13. Rade Španović
14. Stevo Ratković
15. Ljubica Solar
16. Milan Cvetojević
17. Petar Pajagić
18. Vojislav Trbulin
19. Stanko Martinović
20. Stevo Borojević
21. Miloš Čalić
22. Vaso Jelić
23. Nikola Drobnjak
24. Miloš Brkić
25. Dragan Miočinović

Illegally detained and/or abused:

1. Stevo Brajenović
2. Dmitar Brajenović
3. Milan Slavulj
4. Miodrag Stojaković
5. Sveto Mijić
6. Gojko Lađević
7. Nenad Tintor
8. Živko Živanović
9. Obrad Štrbac
10. Milan Davorija
11. Stevo Miodrag
12. Mićo Mitrović
13. Pero Dragojević
14. Ivica Bišćan
15. Dobrila Crnobrnja
16. Milorad Ratković
17. Blažana Ratković
18. Danica Ratković
19. Dragica Subanović
20. Branko Subanović
21. Lazo Ostojić
22. Danica Ostojić
23. Dragan Ostojić
24. Mirko Drageljević
25. Neđeljka Drageljević
26. Nikola Batula
27. Milica Batula
28. Đuro Cvetojević
29. Dragomir Cvetojević
30. Mihajlo Mrkonja
31. Živko Goga
32. Milan Vasiljević
33. Nikola Arnautović
34. Živko Vujanić
35. Ranko Davidović
36. Ratko Miljević
37. Miloš Gojić
38. Blagoje Savić
39. Radivoj Crevar
40. Ljuban Vukšić
41. Boško Subotić

an unidentified civilian approximately 45 years old

Name-by-name list of 107 killed Serbs from the Sisak area, issued by the association Forum for Human Rights from Sisak, with an additional five victim records added:

* The victims are also listed in the dossier on the killings in the Banija villages.

1. Arbutina, Nikola (Milan/Milovan), born 11 August 1957,
   date of death: 9 August 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed
2. Arbutina, Stanko (-), born 1 January 1945,
   date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
3. Beglić, Damir (Nedjeljko), born 27 July 1961,
   date of death: 3 September 1990, circumstances of death not confirmed, police report cites suicide; victim’s wife claims murder
4. Bekić, Dragan (Dušan), born 16 April 1952,
   date of death: 22 August 1991*
5. Banjac, Marko (Ilija), born 28 September 1933,
   date of death: 26 August 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed
6. Biškupović, Dragan (Ranko), born 5 June 1947,
   date of death: 22 August 1991*
7. Bojinović, Željka (Petar), born 31 March 1969,
   date of death: 22/23 August 1991*
8. Borojević, Stevo (Rajko), born 10 September 1946,
   date of death: 6 October 1991
9. Božić, Vlado (Branko), born 16 January 1953,
   date of death: 4 August 1991
10. Brkić, Miloš (Nikola), born 20 March 1930,
    date of death: 20/21 June 1992
11. Cetinski, Branko (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
12. Crljenica, Petar (Miloš), born 23 September 1941,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
13. Crnobrnja, Jovan (Spiridon), born 6 November 1936,
    date of death: 26 August 1991
14. Cvetojević, Milan (Ljuban), born 4 March 1935,
    date of death: 19 September 1991
15. Drobnjak, Nikola (Miloš), born 8 July 1933,
    date of death: 5 April 1992
16. Čajić, Nedeljko (Dušan), born 17 October 1945,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
17. Čakalo, Milan (Stojan), born 10 June 1933,
    date of death: 23 September 1991
18. Čalić, Miloš (Nikola), born 30 January 1942,
    date of death: 9 October 1991
19. Čenić, Ljuban (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
20. Čorić, Stojan (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances not confirmed
21. Čosić, Veljko (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991 / 31 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
22. Dabić, Branko (Jovan/Jovo), born 5 January 1953,
    date of death: 15/16 September 1991
23. Didulica, Jovo (Milan), born 20 January 1953,
    date of death: 10 December 1992 / 19 December 1992
24. Draić, Mika (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991 / 15 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
25. Drobnjak, Nikola (Miloš), born 8 July 1933 / 3 July 1933,
    date of death: 5 April 1992
26. Dukić, Damir (-), born 1 January 1964,
    date of death: 6 January 1994, identity and circumstances
    of death not confirmed
27. Đapa, Milenko (Rajko), born 22 December 1951,
    date of death: 22/23 August 1991
28. Đekić, Ratko (Lazar), born 27 October 1918,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
29. Đenić, Nenad (Jandrija), born 23 August 1977,
    date of death: 17 August 1996, autopsy and death certificate suggest accident/drowning, Croatian nationality
30. Đukić, Ivica (Đuro), born 1 January 1957,
    date of death: 11 October 1991, Croatian nationality
31. Erak, Ljuban (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
32. Grubić, Miloš (-), born 1 January 1930,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
33. Grubić, Nikola (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
34. Ivanjek, Slavko (Stjepan), born 7/17 September 1948,
    date of death: 7 September 1991, Croatian nationality
35. Jelić, Vaso (Petar), born 9 August 1931,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
36. Kičić, Dragica/Sava (Ilija), born 13 June 1937,
    date of death: 15 August 1991 / 21 November 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed, police report mentions death by fire
37. Kičić, Petar (Ivo), born 1 May 1934 / 1 January 1951,
    date of death: 15 August 1991 / 21 November 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed, police report mentions death by fire
38. Kladar, Milan (Dušan), born 26 August 1940,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
39. Komosar, Dušan (Petar), born 15 May 1927,
    date of death: 19 October 1991
40. Končar, Stanko (-), born -,
    date of death: 2 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
41. Kovačević, Kuzman/Kuzma (Ilija), born 5 July 1937,
    date of death: 10/11 August 1993, circumstances of death not confirmed, possible murder not directly related to war activities
42. Kragulj, Radovan (Dragoljub), born 2 February 1955,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
43. Kušić, Nedjeljko (Danilo), born 4 February 1929,
    date of death: 5/6 February 1992
44. Kušić, Petar (Nedjeljko), born 12 May 1956 / 1966,
    date of death: 5/6 February 1992
45. Letić, Đorđe (Ilija), born 2 May 1934,
    date of death: 6 August 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed, autopsy indicates carbon monoxide poisoning; wife doubts authenticity of findings
46. Lovrić, Ljuban (Vojo), born 10 September 1946,
    date of death: 25 November 1991
47. Lukač, Branko (Janko), born 21 October 1933,
    date of death: 1 January 1993, circumstances of death not confirmed, possible accident
48. Lukač, Đuro (Miladin), born 25 July 1955,
    date of death: 16 August 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed
49. Lukić, Stanko (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
50. Martić, Ilija (Ilija), born 2 August 1945,
    date of death: 26 August 1991
51. Martinović, Ranko (Nikola), born 5 September 1940,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
52. Martinović, Stanko (Janko), 12 born February 1939,
    date of death: 23 September 1991
53. Miočinović, Dragan (Stevo), born 4 January 1937,
    date of death: 2 September 1991
54. Miodrag, Stojan (Đuro), born 2 February 1950 / 7 February 1950,
    date of death: 10 September 1991
55. Mitrović, Đorđe/Đorđo (Miloš), born 30 June 1962,
    date of death: 27/29 March 1992, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
56. Nikolić, Gradoljub (Živko), born 15 May 1963,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
57. Novaković, Vaso (-), born 1 January 1945,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
58. Obradović, Dejan (Pero), born 1 January 1977,
    date of death: 1/30 September 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
59. Obradović, Jovanka (Pero), born 1 January 1979,
    date of death: 1/30 September 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
60. Obradović, Milja (-), born 1 January 1955,
    date of death: 1/30 September 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
61. Obradović, Pero (-), born 1 January 1950,
    date of death: 1/30 September 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
62. Obradović, Vaso (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed
63. Oljača, Branko (Ljuban), born 13 November 1955,
    date of death: 24 August 1991
64. Ostojić, Rade (Jovo), born 5 July 1940,
    date of death: 29 October / 12 November 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed, found hanged; pathology report suggests likely suicide
65. Pajagić, Petar (Mirko), born 10/12 July 1932,
    date of death: 20/23 September 1991, missing
66. Pajić, Nenad (Jovan/Jovo), born 1 January 1951,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
67. Palija, Pero — not a victim
68. Pandurić, Đuro (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
69. Pavičić, Igor / real name Domagoj (Milivoj), born 4 March 1970,
    date of death: 2 July 1991, according to a special police report from the Sisak-Moslavina Police, this is Domagoj Pavičić with a different birth date. The event is unrelated to war; murder in an apartment building by a neighbour. Croat by nationality
70. Pavić, Miljenko (Vlajko), born 19 September 1958,
    date of death: 23 September 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed, the Sisak Police Department report indicates person is recorded as deceased since 19 September 1996
71. Pavljanić, Nikola (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
72. Rajšić, Dragan (Đuro), born 31 May 1927,
    date of death: 26/28 August 1991, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
73. Rapajić, Dragan (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, not a victim
74. Ratković, Stevo (Jovan), born 14 February 1925,
    date of death: 17 September / 2 October 1991
75. Simić, Stevo (Matija), born 3 August 1937,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
76. Slijepčević, Slavko (Lazo), born 29 October 1939,
    date of death: 15 November 1991
77. Solar, Ljubica (Jovo/Jovan), born 10 May 1972,
    date of death: 17 September 1991
78. Stanić, Lazo (Milan), born 4 March 1934,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
79. Stevanović, Milovan (-), born 9 January 1931,
    not a war victim.
80. Stevanović, Vera (-), born 28 July 1932,
    not a war victim.
81. Sundać, Dragan (Savo/Savan), born 26 December 1932,
    date of death: 4 February 1992, missing
82. Svetić, Vlado (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
83. Škrebac, Željko (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
84. Španović, Rade (Dragan), born 2 October 1935,
    date of death: 6/14 September 1991
85. Špoljar, Miloš /Mićo (Stojan), born 28 April 1951,
    date of death: 23 September 1991
86. Šušnjar, Đuro (-), born -,
    date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
87. Tatišić, Ljuban (Mirko), born 8 May 1932,
    date of death: 22 August 1991*
88. Trbulin, Vojislav (Mile), born 10 November 1934,
    date of death: 20/23 September 1991, missing
89. Trivkanović, Nikola (Pero), born 19 December 1943,
    date of death: 25 August 1991
90. Trivkanović, Zoran (Nikola), born 29 January 1967,
    date of death: 25 August 1991, missing
91. Trivkanović, Berislav (Nikola), born 8 March 1973,
    date of death: 25 August 1991, missing
92. Vasiljević, Milorad (-), born -,
    date of death: 1/31 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed, most likely not a war victim
93. Vejnović, Nedeljko (Lazo), born 15 March / 19 April 1953,
    date of death: 24 August 1991
94. Vergaš, Vatroslav (Milorad), born 23 June 1959,
    date of death: 29 November 1991
95. Vila, Dušan (Marko), born 21 October 1951,
    date of death: 25 August 1991
96. Vila, Evica (Milan), born 1 July 1933,
    date of death: 25 August 1991
97. Vila, Marko (Dušan/Jovo), born 18 October 1928,
    date of death: 25 August 1991
98. Vila, Mladen (Marko), born 24 July 1951,
    date of death: 25 August 1991
99. Vila, Željko (Marko), born 11 May 1963,
    date of death: 25 August 1991
100. Vojnović, Ivan (Mihajlo), born 26 May 1935,
     date of death: 27 September 1991, circumstances of death not confirmed, police report states it was a traffic accident
101. Vranešević, Mladen (Stojan), born 19 March 1938,
     date of death: 22 August 1991*
102. Vranešević, Zoran (Mladen), born 28 September 1965,
     date of death: 23 August 1991
103. Vučinić, Milan (Boško), born 31 October 1944,
     date of death: 22 August 1991*
104. Vujačić, Draga (-), born -,
     date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
105. Vujačić, Dragan (-), born -,
     date of death: 1 August 1991,identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
106. Vujnović, Đuro (Ljuban), born -,
     date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
107. Vujnović, Ljuban (Jovo), born 16 April 1958,
     date of death: 1 August 1991, identity and circumstances of death not confirmed
108. Vukotić, Bogdan (Mirko), born 11 January 1950,
     date of death: 11 March 1992, circumstances of death not confirmed
109. Zdjelar, Vukašin (-), born -,
     date of death: 1 August 1991. Identity and circumstances of death not confirmed, most likely not a war victim
110. Zlokapa, Simo/Simenon (Đuro/Đorđe), born 3 April 1920,
     date of death: 19 September 1991
111. Žilić, Damjan (Dušan), born 5 February 1939,
     date of death: 23 November 1991
112. Živković, Stana (Dušan), born 15 March 1923,
     date of death: 1 August 1991 / 15 March 1992, circumstances of death not confirmed. Possibly not a war victim. According to the Sisak Police, the person is recorded as deceased since 2004

Judicial consequences: In 2011, the County State Prosecutor’s Office in Osijek filed charges against Vladimir Milanković, former deputy chief of the Sisak Police Department, and Drago Bošnjak, a member of the Sisak Police Department reserve unit, for the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population. On December 9, 2013, the War Crimes Council of the County Court in Osijek announced a verdict sentencing Vladimir Milanković to seven years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population and two years for war crimes against prisoners of war, resulting in a combined sentence of eight years in prison. Drago Bošnjak was acquitted of the charges. On June 10, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia upheld the first-instance verdict of the County Court in Osijek, revising Vladimir Milanković’s sentence to a unified prison term of ten years. Charges of war crimes against the civilian population based on command responsibility were also filed against Đuro Brodarac, but the proceedings were terminated due to his death in custody in 2011. No one has been held accountable for the deaths of all victims attributed to Đuro Brodarac in the indictment.

None of the direct perpetrators of crimes against Serbs in Sisak have been criminally prosecuted.

The crime in question took place in seven Banija villages located within the triangle formed by Sisak, Petrinja, and Sunja. These villages are Blinjski Kut, Kinjačka Gornja, Kinjačka Donja, Blinjska Greda, Bestrma, Trnjani, Čakale, and Brđani.

Time: 22 August 1991

Description of the crime: In the early morning hours of 22 August 1991, members of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian National Guard (Gromovi Unit) launched a military operation from the villages of Komarevo and Mađari towards several neighbouring Serb villages. The operation was conducted with several modified/armoured trucks, accompanied by infantry. Upon entering the villages, the Croatian National Guard members called some residents by name and killed them as they came out of their houses with gunfire. Some victims were killed inside their homes. Most victims were civilians, but some residents of the attacked villages were armed and engaged in clashes with the Ministry of the Interior and Croatian National Guard members, as evidenced by the deaths of five Croatian forces members and injuries to several others. During this attack, 15 people were killed, and a larger number were wounded. All victims were Serbs. The youngest victim was Željka Bojinović, who was 22 years old at the time of her killing. Members of the Croatian forces, who knew her, called her by name to come out of her house and killed her when she appeared.

Victims:

1. Bekić, Dragan (Dušan), born 16 April 1952
2. Biškupović, Dragan (Ranko), born 5 June 1947
3. Bojinović, Željka (Petar), born 31 March 1969
4. Crljenica, Petar (Miloš), born 23 September 1941
5. Čajić, Nedeljko (Dušan), born 17 October 1945
6. Đekić, Ratko (Lazar), born 27 October 1918
7. Kladar, Milan (Dušan), born 26 August 1940
8. Kragulj, Radovan (Dragoljub), born 2 February 1955
9. Martinović, Ranko (Nikola), born 5 September 1940
10. Pajić, Nenad (Jovan), born 1 January 1951
11. Simić, Stevo (Matija), born 3 August 1937
12. Stanić, Lazo (Milan), born 4 March 1934
13. Tatišić, Ljuban (Mirko), born 8 May 1932
14. Vranešević, Mladen (Stojan), born 19 March 1938
15. Vučinić, Milan (Boško), born 31 October 1944

Judicial consequences: In 2006, a criminal complaint was filed with the County State Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Croatia against Ivica Kovačić and others for the criminal offence of a war crime, but in the same year, the County State Prosecutor’s Office in Sisak dismissed the criminal complaint. To date, no one has been held accountable for this crime. Some of the families sued the Republic of Croatia for damages and obtained compensation in first-instance rulings. A well-known example is the case of the parents of Željka Bojinović. The Municipal Court in Sisak accepted their claim for compensation, established the responsibility of the Republic of Croatia, and awarded material compensation to Milja and Petar Bojinović. The court determined that the act had the characteristics of a war crime. The appeal procedure is ongoing.

Until 1995, Dvor was called Dvor na Uni. In 1991, the area of the Municipality of Dvor had 14,555 inhabitants living in 64 settlements, of whom 86.5% were Serbs and 9.58% were Croats. The Croatian population mainly lived in six settlements along the River Una, from Dvor towards Kostajnica, and in those settlements, they constituted an absolute majority, whereas Serbs were the absolute majority in the remaining 58 settlements of the Municipality. According to the 2011 census, 5,570 inhabitants live in the same area, of whom 4,005 or 71.9% are Serbs, and 1,440 or 25.85% are Croats.

Date: 8 August 1995

Description of the crime: On 8 August 1995, between 2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., twelve people were killed in a school building in Dvor na Uni using hand grenades and automatic firearms: ten individuals with mental and physical disabilities and one married couple. As far as is known, all victims were Serbs. The crime was witnessed by members of the Danish battalion of UNCRO forces, who were stationed in Dvor at the time, one of whom, Jan Wellendorf, testified publicly about the incident in the Danish media in 2011. After that, the case also became known to the Croatian public. According to that testimony, the Danish soldiers wanted to intervene, specifically, to open fire and attempt to prevent the crime, but were ordered not to intervene and only to observe. The civilians killed in the school in Dvor had been brought from Petrinja several days earlier, together with about 40 other people, psychiatric patients and residents of a care home, most of whom subsequently managed to flee to Bosanski Novi. Only the most severely disabled remained in Dvor, those whom no one could or would take with them.

Potential perpetrators: According to available information, the murders were committed by 12 individuals in camouflage uniforms with no visible insignia indicating affiliation with any army. Croatian forces had entered Dvor in the afternoon of the previous day, but during the morning and throughout 8 August, those same forces were retreating towards Zamlača due to a counterattack by Serbian forces from the direction of Bosanski Novi, aimed at breaking through to remaining Serbian soldiers and civilians on the Glina — Dvor — Bosanski Novi route. At the time of the crime, combat was taking place in Dvor near the crime scene between members of the Serbian Army of Krajina and the Croatian Army, and several sources also mention the presence of the 5^th Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Dvor during the events in question. Immediately after the crime, according to initial reports published by The New York Times and The Independent, citing the UN spokesperson in Zagreb, Philip Arnold, as well as testimonies and reports from Danish soldiers, the killers were reportedly wearing uniforms bearing the insignia of the 5^th Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but this information was not repeated in later reports.

Victims:

1. Macut, Jovan (Stevan), born 20 January 1931
2. Marić, Anka (Petar), born 5 May 1928
3. Marić, Zorka (Dmitar), born 1 January 1955
4. Mileković, Katica (Joso), born 10 May 1939
5. Krivokuća, Darko (Nikola), born 24 June 1966
6. Kovač, Dragica (Stevo), born 20 January 1949
7. Ružak, Terezija (Rudolf), born 27 September 1913
8. Teodorović, Desanka (-), born 1 January 1915

The bodies of Zorka Marić, Jovan Macut, Terezija Ružak, and Dragica Kovač were identified through DNA analysis and buried. Subsequent investigative efforts determined that Slobodan Vukšić, Jasenka Vukšić, and Ljubo Vujić were not victims. The identities of the remaining individuals have been listed, but their connection to this particular crime has not been fully confirmed, or they are listed as missing. The identity of one victim remains unknown.

Judicial consequences: The perpetrators are most commonly referred to as unidentified individuals without insignia. In an effort to bring the case to a conclusion, at the end of 2012 an agreement was reached between representatives of the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia and the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office on continued cooperation in determining and identifying the perpetrators and all the circumstances surrounding this war crime. Witnesses were jointly interviewed in Copenhagen, but there is currently no publicly available information regarding the outcomes of these joint efforts. Nearly thirty years after the crime was committed, the perpetrators have not only gone unpunished, but it has not even been definitively established to which army they belonged or why the murders were carried out. Despite the fact that the murder at the school in Dvor has been listed as one of the priorities of the Croatian State Attorney’s Office, no progress has yet been made towards initiating judicial proceedings for this crime.

Considerable public controversy arose following the release of a Danish documentary film about the case. Since the film was co-financed by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), various veterans’ associations and individuals claimed that it attributed responsibility for the crime to the Croatian army, although the film primarily focuses on questioning the responsibility of the Danish battalion and its commander.

According to the 2011 census, Karlovac had a population of 55,705, of which 8% were Serbs. In the 1991 census, Karlovac had 81,319 inhabitants, 26.72% of whom were Serbs. Although Karlovac no longer encompasses the same area it did in 1991, making direct comparison and analysis of the data somewhat difficult, there is a clear and significant shift in the national composition of the population, marked by a steep decline in the proportion of Serbs in the area. The Korana Bridge is located very close to the centre of Karlovac and, in a way, represents the southern entrance to the city. During the wartime conflict, it held an important strategic role in the defence of Karlovac.

Date: 21 September 1991

Description of the crime: On 21 September 1991, members of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) stopped two military trucks just in front of the bridge over the Korana River in Karlovac. On board were members of both the regular and reserve units of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA). The trucks were transporting soldiers from the Mekušje barracks to the Logorište barracks, which is located in Karlovac. After negotiations with Croatian forces and a promise that no harm would come to them, the JNA soldiers surrendered and laid down their weapons. Immediately after the surrender, one group of prisoners, mostly active-duty JNA personnel, was taken to the police station in Karlovac, while another group of 17 soldiers, mostly reservists from the village of Krnjak, was led on foot across the Korana Bridge. When they reached the bridge, three individuals wearing uniforms and balaclavas executed 13 of them with automatic weapons. Of the four survivors, three escaped by jumping into the Korana River.

Victims (by place of residence):

Čatrnja

1. Popović, Nebojša (Mihajlo), born 26 July 1967

Donji Budački

1. Gojković, Svetozar (Gligorije), born 8 January 1959
2. Komadina, Zoran (Boško), born 17 May 1964

Grabovac Krnjački

1. Savić, Milić (Dušan), born 5 September 1955
2. Srdić, Miloš (Simo), born 10 May 1948

Karlovac

1. Babić, Mile (Mihajlo), born 15 June 1949

Krnjak

1. Babić, Nikola (Pajo/Dušan), born 2 April 1948
2. Bižić, Vaso (Milan), born 1 July 1955
3. Kozlina, Božo (Božo/Boško), born 26 March 1954
4. Lukač, Miljenko/Milenko (Miloš), born 13 January 1959
5. Milovanović, Slobodan (Svetozar), born 5 November 1966
6. Peurača, Mile (Vladimir), born 14 January 1964

Partizansko Žarište

1. Sipić, Jovan (Đorđe), born 26 March 1966

Judicial consequences: For the crime committed against prisoners of war on the Korana Bridge, an indictment was filed against Mihajlo Hrastov, a former member of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, under case number KT-48/91 by the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlovac on 25 May 1992, for unlawful killing and wounding. The proceedings against Hrastov became one of the longest in the history of the Croatian judiciary. The County Court in Karlovac acquitted him three times, claiming that the shooting had been preceded by an attack by disarmed enemy soldiers on Hrastov’s fellow officers, thereby losing their prisoner-of-war status. The Supreme Court overturned all three acquittals. After the third acquittal was annulled, the Court did not return the case to the same court for a retrial but instead conducted the appellate and third-instance proceedings itself, found Hrastov guilty, and sentenced him to seven years in prison. However, since the Supreme Court did not publish the conviction, the Constitutional Court overturned the ruling, and Hrastov was released at the end of 2010. Although the three surviving witnesses stated that three individuals opened fire on them, not just Hrastov, the State Attorney’s Office (DORH) has shown no interest in expanding the indictment, nor has it attempted to identify those who ordered the crime. The Supreme Court eventually confirmed the second-instance verdict by which Hrastov was sentenced to four years in prison, with credit given for time served in custody and during the sentence, from 6 March 1992 to 4 September 1992, and from 5 May 2009 to 22 December 2010. The trial of Mihajlo Hrastov lasted a total of 23 years.

On 16 November 1991, seven members of the Serbian army were captured in the village of Glibodol near Otočac and then all transported by military truck to the military barracks in Ogulin. Two days later, on 18 November, Ivan Mihalić, a member of the 143rd Ogulin Brigade of the Croatian Army, entered the detention facilities and killed the captured soldiers from Glibodol with a burst of gunfire. Afterward, the bodies of the deceased were cremated, and the urns of the deceased were handed over to their families three months later through the mediation of UNPROFOR, the Croatian authorities, and the authorities of the then so-called Krajina.

Date: 18 November 1991

Victims:

1. Cvjetičanin, Bude (Mićo), born 19 April 1954
2. Kliska, Ilija (Ilija), born 8 August 1968
3. Kliska, Milan (Mile), born 22 May 1962
4. Kliska, Nikola (Mićo), born 19 January 1962
5. Vlaisavljević, Dušan (Ilija), born 6 May 1976
6. Vlaisavljević, Đuro (Stevo/Vajo), born 14 June 1972
7. Vlaisavljević, Mile (Jovan), born 18 March 1952

All the victims were residents of Dabar, except for Dušan Vlaisavljević, who lived in Zagreb.

Judicial consequences: By a verdict of the military court in Karlovac on 26 June 1992, Ivan Mihalić was found guilty of, “as a member of the sabotage unit of the 143^rd Brigade of the Croatian Army, contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949, and with the intent to kill members of enemy military formations who were captured on 16 November 1991 during an armed conflict between the Croatian Army and the so-called ‘Territorial Defence — SAO Krajina Knin’ near the village of Glibodol — municipality of Otočac and who were temporarily held in the command building, by pointing an automatic rifle known as the ‘Argentine’ calibre 7.62 mm at the guard Josip Salopek, who was watching the prisoners, pushing him aside and entering the premises, where he demanded the prisoners who were sitting to stand up, then fired multiple rounds at them with a burst of gunfire, hitting Nikola Klisk, Milan Klisk, Ilija Klisk, Mila Vlaisavljević, Đuro Vlaisavljević, Duško Vlaisavljević, and Budu Cvjetičanin, inflicting severe and life-threatening injuries from which they died instantly on the spot.” The Supreme Military Court of the Republic of Croatia ruled on 7 October 1992 to dismiss Ivan Mihalić’s appeal as unfounded and upheld the verdict of the first-instance court. After the lawsuit was filed, compensation was awarded to the families of the victims.

As the centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County and a settlement with over 40,000 inhabitants, Bjelovar is one of the political and cultural hubs of central Croatia. According to the 1991 census, 5,898 Serbs lived in Bjelovar, making up 8.93% of the total population. According to the most recent census in 2011, 1,877 Serbs live in Bjelovar, constituting 4.66% of the total population. Although Bjelovar no longer covers the same area as it did in 1991, and currently has 40,276 inhabitants compared to 66,039 previously, there is a clear significant change in the national structure of the population, visible in the decline of the Serbian population share in this area.

Period: From 29 September to 3 October 1991

Description of crimes: The JNA barracks Božidar Adžija, which housed the 265^th Motorised Brigade of the JNA, was located in Bjelovar. In the autumn of 1991, about 150 JNA soldiers were stationed in the barracks. On 29 September 1991, at around 7 a.m., members of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) began an attack on the barracks. During the day-long conflict and exchange of fire, JNA soldiers hit several civilian buildings in Bjelovar, and three women were killed in the shelling. In the afternoon of the same day, JNA Colonel Rajko Kovačević ordered a ceasefire and the laying down of arms. The ZNG forces then entered the barracks and disarmed the JNA soldiers and officers. Among the prisoners, Colonel Rajko Kovačević, Lieutenant Colonel Miljko Vasić, and First-Class Captain Dragiša Jovanović were singled out and killed with gunshots to the head. On the same day, ZNG forces surrounded a weapons depot in the Bednik forest. After a short fight, the depot commander, Major Milan Tepić, ordered his soldiers to surrender while he stayed in the depot. As Croatian forces entered the facility, Tepić detonated explosives and destroyed the depot. The explosion killed him as well as 11 ZNG members and seven JNA soldiers. Six JNA members — Radovan Barberić, Zdravko Dokman, Radovan Gredeljević, Ivan Hojsak, Boško Radonjić, and one unidentified person — were captured and taken to the police station in Bjelovar. On the night of 3 October 1991, they were taken to the Česma forest near the village of Malo Korenovo and killed there. This is testified by Savo Kovačević, a civilian from Bjelovar accused of being a sniper, who was also taken to the forest but survived the shooting.

Victims:

1. Barberić, Radovan (-), born 6 September 1958
2. Dokman, Zdravko (-), born 27 October 1958
3. Gredeljević, Radovan (Nikola), born 24 April 1958
4. Hojsak, Ivan (Drago), born 9 September 1959
5. Jovanović, Dragiša (-), born 1 January 1960
6. Kovačević, Rajko (Lazo), born 15 April 1941
7. Radonjić, Boško (Nedeljko), born 8 September 1965
8. Vasić, Miljko (-), born 1 January 1964

Judicial consequences: Jure Šimić, former president of the wartime crisis headquarters and president of the Executive Council of the Bjelovar Municipal Assembly, was detained in November 2010 by order of the Bjelovar County State Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of committing a war crime against prisoners of war. According to the allegations in the prosecutor’s request, Šimić singled out three prisoners, K.R., V.M., and J.D., from a group. He then ordered a group of several armed individuals to take the prisoners about ten metres away and kill them, which they did by firing shots from firearms. Šimić was released from detention, but according to statements from the State Attorney’s Office at the time, his trial was to begin in 2015 before the County Court in Rijeka. On 8 June 2015, the main hearing in the criminal proceedings against Jure Šimić for crimes against prisoners of war commenced at the County Court in Rijeka with the reading of the indictment. According to the indictment, the accused Šimić ordered the killing of three captured officers of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), commanders of the Božidar Adžija barracks in Bjelovar. On 29 September 1991, nearly 60 officers and 150 regular soldiers surrendered to Croatian military and police forces; they were disarmed and dressed in just trousers and undershirts. Šimić is charged in the indictment as the president of the Bjelovar Crisis Headquarters with having singled out Colonel Rajko Kovačević, commander of the 265th Motorised Brigade stationed at the barracks, and his assistants Lieutenant Colonel Miljko Vasić and First-Class Captain Dragiša Jovanović, ordering an unidentified group of soldiers to take them aside and kill them. This was carried out by shooting. During the trial, Šimić pleaded not guilty, and four witnesses testified, none of whom were personally present in the barracks at the time of the shooting of the three JNA officers. In October 2019, Šimić was provisionally acquitted of the war crime charge by the County Court in Rijeka. In June 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the state prosecutor’s appeal as unfounded and upheld the acquittal.

In a separate case against Luka Markešić, Zdenko Radić, Zoran Maras, and Ivan Orlović, based on the indictment from September 2001 and subsequent amendments, they were accused of assisting unknown persons in committing the war crime against prisoners of war and the war crime against civilians. This case concerned the victims Radovan Berbetović, Zdravko Dokman, Radovan Gredeljević, Ivan Hojsak, Boško Radonjić, and one unknown person. By a verdict of the County Court in Bjelovar from January 2001, the accused were acquitted. A Supreme Court ruling from April 2004 annulled that first-instance verdict. By a verdict of the County Court in Varaždin from February 2005, the accused were again acquitted, but the Supreme Court annulled that verdict as well. By a verdict of the County Court in Varaždin from December 2007, the accused were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms: Markešić to four years, and the other defendants to three years each. The Supreme Court also annulled this verdict and returned the case for retrial. In November 2011, the president of the War Crimes Council of the County Court in Zagreb issued a verdict acquitting the accused, which was not appealed.

In 1991, Gospić itself had a population of 9,025, while the administrative area of the Town of Gospić included nearly 30,000 inhabitants spread across 82 urban and rural settlements. Within Gospić proper, out of the total 9,025 residents, 35.93%, or 3,243 people, were of Serbian ethnicity. There were slightly more than 5,000 Croats. Today, Gospić no longer administratively covers such a large area; several smaller municipalities have been formed within that territory, and some urban settlements, such as Karlobag, have been separated. According to the 2011 census, the town’s territory encompasses 50 settlements with a total population of 12,745, of whom only 609, or 4.78%, are Serbs.

Period: October 1991

Description of crimes: During the first half of October, police officers in Gospić compiled a list of Serbs who had remained living there after the outbreak of the war or had returned following invitations from local authorities. A group gathered around the so-called Lika Operational Headquarters, informally led by Tihomir Orešković, who held the greatest power and influence, and which also included the then commander of the 118th Brigade, Mirko Norac, organised unlawful and unjustified arrests of civilians, mostly Serbs but also some Croats from Gospić, the surrounding area, and Karlobag. More than 50 people were taken to the Perušić barracks, where they were detained, though four were eventually released. On the evening of 17 October, a so-called deadly meeting was held at the Operational Headquarters with about 15 participants, during which it was decided that the detained civilians were to be executed. They were taken to a pine plantation called Žitnik (Pazarište), where at least ten people were killed. Mirko Norac participated in the killings, along with other unnamed attendees of the meeting. The very next morning, 18 October, following an agreement between Orešković and Norac, Stjepan Grandić, as commander of the 2nd Battalion stationed at the Perušić barracks, organised the transport of the remaining civilians to the location of Lipova Glavica near Perušić. There, he ordered Croatian Army soldiers to kill the people brought there by firearm. Victims also went missing and were killed in other locations, such as Karlobag. The verdict of the County Court established the identities of at least 54 victims. Some sources mention additional victims from the wider Gospić area in the autumn of 1991, but their deaths or identities have not been confirmed. Most victims were of Serbian ethnicity, but a significant number came from mixed marriages; some identified as Yugoslavs, and others were ethnically Croat.

Victims:

1. Barać, Danica (Ilija), born 21 March 1923
2. Barać, Radovan (Milan), born 1 June 1951
3. Begić, Ankica (Paše), born 25 April 1967 (unconfirmed)
4. Bogdanović, Stojan (Budimir/Bude), born 22 July 1946
5. Bulj, Dane (Jovo), born 17 February 1937
6. Čubelić, Mile (Ante), born 1 January 1941
7. Diklić, Radmila/Radojka (Đuro), born 4 August 1946
8. Draganić, Branko (-), born 1 January 1948
9. Đukić, Marija (Marko), born 1 January 1939
10. Gajić, Nikola (Ilija), born 15 August 1933
11. Hinić, Gojko (Stevo), born 6 May 1949
12. Igrić, Nedeljko (Milivoj), born 29 June 1952
13. Ivanišević, Nikola (Rade), born 31 March 1955
14. Jelinić, Vaso (Vaso), born 16 November 1940
15. Kalanj, Mirjana (Bogdan), born 14 August 1946
16. Kalanj, Đorđe (Dane), born 6 May 1940
17. Kljajić, Simo (Petar), born 13 June 1933
18. Krajnović, Milica (Dušan), born 1 January 1928
19. Krajnović, Simo (Mile), born 1 January 1924
20. Kuzmanović, Branko (-), born 1 January 1938
21. Lazić, Petar (Milan), born 10 July 1949
22. Lončar, Sofija (Dmitar), born 10 July 1938
23. Mandić, Momčilo (Đukan), born 1 January 1933
24. Marić, Borislav (Branko), born 12 March 1945
25. Mrkić, Željko (Petar), born 1 January 1962
26. Orlović, Mileva (Dušan), born 9 January 1949
27. Orlović, Miloš (Luka), born 8 December 1940
28. Panjević, Ljubica (-), born 1 January 1916.
29. Pantelić, Anđelka (Petar), born 19 November 1941
30. Pantelić, Milan (Bogdan), born 30 November 1934
31. Pavlica, Janko (Đuro), born 3 September 1933
32. Pejnović, Mićo (Stipe), born 21 August 1950
33. Potkonjak, Boja/Bosiljka (Dane), born 1 January 1921
34. Potkonjak, Milica (Đuro), born 1 January 1950
35. Radić, Pantelija (Rade), born 9. March 1930
36. Radmanović, Gojko (Petar), born 5 May1942
37. Radmanović, Milica (Iso), born 8 August 1951
38. Rakić, Dragan (Nikola), born 8 February 1960
39. Serdar, Nikola (Mile), born 21 March 1903
40. Smiljanić, Milan (Dragan), born 27 April 1947
41. Smiljanić, Stanko (Dragan), born 3. December 1938
42. Stanić, Radmila (Jovan), born 1 January 1939
43. Stojanović, Nikola (Milan/Mićan), born 19 December 1927
44. Štulić, Branko (Ilija), born 22 June 1937
45. Šuput, Bogdan (Milan), born 7 January 1937
46. Svilar, Petar (Mile), born 1 January 1947
47. Tomičić, Božidar (Marko), born 7 October 1953
48. Trešnjić, Nebojša (Mile), born 1 September 1954
49. Trifunović, Ljubica (Ilija), born 1 January 1941
50. Vraneš, Borka (Dušan), born 1 January 1926
51. Vraneš, Dušanka (Nikola), born 2 January 1939
52. Vujnović/Vujinović, Miloš (Janko), born 12 February 1921
53. Vunjak, Boja (Stevo), born 6 January 1954
54. Vunjak, Nebojša (Milan), born 21 November 1948

Information on the exhumation and identification of the victims: On 25 December 1991, the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), specifically members of the 6^th Lika Brigade, found 24 burned bodies in the area of the village of Duge Njive, east of Perušić. Dr Zoran Stanković from the Belgrade Military Medical Academy conducted an external examination of the dead bodies. Among those identified were Radmila Stanić, Branko Kuzmanović, Branko Štulić, Stanko Smiljanić, Radojka Diklić, Mirjana Kalanj, Đorđe Kalanj, Dane Bulj, Milan Pantelić, Mileva Orlović, Miloš Orlović, Radovan Barać, Ljubica Trifunović, Petar Lazić, Borka Vraneš, Bogdan Šuput, Dušanka Vraneš, Nikola Gajić, and Željko Mrkić, that is, 19 victims out of the 24. Eighteen bodies were later buried in a mass grave at Debelo Brdo, while six were buried in individual graves. Milan Levar spoke out about these crimes in Gospić. He was later murdered in the yard of his car repair workshop in Gospić on 28 August 2000. No one was ever held accountable for the bomb explosion that killed him. Between 16 and 17 December 2000, 18 bodies were exhumed at Debelo Brdo. These were examined by experts from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Rijeka, and DNA analysis was conducted for identification. Fifteen bodies were identified at that time, while three remained unidentified. This confirmed the identities of 13 people previously identified in 1991 and additionally identified Mićo Pejnović and Sofija Lončar. In July 2014, the post-mortem remains of Stanko Smiljanić and Željko Mrkić were identified at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zagreb.

Judicial consequences: By the verdict of the County Court in Rijeka in March 2003, confirmed by the Supreme Court in June 2004, Tihomir Orešković was sentenced as the principal instigator to 15 years in prison, Mirko Norac to 12 years, and Stjepan Grandić to ten years of imprisonment. Since Mirko Norac was also sentenced to six years for crimes committed in the Medak Pocket, his sentences were combined to a total of 15 years, and he was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence. The other two convicted men were also released from prison. Although many other officers and soldiers participated in the crime, either in planning and organising or in its execution, only these three men were held criminally responsible, certainly the most responsible, but not the only ones.

The area known as the Medak Pocket includes the villages of Divoselo and Lički Čitluk with all their hamlets, as well as part of the village of Počitelj. This area lies south of Gospić and covers around 50 square kilometres. It is a rural region, mostly covered by pastures and forests. According to the 1991 census, there were 780 inhabitants in these villages (344 in Divoselo, 129 in Čitluk, and 307 in Počitelj), of whom 92% were ethnic Serbs. According to the 2011 census, there are now just 12 inhabitants across the three villages, four in each. The 2001 census recorded 31 residents in the described area, but it is difficult to determine whether this reflects a renewed departure of returnees, differences arising from the use of varying methodologies in the two censuses, or the death of returnees, given that mostly elderly people returned to these depopulated villages. Regardless, the issue is not just that very few people live there; it is hard to imagine a sustainable life given the completely destroyed and only minimally restored resources: houses have been demolished, forests have spread over what used to be cultivated land and now even grow through the ruins, wells are polluted, and in general, there are no conditions for even a minimally tolerable life, especially in Divoselo and Počitelj.

Period: From 9 to 17 September 1993

Description of the crime: At 6 a.m. on 9 September 1993, Croatian forces launched an attack on the area. These forces included members of the 9th Motorised Brigade, associated units (the Home Guard Battalion Lovinac, Home Guard Battalion Gospić, and the 111th Home Guard Regiment), as well as Special Police. Prior to this, the area had been under the control of the SAO Krajina army and affiliated paramilitary and volunteer units. After two days of fighting, Croatian forces took control of the area and on 11 September repelled a counterattack by the 15th Lika Corps of the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (ARSK), which attempted to retake the lost territory. On the very first day of the operation, numerous civilians were killed, the vast majority of whom were elderly. Among them were at least ten women, including a blind 84-year-old woman who was killed in her own yard. By the end of the operation, or by the withdrawal of Croatian forces from the Medak Pocket, a result of international pressure on the Croatian authorities and the agreement signed on 15 September 1993, about thirty civilians and more than 50 soldiers on the Serbian side had died. It is important to note that not all soldiers were killed in combat; some were executed after being captured, and in several cases, serious abuse, torture, and humiliation were documented. At least one civilian victim had their throat cut, and there are indisputable cases of bodies being set on fire. It is almost certain that all victims were ethnic Serbs except for one Croatian woman married in Čitluk. After the decision to withdraw, between 15 and 17 September, Croatian soldiers mined virtually every house that had remained undamaged during the operation, killed livestock, and polluted wells with drinking water to permanently prevent the return of residents. In other words, the entire area was ethnically “cleansed.”

Information on the exhumation and identification of the victims: After the operation, the Croatian side handed over 52 bodies of victims, and UNPROFOR forces arriving after 17 September 1993 found another 18 bodies, including 11 men and seven women. Eight men were soldiers, two were civilians, and one body’s status remains undetermined; all the women found were civilians. In May 2000, 11 bodies were found in a septic pit in Gospić, in the Obradovića Varoš area. Six of these were identified as victims from the Medak Pocket. To this day, the families of eight victims from the described operation have not received their bodies. The missing persons register, or the list of those whose remains are still sought, includes: Željko Basara, born 23 August 1971, son of Milan, soldier — went missing between 9 and 23 September 1993 in Divoselo; Bosiljka Bjegović, born 1909 or 1912, daughter of Stevo, civilian — killed on 9 September 1993 in her own yard but listed as missing as her body was not buried; Mile Jovančević, born 1924, son of Avram, soldier — went missing in Divoselo on 9 September 1993; Štefica Krajnović, born 3 March 1931, daughter of Josip, civilian — went missing in Čitluk on 9 September 1993; Stevo Pjevač, born 14 November 1926, son of Dane, civilian — went missing in Čitluk on 10 September 1993; Momčilo Vujnović, born 1936, son of Dmitar, soldier — killed on 9 September 1993, but his body has not been found; sisters Sara (born 1921) and Ljubica Kričković (born 1929), daughters of Trivun — killed in the cellar of their house in Čitluk, with Sara having her throat cut. Although it was testified during the trial of Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademović that both individuals were recognised and identified among bodies examined in Metković, their names remain listed in the “Book of Missing Persons in the Republic of Croatia” (2015) among those whose remains are still sought, as stated in the final verdict of the Supreme Court.

Victims — civilians:

1. Bjegović, Bosiljka (Stevo/Stevan), born 27 December 1909
2. Bjegović, Milka (Đuro), born 22 May 1947
3. Jelača, Ljiljana (Mićan), born 3 July 1956*
4. Jerković, Nikola (Ilija), born 1 January 1961
5. Jović, Anđelija (Dobroslava), born 6 May 1933
6. Jović, Dmitar (Mile), born 19 April 1937 / 19 March 1937
7. Jović, Marinka (Branko), born 4 August 1939
8. Jović, Milan (Janko), born 4 April 1949
9. Krajnović, Đuro (Toma), born 1 May 1911
10. Krajnović, Neđeljka (Samojlo), born 2 September 1921
11. Krajnović, Pera (Đuro), born 1 January 1907
12. Krajnović Stana (Jovo), born 1 January 1926
13. Krajnović, Štefica (Josip), born 4 February 1931 / 8 February 1931
14. Kričković, Sara (Trivun), born 30 December 1921
15. Kričković-Živić, Ljubica (Trivun), born 30 September 1929
16. Matić, Milan (Mile), born 1 January 1949*
17. Pejnović, Mile (Luka), born 1 January 1935
18. Pjevač, Boja (Dane), born 14 January 1925
19. Potkonjak, Janko (Stevan), born 1 January 1931
20. Potkonjak, Marko (Milan), born 11 May 1934 / 11 May 1939*
21. Rajčević, Milan (Nikola), born 24 April 1962
22. Rajčević, Sava (Milan), born 1 January 1930 / 1 January 1931
23. Vujnović, Ankica/Ana (Tomo), born 19 March 1934
24. Vujnović, Branko (Stevo/Stevan), born 8 February 1948
25. Vujnović, Đuro (Nikola), born 20 July 1927*
26. Vujinović/Vujnović, Stevan/Stevo (Dmitar), born 15 October 1922
27. Vujnović, Momčilo (Dimitar/Dmitar), born 27 November 1936 / 19 November 1936*
28. Vujnović, Nikola (Jovan), born 13 March 1946 / 1 January 1947
29. Vujnović, Boja (Đuro), born 1. January 1909
30. Vujnović, Nikola (Đuro), born 21 June 1954*

* The status of armed civilians, that is, members of the village guard

Judicial consequences: The investigation of this crime was initiated by investigators from the Hague Tribunal, which in 2002 led to indictments against three Croatian Army officers: retired Lieutenant General Janko Bobetko (Chief of the General Staff at the time of the operation), retired General Mirko Norac (Colonel at the time of the operation and commander of the 9th Motorised Brigade within the Gospić Corps Area), and General Rahim Ademi (Brigadier at the time of the operation and commander of the Gospić Military District). On April 29, 2003, Janko Bobetko died at his home, and in September 2005, the Hague Tribunal transferred the Ademi-Norac case to Croatian jurisdiction. In November of the following year, a “domestic” indictment was filed, and eight months later, the trial began. On May 29, 2008, Rahim Ademi was acquitted of charges in a non-final judgment, while Mirko Norac was sentenced to seven years in prison. The Supreme Court of Croatia confirmed the acquittal for Rahim Ademi in its final verdict of November 18, 2009, ruling that he did not have effective command control over the area at the time the crimes were committed. Norac’s first-instance sentence was confirmed but reduced by one year. The verdict concerning Mirko Norac also states that he cannot be held responsible for the deaths of civilians killed outside the territory occupied by the units under his command — that is, in areas occupied by Special Police forces. However, this raises the question of why no direct perpetrators or commanders from the Special Police chain of command have been held accountable for those crimes to this day. Furthermore, the trial revealed that the case was systematically covered up, primarily through the activities of military intelligence structures, which should also result in criminal liability for those involved. Moreover, most of the victims killed on 9 September 1993, were excluded from the verdict, with the conclusion that Norac was sentenced for acts of omission (failure to punish and prevent) and therefore cannot be held responsible for acts of commission that he neither ordered nor could have known about before they were committed. One consequence of this is that the families of seven civil victims judicially established to have died on 9 September 1993, are unable to seek compensation as victims of a war crime through civil litigation.

The Lora Military Investigation Centre was a military prison in Split, located in the eastern part of the Lora naval military base. It was a building surrounded by barbed wire, housing military police offices, with cells on the northern side where both military and civilian detainees were held.

Period: From 1992 to 1997

Description of the crime: In 1992, within the premises of the former JNA military investigation prison at the Lora naval base, a camp was established where a large number of civilian detainees — mostly Serbs — were held without any legal basis, suspected of participating in hostile activities against the Republic of Croatia. Prisoners were arrested and captured throughout Croatia, and some (captured soldiers from Serbia and Montenegro) were also brought from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Lora, detainees were subjected daily to insults, humiliation, physical and psychological abuse, torture, and corporal punishment, resulting in the death of some of them. Here are statements from some witnesses:

After three days in Lora, a group of about 70 arrested Serbs from Kupres was tied up and loaded onto a truck that drove us towards Duvno. Near Drniš, the truck stopped and nearby, by the road, a large pit was dug with a bulldozer working beside it. There were people standing there holding chainsaws. Croatian soldiers who had brought us off the truck took eight or nine Serbs from our group: brothers Ratko and Ljubo Milić, Dušan Nikić, Slavko Dragoljević, and Čivčić, who was deaf-mute, while I don’t remember the names of the others. They took them to that pit and killed them.

I also remember a young man named Bojan, nicknamed White Eagle or Orlić. He was alone in one cell. They tortured him especially harshly. He was completely naked, incredibly thin, a real skeleton. He was the most mistreated, beaten, and tortured. One morning, when the guards brought breakfast, I noticed he was lying on his back in his cell. His body was completely yellow. They immediately put us back into our cells. I heard a coffin being made and guards whispering in the corridor. I never saw him again.

In Split, we were taken to the naval area compound where the Croatian military police centre was located. There, as in Gornji Brišnik, we were taken off the truck one by one. Croatian police officers greeted us and beat us. In front of me, about three metres away, was Petar Spremo. One Croatian soldier hit him hard on the head with the butt of a pistol; he fell and hit his head on the curb, after which he lay motionless. I never saw him again. The same soldier hit me hard on the head with the pistol butt, fracturing my skull in four places, and I was covered in blood.

The exact number of people who passed through the Lora camp has never been precisely established, but some sources speak of more than 1,100 people. The same applies to the number of people killed in Lora. While indictments before the Croatian judiciary name two deceased detainees (Gojko Bulović and Nenad Knežević), some sources report a much higher number of victims. For example, the Committee for Collecting Data on Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the SFRY mentions more than 20 killed, and some survivors of Lora speak of around 60 people who disappeared without trace there. Tonči Majić from the Dalmatian Committee for Human Rights speaks of several dozen people who lost their lives in Lora.

Victims confirmed to have been killed in Lora:

1. Bulović, Gojko (Bojan), born 1 June 1944
2. Knežević, Nenad (Ćiro), born 18 February 1957
3. Vesović, Bojan (Miroslav), born 22 June 1973 (citizen of SFR Yugoslavia)

Judicial consequences: By the verdict of the Judicial Panel of the County Court in Split, chaired by Judge Slavko Lozina, on 20 November 2002, eight defendants accused of the crime in Lora were acquitted. By a decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia on 5 March 2004, the acquittal was overturned, and the case was returned for retrial. On 2 March 2006, the President of the War Crimes Council of the County Court in Split, Judge Spomenka Tonković, delivered a verdict in which the defendants Tomislav Duić, Tonči Vrkić, Davor Banić, Miljenko Bajić, Josip Bikić, Emilio Bungur, Ante Godić, and Anđelko Botić were found guilty and sentenced, with the verdict not yet final, to prison terms of six to eight years for the criminal offence of war crimes against civilians. On 6 February 2007, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia issued a ruling rejecting the appeals of the accused Tomislav Duić, Tonči Vrkić, Miljenko Bajić, Josip Bikić, Davor Banić, Emilio Bungur, Ante Godić, and Anđelko Botić, as well as the public prosecutor’s appeal, as unfounded, thereby confirming the first-instance court’s verdict. The appeal of Anita Bikić, wife of the accused Josip Bikić, was rejected as untimely. After the surrender of Josip Bikić, who had been lawfully sentenced in absentia to six years’ imprisonment, his case was reopened. On 29 December 2009, the main hearing was conducted and the verdict announced. The earlier verdict was partially overturned in regard to the sentence, and defendant Bikić was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Miljenko Bajić was arrested in September 2010. He was granted a retrial. Following the renewed trial, the earlier verdict remained in force, although the sentence was reduced. By the new verdict, he was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment. Judicial proceedings in the Lora case have from the outset been marked by various obstructions caused by judicial bodies. Publicist Darko Petričić and journalist Domagoj Margetić reported Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajić to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, citing his alleged co-responsibility for war crimes in Split’s Lora in the 1990s because, according to their report, detainees were arrested and interrogated under his orders. Tonči Majić of the Dalmatian Committee for Human Rights confirms that Bajić, then a military prosecutor in Split, participated in interrogations in Lora and adds that there are indications he was present when detainees were tortured. Moreover, as if the years-long delay in bringing charges was not enough, the case was assigned to Slavko Lozina, a judge at the Split County Court, who at the time had the highest number of overturned verdicts and who turned the trial into a kind of circus, ultimately acquitting all the accused. On 9 September 2015, proceedings began before the War Crimes Council of the County Court in Split in the criminal case against Tomislav Duić and others for the criminal offence of war crimes against prisoners of war. Defence counsel for Emilio Bungur requested on 11 September 2015 the disqualification of the president and members of the Council, as well as the president of the County Court. Consequently, the proceedings are suspended until the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia rules on the request. The hearing in the continuation of the Lora 2 trial, which was scheduled at the County Court in Split for 3 January, was postponed until 6 April 2016 pending a decision on the joining of the renewed Lora 1 proceedings with the Lora 2 proceedings, a move previously requested by the defence of Emilio Bungur. Meanwhile, Tomislav Duić and Emilio Bungur were arrested; both had been lawfully sentenced in absentia to eight and six years’ imprisonment respectively and have requested retrials. As they are also charged with crimes against prisoners of war, since 31 January 2017 they have been tried in a consolidated criminal proceeding for crimes committed in Lora against both civilians and prisoners of war. For more than ten years, prosecution has been ongoing concerning crimes against 14 captured soldiers belonging to the Nikšić-Šavnik group from Montenegro.

Komić is a village near Udbina, to which it is administratively attached, and in 1991 was part of the Municipality of Titova Korenica. According to the 2011 census, only 20 residents live there, while according to the last pre-war census (1991), Komić had 153 inhabitants, of whom 152 were Serbs and one was a Yugoslav. The nearby village of Poljice had 45 inhabitants, all of whom were Serbs, but today only nine people live there. Economic activity is limited to a few flocks of sheep and, occasionally, some individual honey production, and it is practically impossible to meet anyone under the age of 50 in the area. Komić, unfortunately, like many other villages in Lika, is on a near-certain path to disappearance, a situation to which the serious crime committed there just days after the conclusion of Operation Storm and all combat activities has undoubtedly contributed.

Date: 12 August 1995

Description of the crime: Operation Storm formally ended on 7 August 1995, but combat actions and clashes continued for up to two days afterwards in the area of Dvor, and sporadically for longer in “clearing” operations throughout the operational area. Although the term “clearing the terrain” is common military jargon referring to the elimination (by killing or capturing) of scattered, remaining armed enemy groups or individuals, in the wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, this term became almost synonymous with the indiscriminate killing of civilians who remained living in areas that the army of the “other side” took under control. Such a crime occurred in Komić and the neighbouring settlement of Poljice when, on 12 August 1995, members of the Croatian Army (HV), or as some sources mention, the Special Police of the Republic of Croatia, entered with several armoured vehicles (transporters and tanks). They arrived from the direction of Ondić, firing indiscriminately, even though at that moment there were no military reasons left in the Udbina area, nor in Komić itself, which by then had only 12 inhabitants remaining. Upon entering the village, they began burning houses and farm buildings, wheat and hay, and killing livestock. But they did not stop there. One of the victims of this assault was a helpless elderly woman, aged 74 at the time, who was burned alive in the summer kitchen of her home. Hidden just some 15 metres away, the victim’s daughter survived to witness everything. This list of victims is not final, as not all identities have been conclusively determined, as in the case of the married couple Mara and Rade Mirković.

Victims:

1. Brkljač-Ugarković, Marija (Dane), born 24 November 1921
2. Ćurčić, Staka (Dane), born 1 January 1920
3. Lavrnić, Petar (Luka), born 12 July 1933 / 29 July 1933
4. Lavrnić, Sava (Mile), born 24 November 1903
5. Opalić, Borka (Dušan), born 12 July 1948, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
6. Pavlica, Mika (Nikola), born 1 January 1904 / 1 January 1906
7. Sunajko, Milica (Nikola), born 10 June 1913 / 7 June 1913, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
8. Sunajko, Rajko (Luka), born 1 January 1907 / 1 January 1909

Judicial consequences: Although the Croatian Helsinki Committee discovered and documented the crime in 1996 and reported it to the competent authorities, to this day no one has been held accountable.

The village of Kijani is located in Lika and administratively belongs to the Municipality of Gračac. According to the 1991 census, there were 222 inhabitants in Kijani, of whom 217, or nearly 98%, were Serbs. According to the 2011 census, Kijani has 56 residents.

Description of the crime: At the beginning of Operation Storm, the vast majority of Kijani’s residents decided to join the refugee column and leave their village. However, some residents chose to stay, unwilling to abandon their homes. According to witness testimonies, one important reason for this was hearing President Tuđman’s message on the radio, urging those who had “not stained their hands with blood” to remain. From the first entry of Croatian forces into Kijani until the end of September 1995, 14 civilians were killed in the village, including nine women.

Civilian victims:

1. Blanuša, Sava (Nikola), born 20 August 1921
2. Bolta, Danilo (Nikola), born 5 June 1900 / 6 May 1900
3. Jelača, Branko (Đurađ), born 16 September 1929 / 16 September 1928, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
4. Jelača, Marija (Jovo), born 24 August 1913, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
5. Jelača, Milica (Mile/Milan), born 5 July 1925
6. Jelača, Smiljana (David/Dane), born 25 July 1915
7. Kesić, Dušan (Petar), born 20 May 1939
8. Kolundžić, Mileva (Boško/Božo), born 30 November 1926,
   the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
9. Sovilj, Danica (Miladin), born 1 January 1932
10. Sovilj, Mara (Nikola), born 20 June 1923
11. Sovilj, Mira (Branko), born 3 September 1950
12. Sovilj, Radomir (Branko), born 14 February 1952
13. Sovilj, Vlado (Mile), born 27 November 1931
14. Surla, Ana (Milan), born 1 January 1945 / 1 January 1946 (sometimes listed as Ana Jelača by mistake)

It is difficult to establish the exact circumstances and timing of the individual crimes because none of the direct witnesses to these events are still alive. Some horrifying details of the crimes, which included rape and beheadings, were publicly testified to at one time by Svetko Bolta and Nikola Jelača, who hid in a nearby forest from where they saw everything that happened. They hid in the Lika forests for two months until they were discovered by the Croatian police. Jelača stayed in Gračac, while Bolta fled to Serbia. Both have since died.

Judicial consequences: The main trial against the accused Rajko Kričković, a member of the 118^th Home Guard Regiment of the Croatian Army, for crimes committed against civilians after the military-police Operation Storm, from 15 to 28 August 1995, began before the Council of the County Court in Rijeka, chaired by Judge Ika Šarić. According to the indictment of the County State Prosecutor’s Office in Rijeka dated 4 November 2014, the accused committed the murder of three civilians in the village of Kijani near Gračac. Kričković killed brother and sister Radomir and Mira Sovilj with automatic rifle fire, while he set fire to their mother Mara Sovilj along with the house and livestock locked in the building on the ground floor. Rajko Kričković was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population. The verdict was delivered by the County Court Council in Rijeka chaired by Judge Ika Šarić. The verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia in 2021.

The village of Golubić is located 5 km north of Knin. According to the 1991 census, Golubić had a total of 1,424 inhabitants, of whom 1,389 were Serbs. According to the 2011 census, Golubić has 1,029 residents. Although detailed data on the ethnic composition from the 2011 census is not available, the ethnic structure has changed significantly because a settlement was built in Golubić, where houses were mostly given to Croats expelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Description of the crime: On 5 August 1995, as part of the military Operation Storm, the Croatian Army entered the village of Golubić. Most of the population had left the village and joined the refugee column, but some residents decided to stay in their homes. After the Croatian units entered, war crimes against the civilian population occurred in various hamlets of Golubić. The exact timing of individual crimes and the manner in which they were committed has not yet been fully investigated or clarified, but it is clear that on that day and in the following days, at least 18 civilians were killed in Golubić. Most victims were elderly and were killed near their homes, with the exception of one group killed on the road from Golubić to the village of Radljevac. All victims were Serbs.

Testimony of the son of one of the victims from Golubić states:

My mother was killed on 5 August at around 1 p.m. I was about 100 metres away, hiding behind a willow tree. I saw 14 Croatian Army soldiers. I heard two gunshots. I saw that I had to leave. My mother was left lying dead. She was 82 years old. They killed her and also cut off her arm. She lay dead there for twenty-five days, then they came with sacks and buried her in the Knin cemetery as an unknown person. What was left of her after the intense heat, dogs and pigs roaming around — I do not know.

Victims:

1. Bjelić, Marija (Vaso), born 17 July 1942,
   date of death: 5 August 1995
2. Bjelić, Petar (Mile), born 25 February 1931,
   date of death: 5 August 1995
3. Čučak, Glišo (Glišo), born 1 July 1934 / 3 June 1934,
   date of death: 4 August 1995 / 5 August 1995
4. Cvjetanović, Stanko (Jovan), born 1 January 1937,
   date of death: 4 August 1995
5. Damjanović, Đuka (Todor), born 12 November 1931,
   date of death: 5 August 1995
6. Damjanović, Dušan (Petar), born 11 June 1929,
   date of death: 5 August 1995
7. Grubić, Nevenka (Milan), born 27 November 1910,
   date of death: 4 August 1995 / 5 August 1995
8. Jerković, Jovan (Jovan), born 1 July 1938,
   date of death: 6 August 1995
9. Jerković, Nikola (Đurađ), born 21 December 1926 / 25. December 1926,
   date of death: 5 August 1995 / 6 August 1995
10. Kablar, Zorka (Petar), born 1 January 1915,
    date of death: 4 August 1995, circumstances of death not confirmed
11. Marić, Todor (Trivun), born 28 January 1929,
    date of death: 4 August 1995, circumstances of death not confirmed
12. Marić, Dušan (Lazar), born 10 June 1943,
    date of death: 6 August 1995, circumstances of death not confirmed
13. Milivojević, Branko (Sava), born 25 July 1951,
    date of death: 4 August 1995. / 5 August 1995, circumstances of death not confirmed
14. Milović, Miroslav (Đuro), born 4 August 1953,
    date of death: 4 August 1995 / 05 August 1995, unconfirmed/dual status soldier/civilian
15. Opačić, Jelka/Jelena (Jovan), born 25 June 1921,
    date of death: 5 August 1995
16. Radinović-Kapralović, Petar (Milan), born 29 January 1923,
    date of death: 5 August 1995 / 6 August 1995
17. Radinović-Lončina, Nikola (Božo), born 21 November 1927,
    date of death: 6 August 1995, circumstances of death not confirmed
18. Radinović-Panić, Nikola (Mirko), born 1 January 1928,
    date of death: 6 August 1995, circumstances of death not confirmed
19. Radinović-Protić, Stevo (Nikola), born 22 December 1971,
    date of death: 5 August 1995 / 12 August 1995
20. Radinović-Vasić, Vasilj (Nikola), born 12 October 1922,
    date of death: 5 August 1995 / 6 August 1995
21. Radinović-Lukić, Branko (Lazar), born 1 January 1920,
    date of death: 5 August 1995 / 06 August 1995
22. Radujko, Manda (Ilija), born 1 January 1928,
    date of death: 5 August 1995 / 06 August 1995
23. Radujko, Nikola (Nikola), born 1 January 1930,
    date of death: 6 August 1995
24. Šljivar, Milica (Gligorije/Glišo), born 1 November 1935 /1 November 1936,
    date of death: 4 August 1995 / 5 August 1995
25. Vuković, Boško (Petar), born 10 October 1938,
    date of death: 5 August 1995
26. Vuković, Branko (Lazar), born 5 October 1939,
    date of death: 4 August 1995
27. Vuković, Milica (Todor), born 2 January 1927,
    date of death: 5 August 1995
28. Vuković, Tanasije (Stevan), born 23 June 1935,
    date of death: 5 August 1995

Judicial consequences: No one has been held criminally responsible for the crimes committed in Golubić to date. Some families have initiated compensation claims.

Grubori is one of the hamlets of the village Plavno, located about 15 kilometres from Knin. According to various sources, between 40 and 70 residents lived in the village in 1991, but today no one lives in Grubori.

Description of the crime: At the beginning of Operation Storm, most residents of Plavno and Grubori fled their homes and joined the refugee column heading toward Lika and Bosnia. About ten residents remained in Grubori, mostly elderly people who did not want to leave their homes. Out of fear, many of those who stayed did not sleep in their houses but spent the nights in barns or around their properties. The Croatian Army first entered Plavno on August 8, 1995, and upon arrival ordered the remaining villagers to report on August 25, 1995, to the local school for a UNPROFOR registration process, either to leave for what was then FR Yugoslavia or potentially stay in Croatia. Most of the remaining villagers from Plavno and Grubori headed toward the school that morning. However, a few, fearing for their safety, stayed in their homes. As seven residents of Grubori were walking toward the school, they saw Croatian army members heading toward their hamlet. About half an hour later, smoke and gunfire were clearly visible and heard from Grubori. When the seven residents returned, the entire hamlet was in flames. They found six murdered civilians, killed by members of the Croatian police’s Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATJ Lučko).

Victims:

1. Grubor, Jovan (Damjan), born 18 January 1922
2. Grubor, Jovo (Jovo), born 15 January 1930
3. Grubor, Marija (Simo/Janko), born 1 January 1905
4. Grubor, Milica (Stevo), born 1 January 1944
5. Grubor, Miloš (Marko), born 1 January 1915
6. Karanović, Đuro (Luka), 9 May 1954

All the victims were Serbs and civilians, and Dušanka Grubor, a resident of Grubori, testified:

I came to the barn because I saw smoke coming from there. The livestock was burning alive, and I called out for my husband, Jovo. Next to the dead cows lay my husband, his throat had been slit, and half his face was gone. I was in shock and called for help. I rushed to Miloš Grubor’s house; he had been ill and lying in bed. I found him on the floor in his pyjamas, lying in a pool of blood, with spent cartridge cases nearby. I called for my mother-in-law, Marija, but she wasn’t there. Night fell over Grubori, and the next day UNPROFOR took us to Knin. From there, a day later, we resumed our search with other survivors. In the ruins of my house I found my mother-in-law Marija, completely burned, lying on her back. On 26 August 1995, in a meadow we found two bodies: Milica Grubor, who had been stabbed with a knife and riddled with bullets, and a little further away was the body of Đuro Karanović, who also had stab wounds to the neck and bullet wounds to the chest. Jovan Karanović had burned in his house; we saw the charred remains. UNPROFOR photographed and filmed everything and recorded the victims’ names…

Although the crime in Grubori received media attention and became more widely known, especially due to footage recorded immediately after the massacre, it was not the only atrocity in Plavno. Over 25 civilians were killed in surrounding hamlets in the period following Operation Storm.

Legal consequences: The massacre in Grubori was encompassed in the final judgement against Gotovina and others by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The Tribunal found beyond reasonable doubt that Jovo Grubor, Miloš Grubor, Marija Grubor, Milka Grubor, and Đuro Karanović were victims of murder committed as crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war under Articles 5 and 3 of the ICTY Statute but did not establish criminal responsibility of the accused. In the trial before the County Court in Zagreb, the indictment also cited a sixth victim, Jovan Grubor (son of Damjan). Following systematic concealment of the crime, which was testified to by multiple individuals before the ICTY — the Zagreb County State Attorney’s Office submitted an indictment on 15 December 2010 against three Croatian nationals, F.D. (born 1963), B.K. (1957) and I.B. (1973), for committing a war crime against the civilian population under Article 120(1) of the Croatian Criminal Code. As deputy county prosecutor Robert Petrovečki stated in his closing argument on 31 May 2014, at the end of the trial that began on 24 November 2011, “it is undisputed that a war crime took place in which members of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit brutally killed six civilians.” According to the prosecutor, the accused pair held unquestioned command responsibility. “All were found, along with a completely burned village,” he said, and asked the court to convict the two defendants of the Grubori crimes. During the evidentiary process, over 70 witnesses were called, some of whom held senior military and police positions. Two reconstructions of the events in the Grubori hamlet took place, and the third defendant, Igor Beneta, was later found hanged. The indictment accused the first defendant, Franjo Drljo, of the direct commission of crimes against six civilians, as well as failure to prevent subordinates from committing crimes, killing civilians and burning their homes. The second accused, Božo Krajina, was charged solely on the basis of command responsibility. Some witnesses recanted statements made during the investigation, and most of the defendants’ former comrades said they had seen or heard nothing. They claimed not to know who commanded the action or their immediate superiors in the field. Members of the elite unit could not identify who directed their movement and did not inspect the houses in their path, even though the ground-clearing operation aimed to eliminate remaining enemy forces. Investigative actions were deliberately obstructed after the Grubori massacre. The Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior was divided into four groups immediately before the operation on 25 August 1995. According to the operation commander Josip Čelić (testifying on 13 November 2012 before the County Court in Zagreb), group leaders in the field were Branko Balunović, Stjepan Žinić, Franjo Drljo, and Božo Krajina. Čelić stated that all these group commanders had full command responsibility and that their orders were to be obeyed without question. He testified that soon after the operation began, he returned to the starting positions with one civilian he found, losing contact with the other group commanders. He, along with operational commander Zdravko Janić, went to the final line of the operation, where the named group commanders reported no issues during the action, which Čelić communicated in his first report to the Special Police headquarters in Gračac on the day of the operation. Before the County Court trial, far more witnesses were heard at the ICTY regarding the Grubori massacre than for any other crime in the indictment. Based on statements from police commanders and special forces, the ICTY concluded that the story of an armed clash with “Serb terrorists” was fabricated after the killings. This conclusion was partly based on Čelić’s testimony: he stated that in his initial report on the day of the operation he informed his superiors that there had been no fighting during the action, but was later summoned to Gračac, where Deputy Commander Željko Sačić instructed him that there had been an “armed conflict” in Grubori and that he must draft a new report, which Sačić dictated in a separate room. Balunović, a group commander in the field and a witness at both The Hague and Zagreb, noted that the day after, following a meeting at the special police headquarters in Gračac, Čelić informed him that “on the orders of Mr Sačić,” deputy commander under Mladen Markač, he was to write a new report claiming a clash with remaining Serb fighters, potentially explaining the death of the elderly as crossfire. Čelić testified that he found General Markač in the Gračac Headquarters when Sačić took him into a separate room and insisted, using notes Čelić had made on the back of his original report, that he produce a new report stating that his first account was inaccurate and that “armed clashes” must be included. Čelić later presented his original report, complete with Sačić’s handwritten notes, during the Zagreb trial. The trial court determined that members of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit had committed the crimes but nevertheless acquitted the defendants. A retrial for the war crime against civilians in Grubori began on 15 February 2016 before a completely new panel at the County Court in Zagreb, presided over by Judge Ivan Turudić, and concluded with the same result: an acquittal for the defendants on the grounds that the crimes were “indisputably” committed by members of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit.

The village of Mokro Polje is part of the Municipality of Ervenik. According to the 1991 census, Mokro Polje had 803 inhabitants, of whom 801 were Serbs. By the 2011 census, 227 people lived in Mokro Polje.

Period: From 5 to 20 August 1995

Description of crimes: During Operation Storm, the vast majority of Mokro Polje’s residents left the village and joined a refugee column. Some individuals chose to stay behind. Since people in surrounding villages began their journeys only on the night of 4 — 5 August or later, a number from neighbouring villages were in Mokro Polje when the Croatian Army entered. After entering, Croatian forces killed some civilians they encountered in the village. In addition to inhabitants of Mokro Polje, civilians from the nearby settlements of Žegar and Ivoševac were also killed in the village. Because not all incidents were well documented, various sources report different victim counts. Jovan Popović from Mokro Polje, born in 1948, lost his mother Stana and brother Mirko on 7 August 1995. On that day, after soldiers had forced him around the village and abused him, he lay down to sleep on the first floor of his house. He was awakened by gunfire:

Then I heard my mother scream (…) When I heard a Croatian Army member shout: ‘I’ve killed one, we must burn him before the observers arrive’ (…) I went downstairs and found my brother killed, and my mother choking from a wound in her neck (…) She was waving her arm for me to run and asking for water. She soon died. A bullet entered my father’s ear and lodged itself in the TV screen (…).

Jovan’s father managed to survive despite this fact.

Victims:

1. Babić, Ružica (Milan), born 1 January 1926,
   date of death: 6 August 1995
2. Babić, Sava (Luka/Spasenije), born 28 September 1913,
   date of death: 27 August 1995 / 4 September 1995
3. Batas, Manda (Tanasije), born 7 March 1926,
   date of death: 8 August 1995, the search for mortal remains is still ongoing
4. Ivanišević, Stojan (Bogdan), born 8 February 1940,
   date of death: 5 August 1995 / 6 August 1995
5. Kanazir, Jeka (Luka), born 1 January 1928,
   date of death: 28 September 1995
6. Manojlović, Ružica (Jakov), born 27 July 1937,
   date of death: 6 August 1995 / 8 August 1995
7. Manojlović, Stevan (Mile/Miloš), born 8 March 1940,
   date of Death: 6 August 1995 / 8 August 1995
8. Popović, Mirko (Obrad), born 25 April 1953,
   date of death: 7 August 1995
9. Popović, Stana (Mileta), born 18 August 1926,
   date of death: 7 August 1995
10. Popović, Stana (Sava), born 14 March 1915,
    date of death: 15 August 1995
11. Seović, Rade (Nikola), born 15 January 1955,
    date of death: 5 August 1995, unconfirmed/dual status soldier/civilian
12. Sučević, Stevan (Dragija), born 1 April 1934,
    date of death: 6 August 1995
13. Švonja, Ilija (Simo), born 24 January 1926,
    date of death: 4 August 1995 / 05 August 1995
14. Traživuk, Sava (Nikola), born 19 November 1944,
    date of death: 6 August 1995

Judicial consequences: None of those responsible for these crimes have been held criminally accountable. In memory of the civilian residents of Mokro Polje who were killed in August 1995, the villagers of Mokro Polje and the Association of Serbian Families Against Oblivion erected a memorial plaque.

The village of Uzdolje is located close to Knin, on the road connecting Knin and Drniš. According to the 1991 census, Uzdolje had 767 inhabitants, of whom 765 were Serbs. The 2011 census recorded 226 residents, though this number has further declined since then.

Date: 6 August 1995

Description of the crime: In the early hours of 6 August 1995, three men armed with automatic rifles arrived in Šare, a hamlet of Uzdolje village in the then Municipality of Orlić, driving a white civilian car. All three had black hair; two wore camouflage uniforms, while the third wore a black neckerchief, camouflage trousers, and a black short-sleeved T-shirt with a black ribbon bearing the inscription “For Homeland — ready!”. All three wore dark blue caps with emblems featuring the Croatian checkerboard. They found Krsto Šare standing outside his house with Jandrija Šare, Stevo Berić, Janja Berić, Milica Šare, Đurdija Berić, Bosiljka Berić, and another person — all dressed in civilian clothes. One of the armed men saw a female witness to the crime, struck her arm with the butt of his rifle, and ordered her to join the others. The armed men then ordered the group to walk towards the paved Knin-Drniš road. At one point, one of the men pushed Stevo Berić to the ground and tore up his documents, saying he would no longer need them. Shortly afterwards, one of the armed men said: “Let’s finish them off, our lamb will get cold.” The group stopped about 30 metres from the road at a spot out of sight of passing vehicles. Two of the armed men left with two local women who were later driven separately to Knin. The third armed man, who had earlier struck the female witness, stayed with the remaining captives and ordered them to walk back from the main road towards the hamlet, insulting them over what had happened in Vukovar and intimidating them. After some time, the group encountered Miloš Ćosić, whom the armed man ordered to join them. The armed man then opened fire on the group with an automatic rifle, killing Milica Šare, Stevo Berić, Janja Berić, Đurdija Berić, Krsto Šare, Miloš Ćosić, and Jandrija Šare. The female witness, wounded during the shooting, managed to flee into the forest and survived. An autopsy determined that the victims died from gunshot wounds. On the same day, Sava Šare was killed in her home in the hamlet of Šare. In the following days after Operation Storm, around ten more civilians were killed in surrounding villages including Orlić, Markovac, Biskupija, and Vrbnik.

Victims:

1. Berić, Đurđija (Jovan), born 15 March 1916
2. Berić, Janja (Stevan), born 11 April 1932
3. Berić, Stevan (Miloš), born 24 June 1933
4. Borjan, Miloš (Stevan), born 6 March 1969 / 24 March 1969
5. Ćosić, Miloš/Milan (Petar), born 1 March 1923
6. Šare, Jandrija (Todor), born 30 July 1932
7. Šare, Krstan (Dušan), born 18 October 1933
8. Šare, Milica (Vaso), born 22 January 1922
9. Šare, Sava (Nikola), born 1 January 1915

Judicial consequences: Since no one has been held accountable for the crime in question, Documenta — Centre for Dealing with the Past filed a criminal complaint with the Croatian State Attorney’s Office (DORH) on 4 August 2017 regarding the crimes committed in Uzdolje. The County State Attorney’s Office in Šibenik responded to the complaint as follows: “Following the exhumation conducted in 2001 at the city cemetery in Knin and the receipt of relevant materials, the County State Attorney’s Office in Šibenik opened cases related to the killing of civilians between 6 and 9 August 1995 in Uzdolje and Vrbnik, affecting at least ten civilians, due to suspicion that these constituted war crimes. An order was issued to the competent Šibenik-Knin Police Department and Military Police to conduct investigations and criminal inquiries to establish the circumstances of the killings and identify the perpetrators.”

Gošić is a settlement located in Bukovica, Dalmatia, about ten kilometres west of Kistanje. According to the 1991 census, Gošić had 107 inhabitants, and according to the 2011 census, 46. The population of Gošić is almost exclusively Serbian.

Date: 27 August 1995, around 4 p.m.

Description of the crime: On 27 August 1995, unknown perpetrators killed eight civilians in Gošić with gunfire. All the victims were Serbs, mostly elderly. They were killed in their homes and yards, in a village where there were no military activities either at the time or prior to the killings.

Information on the exhumation and identification of victims: According to human rights organisations, the victims were secretly buried without names by Ministry of the Interior personnel in the Knin cemetery, under grave numbers 543 to 550. In 2001, all bodies were exhumed, identified, and returned to their families.

Victims:

1. Borak, Dušan (Stevan), born 1 January 1940
2. Borak, Grozdana (Vasilj), born 1. January 1922
3. Borak, Kosovka (Tomo/Tode), born 1 January 1926
4. Borak, Marija (Marko), born 14 April 1914
5. Borak, Milka (Tode), born 19 September 1919
6. Borak, Savo (Vasilj), born 14 February 1925
7. Borak, Vasilj (Vasilj), born 1 January 1927
8. Ležaić, Gojko (Luka), born 25 August 1930 / 28 August 1930

Judicial consequences: By merging the criminal proceedings concerning the crimes in Gošić and Varivode, six members of the Croatian security forces were initially suspected. However, following a trial at the County Court in Zadar and a retrial at the County Court in Šibenik, the accused were acquitted. As a result, the investigation reverted to its initial stage, now directed against unknown perpetrators. Even ten years after the conclusion of the trial in Šibenik, no new information has emerged, and no one has been prosecuted for the crime in Gošić.

Varivode is a village located around ten kilometres southwest of Kistanje in the Bukovica region. Today it is part of the Municipality of Kistanje, while before 1991, it was part of the Municipality of Knin. According to the 1991 census, Varivode had 477 inhabitants, all of whom were Serbs. As per the 2011 census, the village had 124 inhabitants, and although data on the ethnic composition is not yet available, it can be assumed that the majority of current residents are also Serbs.

Date: 28 September 1995

Description of the crime: On 28 September 1995, nearly two months after the end of the Operation Storm, several members of Croatian military and police forces entered the village of Varivode during the night and killed nine civilians with firearms. All the killings took place in the yards and homes of the victims, wherever they happened to be. All victims were elderly Serbs.

Information on the exhumation and identification of the victims: All the bodies of those killed were collected and buried in a mass grave in Knin. No autopsies were ever conducted, only external examinations. In 2001, all bodies buried in the city cemetery in Knin were exhumed and, after identification, returned to their families.

Victims:

1. Berić, Jovan (Vasilije), born 1 January 1920
2. Berić, Jovan (Jandrija), born 17 October 1939
3. Berić, Mara/Marija (Božo), born 17 January 1926 / 18 February 1926
4. Berić, Marko (Golub), born 21 October 1913
5. Berić, Milka (Špiro/Golub), born 1 January 1924
6. Berić, Radivoj (Jovan), born 28 July 1926
7. Berić, Špiro (Milan), born 22 February 1940
8. Dukić, Dušan (Mirko), born 1 March 1937
9. Ilijašević, Uglješa (Dušan), born 1 January 1944 / 1 January 1950. The person died between 1 and 27 September 1995. The circumstances of their death have not been fully established.
10. Pokrajac, Mirko (Jovo), born 1 January 1911

Judicial consequences: Six members of the Croatian police forces were suspected of having committed this crime, but after proceedings before the County Court in Zadar and a retrial before the County Court in Šibenik, the defendants were acquitted, and the investigation was returned to its initial stage, now against unknown perpetrators. Even ten years after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings before the Šibenik court, no new information or perpetrators responsible for the crime in Varivode have emerged. Jovan Berić and his sisters initiated legal proceedings seeking compensation for the killing of their parents. On 18 January 2012, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia issued a ruling stating that the plaintiffs’ revision request was accepted, thereby overturning the decisions of the courts in Šibenik and Zadar, and returning the case for a new trial. The ruling clearly indicates that the Supreme Court considers the deaths of Radivoje and Marija Berić to have been caused by a terrorist act, namely, an act of violence committed out of political motives with the aim of instilling fear, terror, and a sense of personal insecurity among the population. Based on this, the Republic of Croatia is deemed responsible under the principles of social solidarity, equitable burden-sharing, and fair and prompt compensation. In this precedent-setting ruling, the Supreme Court granted the victims’ family the right to compensation, regardless of the fact that the perpetrator of the crime had not been identified, criminally prosecuted, or found guilty. On 23 January 2013, at the Municipal Court in Knin, Judge Ana Jelač-Pecirep, President of the Municipal Court, delivered a verdict in the civil case brought by Jovan Berić and others against the Republic of Croatia, in a retrial based on the 2012 decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia. According to this judgment, the Republic of Croatia is ordered to pay damages in the amount of 540,000 Croatian kuna to the children of Radivoje and Marija Berić, who were killed in the village of Varivode.

Dates: 7 and 8 August 1995

Description of the crime: On Petrovačka Cesta, near the village of Klenovac (Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina), on 7 August 1995, during an airstrike on a refugee convoy from Croatia coming from the regions of southern Lika and northern Dalmatia, ten people were killed by rocket fire, including four children and a 20-year-old woman. The following day, two MiG-21 aircraft of the Croatian Air Force flew over another refugee convoy moving from the Kordun and Banija areas towards the Una River and crossing into Republika Srpska via the bridge between Dvor and Novi Grad. Near the village of Svodna, after having flown over the convoy, the aircraft returned and fired rockets at it. On that occasion, three people were killed. It is estimated that around 25 people were injured in both incidents. Due to the similarity and geographical proximity of these incidents, they are usually treated together and referred to as the Petrovačka Cesta crime.

The victims killed on Petrovačka Cesta had resided in the areas of Donji Lapac and Benkovac and surrounding villages (Brotnja, Begluci, Zagrad), while those killed in Svodna had lived in Slavsko Polje.

Victims — Petrovačka cesta:

1. Drča, Darinka (Dane), born 7 November 1927
2. Drča, Jovica (Dušan), born 21 December 1989
3. Dubajić, Mirjana (Milan), born 14 November 1974
4. Kovačević, Mika (Petar), born 1 January 1912
5. Rajić, Nevenka (Spase), born 20 January 1984
6. Rajić, Žarko (Spase), born 26 August 1986
7. Stjelja, Branko (Stevan), born 17 November 1923
8. Stjelja, Mirko (Branko), born 20 June 1961
9. Vuković, Darko (Krstan), born 10 July 1982
10. Vuković, Krstan (Obrad), born 26 September 1951

Victims — Svodna:

1. Galogaža, Marta (Stanko), born 1 January 1935
2. Galogaža, Rade (Mile), born 17 October 1955
3. Malobabić, Mile (Miloš), born 10 November 1953

Judicial consequences: In August 2022, the indictment by the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Serbia against four retired senior officers of the Croatian Air Force became final. The individuals charged are General Zdenko Radulj, Brigadier Vladimir Mikac, Colonel Danijel Borović, and Colonel Željko Jelenić. The Belgrade Court of Appeal rejected the appeals lodged by court-appointed defence lawyers representing the accused. As the Government of the Republic of Croatia does not recognise the proceedings being conducted against them in Serbia, the summonses to trial have not been delivered to the accused, despite Serbia having sent a formal request to the Croatian Ministry of Justice at the end of September 2022 for the court summons to be served on the four pilots. The Croatian side defends its position in two ways: by claiming that soldiers and missile systems were present within the refugee convoy, and that there was no air force action taken against the convoy. The trial has not yet commenced.