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 6th 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.