international courvt of Justice
case concerning
the application of the vconvention
on the prevention and punishment
of the crime of genocide
(croatia v. serBia)
ADDITIONAL PLEADIN▯G
OF THE REPUBLIC OF▯ CROATIA
anneXes
volume 2
30 august 2012 international court of Justice
case concerning
the application of the convention
on the prevention and punishment
of the crime of genocide
(croatia v. serBia)
ADDITIONAL PLEADING
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
anneXes
volume 2
30 august 2012ii iii
CONTENTS
annex 1: supreme martial court, ii K no. 111/92, 7 may 1992,
decision 1
annex 2: photo of victims of vukovar, 18 november 1991, in the
article by savo ©trbac, ZloËini nad Srbima na prostoru
Hrvatske u periodu 1990-1999 [crimes against serbs
on the territorycroatia in the periodv 1990-1999] 5
annex 3: official record of the statement made by a .a.,
10 July 2012 6
annex 4: statement of 7
annex 5: statement of 9
annex 6: criminal complaint lodged by the independent associa-
tion of Journalists in serbia with the office of the War
crimes prosecutor, 1 July 2v009 12
annex 7: programme statement of the management Board of
radio television serbia, 23 may 2011 14
annex 8: peace initiative of the president of the republic of croatia,
dr. franjo tuman, Zagreb, 1 november 1993 16
annex 9: record of the statemevnt .B., 20 april 2012 19
annex 10: rsK, ministry of the interior, state security department,
doc. no. 08/2-0-1224/95, Knin, 8 June 1995, with excerpt
from the Weekly civilian affairs report 30
annex 11: un, coded cable from akashi to Kofi annan, meeting in
Knin, 1 august 1995 32
annex 12: request for return to the republic of croatia filed by
J.K., october 1995 39
annex 13: request for return to the republic of croatia filed by
m .m., January 1996 40
annex 14: request for return to the republic of croatia filed by
s.p., January 1996 42
annex 15: request for return to the republic of croatia filed by
s.g., february 1996 43
annex 16: request for return to the republic of croatia filed by
Æ.J., october 1995 44
annex 17: official note of the svtatement by.–. 45 iv
annex 18: official note of the statement by n.g. 47
annex 19: official note of the statement by d.c. 50
annex 20: official note of the statement by m.M. 55
annex 21: official note of the statement by m.J. 57
annex 22: official note of the statement by m.v. 59
annex 23: official note of the statement by t.c. 61
annex 24: excerpt from electronic surveillance centre, transcript
for eastern slavonia, 4 august 1995 63
annex 25: evacuation plan of the 31 infantry Brigade command,
18 february 1993, together with the plan drawn up by
the “cZ staff, petrinja department”, february 1993 64
annex 26: Autotransport Benkovac to the “crisis staff of the
Benkovac municipal assembly”, plan of evacuation
of the civilian population, 26 January 1993 76
annex 27: republican civilian protection staff, assessment of
threats and possibilities for protection and rescue, Knin,
august 1994 78
annex 28: order of the republican cZ staff, strictly confidential,
Knin, 1 may 1995 110
annex 29: news report in the slovenian newspaper Delo, 7 august
1995 112
annex 30: report on the employment of rh armed forces military
police units in storm, 11 august 1995 113
annex 31: order of the ministry of the interior establishing reception
centres, 5 august 1995 118
annex 32: procedure for individual return of the persons Who
left the republic of croatia (mandatory instructions),
Zagreb, 14 may 1998 120
annex 33: status report of the head of the osce office in Zagreb
to the osce permanent council, 22 november 2011 124
annex 34: croatia’s periodic report to the european commission
on the fulfilment of obligations arising from chapter 23,
“Judiciary and fundamental rights”, march 2012 133
PLATES
plate 1 territory illegally occupied by the ‘rsK’ 139
plate 2 unpas in croatia 140 1
ANNEX 1:
SuprEmE mArtiAl Court, ii K No. 111/92, 7 mAy1992, DECiSioN
THE SUPREME MILITA2RY COURT
II K no 111 / 92
07 May 1992
/Stamp:
CROATIAN MEMORIAL-uDOCUMENTATION HOMEuLAND WAR CENTER
ZAGREB MaruliÊev trg u21/
The Supreme Military Court in Belgrade, by the following court panel: colo-
nel drMilovan BeliÊ as the president, colonel Radivoje DjurasoviÊ, judge and
the following jurors: colonel Radivoje DjurasoviÊ, colonel Dobrivoje LjubiÊ
and lieutenant-colonel Æivomir Janovac as panel members, with participation
of an expert assistant captain Gligorije SpasojeviÊ, M.Sc. as court clerk - hav-
ing decided on the second instance appeal of the defendant NIKOLA GAGI∆,
a reserve soldier from Military Post 4810 Benkovac who was sentenced to
imprisonment of 4 years and 6 months for the criminal act of murder pursuant
to Article 35, paragraph 2 item 6 of the Criminal Code of Croatia, including
the time spent in detention from 13 November 1991 to 14 January 1992, at the
session held on 7 May 1992, based on Article 23 of the Act on Military Courts
and Article 285 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), brought the following:
DECiSioN
The appeal of the defendant’s attorney Nikola GagiÊ IS APPROVED, so the
judgment of the Military Court in Banja Luka, reg. no. 39/91 of 14 January
1992 is ANNULLED and the criminal charge is returned for repeated trial
before the same court.2
Explanation
The following officials have declared against the stated appeal: the military
prosecutor at the Military Post 5027 Banja Luka, to the decision on the sentence
and the defendant’s attorneys: lawyer Goran MajstoroviÊ from Banja Luka, to
mistakenly and incompletely determined state of facts, violation of the crimi-
nal act and the decision on the sentence and lawyer Savo ©trbac from Titova
Korenica, for substantial violation of Criminal Act stipulations, mistakenly and
incompletely determined state of fact and violation of the Criminal Act.
Inhisappeal,themilitaryprosecutorindicatesthatthedefendanthasbeengiven
too lenient a sentence for the deed for which at least 10 years of imprisonment
is determined; this punishment does not correspond to the type or severity of
the completed deed. Besides, the mitigating circumstances determined are not
particularly mitigating; the statement of the court that the late Kuzman had pro-
voked the defendant is not true, so this unsubstantiated fact cannot be taken
as a mitigating circumstance. The prosecutor believes that, regardless of legal
qualification, the deed was perpetrated in a mean way, and was motivated by 2
revengeandrevanchismandisthusevenmoresevere.Finally,theconfessionof
the defendant could not be accepted as a mitigating circumstance as it was not
given in form of penance but as bragging in front of other soldiers.
It is proposed by the appeal that the defendant be convicted to a longer prison
sentence.
Lawyer Goran MajstoroviÊ thinks that the first instance court determined mis-
takenly that the defendant did not act in ultimate need. The stay of the defend-
ant on enemy territory, in an enemy house and the attempt of hostile persons
to inform the soldiers of his presence, indicate the justifiability of the conclu-
sion that all the deeds of the defendant were done to deter danger and were
done in indispensable defense. On the other hand, the attempt of hostile peo-
ple to inform ZNG (The Croatian National Guard) members of his presence is
nothing else but a great and simultaneous danger for his life. Late Kuzman's
going into the house for arms has the same significance. The attorney believes
that someone had taken late Kuzman's hunting gun for private purposes until
the inspection; therefore the fact that it was not found on the spot does not
present an argument in favour of the opinion of the court that the defendant
was not endangered by2 the late Kuzman.
The Criminal Act was violated primarily by the application of the Croatian
Criminal Act and Croatia is no longer a part of Yugoslavia. Besides, since the
Republic of Srpska krajina was established on the location of this perpetration
and it still does not have its criminal legislation, the deed of the defendant still
hasn’t been qualified as criminal, which is a violation of Article 3 of the CAY
(Criminal Act of Yugoslavia). Provisions of Articles 42 and 43 of this Act have
also been violated, because the fact that the deed was done in wartime presents
a particularly mitigating circumstance. The criminal procedure was essentially
violated because prosecution was represented by an unauthorised prosecutor.
The sentence pronounced to the defendant is too strict. This is particularly
true in view of the fact that the deed was done in wartime, that he believed he
was doing the right 2thing and that he h2ad confessed to the de2ed immediately.
The defendant proposes cancellation of the judgment and returning of the case
to the same court for2 retrial.
Lawyer Savo ©trbac perceives essential violations to criminal procedure pro-
visions in the fact that the judgment is based on inadequate evidence - on
the statement the defendant gave before the investigative judge. If the first
instance court had applied the Criminal Act of the SRK, and this Act should
have been applied because the deed was done on the territory of Krajina, the
defendant could not be investigated without the defendant, because this deed
is subject even to death sentence. The second violation of procedure provi-
sions was performed by the fact that the judgment was not pronounced by the 3
competent court. This is due to the fact that the deed was done on the territory
of the Republic of Croatia, or abroad, which is opposite to the provision from
Article 523, paragraph 1 of the CPA, because the state where the deed was
done did not require c2riminal prosecution.2
Theappealcontainscomprehensivedescriptionofthecircumstancesunderwhich
the deed was done and the conclusion that the circumstances and the behaviour
of the defendant before and after the deed were sufficient basis for the doubt as
to the accountability of the defendant; therefore, his state of mind temporecrim-
inis should have been determined by neuropsychiatric expertise. The defendant
states a part of the testimony of the witness Malenica Neven who described the
behaviour of the defendant after completed deed very vividly - the defendant ran
for about 400 meters, dancing an Indian dance and shouting “yoo-hoo-hoo”; he
immediately told his comrades in detail how he took care of two ustasha.
The Criminal Act was violated by the application of the Croatian CA and
Croatia is no longer a part of Yugoslavia, instead of applying the CA of the
Republic of Srpska krajina. But even if the CA of Croatia had been applied
properly, the Criminal Act was violated because provision from Article 35,
paragraph 2, Article 6 of the Act was applied adequately; pursuant to the Act
on the Amendments of the CA SRY of 28 February 1991, provision from
Article 35, paragraph 2, item 6 of the Act was deleted. The Criminal Act
was also violated because the court, assuming that the state of fact was de-
termined properly and completely, mistakenly determined that there are no
circumstances excluding criminal liability. The attorney believes that there
was no unlawful behaviour by the defendant, because he performed the deed
in relation to persons he had a lot of reason to consider representatives of the
opposite side and a soldier is never liable for murdering an adversary. The
fact that the injured parties were civilians bears no significance because this is
a civil war and enemy territory. The first instance court obviously neglected
these issues and reached its conclusion in the context of peace and not war
situation, thus esse2ntially changing t2he notion of unlawful2ness.
The proposal of the appeal is that the contested judgment be altered by acquit-
ting the defendant of the claim or to cancel and return the case to the same
court for repeated tri2al.
The Supreme Military Court has deliberated upon the statements from submit-
ted claims, all criminal file documents, investigated the judgments in scope of
the limits prescribed by the provision of Article 376 of the CPA and decided
that the state of fact from the first instance judgment was not fully established;
therefore, pursuant to Article 385 of the CPA, the judgment should be can-
celled and the case of2 the defendant Nikola2 GagiÊ returned for 2retrial.
The first instance court did not establish all decisive facts indispensable from
regular and lawful judgment in this criminal - legal case. These decisive facts 4
are related to the state of mind of the defendant. The first instance court did
not deal with this issue at all, so it cannot be concluded from the judgment
if the defendant was accountable, unaccountable or had decreased account-
ability. With regards to that, no reasons were stated in the judgment based
on which the first instance court can conclude the defendant’s accountability
should be doubted, as should have been done according to the judgment. This
Court holds that the first instance court was obligated to deal with the issue
of the accountability of the defendant in particular, because the circumstances
preceding the deed (incessant war operations, death of the defendant’s best
friend), behaviour of the defendant after the deed, of which there is evidence
of the witnesses, indicated the existence of such a doubt. The testimony of
the witness Neven Malenica is especially significant in establishing of this
fact - the testimony states peculiar behaviour of the defendant after the com-
pleted deed - when the defendant ran for about 400 meters and danced “Indian
dance”, shouted and pointed his fingers saying he took care of two ustasha.
The same refers to the parts of the testimony of the defendant that he had
drank alcohol prior to the deed, that he was constantly drawn “in action”, as
well as to the conclusion of the court that the confession of the defendant is
not an expression of penitence but bragging for what he had done; therefore,
the court should ind2irectly doubt the ac2countability of the 2defendant.
The Court, therefore did not determine anything and therefore it cannot be de-
terminednorhasthecourtdeterminedwhetherthedefendantwasaccountable,
unaccountable or had decreased accountability at the time the deed was done.
Finally regarding the stated, the first instance court did not even consider if
the ability of the defendant to understand the gravity of his deed and control
his actions was essentially decreased, although this circumstance affected the
substantiality of the decision on sentence, because there is a possiblity of more
lenient punishment pu2rsuant to Article 122, paragraph 2 of th2e CAY.
In view of the above, the first instance court failed to determine the facts sig-
nificant to reach a lawful decision; therefore this court, accepting the appeal of
the attorney, cancell2ed the first instance 2judgment and ordered 2repeated trial.
It is indispensable that the first instance court at new investigation, take all
evidence required to clarify this dubitable issue and it will only then be able to
reach a lawful and 2right decision.
The Decision has been made as in the operative part of the judgment, due to
the stated reasons.
Court clerk, captain2 Panel President
Gligorije SpasojeviÊ,2 M.Sc. Colonel
Milovan BeliÊ
/round stamp: The Su2preme Military Court2 of the SRY Belgrade/ 5
ANNEX 2:
Photo of Victims of 2Vukovar, 18 November 21991, in the articl2e by Savo
©trbac, ZloËini nad Srbima na uprostoru Hrvatske u uperiodu 1990-1999
[Crimes against Serb2s on the territory of2 Croatia in the peri2od 1990-1999]
After Croatia's Storum Serbs where not ueven buried 6
ANNEX 3:
o ffiCiAl rECorD of thE StAtEmENt mADE by A.A.,10 July
2012
offiCiAl rECorD
of the interview conducted on July 10 2012 in the official premises of the Re-
public of Croatia, Ministry of Interior, War Crimes department.
A.A., son of S. and K nee M, born on .... in ..., Croat, citizen of the
Republic of Croatia, medical technician, place of residence Zagreb, ...,
phone number: ..., cell phone number: ....
An interview with Mr. A. was conducted on July 9 2012 in his home, in
order to determine the origin and content of photographs showing a number of
corpses randomly lying in an open space-a courtyard. The said photography is
an integral part of these official records.
During the war in Vukovar, where he arrived on August 28 1991 as a member
of Republic of Croatia sanitation Medical Head office, due to his profession,
and was deployed to a mobile surgical team. When presented with the pho-
tography, he stated that he was the author, and that the photo was taken with
his personal camera. He managed to hide the negative in the dirty laundry,
which was, after the occupation of Vukovar, brought to Zagreb by his col-
leagues from the ambulance, so that the negative was not seized during his
capture and captivity in Serbian prison camps.
As he recalls, the photograph was taken on November 18 1991 in the morn-
ing, and it shows dead bodies of soldiers and civilians who died in the Vukovar
hospital and were transported to the hospital from different locations. After they
were pronounced dead, the bodies were being disposed into a nearby yard next
to the hospital. In this photograph is a yard, to his best belief the yard of the Port
Authority, which is close to the Danube river. Dead bodies were taken care of in
thisamannerandtakenoutofthehospital,inwhichhehimselftookpart,inorder
to prevent the outbreak of contaminations. They were forced to do this, since ar-
tillery and other kinds of attacks of the enemy troops were so intense in the days
before the fall of Vukovar, so that the dead person could not buried.
Furthermore, Mr. A. states that he gave this photograph, along with some
other photos to Mr. M.D.J., that he included them in his published book,.
Mr. A. does not know the title of the book.
Mr. A. found out from the media that this photo was used in the Serbian
media and various newspapers, and that Serbian authors say that the photog-
raphy shows Serb civilians killed by Croatian forces, which he categorically
rejects, since, as already stated, these are the dead bodies of Croatian soldiers
and civilians from the Vukovar hospital.
POLICE OFFICIAL
Ante MraoviÊ /signed/ 7
ANNEX 4:
SEC oND WitNESS StAtEm9ENt of8 9
ANNEX 5:
StAtEmENt of1011 12
ANNEX 6:
C rimiNAl ComplAiNt loDgED by thE iNDEpENDENt
ASSoCiAtioN of JourNAliStS iN SErbiA With thE offiCE
of thE WAr CrimES proSECutor, 1 July 2009
Annex 2: NUNS - Criminal Complaint to the Office of the War Crimes Pros-
ecutor
to: offiCE of thE WAr CrimES proSECutor
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION OF
SERBIAN JOURNALIST2S
hErEby loDgES A CrimiNAl ComplAiNt
AGAINST
NN /unidentified persons/ (responsible persons and journalists of the Radio-
televizija Beograd /the Belgrade Radiotelevision/, Radio-televizija Novi Sad
/the Novi Sad Radiotelevision/, the daily newspapers Politika and VeËernje
novosti et al.) for committing a crime of organizing and instigating commis-
sion of genocide and war crimes punishable under Article 145 of the KZ SRJ
/Criminal Code of the2 Federal Republic of 2Yugoslavia/.
STATEMENT OF REASO2NS
We believe that, prior to the breakout of armed conflicts in the territory of the
former Yugoslavia, the political and propaganda preparations had been made
in those parts by way of hate speech and dissemination of false information
with the aim to create a perception in the public that an armed conflict and the
severe violation of the standards of the international humanitarian laws com-
mitted therein, were justifiable. We also believe that those were illegitimate
forms of propaganda 2and, as such, const2itute criminal offen2ces.
First of all, we would like to point at the fact that certain responsible persons
and journalists from certain media in Serbia took part in those activities. It is
our opinion that they put themselves openly at the service of the then regime,
instigating and spreading in the first place interethnic and religious hate, but
also unlawful propaganda. During the notorious armed conflicts in these parts
between 1991 and 1999, they pursued their activities with ever growing in-
tensity.
While reporting from the areas of armed conflicts, they were deliberately pre-
senting and subsequently processing semi-fabricated and false information
abouttheallegedhorriblecrimescommittedbythesoldiersof“theotherside”.
Objectively, this had a strong impact on the general public and in particular on
certain members of regular and the so-called paramilitary armed formations 13
which were then “taking revenge” in those conflicts by committing most atro-
cious crimes against civilians (murders, tortures, inhumane acts, violations of
physical integrity, intimidation, terror, displacement and deportation of the ci-
vilian population, destruction of small and large settlements, unlawful impris-
onment, plunder of the civilians’ property, etc.) and also killing and inhumane
treatment of the wounded, the sick and the prisoners of war. All of these facts
are widely known from the large number of already closed cases tried both by
the ICTY and the War Crime Board at the Belgrade County Court and, before
that, by the court o2f general jurisdicti2on - the Belgrade Coun2ty Court.
All these and similar acts committed by certain members of the abovemen-
tioned armed formations, represent violation of the international humanitarian
laws and as such are also punishable under our Criminal Code, are to a certain
extent a result of the deliberately conceived manipulation of the media and
their journalists and the responsible persons, primarily those from the earlier
mentioned media. Their conduct qualifies both objectively and subjectively,
as acts of calling on and inciting to the commission of war crimes and, by so
doing, they committed the crime of organizing and instigating the commission
of war crime, punishable under Article 145 of the Criminal Code of the Fed-
eral Republic of Yug2oslavia.
To corroborate our reasonable doubt that certain individuals, whose names we
are not going to disclose at this time, committed the crime concerned, we are
taking this opportunity to provide you with the printed and electronic material
herewith attached.
We deem it necessary that the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor check our
allegations, collect additional information and evidence if possible, and even-
tually request launching of a criminal investigation against certain individuals
for committing the s2aid crime.
Executive Board of th2e Independent Associat2ion of the Serbian Jo2urnalists
In Belgrade, 1 July 22009 14
ANNEX 7:
p rogrAmmE StAtEmENt of thE mANAgEmENt boArD
of rADio tElEViSioN SErbiA, 23 mAy 2011
Management Board
Belgrade,
23 May 2011
progrAmmE StAtEmENt
of the Management Board of the Radio Television of Serbia RDU /Broadcast-
ing Association/
The newly appointed Management Board of the RTS /Radio Television of
Serbia/ at its session held on 18 May 2011, passed a decision to address the
public with a programme statement that is setting forth the principles and val-
ues that it intends 2to promote during its2 five-year mandate.
The Management Board intends to focus its work on the implementation of
the principles set out in Article 1 of the Constitution, which deals with the rule
of law, social justice, principles of the civic democracy, human and minority
rights and freedoms, and commitment to the European principles and values,
striving to consistently promote all of these values through the TV and ra-
dio programmes of the Serbian public service. Members of the Management
Board are particularly determined to engage in improving the understanding
and acceptance of diversity, promoting tolerance and dialogue, and giving
space to distinct social groups in the RTS programmes. At the same time, the
Management Board will pay special attention to the role of the public service
in preserving the cultural and national identity of the Serbian people and all
national minorities and ethnic groups living in Serbia. We would like to par-
ticularly point out that the Management Boards will insist on the preservation
of independence, professionalism and creation of conditions for the imple-
mentation of legal ob2ligations and socia2l role of the public 2service.
its future work, the Management Board shall insist on improving the educa-
tive, cultural and science programmes broadcast by the RTS, which are impor-
tantfactorsofthefuturedevelopmentoftheSerbiansociety.TheManagement
Board also points at the need to pursue the world strategies of development in
st
the 21 century and to provide the Serbian viewers with more details on the
global challenges of 2the world we live in.2
In view of the obligations set out in the Law on Broadcasting which stipu-
lates that the Radio Television of Serbia is under obligation to produce and
broadcast the contents of general interest, and that it is its duty to produce
programmes that promote democratic values of the modern society, especially
those related to respecting the human rights, cultural, national, ethnic and po-
litical pluralism of concepts and opinions, the newly appointed RTS RDU 15
Management Board feels the need to take a stand towards the social and politi-
cal role of its legal predecessor as an aspect of the public service in the 1990s.
Acknowledging and highly appreciating the efforts and achievements in the
professionalization of the public service demonstrated by the management
and the Management Board from October 2000 onwards, the RTS RDU Man-
agement Board concludes with regret that in the 1990s the programmes of the
RTB /Radio Television of Belgrade/ and the RTS were almost permanently
and bluntly manipulated for the purpose of discrediting the political opposi-
tion in Serbia and their leaders, and were an instrument of the then democratic
regime. During the unfortunate events in the 1990s, it so happened that on
a number of occasions the RTB and the RTS in their programmes hurt the
feelings, the moral integrity and dignity of the citizens of Serbia, liberally-
oriented intellectuals, members of the political opposition, journalists with
critical views, certain minorities in Serbia, minor religious communities in
Serbia, and also som2e of the neighbouring 2states and peoples.
In view of the above, the RTS Management Board, as the body that will man-
age the legal predecessor of the RTB and the RTS, deems necessary to extend
apologies to all citizens of Serbia and those of the neighbouring states who
were exposed to insults, slanders and contents that would nowadays be legally
qualified as hate speech, which were broadcast in the programmes of the RTB
and the RTS in the 12990s.
On behalf of the RDU2 RTS Management Boar2d
/a signature/
Prof. dr. Slobodan G2. MarkoviÊ, Chairma2n of the Management B2oard 16
ANNEX 8:
pEACE iNitiAtiVE of thE prESiDENt of thE rEpubliC of
CroAtiA, Dr. frANJo tu–mAN, ZAgrEb, 1 NoVEmbEr 19931718 19
ANNEX 9:
r ECorD of thE StAtEmENt of i.b., 20 April 2012
/Coat of Arms/
THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
BROD-POSAVINA POLICE ADMINISTRATION
CRIME POLICE DEPARTMENT
Number: 511-11-12-2-OGR-65/12
Slavonski Brod, 20 April 2012
rECorD oN tAKiNg of thE StAtEmENt
drafted in the premises of the Brod-Posavina PU /Police Administration/ on
20 April 2012. The statement is being given by the citizen i.b., born on
... in the place of ..., the Municipality of Gornji BogiÊevci, with the
residence in the place of ... No. ..., a retired po- lice officer,
concerning the events during the Homeland War in the area of
OkuËani and Stara Gradiπka.
He began giving the statement at 9:20 hrs.
I herewith state that prior to the Homeland War I lived in .... I worked in
the police force and then I got retired on 1 January 1991 (Decision of 27
December 1990). I worked on general and traffic issues at the Nova Gradiπka
Station and in the OkuËani Department. I mostly worked in a team for traf-
fic accidents investigations. After I got retired, I was engaged in the works
around my house, cultivating my garden and the land.
The first incident, which was provoked by the persons of the Serbian nationality
inOkuËani,happenedinthebeginningofMarch1991,whenthenewPostOffice
premiseswerebeingopened.Onthatoccasion,severalmoreextremelocalSerbs
took off the Croatian flag from the Post Office. Since that time the Serbian bar-
ricades have been occasionally erected in the wider area of OkuËani, precisely in
the place of Dubovac, on the road between OkuËani and Stara Gradiπka.
Since my wife is of Serbian nationality, I felt that it was inopportune and un-
necessary to escape from OkuËani when the war events started in the area of
OkuËani in August of 1991. When the local extreme Serbs started organising
village guards in the area of OkuËani in the beginning of August of 1991, I
was not called. I know that earlier, but from the beginning of August 1991
more intensively, the Serbs in the area of OkuËani started getting - discretely,
in the evening hours - the infantry weapons from the JNA /Yugoslav People’s
Army/ depot from the area of Bjelovar and Poæega which the members of the
Territorial Defence of OkuËani were distributing by houses. 20
I escaped to Bosanska Gradiπka with the members of my family (my wife,
daughter, son and my mother) on 16 August 1991. When the situation calmed
down, some 40 days later, we all returned home to ..., except for my son
who was mobilized in the beginning of September of 1991 in the forma-
tions of the JNA, that is, in the 5thbanja luka Corps of the former JNA.
His assignment was in the Corps Command Headquarters in Banja Luka to
distribute mail, which was a favour of my friend S.b. from Banja Luka, a
member of the Intelligence Department of the Banja Luka Corps of the
former JNA, and later the 1 stKrajina Corps of the Army of republika
Srpska. B. also helped me, so that I was not mobilised in the very
beginning of the war events in OkuËani. In the meantime, the members of the
Bjelovar and Banja Luka Corps of the JNA arrived in the area of OkuËani.
After I returned to the area of OkuËani, I was not receiving mobilization calls
and I believe that it was partially because they, after all, did not trust my loy-
alty since I was a Croat. In December of 1991, I was brought in to the Police
Station in OkuËani. radoslav NaranËiÊ, who was one of the commanders
of the Serbian military formations in OkuËani, ordered my bringing in. The
then Chief of Police, Zdravko rakoniÊ (I used to work with him before)
organised my questioning. Very soon the word got around that I was taken
into custody and Dragoljub VasiljeviÊ made comments that I should be thor-
oughly questioned about my nephews, my brother’s sons who joined the HV
formations from the very beginning. They lived in Nova Gradiπka and I did
not know much about them, and that is what I said during the questioning.
Stevo baædar from Nova Gradiπka, who was a very arrogant person, brought
me in for the interview. I know that Baædar was in the police force.
Upon my release after several hours, I was not brought in to the Police Station
in OkuËani for the interviews any more. I was not receiving the mobilization
calls thanks to Drago DraËa who was the clerical officer in the Military De-
partment in OkuËani. He said he would spare me for as long as he could.
After the first multi-party elections in the RH were held, I do not have infor-
mation that the Serbs were dismissed from their jobs in the companies and
in the Police in OkuËani, since I was not employed any more and I did not
have such information. Admittedly, there were individual cases of dismissal
of some individuals because they were expressing Serb extremism and did
not recognize the newly elected Croatian authority. In May of 1991, several
individuals of Serbian nationality from the area of OkuËani refused to remain
in the RHMUP /Ministry of the Interior/ forces because they did not want to
wear the caps with the Croatian national symbols (chessboard). After 15 Au-
gust 1991 and the occupation of the area of OkuËani, the persons of Serbian
nationality, who until that time had worked in the Nova Gradiπka PP /Police
Station/, joined the rebelled Serbs in OkuËani, the so-called Krajina Secre-
tariat of the Interior (SUP). All of them, more or less, brought with them their
personal weapons. 21
The couple, Boπko and Marija Prica, were the first persons of Serbian nation-
ality who were killed in OkuËani - it was in the beginning of August of 1991.
The Prica family lived in the vicinity of the football field in OkuËani and they
were killed during the night. The story went around that the motive for their
killing was gain, since Boπko worked at a gas station and they were financially
well-to-do. His son was the military service member in Macedonia. The per-
petrators of that criminal offence, which was treated as unorganised, have not
been found.
In the mid 1991, there were rumours in the area of OkuËani that HV members
were coming to the Serbian villages of Trnava and Medari from the direction
of the Croatian villages and that they were looting the Serbian property. The
said is not true, since the mentioned villages were under the protection of
the Territorial Defence members, that is, rebelled Serbs from those villages.
The HV and RH MUP forces were occasionally coming from the direction of
Nova Gradiπka to the place of Kosovac (a settlement next to OkuËani), but I
do not know about looting of Serbian property and the crimes committed in
the villages they were passing through at that time.
In mid August of 1991, a rumour got around OkuËani about the killing of
Milan Æakula and Duπan ©trbac in Medari on 14 August 1991. The murders
of the said individuals could not have happened at that time since there
had been no clashes between the HV and the Serb rebels yet. The conflict
started on 15 August 1991 after the Serbian Municipality of OkuËani was
proclaimed and when the rebelled Serbs attacked the Traffic Police patrol of
the RHMUP. Before that, the rebelled Serbs had also attacked the RH MUP
members in the area of Bijele Stijene (north from OkuËani) and a person
was killed.
Officially, the first day of war was on 16 August 1991 when the rebelled Serbs
openly attacked the MUP and HV members in the area of OkuËani.
I do not have information that in the beginning of October of 1991, the Croa-
tian soldiers were bringing some of the arrested Serbs to the bridge over the
Sava River in order to cross over to the RS /Republika Srpska/, unless the
detainees were not crossing over to the RS over the Sava River at the locations
other than Stara Gradiπka which was already under Serbian occupation.
I herewith state that Duπan KovaË, called rajzer, was known in the wider
area of OkuËani as a very conflicting person, both before and during the war
events; he was also prone to consummation of large quantities alcohol. In
Trnava and Medari the Serb population did not respect him. He was known as
a person with a mental disorder. I verified the information about KovaË later,
in my contacts through friendly connection. KovaË was a homeless person.
Prior to the war events, he had lived at several locations in Trnava (the Mu-
nicipality of Gornji BogiÊevci). 22
In the beginning of October of 1991, he got settled with Ratko NovakoviÊ
in Medari (the Municipality of DragaliÊ), who was the owner of the catering
facility and who took care of him. Rajzer worked during the day in the area of
Medari and Trnava.
On 16 or 17 December 1991, around sixty Serbian volunteers (Chetniks) came
with the bus from the area of Serbia and Montenegro to MaπiËka ©agovina.
They replaced the local Serbian fighters from the villages of the OkuËani area,
th th
members of the 54 brigade of the 18 Western-Slavonia Corps of the Serbian
Army of Krajina in the positions. There were also some extremists among
them from the area of BiH. The area of MaπiËka ©agovina was known at that
time as the extremely well-organised Serbian stronghold which the Croatian
forces did not manage to liberate on several occasions. This area was a very
important stronghold for the Serbian forces for a potential attack on the area
of the town of Nova Gradiπka. The wider area of MaπiËka ©agovina was very
densely mined, particularly on the axes from which the Serbian forces were
expecting the attack of the HV, so it was not possible to approach it with
infantry. The place of MaπiËka ©agovina was protected with heavy weapons
(tanks, guns, mortars). Almost every day a long-range fire from the Serbian ar-
tillery was opened from that area on the first line of defence of Nova Gradiπka.
The Serbian rebels defended the area of MaπiËka ©agovina also with the guns
from the place of Bobare and with howitzers from the area of the so-called
Souπekove livade.
The action of the HV from the direction of CerniËka ©agovina towards
MaπiËka ©agovina and ©irinci started on 19 December 1991, early in the
morning. The Serb extremists in MaπiËka ©agovina, together with the local
Serb population (not more than 20 or so of them) were celebrating the Serb
Patron Saint’s Day of St. Nicholas. The action caught by surprise the rebelled
Serbs. All the Serb volunteers who came from Serbia, Montenegro and BiH
were allegedly killed in the action since they did not want to surrender. It is
not that in that HV action 68 civilians of Serbian nationality were killed be-
cause there were not that many who lived in the village at that time. Most of
them had left the village when the inter-ethnic tensions had risen. A certain
number of villagers of MaπiËka ©agovina of the Serbian nationality was ar-
rested and taken to be questioned to Nova Gradiπka. They were then released
or exchanged later. None of the persons who were brought into custody to
Nova Gradiπka was killed. I doubt that 18 civilians were arrested and taken
to Nova Gradiπka and I assert that a smaller number of persons was in ques-
tion. After MaπiËka ©agovina was captured by the HV, I heard the comments
of certain rebelled Serbs from the area of OkuËani (Nikola laziÊ, bogdan
Kukavica, predrag VukiËeviÊ called braco and the others) who, until then,
had been defending that location in shifts of 30 to 40 people each. The com-
ments were in a sense that while they had been defending MaπiËka ©agovina
it had not been at stake at all, but that the HV captured it when the Serb vol-
unteers from Serbia came. 23
After the HV operation in Medak Pocket, in the beginning of September of
1991, Drago DraËa from the Military Department called me telling me that he
had to assign me to some unit since my personal security would be threatened.
At that time they were mobilising everybody who was fit for military service
in the area of OkuËani, and I noticed that the JNA officers, who were from
Western Slavonia by origin, were coming from Serbia and BiH in order to
improve the army structure and boost combat morale. I have been assigned
to the Communications Company within the 18 thWestern-Slavonia Corps of
the Army of Serbian Krajina. We were located near the Veterinary Station
in OkuËani where the Command for the entire OkuËani was located as well.
We had several vehicles, the staff vehicles with communications equipment
in case we went in the field. I was responsible for those vehicles. There were
Campagnola vehicles and smaller vehicles for telegraph and teletypewriter
operators. In our free time we were arranging the IKM /Forward Command
Post/ (improvised Command Post) near the cemetery in Cage, the dugouts and
the like. There were persons who were inspecting the lines and checking the
communications system all the way to Pakrac. The Commander of the Com-
munications Company was Major GrkiniÊ, an active JNA officer from the 1 st
Krajina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska. mihajlo lonËar and mile
ostroluËanin from OkuËani, mile »aliÊ and grkiniÊ called piletan from
Greani - who is not related to the mentioned Major - were in the Company
with me. The Company had around 30 people and all of them were mostly
from the area of OkuËani. teπo lovrenac from Cage, who was mobilised
together with his privately-owned truck, was also among them. Everyone had
weapons except me and I also did not wear uniform.
th
One of the commanders in the forces of the 18 Western-Slavonia Corps of
the SVK /Army of the Serbian Krajina/ was Colonel lazo babiÊ who was
later appointed as the Corps Commander.
I herewith state that two days prior to the “Bljesak” /Flash/ operation, in the
evening hours, a coded cable came to the Communications Company from
the Banja Luka Corps in which the Command of the 18 thCorps of the SVK
was informed that there would be an action of the Croatian Armed Forces on
1 May 1995 in the area of Western Slavonia. I was sitting with the code clerk
Mihajlo LonËar when the tape started moving on the teletypewriter. LonËar
was writing something and I took the paper out of the machine and gave it to
him. He processed the cable and told me that the Banja Luka Corps informed
us that the HV would attack the OkuËani area. I saw the message which was
written in two lines. I left the communications room immediately thereafter.
LonËar took the message to the house where the officers of the Communi-
cations Company gathered and also some officers from other units, among
whom there was Slobodan petriÊ, Deputy Corps Commander.
After the cable came, there were no visible arrivals of the Command of the
SVK 18 thCorps from Stara Gradiπka to OkuËani. In the meantime, a part of 24
the officers withdrew from OkuËani to Stara Gradiπka. That was not so obvi-
ous and the population did not notice anything. Only after the refugees from
the direction of Pakrac started arriving in OkuËani, the pthulation concluded
that something was happening. The members of the 18 Western-Slavonia
Corps Command of the SVK, with LaziÊ at the head, crossed over to Bosan-
ska Gradiπka on 1 May 1995 in the morning hours.
In my opinion, it is for sure that the Corps Command knew about the cable.
The Army was not informed about the cable since I did not notice any signifi-
cant moving of the formations and everything looked normal until the Flash
Operation started. It was only on 1 May 1995 in the afternoon hours that they
tried to carry out some sort of general mobilisation of the population fit for
military service, but it did not happen.
At the time when the Flash operations started, the general area of OkuËani
was defended by several Serbian formations. Paja’s Battalion comprising the
conscripts - there were around 200 soldiers - was in Novska. Some young
soldiers from OkuËani were among them. Zoran miπÊeviÊ and his unit were
in the north, near the place of Ivanovac. Those were the members of special
units who performed more complex tasks, there were around fifty of them,
who were permanently practicing at the base and then they would go into ac-
tion. They were also in the fronts in BiH. The members of the border police
were on the eastern side, in the direction of Nova Gradiπka, and some guns
were there as well. They were members of the Serbian military units, but they
called themselves the police because of UNPROFOR. The ZIS /76 mm Pack
Howitzer/ were located near the place of Donji BogiÊevci. Based on the ru-
mours among the Serbs who had escaped, I gathered the information that in
the course of the Flash operation, around 1,000 soldiers were defending the
area of OkuËani. I know that Colonel BabiÊ intended to mobilize the women
too. When he was addressing the gathered women in OkuËani he told them
that a lot of persons fit for military service had run away from that area and
they were not at his disposal.
On 1 May 1995, at around 21:00 hrs, I left the area of OkuËani (the first or-
ganised departure of the Serb civilians from the area of OkuËani - the children,
elderly people and women started at around 14:00 hrs) travelling in the freight
truck in the direction of the bridge in Stara Gradiπka. Junior Lieutenant –umiÊ
from Medari, the Commander of the Communications Company was travel-
ling along with me. Both of us were driving the freight trucks of the Commu-
nications Company. When we were passing through OkuËani both of us were
stopped by drunken Serb soldiers who asked us as to where we were going.
We told them we were going as a rotation in the positions. I gave a ride to one
military policeman whose last name was BorojeviÊ, miro Simljanov called
rus and his wife Petra. The policeman had a pistol and Miro had a Kalash-
nikov. While we were travelling en route OkuËani-Nova Varoπ I did not notice
burnt or destroyed vehicles or the bodies of the killed Serbs from the column. 25
In the place of Novi Varoπ, the Municipality of Stara Gradiπka, I noticed my
acquaintance ostoja lovrenoviÊ who was killed (near the local Community
Centre) and several other bodies of the persons of Serbian nationality whom I
did not know from before. The bodies were lying by the road and it was pos-
sible to pass by them without problems. My wife and our daughter drove in a
tractor along that route at around 19:00 hrs and she did not notice the bodies.
She gave a ride to Zorka Simljanov and gostimir StjepanoviÊ. She noticed
several members of the Serbian army in uniforms who were coming from the
Praπnik wood to the place of Novi Varoπ. They did not hinder her passage
towards Stara Gradiπka.
In the course of my drive in the column it was only in Novi Varoπ that I saw
several overturned tractors, passenger vehicles and trucks (some of them were
burnt and it is possible that it was even done by the owners since they could
not use them any more and they did not want to leave them to the Croats). I
have not noticed anywhere that the dead persons in those vehicles were burnt,
as was stated by the Serbian media. I did not observe that the bodies of the
dead civilians or the former members of the Serbian paramilitary formations
were blown up in explosions. While I was moving in the column I did not hear
shots or screams and cries of the injured persons as it was later being retold by
the Serbian media. From the time the column passed through OkuËani up to
the bridge over the Sava River, the fire was not being opened constantly from
the firearms, but it was a sporadic exchange of fire.
The distance between the place of Pustare and the bridge over the Strug canal
(so-called Nova Sava) is 2.5 km long at the most, and I did not see a large
number of bodies of the dead persons of Serbian nationality on that route on
1 May 1995.
On 1 May 1995, I did not see huge columns of the escaped Serb population,
which were moving from OkuËani towards the Sava River, that is, towards
BiH. The columns were not going in an organised manner from Medari and
Trnava. The majority of Serb civilians (the elderly people, women and chil-
dren) from the areas of Pakrac, Novska (eastern part) and OkuËani passed
in the column from OkuËani via place of Dubovac, Novi Varoπ and Stara
Gradiπka in the afternoon hours.
On 1 May 1995 in the morning hours, the Serb refugees were coming from
OkuËani towards Stara Gradiπka aiming at reaching BiH; however, I heard
that the Serbian army did not allow them to cross the bridge in Stara Gradiπka
since they did not know what was happening.
When the actions of the HV aircraft are in question, on 1 May 1995, late in the
evening, when I was leaving the area of OkuËani, while I was in the column
I observed two HV combat aircraft which dropped two bombs in the area of
Stara Gradiπka. I think that their target was not to shoot at the column, but 26
the tower in the Stara Gradiπka KPD /Penal and Correctional Facility/ in the
vicinity of which were the Serbian tanks and the weapons and ammunition de-
pot. These bombs (one fell near the bridge over the Sava River and the other at
the entrance to Stara Gradiπka) did not wound or kill anybody in the column.
I did not notice that the HV aircraft were attacking the column by dropping
bombs, firing with guns or machine guns. My truck was not shot at with the
firearms while driving en route Novi Varoπ - Stara Gradiπka.
Concerning the shooting at the column with the firearms, I know that sporadic
shots were fired from the direction of the Praπnik wood, but it was not a per-
manent fire and not from all available weapons. The HV members kept the
column under their supervision all the time from a certain distance. I noticed
the members of the Serbian formations in the column who took off their uni-
forms and put on civilian clothes. They had long and small arms with which
they were opening fire in the direction of the HV forces that were deployed in
the area of Praπnik. I noticed that the members of the Serbian units had occu-
pied the UN checkpoint on the bridge over the Strug canal which, prior to the
Flash VRA /Military-Police Operation, had been kept by the Nepalese Bat-
talion members who had in the meantime withdrawn into their base in Pustara
(south from the Zagreb-Lipovac highway). While the column of refugees was
passing, the members of the Serbian formations were opening fire from the
said checkpoint with two guns of 30 mm in calibre in the direction of Praπnik
and Pivare towards the HV forces. The armoured-mechanised unit from the
th
forces of the 18 Corps of the SVK was covering the movement of the column
of refugees by fire; in the afternoon hours on 1 May 1995, the members of the
said unit tried to direct 6 to 8 tanks from the direction of Stara Gradiπka in
the direction of OkuËani. They took the tanks regardless of the protests of the
UNPROFOR members. They were going in the direction of RajiÊ, however,
they later returned towards Stara Gradiπka and crossed over to BiH. One or
two tanks remained on the road between Novi Varoπ and Stara Gradiπka due
to defects.
The members of the Serbian formations also captured the UN checkpoint on
the bridge over the Sava River in Stara Gradiπka from which they were open-
ing fire with a gun of 30 mm in calibre in the direction of Praπnik and Pivare.
The column of refugees was moving at a normal pace, it was not a slow move-
ment nor did it stop at any location. In the afternoon hours on 1 May 1995,
the column set off from OkuËani in an organised manner, but by the evening
a part of it was disbanded since at that time the refugees were moving in an
unorganised manner down the local road in the direction of Stara Gradiπka.
I also did not notice that the majority of the bodies were on the road from Novi
Varoπ to the bridge over the Sava River and that this segment of the road was
covered with blood and dead bodies. 27
I leave open the possibility that on 2 May 1995 more people from the column
were killed, but it is for sure that there were not so many that the blood was
simply running, which was later said by the Serbian media which, I think,
exaggerated the total number of victims and the manner in which they were
killed. I express my doubts that, when the refugees were passing through Novi
Varoπ on 2 May 1995 in the early morning hours, it was almost impossible to
move due to a large number of the dead persons.
When I was crossing the bridge over the Sava River in Stara Gradiπka on 1
May 1995, I saw milenko petoπeviÊ called ∆aprdan, a former member of
the Police Station in OkuËani and several other persons from OkuËani who
looked concerned, that is, they were not aware of what was going on.
When the events on 2 May 1995 are in question, which were often referred
to in the Serbian media, in my subsequent contacts with the Serb refugees in
the Reception Centre in Nova Topola, RS /Republika Srpska/, I have obtained
information that they saw a lot of dead bodies, but not of a such magnitude
that it was not possible to pass along the road. The persons I have contacted
did not tell me that the dead bodies were disintegrated from the explosions or
shots from the long arms, of which later the Serbian media talked a lot.
On 2 May 1995, from the very morning it was mostly the former members
th th
of the 54 Brigade of 18 Corps of the RSK /Republic of Serbian Krajina/
who were going towards Bosanska Gradiπka and who were dressed in civilian
clothes and a small number of civilians who did not manage to leave the previ-
ous day. A part of those members of the Serbian military formations retained
the small arms.
I have not been informed about the actions of the HV combat aircraft on 2
May 1995. The Serbs from the area of OkuËani who were in the column that
day and whom I later contacted in the Refugee Centre in Nova Topola did not
mention such cases to me. I do not have knowledge as to how the column was
moving that day or that there were a lot of dead civilians.
I do not exclude the possibility that during the night of 2 May 1995 there
was shelling and that the HV members were opening fire at close range with
firearms at the column; however, it was not permanent, for sure, but it was a
sporadic shooting, the similar to the one on 1 May 1995 when the HV mem-
bers were shooting from the Praπnik wood (100 m away from the road), on
the left-hand side of the OkuËani-Stara Gradiπka road, thus returning the fire
opened by the Serbs who seized the weapons and the PAMs /anti-aircraft ma-
chinegun/ from the members of the Nepalese Battalion. I myself did not notice
the movement of the HV members when I was moving in the column.
At the entrance of Novi Varoπ I noticed several members of the Army of the
so-called RSK who were coming from the nearby LeskovaËa wood (on the 28
right-hand side of the OkuËani-Stara Gradiπka road) and who joined the col-
umn. I recognised Nikola biæiÊ called Stevo and »edo »aliÊ among them.
In my opinion, the Serb refugees who were driving in the passenger vehicles
in the column did not need seven hours from OkuËani to reach Stara Gradiπka.
It did not take that long even for those who were walking, and there were such.
I was driving in a freight truck and I covered that distance in a much less time.
In the later contacts with the Serb refugees, I have obtained the information
that Darko ostroluËanin called Dado, Anelko called migel, a tradesman
from Bodegraj, OkuËani and Zoran VukadinoviÊ from OkuËani were killed
in the column on 2 May 1995.
I do not have information that on 2 May 1995 a shell hit the bus that was driv-
ing in the column towards Stara Gradiπka with 60 to 70 children, who were
from the area of Pakrac by origin, and that it was caught by fire and all those
children were burnt down. In my contacts with the Serb refugees from the
general area of OkuËani I did not hear that any of the local Serbs or the Serbs
who took refuge in the RS or Serbia and who occasionally come to this area,
talked about such incident. I think that there would have been comments, for
sure, about such a huge number of dead children in the Refugee Centre in
Nova Topola where the Serbs who escaped on 2 May 1995 by the afternoon
hours were staying. I believe that there would have been talks about the men-
tioned incident because it is not something that could be easily hidden.
After I crossed over to Bosanska Gradiπka, I met my wife and my daughter. I
tried to return to the area of OkuËani to look for my son, but I did not manage.
It was already dark and some Serb soldiers on the Strug canal told me not to go
back to OkuËani. My son was in the positions near Gornji BogiÊevci operating
the guns and he crossed over to the area of Bosanska Gradiπka in the afternoon
on 2 May 1995.
On 2 May 1995, milan martiÊ, President of the Republic of Serbian Krajina,
came to Bosanska Gradiπka and he addressed the gathered refugees from the
area of the Western Slavonia telling them to go back home and continue fight-
ing. After a day or two, I left the truck of the Communication Company and
I went with my family to my friend in Banja Luka. Anyway, I ended up in
Borovo Naselje with my family on 21 or 22 May 1995 where we were put in
the housing facilities of the agri-business conglomerate. I was not mobilised
until the Arkan’s army started to collect men fit for military service. In order
to avoid the mentioned mobilisation, I signed up to a unit in Dalj in autumn of
1995 and I remained in its formations until the peaceful reintegration.
When listening to the Serbs who escaped from Western Slavonia to the area of
Bosanska Gradiπka, the notion that prevails among them is that the promised
and expected help from the Serbs from BiH and Serbia during the Flash VRA 29
failed tocome. The refugees were of theopinion thata 1,000well-trained Serb
fighters from BiH would have definitely helped in the defence of OkuËani.
Later on, when I arrived in BiH, I did not hear that the persons who were killed
were later, after the column passed, collected, poured over with petroleum
and set on fire by the HV members, who prevented the UNPROFOR’s access.
I also did not hear that, allegedly the asphalt was re-coated in Novi Varoπ a
day or two after the column of refugees passed. When I talked with the Serb
refugees who left the area of OkuËani right after I did, they told me that the
road had been closed for traffic for a day or two; however they said they did
not know for what reasons.
I think that both data are incorrect and that it is the product of the Serbian
media.
While I was staying in BiH and later in the Eastern Slavonia, through the con-
tacts with certain Serb refugees who were from Medari and Trnava, I heard
about the events in Medari on 1 May 1995. According to what they were
saying, on the said day in the afternoon hours, around twenty villagers of
Serbian nationality and of various ages were killed in Medari. I know that
all those who were killed were then buried at the cemetery in Medari, that is,
Gornja Trnava. Among those who were killed the largest in number were the
members of the V. family - seven of them - and among them there were
children as well. I also heard that two V. sisters, who survived the said
incident, requested the institutions in BiH to find the perpetrators. The mortal
remains of the persons who were killed were exhumed in the course of June
and July of 2010. The members of the V. family were identified in Zagreb
and then they were buried at the town cemetery in Gradiπka.
Finished at 12:30 hrs.
Official recording clerk Citizen
–uro ©ariÊ I.B.
/signed/ /illegible signature/ 30
ANNEX 10:
r SK, miNiStry of thE iNtErior, StAtE SECurity
DEpArtmENt, DoC. No. 08/2-0-1224/95, K9 NiN,
8 JuNE 1995, With EXCErpt from thE WEEKly
CiViliAN AffAirS rEport
/handwritte/ 23 /stamp readin/ /handwritten, circl/ 20
CROATIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVES
ZAGREB, Maruli!ev trg 21
3
/coat-of-arms/
REPUBLIC OF SERBIAN KRAJINA
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
NATIONAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT
NUMBER : 08/2-0-1224/95
KNIN , 8 June 1995
- MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR OF THE RSK / Republic of Serbian Kraji/a
K N I N
Subject: UN Activities, information
According to the information available to the RDNational Security Departme/, the local
UN Civilian Police stations in Obrovac, Benkovac Kistanje, Vrlika, Gra"ac, Medak,
Vrhovine, Drni# and Kakma ceased to operate.
The closing of all UN Civilian Police stations was planned to be completed by 9 June 1995,
except those in Knin and Korenica.
The reason for closing these stations is that members of the UN Civilian Police are not able
to perform their regular activities because of poor cooperation with the authorities and
police of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, due to control of all roads by tRepublic
of Serbian Krajin/ Army, restriction of movement, as well as confiscation of their vehicles
in Sector South.
You will be notified in timely manner about all new developments regarding the activities
of Civilian Police.The UN reports which we obtained through intelligence work, show that
UN actively monitors military, political, economic, humanitarian and other sectors in the
RSK, and regularly informs their headquarters in Zagreb.
For your information and analytical estimates, photocopies of the translations of these
reports are attached.
Prologue /sic, probably Attachment/: 3 For DEPARTMENT CHIEF
/signed, illegi/le
/round stamp reading:/
REPUBLIC OF SERBIAN KRAJINA
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT
KNIN
1
/handwritten:HAD-RSN-I-???. 370
DATE: 3 June 1995 31
KNIN
1
/handwritten:HAD-RSN-I-???. 370
DATE: 3 June 1995
FROM: Modib Okran /as written/, Sector North, Civilian Police Coordinator
TO: Mi#el Musali /as written/, Chief Civilian Police, Zagreb
Subject: Weekly Report, Sector North Civilian Police, 27 May 1995 – 3 June 1995
[…] /p. 6/
B. SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
Because of the general mobilization in the RSK, there are few economic activities going on
at this time. The Civil Affairs Office in Slunj met with local authorities to discuss the
economy. However, the authorities were reluctant to discuss further economic issues
involving Croats. They expressed their anger with Croats, and said they would rather die of
hunger than talk and trade with Croats.
[…] 32
ANNEX 11:
uN, CoDED CAblE from AKAShi to Kofi ANNAN,
mEEtiNg iN KNiN, 1 AuguSt 1995333435363738 39
ANNEX 12:
r EquESt for rEturN to thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA filED by
J.K., oCtobEr 1995
/Republic of Croatia Coat of Arms/
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
BELGRADE
JMBG /personal identification
number/...
First Name: Last Name:
Father’s name: D.
J. K.
Day, month and year of birth: ....
Place of Birth:
Address of residence in RH: Date of leaving the Married:
... RH: 5 August 1995 YES
NO
List of the family members who wish to return
First and Relationship Born First and last Relationship Born
last name on name: on
1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.
Do you posses the Croatian Certificate of Yes, No.:__________ NO
Nationality?
Which place do you wish to return to? (Please, state the name of the pace and the
address):
...
Property in the RH
State the reasons for leaving the RH and for the return:
I LEFT THE PLACE OF ... UNDER THE ORDER OF THE “LOCAL
AUTHORITIES” OR ELSE MY LIFE WOULD BE ENDANGERED SINCE I
AM MARRIED TO A CROAT. I HAVE A SON AND A DAUGHTER, WHO
ARE STUDENTS IN ZAGREB AND ALL FOUR OF US WISH TO BE A
HAPPY FAMILY AGAIN. PLEASE, MAKE THIS POSSIBLE FOR US.
CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER: ....
(Please, fill out the form in legible printed characters)
DATE: 27 October 1995 SIGNATURE: /signed/: K.J. 40
ANNEX 13:
rEquESt for rEturN to thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA
filED by m.m., JANuAry 1996
/Republic of Croatia Coat of Arms/
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
BELGRADE
JMBG /personal identification
number/ ...
Last Name:
First Name: M. M. Father’s name: D.
Day, month and year of birth: ... Place of Birth: ...
Date of leaving the
Address of residence in RH: RH: Married:
.... YES NO
5 August 1995
List of family members who wish to return
First and First and Born
last name Relationship Born on last name Relationship on
1. M.M. Wife ...
2.D.M. ...
Son
3. M.M. Son ....
Do you posses the Croatian Certificate of Yes,
Nationality? No.:__________ NO
Which place do you wish to return to? (Please, state the name of the pace and the
address):
The village of ... 41
Two-story family house, old single-story house,
Property in the RH farm buildings and 17 k.j. /?acres/ of land
State the reasons for leaving the RH and for the return:
The reason for leaving the RH was the organised displacement of the entire
population before the Croatian Army action “Oluja” /Storm/, under the pressure
of the military and civilian authorities of the so-called “Krajina” and due to the
imposed general psychosis of fear and panic.
Reason for return: is basically contained in my wish to live in my homeland
of Croatia as a loyal and useful citizen. My loyalty and loyalty of my family
has never been questioned in relation to the Republic of Croatia, it is only by a
combination of unfortunate circumstances that I stayed (geographically) on the
side whose politics I have never supported. Similarly, I feel that I am in no case
connected with Serbia and the politics which is pursued here.
CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER: ... Reception centre, Loznica near
»aËak
(Please, fill out the form in legible printed characters)
DATE: 10 January 1996 SIGNATURE: /signed/: M.M. 42
ANNEX 14:
rEquESt for rEturN to thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA filED by
S.p., JANuAry 1996
/Republic of Croatia Coat of Arms/
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
BELGRADE
JMBG /personal identification
number/
First Name: S. Last Name: P. Father’s name: H.
Day, month and year of birth: ... Place of Birth: ...
Address of residence in RH: Date of leaving
the RH: Married:
... YES NO
5 August 1995
List of family members who wish to return
First and last Relationship Born on First and Relationship Born
name last name on
1. P.S. 6.
Daughter ... 7.
2. P.S.
8.
3. P.D. Son ...
9.
4. P.S. Daughter ....
5. 10.
Do you posses the Croatian Certificate of
NO
Nationality? Yes, No.:___
Which place do you wish to return to? (Please, state the name of the pace and the
address):...
Property in the RH
State the reasons for leaving the RH and for the return:
THE REASON FOR LEAVING THE RH UNDER THE PRESSURE OF THE
KRAJINA POLICE, NOT OF MY OWN FREE WILL.
THE REASON FOR RETURN TO THE RH IS BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE
CONDITIONS TO LIVE IN SERBIA AND BECAUSE ALL OUR /RELATIVES/
STAYED AT HOME, WE WANT TORETURN TO OUR HOMES.
CONTACT ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NO.: ..., /neËitko/
(Please, fill out the form in legible printed characters)
DATE: 03 January 1996 SIGNATURE: /illegible signature/ 43
ANNEX 15:
rEquESt for rEturN to thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA
filED by S.g., fEbruAry 1996
/Republic of Croatia Coat of Arms/
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
BELGRADE
JMBG /personal identification
number/
First Name: Last Name:
Father’s name: B.
S. G.
Day, month and year of birth: ...
Place of Birth: ....
Address of residence in RH: ... Date of leaving the Married:
RH: YES
5 August 1995 NO
List of family members who wish to return
First and Born First and last Born
Relationship Relationship
last name on name: on
1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5 10.
Do you posses the Croatian Certificate of Yes, No.:__________ NO
Nationality?
Which place do you wish to return to? (Please, state the name of the pace and the
address): OBROVAC
Property in the RH APARTMENT IN OBROVAC (....)
State the reasons for leaving the RH and for the return:
THE REASON FOR LEAVING: ORDER OF THE COMMAND OF THE
MILITARY UNIT IN WHICH I WAS THE CONSCRIPT.
REASON FOR THE RETURN: MY WISH TO LIVE AND WORK IN THE
RH.
CONTACT TELEPHONE OR ADDRESS: ...
(Please, fill out the form in legible printed characters)
DATE: 26 February 1996 SIGNATURE: /signed/: S.G. 44
ANNEX 16:
r EquESt for rEturN to thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA filED by
æ.J., oCtobEr 1995
/Republic of Croatia Coat of Arms/
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
BELGRADE
JMBG /personal identification
number/
First Name: Last Name:
Æ. J. Father’s name: D.
Day, month and year of birth: ... Place of Birth: KNIN
Date of leaving the
Address of residence in RH: Married:
... RH: YES NO
4 August 1995
List of family members who wish to return
First and First and
last name Relationship Born on last name Relationship Born on
1. N.J. Wife ... 6.
2. J.J. Daughter ... 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5 10.
Do you posses the Croatian Certificate of Yes,
Nationality? No.:__________ NO
Which place do you wish to return to? (Please, state the name of the pace and the
address):
KNIN, ...
Property in the RH A HOUSE
State the reasons for leaving the RH and for the return:
ON 04 AUGUST 1995, LOCAL AUTHORITIES, THROUGH A MESSENGER,
ORDERED THE EVACUATION.
I CONSIDER CROATIA TO BE MY HOMELAND!
CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER: ...
(Please, fill out the form in legible printed characters)
DATE: 27 October 1995 SIGNATURE: /signed/: /illegible/ 45
ANNEX 17:
offiCiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by D.–.
/Coat of Arms/
THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
miNiStry of thE iNtErior
POLICE ADMINISTRATION OF KARLOVAC
POLICE STATION OF KARLOVAC
Number: 511-05-07/1-5- /04
01 April 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen D.–.________________,
byoccupation: driver__________________________________________,
born on: ... with the residence/domicil
in___________________________
...________________________________________________, street
...___________________,number ________..._________,
on 27 March 2004, in the family house in ...__________________,
referring to his leaving the RH /Republic of Croatia/ during “Oluja” /Storm/
VRA /Military-Police Operation/__,
gave to the police officer of the Karlovac PP /Police Station/_____________,
the following information:
“During the war I lived with my family in ... until the “Storm” VRA
started. I knew and so did all other villagers that there would be an action of
the Croatian Army some twenty days prior to it and that we would all go
to Serbia, but it was not known as to when exactly this would occur. It was
also not known as to where the information on the HV action and the
departure towards Serbia came from, but there was talk among the villagers
about it.
I left my house together with my family on 07 August 1995, among the last
ones in my village, only after two members of the “Krajina” police, whom I
did not know, had come to my house telling me: “What are you waiting for, 46
the Ustashas are coming, they will slaughter you all.” Then I loaded some
most essential things on the trailer and the tractor and we set off in the direc-
tion of VojniÊ, Gvozd and Topusko and further on towards Serbia. In Topus-
ko, the HV /Croatian Army/ General Petar StipetiÊ appealed to all the persons
of Serbian nationality who were in the column to return to their houses, saying
that nothing bad would happen to them and that he guaranteed them safety.
However, we all continued towards Serbia out of fear.
On our way to Serbia, the HV members were also urging us to return to our
houses, saying that nothing bad would happen to any of us, and the members
of the Croatian Red Cross were distributing food to us. Further on, I would
like to mention that I was among the first who returned to the RH, that is, to
my house, and I have never had any problems with persons of Croatian nation-
ality from the neighbouring Croatian villages; the police also regularly visited
us and we have never had any problems.”
Police Officer
CrnkoviÊ Tomislav
/signed/
/Some lines in the original document are underlined in handwriting./ 47
ANNEX 18:
o ffiCiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by N.g.
thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA
miNiStry of thE iNtErior
KArloVAC poliCE ADmiNiStrAtioN
CRIME POLICE DEPARTMENT
(Organisational unit of the Ministry)
Section for Terrorism and War crimes
Number: 511-05-04/1-1488/04
Date: 02 April 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen N.G., by occupation retiree, born on ...,
withtheresidence-domicilein Gvozd_______________________________,
street ...___ number ..._, on 11 March 2004___________,
on the premises of his house in ...____________________,
referring to his departure from ... in 1995 during the “Oluja” /
Storm/__ VRA__ /Military-Police Operation/, and also referring to the burn-
ing down of his house____________,
gavetotheauthorisedofficial ofthisPU/PoliceAdministration/___________
(Name of the organisational unit )
the following information:
“I spent the entire war in my house, here in ..., in the Municipality of
Gvozd (Vrginmost). My wife is a Croat and she remained in Karlovac at
our son’s place, because she was simply afraid to stay here in 1991, consider-
ing the threats and provocations by part of the local extremists. I myself also
had problems during the war with some of my Serbian neighbours; there were
provocations, even open threats. Because of that I was mobilised from time to
time, I simply could not avoid the military obligation, otherwise it would have
been interpreted as an open treason, and on the other hand it was known that
my son was in Karlovac and that he was in the HV /Croatian Army/.
When the “Storm” VRA started, I was not aware of the developments and on
Sunday, 06 August 1995, I went to the cemetery which was above our village.
1Official note on the information given by a citizen pursuant to the provision of Article 177,
paragraph 2 of the ZKP /Criminal Procedure Act/ 48
On my way back from the cemetery I saw that all the villagers were prepar-
ing and packing their belongings for the departure. I was surprised since, as I
said, I did not know at all what the course of events was. At that moment the
Croatian Army was not even close to our village, nor was there any shooting
in the vicinity.
I did not have any intention to go anywhere from my house, and besides I
could not go because I did not have oil for my tractor. In addition, I could
hardly wait for my wife and my son to come back. I knew that my son was
in the HV and I expected him to be among the first ones to come to our vil-
lage. However, on that day, after I returned from the cemetery, a man from
our village dropped by my place and asked me whether I was also preparing
for the departure. I told him I was not preparing because I did not intend to go
anywhere and besides, I did not have oil for my tractor. That man then told me
that I had better go as well because if I remained in the village I could even be
killed, since the atmosphere in the village was such. I took those words seri-
ously since I knew from before that there was a feeling of mistrust towards me
because of my wife and my son, so I told this man that I would get ready, after
which he told me he would give me some oil. And indeed, later he brought
me around 10 litres o2f oil.
The departure was at around 17:00 hrs in a column from the village towards
Gvozd, and up there on Brijeg we found a lot of people in the column who
were already coming from the direction of VojniÊ. It took us around two hours
to arrive in Gvozd because of the huge jam, and when we were entering the
village some people from our village passed by and told me in passing that my
house had been set on fire and that the whole house was burning. They also
mentioned that some of our soldiers with BOVs /combat armoured vehicle/,
were there by my house and that they had set it on fire for sure. Those soldiers
were allegedly from our Border Detachment (Note - 21 stBorder Detachment
st
from the formations o2f the 21Kordun Corps).
At that time, the HV had not even reached VojniÊ, it was Sunday afternoon
and it is not even certain whether they had reached TuπiloviÊ at that moment,
since I heard later from my son that they had arrived in our village only the
following day. When my son arrived, my house was completely burnt down,
and the smoke was still coming out of it. Considering the situation among
all of us in the area of Topusko, Glina - I mean us, the Serbs - we departed
towards Yugoslavia, but I returned later on the first occasion when it was pos-
sible. I refurbished my house partly by myself, and partly from the aid in the
form of materials.
While we were in Banja Luka, some people from our village said that I my-
self had set my house on fire, which was absurd. I have put my whole life in
that house. Later I heard rumours that a man from the area of our village was
boasting that he had2 set it on fire. 49
Apart from setting my house on fire, prior to the departure of our people from
Slavsko Polje on 6 August 1995, the local people or the local army had set
the railway station on fire, here in Slavsko Polje - we call that railway station
VojniÊ kolodvor /VojniÊ Railway St2ation/.
HEAD OF SECTION
Ivan Horvat
/illegible signatur2e/
/Some lines in the ori2ginal document are u2nderlined in handwri2ting/ 50
ANNEX 19:
off iCiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by D.C.
thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA
miNiStry of thE iNtErior
KArloVAC poliCE ADmiNiStrAtioN
CRIME POLICE DEPARTMENT
(Organisational unit of the Ministry)
Section for Terrorism and War Crimes
Number: 511-05-04/1-1488/04
Date: 01 April 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen D.C., by occupation worker, born on ...,
withtheresidence/domicilein_________________VojniÊ________________,
street__... ___, number ...______, on ____31March2004_________,
on the premises of his house in ..., VojniÊ__________________,
(Place where the information was p)ovided
referring to his knowledge about the withdrawal of Serbs during the “Storm”
Operation in 1995 towards Topusko and Glina and subsequent departure from
the RH to the then FRY /Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/,
gavetothepoliceofficerof thisPU/PoliceAdministration/________________
(Name of the organisational unit
the following information:
“I became a driver for Colonel »edomir Bulat sometime in 1993, he was the
st
Commander of the 21 Kordun Corps at that time and his Command Head-
quarters was in Muljava. I remained with him until he was relieved from duty,
and after Colonel Veljko Bosanac came I had a conflict with that man and
after that I was not in the army at all for a certain period of time.
I was engaged again in the autumn of 1994 upon the establishment of the Staff
for assigned to carry out the “Pauk” /Spider/ Operation in which Colonel Bu-
lat was the Chief and the Commander was the then General Mile NovakoviÊ.
That Staff war organised for carrying out combat actions towards Kladuπa
th
and later towards Cazin and BihaÊ, in order to push the forces of the 5ps
of BiH Army, after those forces had completely defeated the units of Fikret
AbdiÊ in August 1994, and the entire population around Kladuπa took ref-
uge and were accommodated in the village of Batnoga near Cetingrad and in 51
Turanj near Karlovac. In order to enable those people to go back, the majority
of them were armed, the units comprising Muslims were formed again and
the attack towards V. /Velika/ Kladuπa was launched with the aim of retaking
it; all those operations were led by this Staff at the head of which were Mile
NovakoviÊ and »edomir Bulat. Apart from the Muslims, the forces that took
st
part in these actions included units from our 21 Kordun Corps, usually 5 to
6 infantry companies, in other words, 1 to 2 battalions, and also artillery and
tank units.
In addition to our forces from the strength of the 21 stCorps, no fewer than
around 100 members of the special forces of the MUP /Ministry of Interior/
from Serbia came and they were under the direct command of Colonel Ra-
dojica BoæoviÊ and that one, Ulemek (Milorad LukoviÊ), so Bulat and Nova-
koviÊ had no control over them. On several occasions, even that Frenki, one
of the heads of the State Security Department of Serbia came to visit that unit;
however, I did not see2 that Jovica Staniπ2iÊ was coming in per2son.
This unit from Serbia was quartered first on MagarËevac on Mt. Petrova Gora
and when we entered V. Kladuπa, they were quartered in Kladuπa and they
were coming to the canteen of the Grupeks company in Kladuπa to have meals
there, and so did al2l our other units at2 that time.
That whole operation lasted throughout the autumn of 1994 and the spring of
1995, up until the action of the Croatian Army started in August. As I heard
on onthoccasion from Colonel Bulat, the intention was to completely defeat
the 5 Corps and neutralize the Muslims somewhere in the area of Cazin, and
they were supposed to turn in all the weapons, but due to the development of
events, all that took2 a different course.
After the attack of the HV, those of us stationed in in Kladuπa at that time did
not know that the situation was developing so fast and we were caught unpre-
pared by the information that Knin fell immediately, already on Saturday. At
first, we did not even believe that it was true. Then Colonel Bulat said, that is,
ordered that our forces should withdraw immediately from the Western Bos-
nia, he probably intended to use them somewhere within our territory against
the HV. General Mile NovakoviÊ was, at that moment, on a trip somewhere,
since at that time negotiations were held with the Croatian side, but I do not
know whether they nego2tiated in Switzerlan2d or in Norway.
Upon our arrival in Maljevac, Colonel Bulat told me to go to Ljuban IvkoviÊ
in Stipan, to the 19 thBrigade and that he should further inform the people
to start withdrawing. Bulat and I continued along the road to Batnoga and
we found already a jammed road there because our people from Lika were
already withdrawing. When I say Lika, I mean the people from the area of
Plaπki since they set off the first. Colonel Bulat tried to stop them and told
them to stay there in the halls of the former Agrokomerc in Batnoga, but the 52
people were disoriented, there was no discipline and they continued moving
further.
I do not remember exactly, but I think that the following day there was a
meeting held in Vrginmost in the building of the Municipality and attended by
»edo Bulat, Toπo PajiÊ, Veljko Bosanac and Dragan KovaËiÊ, at which they
discussed what was to be done since it was obvious that we suffered a com-
plete debacle. There, »edo took over again the command over the 21 stCorps
from V. Bosanac and I recall that he said: “Screw them, look what they have
done, and now they were leaving the Corps and the population to him to pull
them out the best he could”. As I have already said, Mile NovakoviÊ went the
previous day with tanks towards Dvor na Uni and BiH and Radojica BoæoviÊ
and his men from the Serbian MUP went with him.
I have forgotten to say that –uro ©kaljac and Miloπ PajiÊ aka Lupa were also
present at that meeting in Vrginmost, but they were figures of minor impor-
tance and had no influence on the course of events at that time.
In the area of Vrginmost towards Topusko and Glina, the people were moving
on the road in two columns with tractors, horse-drawn carts and vehicles, ev-
erything was jammed. Bulat said that we too should go to Topusko and set up
a staff there, so the Staff was officially set up down there. Then the members
of UNPROFOR came and Toπo PajiÊ talked with them on the premises of the
hotel since we were accommodated there. All in all, at that moment it was
not possible to go down towards BiH any more since the road near Dvor na
Uni was cut, while more and more people were coming and we were simply
swamped by so many people and vehicles, it was not even possible to circulate
normally on the road.
I think that the following day, probably it was Monday, members of UN-
PROFOR came again and they told us we should clear the way, that is,
the road since »edomir Bulat should go to Viduπevac for the negotiations
with the Croatian side about the total surrender. At that moment, not even I
knew that Commandeer »edomir Bulat was going to negotiate, and in view
of the fact that there was no relevant information, the panic was gradually
spreading among the people. He left, I do not know exactly where those
negotiations took place, but when »edomir returned he said that we should
lay down the weapons. Up to that moment we were all armed and wear-
ing uniforms. I asked him whether we really had to lay down the arms and
whether we were in danger, that is, whether we would be in danger if we lay
down the weapons.
He told me then that he had personally talked with General Petar StipetiÊ,
that they had agreed about the surrender and laying down the weapons by the
Serbs, meaning us, and that he, »edo Bulat had worked with StipetiÊ for 17
years before, in the JNA /Yugoslav People’s Army/, and that he knew him 53
well and that he knew that StipetiÊ would respect the agreement and that we
were not in danger. Actually, when I recall all that, it was already Sunday af-
ternoon, and on Monda2y morning we laid do2wn the weapons.
»edo Bulat addressed the people himself in order to explain the situation to
them and he guaranteed that there would be no problems after the weapons
were turned in, but that the weapons must be turned in and left at the location
one found oneself, mean2ing in the general ar2ea around Topusko and2 Glina.
It was only later, when I arrived in Serbia, that my late mother told me that she
went in a column via Æirovac and that the tanks led by Mile NovakoviÊ were
treading over a part of our column in order to pass towards Dvor as quickly
th
as possible, and the Muslims from the formations of the 5 Corps attacked
the column from the right flank, and there were casualties there. The fact is
that at that moment the Croatian Army could not have attacked the column in
Æirovac, particular2ly not from the righ2t side.
After we laid our weapons, General StipetiÊ in person also came among our
people and there he talked with Colonel Bulat in order to demonstrate, by the
personal presence of both commanders, that everything would be all right and
that people should not be afraid, I mean our people. I think that UNPROFOR
was somewhere in the vicinity all the time. At one point, General StipetiÊ even
ordered Croatian soldiers not to go among our civilians and the HV members
really withdrew at a certain distance. This, what I am describing now was hap-
pening on Monday and2 Tuesday.
Since the people en masse laid down their weapons, there was such a huge
amount of guns and everything else that »edo Bulat ordered Toπo PajiÊ and
–uro ©kaljac that around 100 or so of our men remained armed in order to
safeguard those weapon2s which were placed o2n several big piles.
Since I was personally escorting Colonel »edomir Bulat most of the time, I
remember that at one point General StipetiÊ asked »edomir Bulat why he did
not keep the civilians and return them to their homes and that MiloπeviÊ was
going to trick them, as he already had done before, and that he would actu-
ally send them to Kosovo. Bulat replied that he could not send people back.
Nevertheless, after that Bulat and StipetiÊ went among the people and StipetiÊ
personally guaranteed our people their safety both in the course of their return
to their homes and also in the territory which they would return to. I witnessed
that personally and StipetiÊ really guaranteed that. The fact is that the major-
ity of our people did not want to go back to their homes, only 2 or 3 families
returned and that was it. I think that those families even got police escort for
their personal securi2ty.
When we were talking with our people about possible return, Toπo PajiÊ and
–uro ©kaljac were not2 with us. 54
This conversation with people, persuading them to return to their homes,
lasted quite long and StipetiÊ even said that he would personally escort those
people on their way home to prove them that they were protected, but no one
really wanted to retu2rn.
»edomir Bulat explained to our people at that time that General Petar Sti-
petiÊ was an honourable man and that he could really be trusted, and StipetiÊ
additionally tried to influence the people telling them again that they would
probably be sent to K2osovo.
After all that, our surrender was officially signed by »edomir Bulat and Mr
StipetiÊ, I think i2t was in Viduπevac.2
Immediately thereupon, we received bread, water and probably some other
necessities from the Croatian side, and Colonel Bulat personally ordered me
to ensure that this was received by the most needed ones among our people.
After our official surrender in Viduπevac, we began changing into civilian
clothing, and I did2 it, too.
I remember that after our surrender, General StipetiÊ told »edomir Bulat that
he could not send us unthmed into BiH, especially not in front of DurakoviÊ’s
Corps - he meant the 5 Corps of the BiH Army, therefore we would be sent
to the FRY along the 2motorway, since in t2hat way we would be 2safer.
All this what I have described now was happening on Monday, Tuesday and
part of it on Wednesday, after which our columns comprising motor vehicles
and tractors were formed and at the back of them were horse-drown carts and
that is how we went 2to Yugoslavia.
Everything I stated is a whole truth and, if necessary, I am prepared to repeat
it anywhere else.
SECTION HEAD
Ivan Horvat
/illegible signature/
/Some lines in the ori2ginal document are u2nderlined in handwri2ting/ 55
ANNEX 20:
off iCiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by m.m.
/Coat of Arms/
THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
KARLOVAC POLICE ADMINISTRATION
VOJNI∆ POLICE STATION
/Organisational unit of the Ministry/
Number: 511-05-12/2-14-183-08/04
Date: 19 March 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen m.m., by occupation housewife, born on ...
JMBG /personal identification number/___________ with the residence/dom-
icile in VojniÊ,
street__..., number ..., on 18march2004____________,
on the premises of the family house in ...,
(Place where the information was p)ovided
referring to the killing of pjevaË Nikola by the Serbian army of “Arkanov-
ci”/Arkan’smen/nearæirovac___________________________________,
gavetothepoliceofficeroftheVojniÊpp/policeStation/___________________
(Name of the organisational unit
the following information:
“Nikola PjevaË was my neighbour and before the “Storm” operation he had
lived in his family house with his wife Sofija and his son –uro; he was born
in 1950 or so. During the “Storm” Operation, on 06 August 1995, I went, to-
gether with Nikola and his wife Sofija towards Dvor na Uni. When we came
near Æirovac, we had a flat tire on a tractor trailer which I was driving. Then
Nikola and Sofija continued their journey on a tractor and I remained there
and later some other people gave me a ride. From that time I have never seen
Nikola again, but upon my arrival in Serbia I talked with Milan RaπiÊ from
Krstinja who now lives in Slankamen.
Milan told me then that he had seen that Nikola had been killed on 07 August
1995 by the members of the Serbian army, that is, “Arkan’s men”. Those 56
“Arkan’s men” were withdrawing towards Dvor and on their way they were
forcing people from the column to take up arms and continue fighting against
th
the Croatian Army and the Army of the 5 Corps which was approaching that
area. Milan told me than that on that day one of Arkan’s men had approached
for the first time the tractor on which Nikola was sitting, asking him what he
was waiting for there, why he didn’t take a gun and go fighting. Nikola replied
that he had enough of fighting and that he did not know whom he would fight
for. When, after some time, the same Arkan’s man returned, he came to Niko-
la again and asked him whether he would go and fight or not, at which Nikola
replied that he screwed both the war and Serbia and that he had no intention to
fight for anyone any more. When the said “Arkan’s” man heard that, he pulled
out a gun, at which Nikola asked whether such times had come that one Serb
would shoot at another Serb, and after that the said individual pointed the gun
towards Nikola’s head and shot him in the head. Nikola’s wife Sofija and their
son –uro, who were not far from that place, saw it all. Milan also told me that
he had thought of burying Nikola somewhere on the side, but the Serbian sol-
diers who were passing by did not allow him to do that. After that Milan had to
leave, and so did Nikola’s wife Sofija since the entire population was moving
forward. Nobody knows yet where Nikola’s body was buried, but it is known
that he was not killed by the Croatian Army, since at that time it was not in the
vicinity, but the m2embers of the Serbian 2army, that is, “Ar2kan’s men”.
Nikola’s wife Sofija and his son –uro live in Ruma and they can definitely
confirm this .
I have nothing more t2o state to you with r2egard to the above.
Police Officer
Pero Medved
/illegible signature/
/Some lines in the ori2ginal document are u2nderlined in handwri2ting/ 57
ANNEX 21:
o ffiCiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by m.J.
/Coat of Arms/
THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
KARLOVAC POLICE ADMINISTRATION
VOJNI∆ POLICE STATION
Number: 511-05-12/2-14-183-08/04
Date: 1 April 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen m.J., byoccupation farmer, bornon ...,
JMBG /personal identification number/___________ with the residence/dom-
icile in VojniÊ, street __...___, number ..., o31 march 2004__,
onthepremisesofthefamilyhouse ...,
(Place where the information was p)ovided
referring to the mining of his house by the Serbian army______________
gave to the police officer of the VojniÊ pp /police Station/_____________
(Name of the organisational unit
the following information:
“In front of our house, we had a newly-built facility in the size of 18 x 7 me-
tres, comprising three premises. In March 1992, the Army came to my place,
it was the then JNA /Yugoslav People’s Army/, bringing ammunition, shells,
hand grenades and tank shells in the trucks and told me that the facility suited
them and that it would be used as an outpost depot.
Since I was exempted from military service due to my illness, they told me
I had to accept that, otherwise I could end up at the frontline. The person in
charge for that storing was MiliÊ MaliÊ aka MiÊo from MaliÊi who came to my
place that day with other two officers from Serbia. They told me I could get
some compensation for that depot, but nothing came out of it.
When the “Storm” started, I decided to leave my house on 06 August 1995, at
around 6 o’clock in the afternoon because I saw that everybody was leaving.
Before I left, MiÊo MaliÊ had come to my place with two trucks. I asked him
then what would happen with that depot and he replied that he did not know 58
and that he did not decide on that. I also told him that I hoped he would not
blow my house up and he replied that he did not know. Then we left and he
and other two persons stayed there, near my house and I do not know what
they were doing thereaf2ter.
When I came to Serbia2, I was accommodated2 in Kosovo, in Uroπev2ac.
In 1997, MiÊo MaliÊ came to me to Uroπevac, because he was employed by
the army at that time and he heard about me and visited me. We talked about
everything, and MiÊo started crying telling me that, when all the people had
gone, the next day he had blown up all the houses where the depots had been
located, including my house and also the houses in ÆivkoviÊ Kosa owned
by Mirko MaerËiÊ and Milorad VujiÊ and in Loskunja the houses of Mirko
Brdar and DragiÊ JanjiÊ. He had been in Jurga by the house of MiÊo PajiÊ, but
he said that everything had been locked up, so he did not want to break in, but
I heard later that two houses in that village were also blown up. I did not ask
about other houses where he had his depots, since I did not know where they
were all located.
When I asked him, “MiÊo, was all that ordered to you by Dragan KovaËeviÊ,
who was the commander at that time?” he said that it all had been on him to
decide, but he could not have allowed that all those depots and ammunition
fell into “Ustashas’ hands”. I asked him how he had managed to do all that and
he said that he had had time fuses set per the hour and he had been blowing up
the depots in intervals, otherwise had he blown everything at the same time,
the entire village wou2ld have been blown up2.
All those houses were blown up on 07 August 1995 in the morning hours
when all of us were more or less gone, only Stanko ÆivkoviÊ aka UËo /Teach-
er/ remained here, in the village, he hid in the woods above the village because
he did not want to go anywhere, so he could hear or see all that. As a result of
all those explosions, around 20 houses were damaged in Loskunja and Æivko-
viÊ Kosa.
Police Officer
Pero Medved
/illegible signature/
/Some lines in the ori2ginal document are u2nderlined in handwri2ting/ 59
ANNEX 22:
offi CiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by m.V.
/Coat of Arms/
THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
miNiStry of thE iNtErior
POLICE ADMINISTRATION OF KARLOVAC
POLICE STATION OF KARLOVAC
Number: 511-05-07/1-5- /04
01 April 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen M.V. _______________________________,
(First and last name)
byoccupation: housewife________________________________________,
born on: ... with the residence/domicile in
____________Krnjak____________________________________________,
street ... _________________,ber ...__________,
on 29March2004, in thefamilyhousein...________________,
(Place where the information was p)ovided
referring to her leaving the RH during the “Oluja” /Storm/ VRA /Military-
Police Operation/,
gave to the police officer of the Karlovac PP /Police Station/________,
(Name of the organisational unit
the following information:
“During the war I lived in ... with my husband and son until the “Storm”
VRA started, more precisely, until 07 August 1995, when I went to Serbia
with them. I and other villagers from my village did not know that the
“Oluja” VRA would occur, but they all, when seeing that the villagers from
the neighbouring village of Perjasica were leaving, loaded some of their be-
longings and spontaneously set off towards Serbia.
Prior to the beginning of the “Storm” VRA, I heard the appeals of the late RH /
Republic of Croatia/ President Franjo Tuman who called on the Serbian popu-
lation over the radio to remain at their homes, saying that nothing bad would 60
happen to them. Nobody had told us before the operation of the Croatian
Army started that we should get prepared and that we would go to Serbia,
that is, nothing was known, so we left our house without even seeing the HV /
Croatian Army/ or the police, nor did they force us to leave our houses. Since
everybody was leaving, I also set out with my family in the direction of Vo-
jniÊ, Gvozd, Topusk2o and further on towa2rds Serbia.
We were not maltreated anywhere by the HV or the police, but the said in-
dividuals appealed to us to return to our houses telling us that nothing bad
would happen to us and that they would provide us with the police escort to
our homes. Unfortunat2ely, we did not list2en to them and we went2 to Serbia.
I returned with my family to the RH, that is, to my home sometime in 1998
and we have never had any problems with the individuals of Croatian nation-
ality from the neighbouring Croatian villages. Upon our return to the RH, we
had a police escort up to our house and they also regularly visited us thereaf-
ter, so we have never h2ad any problems.”
Police Officer
CrnkoviÊ Tomislav
/signed/
/Some lines in the ori2ginal document are u2nderlined in handwri2ting/ 61
ANNEX 23:
of fiCiAl NotE of thE StAtEmENt by t.C.
/Coat of Arms/
THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
miNiStry of thE iNtErior
POLICE ADMINISTRATION OF KARLOVAC
POLICE STATION OF DUGA RESA
Number: 511-05-08/2-5- 1141/04
Duga Resa, 29 March 2004
offiCiAl NotE
Citizen T.C. +___________________________________,
(First and last name)
byoccupation: worker___________________________________________,
bornon: ... , withtheresidence/domicilein______________
________BariloviÊ__________________________,street______________
... ________________________,number bb/nonumber/__,
on 24 March 2004_____ in ...__________,
(lace where the information was provided)
referring to his leaving home during the “Oluja” /Storm/ VRA /Military-Po-
lice Operation/ to FRY /Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/__________
gave to the police officer of the Duga Resa PP /Police Station/____________
(Name of the organisational unit
the following information:
“When the “Storm” VRA started, I set out on a tractor towards the FRY to-
gether with my wife, and so did all the other villagers of ..., since that had
been arranged several days prior to the beginning of the “Storm” VRA.
Sveto DræaiÊ, Commander-in-Chief of the Kordun Corps, that is, of the de-
fence of the place of ... and beyond had told the villagers of ... several days
prior to the “Storm” VRA that in case of an attack we all had to leave our
houses and form a column and set off towards Dvor na Uni, which we did.
Immediately after the attack of the Croatian Army started, I left my
residence in ... and set off in a column towards Dvor na Uni. On our 62
way, to be more precise I think it was in the place of Æirovac, we met the RH
MUP /Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia/ members and one of
them asked me why I was going towards Bosnia when I could go back home,
and then he said that he, as well as the President of the RH guaranteed me
that I could return to my house and that the state guaranteed us our safe stay
in the RH. On that occasion, the same policeman provided us in the column
with some food and water and asked if we needed a doctor. The said police-
men behaved extremely correctly, and they offered us to stay in the RH which
I refused and so did all the others because we were afraid of the Army of the
Krajina SAO /Serbian Autonomous District,/ which specifically insisted that
we leave the RH immediately, saying that we would return to the RH soon. /
Translator’s note: t2he remark next to thi2s section reads: THI2S/
I would like to mention that the villagers who left the RH at the time of the
“Storm” VRA had a possibility to stay in their homes, but they left their hous-
es wilfully although the state of Croatia guaranteed them a safe stay. This fact
could be corroborated by some other villagers who were leaving the RH to the
FRY during the “Storm” VRA, but the said individuals are afraid of retaliation
and the like. I am prepared to state this before any authorities, court or in any
other proceedings.
Police Officer
Zdravko KasuniÊ
/signed/
/Some lines in the ori2ginal document are u2nderlined in handwri2ting./ 63
ANNEX 24:
EXCErpt from ElECtroNiC SurVEillANCE CENtrE,
trANSCript for EAStErN SlAVoNiA, 4 AuguSt 1995
unclassified
04.08.95 09:50:00 1180 119. Corps
During this afternoon in village Markusica should begin evacuation of the
civilian population2.
04.08.95 20:19:00 1200 11.C9orps
Participant who informs from village Tenja, member of the 43 Military Po-
lice Brigade, states as a new information that Osijek was shelled with three
mortar mines from the village Tenja, and that the evacuation from the village
had been performed.
04.08.95 12:43:00 1185 911. Corps
The information about beginning of the evacuation at 15:00 am from the vil-
lage Tenja near Osije2k was confirmed.
04.08.05:57:00 1174 11. C9orps
From interviews of unknown participants to the frequency used by the troops
43.brigade I am extracting the following “all have been evacuated ..... it came
to the civilian prot2ection staff to evacu2ate, everything except2 ......Borovo. “.
05.05.95 12:30:00 539 11.9 Corps
Due to the possible war activities, evacuation of the civilian population is into
force in Vukovar.
040895 23:45:00 1211 195. Corps
From the village Vrhovine about 3,000 people had been evacuated in PlitviËki
Ljeskovac. There they do not have fuel, water and food and no plans to what
to do next. Help has 2been sought from Comm2and of the 15th Corp2s. 64
ANNEX 25:
EVACuAtioN plAN of thE 31 iNfANtry brigADE CommAND,
18 fEbruAry 1993, togEthEr With thE plAN DrAWN up by thE
“CZ StAff, pEtriNJA DEpArtmENt”, fEbruAry 19936566676869707172737475 76
ANNEX 26:
A utotrANSport bENKoVAC to thE “CriSiS StAff of thE
bENKoVAC muNiCipAl ASSEmbly”, plAN of EVACuAtioN of
thE CiViliAN populAtioN, 26 JANuAry 1993
AUTOTRANSPORT BENK2OVAC /?REPUBLIC OF SERBI2AN
KRAJINA/
7. October Street no. 23 /?MINISTRY OF DEFEN2CE/
Benkovac Strictly confidential2 no.22/92
Benkovac, 27 January 2 1993
To: CRISIS STAFF OF2 THE
BENKOVAC
SO /Municipal Assemb2ly/
Plan for evacuation
of the civilian popu2lation
Autotransport hast its disposal in Benkovac six buses with drivers who are
permanently on duty:2
10-294 Driver: Novica BahiÊ2 Telephone: 81-688
10-282 Driver Duπan Uzelac Telephone: 82-053
10-332 Driver: Vukπa Bogdan2 Telephone: 82-057
10-/illegible/ Driver: »aponja Mile2
10-338 Driver: Tampolja Jov2o
10-174/263 Driver: Æivko ©ariÊ 2IGM
School bus Driver: Dobre MomËilo2 /handwritten: School/2
Reserves
10-447 Driver: Pupovac Jank2o Medvia
10-293 Driver: Graovac Ratk2o Brgud
10-372 Driver: ©aponja Mile2 Pristeg
10-268 Driver: LacmanoviÊ J2anko Liπane T/injske/
10-292 Driver: KolundæiÊ Lj2ubomir Koælovac 77
In the event of evacua2tion vehicles shall 2be parked at the foll2owing
locations:
10-282 Driver:Uzelac InfrontofthePharmacy
10-338 Driver: Tampolja Barice
10-332 Driver: Vukπa Barice
10-294 Driver: BaniÊ Police Social Centre
10-174/263 Driver: ©ariÊ Bus station
School bus Driver: Dobre Bus station
Capacity of vehicles2: 70-90 passengers
Should the evacuation become large-scale and limited by time, the closest
buses shall be used:
10-293 Driver: Graovac Ratk2o Brgud
10-292 Driver: KolundæiÊ Lj2ubomir
10-372 Driver: ©aponja Mile2 Pristeg
Each vehicle is provided with 100 litres of fuel, which is enough to travel 200-
300 kilometres.
Benkovac, 26 January2 1993
Director
Duπan Sinobad
/initialled and stam2ped/ 78
ANNEX 27:
r EpubliCAN CiViliAN protECtioN StAff, ASSESSmENt of
thrEAtS AND poSSibilitiES for protECtioN AND rESCuE,
KNiN, AuguSt 1994798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109 110
ANNEX 28:
orDEr of thE rEpubliCAN CZ StAff, StriCtly CoNfiDENtiAl,
KNiN, 1 mAy 1995
/in handwriting/: 0929-1995-05-003
THE REPUBLIC OF SE2RBIAN KRAJINA
CIVILIAN PROTECTIO2N MAIN STAFF
Number: Strictly Con2fidential 01-44/95
Knin, 1st May 19952
TO: ALL CIVILIAN PROTE2CTION
REGIONAL STAFFS
Due to the situation caused by the aggression of the Croatian Army on the
“Western Slavonia”, 2it is herewith
O R D E R E D
1. Activate - mobilise all regional and municipal civilian protection staffs with
the following tasks:2
- introduce the perm2anent duty rosters;
- take organised and preparatory measures and actions to carry out all the
measures of protection and rescuing with the focus on sheltering, evacuating
and providing for t2he population;
- establish the situation and possibilities of engagement of the companies and
organisations of int2erest for protection a2nd rescuing;
- carry out the preparations for the mobilisation of the Civilian Protection
units (not to be car2ried out without the 2consent of this Staf2f);
- establish the cooperation with the commands of the SVK /Serbian Krajina
Army/ units;
2. Submit the daily reports on the completion of the tasks outlined under Item
1, the events and taken measures to this Staff by 19:00 hrs, and interim reports
when necessary. Submit the daily reports by 19:00 hrs and the interim reports
when necessary. Submit the reports through the Centre for Intelligence /sen-
tence is not finished/.2 111
3. Organise the food for the engaged manpower through the corresponding
SVK units.
CHIEF
Duπko BabiÊ
Submit to:
1. Regional Staff of “S2. Dalmacija” /North2ern Dalmatia/
2. Regional Staff of the CZ /Civilian Protection/ of “Lika”, “Kordun”, “Ban-
ija”, “Western Slavonia”, “Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syr-
mia” 112
ANNEX 29:
NEWS rEport iN thE SloVENiAN NEWSpApEr DElo, 7 AuguSt
1995
DELO - Slovenian new2spaper 7 August 19925
BANJA LUKA, August2 7
This morning at Bosanski Petrovac the airplanes of the so called Army of
Republic Srpska bombed the convoy of the so called Army of Republic Srp-
ska - Krajina which was retreating from Croatia. Colonel Vlado BabiÊ who
lead the convoy, which in addition to soldiers included also more than 1000
civilians, reported that twenty minutes prior to the attack Æivomir NinkoviÊ
the commander of the military aviation of the so called Army of Republic
Srpska ordered the soldiers to retreat with the civilians back to the Croatian
territory or he will attack them for desertion. Colonel BabiÊ also claims that
the Serbian aviation used cassette bombs during the attack. He also reported
that there were more than 20 persons killed and more than 100 injured dur-
ing the three attacks. We were also informed that a rapid court was formed
in Banja Luka which already convicted 20 soldiers and lower officers of the
so called Army of Republic Srpska for deserting their posts around Knin and
Benkovac. (K. M.) 113
English Translation ANNEX 30: ET 0604-5180-0604-5184
r Eport oN thE EmploymENt of rh ArmED forCES militAry
poliCE uNitS iN Storm, 11 AuguSt 1995
English Translation11; forwarded to /illegible/; 4; 07 ET 0604-5180-0604-5184
/Hand-written/: 45/11; forwarded to /illegible/; 4; 07 Defense
MINI€TR‚ OF DEFEN€Eƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ Militar„ €e…ret
†A‡REB €tri…tl„ Confidential
REPUBLIC OF CROATIA Defense
MINI€TR‚ OF DEFEN€Eƒ ƒ€TRATION ƒ ƒ ƒ Militar„ €e…ret
†A‡REB €P Ž0-01/‘5-15Ž €tri…tl„ Confidential
MILITAR‚ POLICE ADMINI€TRATION ˆOl‰Ša‹ /€torŒ/
Class: €P Ž0-01/‘5-15Ž
Ref’ no’ 51“-1‘/01-‘5- 51Ž
- To t•e RH /Re–‰bli… of Croatia/ Minister of Defense” Mr ‡oŠ—o ˜U˜A™
†agreb” 11’0Ž’1‘‘5’
- Head of ‡€Hš /Main €taff of Croatian ArŒ„/” ‡eneral †›oniŒir ERšEN™O
- Head of HI€ /Croatian InforŒation €er›i…e/” Dr Mirosla› TU MAN
- To t•e RH /Re–‰bli… of Croatia/ Minister of Defense” Mr ‡oŠ—o ˜U˜A™
- Head of ‡€Hš /Main €taff of Croatian ArŒ„/” ‡eneral †›oniŒir ERšEN™O
- Head of HI€ /Croatian InforŒation €er›i…e/” Dr Mirosla› TU MANof t•e Re–‰bli… of
- Assistant to t•e Minister for €e…‰rit„” Brigadier Mar—i…a REBI
- Head of Politi…al AdŒinistration of MORH /Ministr„ of Defense of t•e Re–‰bli… of
Croatia/”ƒMaŠor ‡eneral ŒHšž I›an TOLŸ
Subject: Employment of the RH OS /Armed Forces/ Military Police units in the
- Head of MORH €I€ /€e…‰rit„ and InforŒation €er›i…e/”ƒColonel Ante ‡U‡I Ć
“Oluja” Operation.
Subject: Employment of the RH OS /Armed Forces/ Military Police units in the
“Oluja” Operation.UVP /Military police Administration/, class: SP 80-0€/‚ƒ-€ƒ8
Ref.no. ƒ€„-€‚/0€-‚ƒ-ƒ0‚, dated €0.08.€‚‚ƒ.
Reference: Report UVP /Military police Administration/, class: SP 80-0€/‚ƒ-€ƒ8
Ref.no. ƒ€„-€‚/0€-‚ƒ-ƒ0‚, dated €0.08.€‚‚ƒ.s of t•e Œilitar„ –oli…e and t•e –arts of t•e
general Œilitar„ –oli…e w•o –arti…i–ated in t•e …oŒbat a…ti›ities of t•e ˆOl‰Ša‹
O–eration d‰ring 10’0Ž’1‘‘5 •a›e been wit•drawn and gi›en a “4-•o‰r lea›e to
T•e ŒeŒbers of t•e anti-terrorist forŒations of t•e Œilitar„ –oli…e and t•e –arts of t•e
general Œilitar„ –oli…e w•o –arti…i–ated in t•e …oŒbat a…ti›ities of t•e ˆOl‰Ša‹
O–eration d‰ring 10’0Ž’1‘‘5 •a›e been wit•drawn and gi›en a “4-•o‰r lea›e to
s‰bseq‰entl„ be engaged in Œo––ing ‰– – sear…• of t•e territor„ in t•e area of
res–onsibilit„ aiŒing to find and destro„ eneŒ„ gro‰–s and indi›id‰als’berated territor„
t•
of t•e RH •as been …oŒ–leted’ T•e šP –latoon of t•e 67 Battalion of t•e †agreb šP
was …reated in D›or na Uni at “0:00 •o‰rs on 10’0Ž’1‘‘5’
T•e –ro…ess of forŒing t•e ‰nits of t•e Œilitar„ –oli…e in t•e newl„ liberated territor„
t•
of t•e RH •as been …oŒ–leted’ T•e šP –latoon of t•e 67 Battalion of t•e †agreb šP
was …reated in D›or na Uni at “0:00 •o‰rs on 10’0Ž’1‘‘5’
OTP/DVU 1 of 5
OTP/DVU 1 of 5 114
English Translation ET 0604-5180-0604-5184
1. Security of the protected persons and installations and the inspection of the
surrendered enemy forces and civilians
1.1. On 10./11.08.1995, the security of the movement of the columns of the
st
surrendered members of the so-called 21 Corps and civilians from Topusko in the
direction of Glina-Petrinja-Sisak-Kutina-Sl. Brod-€ipovac has been continued.
Four columns of the above mentioned persons left the territory of the Republic
of Croatia as follows:
st
- The 1 column at 10‚ƒ5 hours
nd
- The 2 column at 1„‚10 hours
rd
- The „ column at 1ƒ‚„0 hours
th
- The ƒ column at 1…‚50 hours
Other columns continue moving through the RH as follows:
- The 5 thcolumn is currently under†oin† inspection and leavin† the territory of the
‡ˆ.
- The ‰ column Šith 9 personal vehicles, ƒ frei†ht vehicles, and 10ƒ tractors, Šith
about ‰00 persons, is on the Sl. Brod - ‹upanja hi†h-Šay.
- The … column Šith ƒ personal vehicles, 1 frei†ht vehicle, and 1‰1 tractors, Šith the
total of 855 persons, are in Sl. Brod.
The 8 th column Šith 21 personal vehicles, 19„ tractors and the total of 1085 persons is
betŠeen GradiŒka and Sl. Brod.
- The 9 column Šith … personal vehicles, 1 frei†ht vehicle, and 10ƒ tractors, Šith the
total of 5‰0 persons, is at the hi†h-Šay near Oku ani.č
- The 10 column Šith 19personal vehicles, „ frei†ht vehicles, and 9 of our buses
transportin† enemy soldiers, Šith a total of ƒ20 persons, is in €ipovac, Šhere their
crossin† to the so-called Ž‡ ‘u†oslavia is e’pected as Šell as the return of our buses.
- The 11 th column Šith 5 personal vehicles, ƒ frei†ht vehicles, and 129 tractors, Šith
the total of ‰85 persons is in €ipovljani
- The 12 th column Šith 1ƒ personal vehicles, ƒ frei†ht vehicles, and 12„ tractors, Šith
the total of …15 persons, is in Kutina.
OTP/DVU 2 of 5 115
English Translation ET 0604-5180-0604-5184
- The 13 column in Petrinja.
- The 14 column in Glina.
Also, we expect another 3-4 columns which are being prepared in Topusko.
On 10.08.1995 about 22:30 hours, an unidentified person fired 5-€ bullets at the
st
column of the surrendered members of the so-called 21 ‚orps on the high-waƒ near
„…elengaj† ‡otel, ˆelika ‰opanica ‡unicipalitƒ. Šƒ a swift action of the ˆP patrol
th
on the spot, it was established that ‹ergeant ŒŽan ‘’“A”•–ˆŒ , member of the 10
dp —˜ome Guard ’egiment— opened fire at the column. The aboŽe mentioned person
was criminallƒ charged and taken to the ŒnŽestigatiŽe •udge of the ‡ilitarƒ ‚ourt.
2. Security of protected persons, representatives of the press, and foreign
delegations
- ‹ecuritƒ of the delegation of the –mbassƒ of the ’epublic of Poland on the route
…agreb-‹lunj-…agreb
- ‹ecuritƒ of the groups of foreign and domestic journalists on the following routes:
…agreb-‰arloŽac-‹lunj-’akoŽica-PetroŽo ‹elo-Šiha , ć
…agreb-ˆ.Gorica-‹isak-Petrinja-…agreb, and
…adar-™ibenik-‘rniš-‰nin-…adar
- ‹ecuritƒ of the ‘eputƒ Prime ‡inister of ’˜ ‡r Šosiljko ‡Œ™–TŒ with his
assistants on the route ‰arloŽac-Turanj-‰rnjak-‰upljensko,
- ‹ecuritƒ of the –› Ambassador ’aul ‹AŒ‚˜–… on the route
‹plit-™ibenik-‘rniš-‰nin-‹plAit.
3. The arrest and the escort of the members of paramilitary units
On 10.08.1995., at 20:00, a total of 1042 persons were escorted to the reception
centers in the liberated territorƒ of the ’˜. Out of this number:
- 304 persons in reception centers are being criminallƒ processed
- 225 persons haŽe been taken to the ŒnŽestigatiŽe •udge of the ‡ilitarƒ ‚ourt
- 1€ persons are in medical centers
- 4€9 persons are in reception centers for ciŽilians
OTP/DVU 3 of 5 116
English Translation ET 0604-5180-0604-5184
- 27 civilians have been discharged to join their relatives, with the approval of the
Split-Dalmatia PU /Police Administration/
- 1 person died in the Šibenik MC /Medical Center/ due to wounding during the
operation “Oluja”
€wo people, members of paramilitar‚ units, died due to eƒhaustion and general bad
st
health conditions „ one at the Command of the 1…1 †rigade, and the other - escorted
st
b‚ the members of the 1…1 †rigade and the S‡S „ on the wa‚ to the reception centerˆ
‰ˆ1ˆ ‡n the area of Šelika ‹laduŒa „ Cetingrad „ Žohovo „ ‹estenovec, there are
civilians and members of the so-called “‘ational Defense” of the ’estern †osniaˆ
€he militar‚ police is securing them, in cooperation with the units of the “Š, the‚
medicall‚ assist the wounded and are escorting them, together with the civilian police,
to the medical centers in ‹arlovacˆ
€he members of the so-called “‘ational Defense” have surrendered the heav‚
weaponr‚, infantr‚ weapons, and M”S /mines and eƒplosives/ to the units of the
‹arlovac •P /Militar‚ District/ˆ
4. Traffic security
During 1…ˆ…–ˆ1——˜, the units of the militar‚ police conducted traffic securit‚ during –
inspections of the “Š columnsˆ €he task was performed without traffic jams and
difficultiesˆ
5. Killed and wounded
On 1…ˆ…–ˆ1——˜, one member of the ™™ th†attalion of the ŠP wounded himself while
taking over the automatic rifle surrendered b‚ a member of a paramilitar‚ unitˆ
th
Another member of the ™™ battalion of the ŠP wounded himself while handling a
handgun in an inappropriate wa‚ˆ
“”AD
Major šeneral
OTP/DVU 4 of 5 117
English Translation ET 0604-5180-0604-5184
/Signed/
Mate LAUŠI Ć
/Hand-written/: 113
It is hereby certified that this copy is identical to the original document.
In Zagreb, on 4.9.2€€‚.
/Stamped, stamp reading/: ƒepublic of „roatia
Ministry of …efense
Zagreb
OTP/DVU 5 of 5 118
ANNEX 31:
orDEr of thE miNiStry of thE iNtErior EStAbliShiNg rE-
CEptioN CENtrES, 5 AuguSt 1995119 120
ANNEX 32:
proCEDurE for iNDiViDuAl rEturN of thE pErSoNS Who
lEft thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA (mANDAtory iNStruCtioNS),
ZAgrEb, 14 mAy 1998
/coat-of-arms/
goVErNmENt of thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA
At its session held on 27 April 1998, the Government of the Republic of
Croatia set forth the Procedure for Individual Return of the Persons Who Left
the Republic of Croatia. Subsequently, at its session held on 14 May 1998,
the Government passed Mandatory Instructions on Obtaining Documents Re-
quired For the “Procedure for the Individual Return of Persons Who Left the
Republic of Croatia”, the contents of which are disclosed below in their en-
tirety:
MANDATORY INSTRUCT2IONS ON OBTAINING 2REQUIRED DOCU-
MENTS FOR THE PROC2EDURE FOR THE INDI2VIDUAL RETURN OF
PERSONS WHO LEFT T2HE REPUBLIC OF CRO2ATIA
With a view to fully and correctly comply with the Procedure for Individual
Return of the Persons Who Left the Republic of Croatia set forth at the ses-
sion of the Government of the Republic of Croatia held on 27 April 1998, the
Government of the Repu2blic of Croatia hereb2y issues the followin2g
MANDATORY INSTRUCT2IONS
I
Cases in which, based on submitted documents, irrefutable evidence shows
that the person undergoing the procedure for individual return is a Croatian
citizen.
1. when such person is registered in the Register of Croatian Citizens, which
shall be established 2by ex officio the Ministry of the 2Interior;
2. when, pursuant to the provision of Article 30 of the Croatian Citizenship
Act, such person acquired Croatian citizenship in accordance with the
laws in force prior to the entry into force of the Croatian Citizenship Act
(8 October 1991), and has provided evidence that Croatian citizenship
was acquired earlier, by a certificate of Croatian citizenship issued by the
competent authority o2f the former Socialis2t Republic of Croati2a;
3. when, pursuantto Item 3 of the Procedure for Individual Return, such per-
son has a certificate of citizenship issued in accordance with provisions of
the Croatian Citizen2ship Act; 121
4. when, pursuanttoItem3oftheProcedureforIndividualReturn,suchper-
son has an identity card issued in accordance with provisions of Identity
Card Act;
5. when, pursuant to Item 3 of the Procedure for Individual Return, such per-
son has a valid passport issued in accordance with provisions of the Act
on Travel Documents f2or Croatian Citizens2.
Pursuant to Item 3 of the Procedure for Individual Return, when a request
for return is based on one of the abovementioned documents which, accord-
ing to the regulations in force in the Republic of Croatia, represents proof of
Croatian citizenship (other than a valid passport), the respective diplomatic
office of the Republic of Croatia shall issue a laissez passer document without
delay to the applicant to allow him to return to the Republic of Croatia, and
shall inform the Min2istry of the Interior2 accordingly.
NOTE: Pursuant to the Travel Documents Act, a laissez passer is a travel
document issued to a Croatian citizen abroad without a valid travel document,
for the purpose of his return to the Republic of Croatia. The laissez passer is
valid for 30 days from the date of issue. The applicant may repeatedly submit
a request for a new laissez passer under the same condi2tions.
II
Cases where the applicant does not have any of the documents listed in Item I
of these Instructions, or is not registered in the Register of Croatian Citizens,
or such register is 2non-existent (damaged2, destroyed, stolen, e2tc.).
In such cases the applicant shall submit any of the documents listed in Item
4 of the Procedure for Individual Return that may serve to establish his or
her citizenship status, in accordance with the Croatian Citizenship Act. Such
documents include:
a. Expired identity car2d;
b. Expired passport or 2other document;
c. Certificate of permanen2t residency;
d. Employment record book2;
e. Seaman’s book;
f. Maritime book;
g. Driver’s license;
h. Military identity b2ooklet of the former SF2RY;
i. Trade license or another permit for professional or other business activity;
j. Birth certificate; 122
k. Marriage certificate;
l. School diploma or an2other certificate of ed2ucation;
m. Proof of ownership of a residential building, apartment or another real es-
tate.
Pursuant to Item 6 of the Procedure for Individual Return, the Ministry of the
Interior may decide on the application for establishing Croatian citizenship
upon review of official records kept by the Republic of Croatia, or in another
suitable manner (suc2h as applicant’s i2dentification by a wi2tness, etc.).
Pursuant to Item 5 of the Procedure for Individual Return, the respective dip-
lomatic office shall forward the request with the abovementioned accompa-
nying documents to the Ministry of the Interior for further processing. The
Ministry of the Interior shall establish the applicant’s citizenship status in ac-
cordance with provisions of the Croatian Citizenship Act typically within two
months, and within 2three months at the l2atest.
Once the applicant’s citizenship status is established, the Ministry of the In-
terior shall inform the respective diplomatic office about it, with the purpose
of issuing a laissez passer without any delay for the applicant’s return to the
Republic of Croatia, and the Ministry of Administration for the applicant’s
entry into the Register of Croatian Citizens and the issue of a certificate of
citizenship.
If conditions for acquiring Croatian citizenship are not met, the Ministry of
the Interior shall deny the application for Croatian citizenship by issuing a
ruling against which an administrative dispute may be initiated with the Ad-
ministrative Court of the Republic of Croatia within 30 days from the day the
ruling was served.
For the duration of the procedure for establishing Croatian citizenship and the
issue of a laissez passer, the applicant shall be exempt from administrative fees.
The competent authorities shall issue the required personal documents to the
person who has been granted the right to return to the Republic of Croatia
upon his or her return, without delay, in a regular procedure and according to
the regulations in f2orce in the Republic 2of Croatia.
III
If criminal proceedings are ongoing against a person who has filed a request
for the return to the Republic of Croatia for committing a punishable act of the
gravest violation of humanitarian rights qualified as war crime, and the person
has Croatian citizenship, such person shall be allowed to return to the Repub-
lic of Croatia, which does not rule out the possibility of conducting criminal
proceedings for the ab2ovementioned crimes. 123
If the person against whom criminal proceedings are conducted for punish-
able acts involving the gravest violation of humanitarian rights qualified as
war crime is not a Croatian citizen, or if there are no grounds for granting him
or her Croatian citizenship, his or her request for Croatian citizenship shall be
denied pursuant to Article 26, Paragraph 2 of the Croatian Citizenship Act,
since it is contrary to the interests of the Republic of Croatia to grant Croatian
citizenship to person2s accused of war cri2mes.
NOTE: The procedure for Croatian citizenship shall be temporarily discon-
tinued until a final ruling is reached by judiciary bodies establishing whether
or not this person committed a crime of the gravest violation of humanitarian
rights qualified as 2war crime.
IV
As concerns issues that have not been directly addressed in these Instructions,
the Procedure for Individual Return of the Persons Who Left the Republic of
Croatia shall apply2.
Class: 019-04/98-01/024
File no: 5030107-98-3
Zagreb, 14 May 19982
President
mr.sc. ZlatkoMateπa,m.p.
NOTE: The text of the procedure for individual return of the persons who left the Republic of
Croatia is available upon request in the offices of the Consular Department of the Embassy of
the Republic of Croat2ia in Belgrade. 124
ANNEX 33:
StAtuS rEport of thE hEAD of thE oSCE offiCE iN ZAgrEb to
thE oSCE pErmANENt CouNCil, 22 NoVEmbEr 2011125126127128129130131132 133
ANNEX 34:
C roAtiA’S pErioDiC rEport to thE EuropEAN CommiSSioN
oN thE fulfilmENt of obligAtioNS AriSiNg from ChAptEr
23, “JuDiCiAry AND fuNDAmENtAl rightS”, mArCh 2012
goVErNmENt of thE rEpubliC of CroAtiA
pErioDiCAl rEport
oN thE fulfilmENt of obligAtioNS AriSiNg from
ChAptEr 23 - JuDiCiAry AND fuNDAmENtAl rightS
Zagreb, March 2012 134
[...]
iV. proCEEDiNgS of NAtioNAl CASES of WAr CrimES
Croatia is committed to investigation, prosecution and punishment of all war
crimes committed during the war and the armed conflict in Croatia, regardless
of the ethnicity of p2erpetrators and their2 superiors.
Croatia continues with proceedings in war crimes cases based on the es-
tablished strategic framework from the Strategy for the Investigation
and Prosecution of War Crimes Committed in the Period from 1991 to
1995. The strategic framework established an operational structure, es-
sential for an efficient investigation and prosecution of still uninvestigat-
ed or unprosecuted war crimes. The system guarantees future long-term
efforts of all competent authorities focused on an efficient prosecuting of
all war crimes perpetrators and their superiors regardless of their ethnic-
ity. The war crimes data base has been completed and is used in daily
operation.
The implementation of 2the Strategy is noti2ceable from the stati2stical data.
In the period from September of 2011 to February of 2012 criminal investiga-
tion was completed and indictments issued in one national case (fall of Vuk-
ovar) and in two cases on county level (Promina, and VukmaniÊ, Knez Gorica,
Cerovac VukmaniÊki, Goljak Turanski, Jelaπi, LemiÊ Brdo Kamensko).
During the mentioned period the State Attorney’s Office of RoC issued in-
dictments in five cases, of which one on the national level (Sisak 1991/1992)
and four on the regional level (Kerestinec, Saborsko, Logor BileÊa and Zat-
vor Kuline). In October of 2011, according to provisions of the Agreement
on Cooperation in Prosecuting Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes Against
Humanity and Genocide, the State Attorney’s Office of RoC submitted to the
Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia, the data and
evidence in cases in which the indictment was issued in Croatia for crimes
committed in camps located in Serbia. The County State Attorney's Office in
Zagreb filled a motion for investigative detention against 2 persons on suspi-
cion of having committed war crimes under article 120 ( crime against civil-
ians) and 122 (crime against war prisoners) during military operation "DÆEP
93" (the case MedaËki2 Dæep).
Ten non-final judgements were rendered during the same period, of which
seven judgements at specialised courts. Systematic usage of specialised courts
from the beginning of 2011 to February of 2012 resulted in 52 requests for the
transfer of territori2al jurisdiction to 2four specialised cour2ts.
The amendments to the Act on Implementing the Statute of the International
Criminal Court and on Prosecution of Criminal Offences Against Inter- 135
national War and Humanitarian Law from October of 2011 stipulate the
territorial and exclusive jurisdiction of the four specialised war crimes courts,
ensure automatic transfer of cases which the Supreme Court of RoC returns
for a retrial to these four courts, and explicitly allow for evidence gathered by
the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to be
used in criminal pr2oceedings in Croatia.2
Based on the State Attorney’s Office Act (OG 76/09, 153/09, 116/10, 145/10,
57/11 and 130/11) and the State Attorney’s Office Rules of Procedure (OG
156/09, 61/11 and 141/11), specialised war crimes departments in county
stateattorney’sofficeswereestablishedatthefourspecialisedcourts(Osijek,
Rijeka, Split and Z2agreb).
On 17 January 2012 the State Attorney’s Office of RoC issued a General
Instruction About the Procedure and Handling of War Crimes Cases, pre-
scribing the procedure for cases in which a new criminal charge is issued,
explaining the procedure the state attorneys follow, and determining jurisdic-
tion for inquiries and procedure in cases in which an investigation order was
not issued, as well as in cases in which investigation or the main hearing are
ongoing. Moreover, in cases whose importance, complexity or publicity is
taken into consideration along with familiarity with the case by deputies who
had worked on these cases earlier, rulings will be issued about the initial pro-
cedure for deputies who had worked on the cases previously, allowing them to
continue representing those cases at currently competent courts. The first such
ruling was issued in a case at the County State Attorney’s Office in Zadar on
18 January 2012, based on which the deputy state attorney who continuously
worked on the case was authorised to continue working on the case at the
County Court in Spl2it.
The implementation of the Action plan on Appointing Ex Officio Defence
Attorneys in War Crimes Cases continued in order to ensure high-quality
defence. In the previous period, 12 ex officio defence attorneys were appointed
in seven cases at cou2nty courts in Karlo2vac, Sisak, Zadar 2and Zagreb.
The system of protection and support for witnesses and victims of war
crimes is fully functional. In early 2012, among 180 participating countries,
Croatia won an acknowledgement of the UNDP executive committee for the
best project within which offices for legal and psychological help for wit-
nesses and victims o2f violence were founded2.
Although the State Attorney’s Office of RoC completed the revision of cases
in absentia, motions for renewed proceedings will continue to be filed wher-
ever a legal basis ex2ists. 136
regional cooperatio9n
Croatia continued the regional cooperation with institutions in neighbouring
countries in the area2 of the judiciary.
With the aim of further developing cooperation in the region, the program of
the State Attorney’s Office of RoC for using the war crimes data base was
made available to nei2ghbouring countries 2for free.
The Regional Conference on Prosecuting War Crimes was held in Belgrade
on 16 September 2011, with the participation of representatives from NGOs,
the international com2munity and prosecuto2r offices from the regi2on.
A workshop on judicial cooperation in criminal matters in SEE was held in
Belgrade on 7 and 8 November 2011, at which the representatives of the Min-
istry of Justice participated. One of the workshop topics was bilateral coop-
eration in criminal matters among countries in the region, where modalities of
future gatherings were determined, to continue discussions about open issues.
The representatives of the State Attorney’s Office of RoC, along with War
Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia visited Kopenhagen in Denmark from
23 to 25 January 2012, to question members of the Danish peace-keeping
battalion, stationed at Dvor na Uni in August of 1995, where unidentified
military members killed twelve civilians, most of whom were handicapped.
Further cooperation between the two prosecution offices will continue in
this case.
An informal meeting was held on Jahorina in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 3
February 2012 between the presidents of Croatia, Serbia and the Presidency of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian President, Mr. Ivo JosipoviÊ presented
an initiative for improving regional cooperation in the field of processing war
crimes, through the 2conclusion of an int2ernational agreement. 2
The OSCE office in Zagreb closed on 31 December 2011, which shows both
determination and readiness of Croatia to investigate and prosecute war
crimes. Croatia continued to maintain an open dialogue with NGOs whose
interest is to monito2r Croatian accompli2shments in this field2.
missing persons
Th e preliminary identity of 43 persons was determined, whose remains were
exhumed from mass, individual and common graves in Croatia. A total of
40 invited families who managed to confirm the identity of their family
members, participated in the identification.. Of the 40 positively identified
persons, 12 were missing persons/casualties from 1991/92, (mostly of Croa-
tian ethnicity) while 28 were missing persons/casualties from 1995 (mostly
ethnic Serbs). 137
With the aim of providing information to associations of families of missing
persons about the effects and further activities in the search process, a meet-
ing was held in Novi Sad on 3 November 2011, organised by the International
Committee for Missing Persons with the participation of representatives from
NGOs and the competent state administration bodies from Croatia and Serbia.
A meeting between the representatives from the Directorate for the Impris-
oned and Missing of the Croatian Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs, the Commit-
tee of the Serbian Government for Missing Persons, the Institute for Miss-
ing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Committee for
Missing Persons was held in Sarajevo on 8 and 9 December 2011 regarding
measures for speeding 2up the process of find2ing missing persons.2
[...] 138
plAtES 139
plate 1
tErritory illEgAlly oCCupiED by thE ‘rSK’ 140
plate 2
uNpAS iN CroAtiA
volume II