(The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources including Helsinki Watch, US Department of State, Medicins Sans Frontieres, UK Defence Debriefing, Government of Austria, and ABC News.)
Location: The Keraterm camp was located on the site of a ceramics factory, just outside the city of Prijedor. *2804 According to reports, prisoners were kept in four halls, formerly used as storehouses at the ceramics factory. *2805
Description of the Keraterm Camp: The Keraterm camp's main building was described as a single two-story rectangular brick structure, measuring approximately 200 metres long by 80 metres wide. *2806 This structure was reportedly visible from the highway. *2807 It was reported that there was also a small building located inside the gate, which had formerly been used as a guard shack. *2808
It was reported that the rooms used to house the prisoners faced the highway and were numbered 1 through 4. One pair of rooms was reportedly separated from the other by a common bathroom. *2809 The rooms reportedly had no ventilation, but had high, narrow windows that could not be opened and through which nothing could be seen without standing on an object. *2810 The only way prisoners could pass from one room to the other was reportedly by going outside and along the building to the next door. *2811
On both ends of the factory building were reportedly grass-covered areas. A concrete-paved area was reportedly in the area in the centre of the yard. *2812
The camp was said to be surrounded by a one-and one- half metre high chain-link fence topped with «concertina» wire. *2813 This fence was alternatively described as a two-metre high barbed wire fence. *2814
It was reported that there were three machine-gun posts to guard the prisoners. *2815
Number of Prisoners: The estimates of the number of prisoners held at the Keraterm camp range between 1,000 and 3,500. The reports of the number of prisoners held at the Keraterm camp vary greatly. One reason for this could be due to constant turnover of prisoners due to transfers to other camps, as well as other circumstances. For example, one subject reported that when he arrived at the camp in early July 1992, Keraterm contained an estimated 1,500 prisoners. In making this estimate, the subject noted, there was a constant turnover of prisoners, as the dead and infirm were removed and replaced with new detainees. *2816
One subject reported that when arrived at the camp from Prijedor on approximately 25 May 1992, the camp contained approximately 100 prisoners who had been arrested one day earlier. However, it was reported that the camp filled rapidly and on the day of his transfer to Omarska on 27 May 1993, there were approximately 3,500 prisoners held at the Keraterm camp. *2817 It was similarly reported by prisoners who were brought to the camp in later May 1992, that the camp held 3,000 prisoners. *2818
The following are representative examples of the number of prisoners reported at the Keraterm camp: 1,000-1,200; *2819 1,500; *2820 1,500- 3000; *2821 1,600-1,700; *2822 2,000; *2823 2,000-2,800; *2824 3,000. *2825
Sex and Age of the Prisoners: It has been generally reported that the Keraterm camp's prisoner population was all male. *2826 Most of the men at the camp were reported to be between the ages of 15 and 60. *2827
It was reported, however, that in mid-July 1992, approximately 12 to 15 Bosnian Muslim women were brought to Keraterm, raped, and transported to the Omarska camp. *2828 One woman reported that she was held at the camp for one evening and was raped by a man who she identified as Keraterm's commander. *2829
Ethnicity of Prisoners: It was generally reported that most of the prisoners at the Keraterm camp were Bosnian Muslims, with most of the remainder being Croatian. One subject who was held at the camp from 26 June 1992 until 5 July 1992 estimated that 85 per cent of the prisoners held at the camp were Bosnian Muslims and 15 per cent were Croatian. *2830
Categorization and Organization of Prisoners: One subject from Trnopolje who was held at the camp from 27 May to late July 1992 reported that there was a system at the Keraterm camp to process, identify, and house three categories of prisoners. The subject stated that at the end of May 1992, newly arrived prisoners were taken into a room to be interrogated individually. According to the subject, the questions most frequently asked during interrogation concerned the names of persons selling and buying weapons; persons who had fought against the Bosnian Serbs; persons who were members of the Muslim Party for Democratic Action (SDA); policemen; professionals and highly educated individuals such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, and engineers. After the interrogation was completed, the prisoners were reportedly classified into one of the following three categories: Category A: Prisoners who had not confessed to any crimes, were not members of the SDA, and were not professionals or highly educated individuals. (Category A was reportedly entered on their administrative records and their clothing was marked with green paint); Category B: Prisoners who had confessed during their interrogation to having fought against the Serbs, or who were members of the SDA, were policemen, or were professionals or highly educated individuals. (Catergory B was reportedly entered on their administrative records and their clothing was marked with black paint); Category C: Prisoners who were female, men over the age of 65, and boys under the age of 14 or 15. (Category C was reportedly entered on their administrative records and their clothing was marked with yellow paint). According to the subject, once the prisoners were categorized, they were sent to the holding area for their assigned category. The first section was reportedly the holding area for the Category C prisoners, the second section, the holding area for the Category A prisoners, and the third the holding area for the Category B prisoners. According to the subject, each day a group of between 30 to 40 prisoners from holding area three containing the Category B prisoners were led away with their hands tied behind their backs with wire and placed onto military trucks. The subject reported that the trucks would leave at night and return empty several hours later and the prisoners were not seen or heard from again. *2831
Room 1: It was reported that in late May 1992, the prisoners were usually placed in Room 1, which was described as approximately 80 square metres in size, with a ceiling approximately three metres high. *2832
One subject who was held at the camp from late May 1992 to August 1992 estimated that 250 prisoners were kept in Room 1. *2833
Room 2: It was reported that once Room 1 became too crowded, prisoners were moved into Room 2, which was twice as large, measuring approximately 160 square metres. According to one report, the room routinely held between 700 to 800 men and was generally used as a holding cell for prisoners awaiting interrogation. *2834 Once Rooms 1 and 2 were full, prisoners were reportedly taken from Room 2 in groups of 10 and lined up in the corridor, where they waited for interrogation. *2835 It was reported by one subject that up until 10 July 1992, the only prisoners at the camp were from Prijedor and they were concentrated in Rooms 1 and 2. At one time, it is alleged, there were approximately 1,200 prisoners crammed together into the two rooms. *2836
One subject who was held at the camp from late May 1992 to August 1992 estimated that about 500 prisoners were held in Room 2. *2837
Rooms 3 and 4: One subject who was held at the camp from late May 1992 to August 1992 estimated that about 300 prisoners were held in Room 3. *2838
It was reported that prisoners in Room 3 were given the worst treatment. *2839 It was further reported that Room 3 was used for torture and killings. *2840
It was reported that on the afternoon of 10 June 1992, Keraterm's commander ordered all prisoners to be transferred to Rooms 3 and 4. It was also reported that after the arrival of busloads of prisoners from the outskirts of Prijedor, beatings at the Keraterm camp became more harsh for all of the camp's prisoners. The day of 10 June 1992 was also reportedly significant because, from then on all of the new prisoners were reportedly sent first to Room 3 upon arrival instead of Room 1. *2841
It was also reported that before the arrival of approximately 10 busloads of prisoners from villages southwest of Prijedor, prisoners at Keraterm were not killed by bullets, but by beatings and other means. One subject reported that on 16 July, mass-scale murders began at the camp. *2842
Dates of Operation-Camp Opening: It was reported that the camp opened between approximately 20 and 26 May 1992. *2843
Origin and Movement of Prisoners: The Keraterm camp was described in one report as a kind of a collection-transit camp where most detainees were delivered upon arrest and were kept only a few days. The prisoners were usually brought to Keraterm for interrogation or until space was found at the other camps in the area. *2844 There were, however, a significant number of prisoners who were reported to have remained at the camp for extended periods of time.
Kozarusa, May 1992: One subject reported that on 20 May 1992, Serb forces began to shell the village of Kozarusa and continued to do so for two days. Thereafter, 200 male inhabitants were reportedly rounded up and packed into buses to be taken to camps, including Keraterm, Omarska and Trnopolje. An undisclosed number of villagers were taken to the Keraterm camp, where they reportedly remained for two days. According to the subject, many of the prisoners were beaten and abused by camp guards there. The subject reported that on or about 23 May, Keraterm was emptied, and about 300 prisoners were transported to the Omarska camp. *2845
Another subject reported that on 24 May 1992, Kozarusa was attacked and Muslim men were either killed or arrested. The subject reported that within hours, the men who had been arrested were taken by truck to a «makeshift» camp at the Keraterm factory. The subject stated that after being interrogated for an unspecified period of time, prisoners were transported on crowded an overheated buses to Omarska, where they arrived on 28 May 1992. *2846
Prijedor, May-June-July 1992: One subject reported that he was arrested and brought to the Prijedor police station on approximately 24 May 1992, and kept overnight in the street there with other men, women and children. The men in the group (approximately 50) were reportedly registered and abused. The next day the women and children were reportedly taken to the Trnopolje camp and the men were taken to Keraterm camp. Subject reported that he, his son, and dozens of other prisoners, were transferred to the Omarska camp on 27 May 1992. *2847
Another subject reported that he was arrested in Kozarac on 25 May 1992, and along with 50 to 60 men, women and children, were put on buses to the Prijedor police station. The men in the group were thereafter separated and abused for an undisclosed period of time. A small bus thereafter arrived and transported some of the men to the Keraterm camp. The subject reported that he was transported to the Omarska camp at 2230 hours on 27 May 1992. *2848
One subject reported that on 26 May 1992 at 8:00 p.m., JNA soldiers and armed members of the Prijedor branch of the Serbian Democratic Party began arresting residents of Kozarac and the neighbouring villages and until 3:00 a.m., over 200 persons from Kozarac and Prijedor were imprisoned at the Keraterm camp. The subject reported the number of prisoners at the camp grew with every hour, and that eventually, a large number of prisoners were held there. *2849
It was reported that on 31 May 1992, approximately 300 Bosnian Muslim men were arrested in the new section of Prijedor and were kept in the street until about 4:00 p.m.. Five buses then reportedly transported the men first to the Omarska camp where they got off the buses and re-boarded. The prisoners were then reportedly taken to the Keraterm camp where they arrived at about 10:00 p.m.. *2850
One subject reported that he and his sons and nephew were taken into custody in June 1992 by four well-armed soldiers, and interrogated at the «SUP» base. All except the subject's nephew, who was taken to another location, were let go. The subject reported that he was released on the condition that he report to the authorities via telephone daily. The subject reported that on 4 June 1992 he was arrested and taken to the Keraterm camp. *2851 In a similar report, a subject reported that in June 1992 he was arrested along with his sons and their cousin by four Serbian «special militia» and taken to the Prijedor police station by truck. The subject stated that after his arrest he was interrogated and verbally abused. The subject that he was accused of aiding Muslim forces and buying weapons for them. The subject reported that he was thereafter released with his sons but was re- arrested by the «specijalna militija» and taken back to the Prijedor police station where he was physically abused by two policemen. The subject stated that after two days, he was transferred to the Keraterm camp at about 8:00 p.m. on 6 July 1992. The subject stated that he remained at the Keraterm camp for only five hours before being taken in a police car to the Omarska camp, which was about a 30 minute drive. *2852
One subject reported that after being transported to the Omarska camp from Kozarac on approximately 3 June 1992, he was abused, and after nine days was eventually taken to the Prijedor hospital, where he reportedly spent 11 days without medical treatment. The subject was thereafter taken to the Keraterm camp. After being subjected to abuse, and being «interviewed» for an undisclosed period of time, the subject was reportedly taken to the Omarska camp again. *2853
One subject, reported that on 13 June 1992, he was taken to the Keraterm camp from his home by six Serbian policemen. *2854
A subject reported that he was arrested in Prijedor on 26 June 1992 and interrogated and beaten by a military official and a SUP official. The subject reported that on the same day, he and seven other Bosnian Muslims were taken to the Keraterm camp where their interrogation protocols were handed over to the camp administration by the accompanying guards. The subject reported that he and the other prisoners were beaten by guards upon arrival at the camp, and that three of the other prisoners were stabbed with a knife and injured. The subject reported that he was not interrogated at Keraterm and remained there until he was transferred to Omarska on 5 July 1992. *2855
Kozarac, May 1992: It was reported that on 24 May 1992, irregular Serbian forces entered entered Kozarac, shooting tanks and guns. One subject reported that on 25 May 1992 he began to evacuate a group of persons through the woods towards the Croatian border, and thereafter decided that the group should give itself up. After some members of the group were reportedly killed during its surrender, the subject reported that he was taken on a bus to the Keraterm camp. The subject reported that 120 persons spent two nights on a bus parked at the camp gate, without fresh air or water, and that on the third day, the men were taken off of the bus single file, whereupon, Serbian soldiers beat them on the back and limbs with police batons. According to the subject, the group spent two nights at Keraterm, and on the third day, he and many others were called out at 1:00 a.m., loaded onto buses, told to keep their heads down, and driven to the Omarska camp. *2856 It was similarly reported that after the attack on Kozarac on 24 May 1992, forces entered the city with a list of religious officials, policemen and other persons of special interest. It was reported that those on the list were killed if found, and the others were taken to camps including Keraterm. *2857
One subject from Kozarac reported that on 26 May 1992, after hiding for two days during attacks, 1,500 persons were escorted back to Kozarac by JNA-Serbian soldiers. In Kozarac, the men were reportedly separated and informed that they were being taken for an investigation. Subject reported that two buses of men were taken to the «Keroterm» camp where they were locked in the buses for an hour, with the heating turned up to the maximum. The prisoners were then reportedly transported to Omarska via «Brescani». *2858
On approximately 29 May 1992, a subject and his friends (who were reportedly involved in the Bosnian Muslim armed resistance in Kozarac), were captured in the nearby woods and taken to the Keraterm camp for the first night. They were thereafter transported to the Omarska camp in a police wagon. *2859
It was reported (by persons already at the camp) that 300 prisoners arrived at Keraterm from Kozarac on 20 July 1992. *2860
Various Villages, May-June 1992: One female subject reported that shortly after 23 May 1992, following the attack on her village, she and other women were captured and taken to the Keraterm camp. The women appear to have been transferred relatively quickly to the Trnopolje camp. *2861
One subject reported that on 21 May 1992, he and eight other men from Trnopolje were rounded up and taken to the Trnopolje camp where they were held until 27 May 1992. The subject reported that on that date they were taken by truck at noon to the Keraterm camp. *2862
One subject reported that in late May 1992, Serbian «irregular» forces arrested him and the rest of the Muslim male inhabitants of Donji Garevci (six kilometres from Prijedor). The men were reportedly marched to the Trnopolje camp and put on bused to the Omarska camp. Once at Omarska, they found that the camp was full and the prisoners were thereafter transported and imprisoned at the Keraterm camp. *2863
It was reported that on 10 June 1992, the first busloads of prisoners from the outskirts of Prijedor arrived at the Keraterm camp. One subject reported that nearly 400 men were brought to the Keraterm camp from the villages of Trnopolje, Kozarac, Garevci and Kamicani. All had reportedly been beaten prior to their arrival. *2864
It was reported that villagers from Sivci were taken to the Keraterm camp on 14 June 1992. *2865
It was reported that on 14 June 1992, male Muslim inhabitants of Trnopolje were taken prisoner by Bosnian Serb forces in the city who stated that the men were to be arrested for routine questioning. The 550 men were then transported in 15 buses to the Keraterm camp and incarcerated. *2866
It was reported that on 24 June 1992, Serbian irregular forces transported a busload of male civilians from Zecovi to the Keraterm camp. The prisoners reportedly arrived at the camp at about 3:00 hours. *2867
It was reported that on approximately 16 July 1992, 10 busloads of men arrived at Keraterm from villages southwest of Prijedor, including Hambarine, Rakovcani, Carakovo, Biscani, Zecovi, Ljubija, and Ravska. *2868
One subject reported that he was arrested by Serbian soldiers on 20 July 1992 and taken to the Keraterm camp via bus. *2869 Another subject reported that on 20 July 1992 he was bused to the Keraterm camp along with hundreds of other prisoners from his village of Hambarine. *2870
Subject reported that adult Muslim males were rounded up in Matrici and marched to Trnopolje. Serb «irregulars» reportedly beat and killed some of the men along the way. Upon arrival at Trnopolje, the men were bused to the Omarska camp (which was reportedly full), and thereafter taken to the Keraterm camp. *2871
One subject reported that Serb forces captured him and others from the area of the village of Rizvanovici (and other villages near Prijedor) and forced them to lie in ditches near a road. The soldiers then reportedly abused the prisoners for one hour until buses arrived. Half of the men were reportedly transported to the Keraterm camp. At Keraterm, they were reportedly led off the bus and lined up in front of a wire fence where a group of civilian women abused them verbally and allegedly pelted them with stones. Thereafter, the prisoners were informed that there was no room for them at Keraterm, and they were thereafter loaded back onto their buses and brought to the Trnopolje camp via the Omarska camp (which was also reported to be full). *2872
Transfer of Prisoners-Camp Closing: Reports indicate that the Keraterm camp was closed during the first week of August, 1992. It was reported that Keraterm and the Omarska camps were closed during the first week of August 1992 following an international outcry after media reports on conditions in camps in the region. *2873
According to one subject, on 2 August 1992, several prisoners were loaded into buses and taken away. The subject alleged that most of the prisoners were killed as they got onto the bus and that blood was seen running from the bottom of the vehicle. *2874
Other subjects reported that on 3 August 1992, the last remaining 700 prisoners at the camp were transferred to the Trnopolje camp, along with several of the camp's guards. *2875
A number of subjects reported that the Keraterm camp closed on 5 August 1992. Some prisoners were reportedly taken to Omarska, and 1,200 were taken to the Trnopolje camp. *2876 One subject reported that in early August 1992, Keraterm's prisoners were dispersed to other camps. The subject stated that two buses were to transport a total of 120 prisoners (who were called off a list), to the Omarska camp, but possibly because it too was closing, the two buses instead took the prisoners to the Manjaca camp. The subject stated that the rest of the prisoners (totaling approximately 2,000 men, including subject), were all sent to the Trnopolje camp. *2877
One subject reported that he was transferred to the Trnopolje camp on 15 August 1992. *2878
One subject reported that prior to the camp's closing, some prisoners being held there were moved to the Omarska camp in the middle of the night of 27 May 1992. *2879
Visits to Keraterm by Outside Organizations and Individuals: One subject described the preparations made in anticipation of the arrival of television journalists at the Keraterm camp. The subject stated that camp authorities:
«[f]ound wooden pallets and forced us to take them out and wash. They disinfected the camp. They selected those who were ill and loaded them into trucks and they did not come back. . . . We and others from Keraterm were transferred to Omarska and Trnopolje when they heard that the journalists would come. There was no shooting by cameras in Keraterm.» *2880
According to reports, in August 1992, western journalists visited what was represented to be the Keraterm camp. The facility which they viewed was described as very clean. When Bosnian Serbian authorities were questioned by journalists about whether anyone had been beaten or killed at the facility, they reportedly stated that those were only stories which were not true. However, after seeing the videotape of the journalists' visit to the facility, former risoners stated that the site viewed by journalists was not the Keraterm camp, but was a brick factory located about 300 metres from the actual camp. *2881
Helsinki Watch reported that it visited the Keraterm camp in August 1992, and that Serbian military authorities showed them one part of the factory which was empty. The area had reportedly been cleaned, and the walls freshly painted. There was reportedly a large ceramic baking kiln in the hall. Helsinki Watch stated that none of Keraterm's ex-detainees interviewed, remembered a kiln in their place of detention. Based on this information, Helsinki Watch believed that it was not shown all or any of the areas in which prisoners were kept. Helsinki Watch also reported that its representatives observed that the outside wall in front of one of the rooms had been repaired. *2882
Other sources reported that western journalists who visited the Keraterm camp in August 1992 were prevented from examining the location where the July 1992 mass killings took place. Two unidentified journalists reportedly stated that it appeared that local authorities there were cleaning a wall and adjacent area where prisoners had allegedly been shot. *2883
Another report stated that while western journalists were not shown the room where the shooting was said to have taken place on their first visit in early August 1992, a return trip approximately a week later found the doorway and the outside wall of the room where the alleged incident took place, pocked with what appeared to be bullet holes. New panes of glass had reportedly been installed on the window panes which still had their masking tape across them. *2884
Intake Procedures: Prisoners arriving at the Keraterm camp were reported to have been subjected to a variety of abuses. One subject reported that upon arrival at the camp on 24 June 1992, the prisoners were met by a group of soldiers and camp guards who proceeded to beat them with baseball bats and rifle butts as they came off the bus. The subject reported that prior to entering their detention rooms, the prisoners were subjected to a registration process, which included demands for all valuables. A man in civilian clothes reportedly asked the subject his full name, date of birth, and place of residence and wrote this information into a large record book. *2885
One subject reported that prisoners who arrived at the camp in late May 1992 were formed into three groups and were administered a beating before being put into a crowded room with over 200 people. *2886
It was reported that during intake, prisoners had to leave their buses in groups of five and were beaten with heavy sticks to the head. It was also reported that after arriving in the evening, the prisoners had to walk to the camp building through rows of soldiers who beat them. One subject who arrived on 9 July 1992 reported that two prisoners died the same night due to their injuries. Another subject, who also arrived at the Keraterm camp on 9 July 1992, reported that the arriving prisoners had to line up and sing Serbian songs, and that soldiers shot around in order to make them sing louder. *2887
It was reported that upon their arrival at the camp, prisoners were registered and frequently searched for valuable items and money. Ill-treatment upon intake was also reported. *2888 One subject reported that upon arrival at the camp, his personal possessions, documents, belt and bootlaces, and other items were removed. *2889
According to one subject, when prisoners were initially processed at the camp they were first checked by a guard upon arrival. The subject identified one guard who was almost always on duty at night during the prisoner arrival and described the young man as especially brutal. The subject reported that when processing prisoners, the guard would routinely strip them of their jewelry and money, and then beat them using metal pipes or thick wooden sticks, often breaking their bones. *2890 Another subject described a process, by which all of the prisoners got off their bus and put their hands up in the air. One-by-one, the men went to a porter, who took all of their belongings. The prisoners were then reportedly brought to their accommodations. *2891
It was also reported that when prisoners arrived at the camp, they were first checked by guards to ensure that they did not possess weapons. The prisoners were then reportedly taken to one of the four rooms used for accommodation. *2892
One subject reported that when his group arrived at the camp in late May 1992, one of the prisoners asked an identified guard for a cigarette and was told to come down from the truck to get it. The guard reportedly fired a single rifle shot and killed the prisoner. *2893 Another subject reported that upon arrival at the camp from Prijedor on 26 June 1992, he and seven other prisoners were beaten, and three of the prisoners were stabbed with a knife and wounded. *2894
One subject reported that upon arrival at the Keraterm camp in early July 1992, the guards formed a gauntlet, and the prisoners had to walk singly into the building. The guards reportedly beat the prisoners with various implements. *2895
Another subject reported that after they were registered in late June 1992, the prisoners were beaten and brought to their respective detention rooms. The subject reported that Room 1 was filled with men, many of whom were begging for help. After a short time, four or five Serb guards reportedly opened the door to the room and asked: «Who is new?» The approximately 20 newly arrived prisoners to Room 1 reportedly responded and were taken out into the courtyard where the guards arranged them into a circle and once again demanded money and valuables. About 10 more guards were said to have come to the circle, and then all of the guards reportedly beat the prisoners' heads, ribs, backs and legs with the butts of their M-48 rifles. Five of the prisoners were reportedly killed by the beating and the rest of the prisoners were returned to Room 1. According to the subject, the guards then moved on to another detention room and repeated the process of calling for newly arrived prisoners. *2896
Interrogations: It was reported that all of the prisoners at the Keraterm camp were interrogated and that the interrogations were held in rooms on the second floor of the main camp building. *2897 It was further reported that during the interrogations, most everyone was severely beaten. After interrogations, educated and wealthy prisoners were reportedly beaten to death. Those individuals who confessed to having weapons at home were reportedly taken to the Omarska camp. The others reportedly remained at the Keraterm camp. *2898
A subject who was taken to the camp in late May 1992, and was transferred to the Omarska camp three to four days later, stated that the prisoners at Keraterm were interrogated and that none of them remained at the camp for more than four days. The subject added that every Muslim detained at the camp was subjected to several interrogations accompanied by beatings. The interrogators reportedly questioned inmates about hidden weapons, incriminating documents, and gold. The interrogators also reportedly accused prisoners of being members of or having affiliation with Muslim resistance forces. *2899
A subject who was held at Keraterm from 13 June to August 1992 reported that one day, all of the inhabitants of Kamicani detained at the camp were called out:
«We had to line up in front of the building, face to the wall, and they asked us if we knew somebody who owned a weapon. Those who said `no' were beaten on the head, the neck and in the ribs with a wooden stick. Whoever dared to resist or just to turn his head was beaten to unconsciousness.»Another witness reportedly confirmed that it was a common practice for guards to single out a group of men from the same region. *2900
One subject similarly reported that on his second day in the camp in mid-June 1992, 40 prisoners from the village of Kamicani were called out by an identified guard, who screamed at them and beat them outside the dormitory with a baton. The subject reported further that the prisoners were asked who had kept firearms at home and that the subject was identified and was beaten repeatedly with thick electric cables and truncheons. The subject reported that three days later, two of the guards who had beaten him, yelled at him about his supposed involvement in the attack on a Serb village. The subject reported that he tried to defend himself and that an identified guard pulled out a knife to gouge out his eyes, but that subject managed to push away the guard's arm and instead had the right side of his neck slashed. The subject reported that the guard then pulled the trigger of an un-loaded pistol point-blank at subject's temple, whereupon the subject confessed to having fired on the Serb village, although he had not done so. The subject reported that the identified guard then unsuccessfully attempted to cut off his ear and thereafter stabbed both of the subject's thigh and twisted the knife, taking out pieces of flesh. *2901
«I was questioned and beaten . . . I also saw how others were beaten with heavy objects. They were beaten with rifle butts and heavy sticks. Some of them died of their injuries. Once I saw how a soldier stabbed a knife into the leg of a prisoner.» *2902
It was reported that prisoners were questioned about who had fired upon them from villages and who had weapons and other materials. One subject reported that interrogators attempted to coerce them into joining their forces. *2903
One subject reported that during his nearly three month stay at the camp, he was interrogated on three occasions, each time for 20 minutes. He stated that two Bosnian Serb police interrogators in blue uniforms questioned him about his relatives, his last employment in Croatia, the names and activities of co-workers, if he knew other Muslims or Croats who possessed weapons, and if he was a member of a political party. The subject reported that during the interrogations he had to keep his hands crossed behind his head and was beaten with clubs and fists. *2904
Camp Conditions-Meals-Nourishment: Numerous reports describe a situation in which prisoners were denied food and drink for extended periods of time and during their first days at the camp. *2905
It was generally reported that prisoners at the camp received one meal per day, composed of two slices of bread and a kind of soup. *2906 It was similarly reported that prisoners received daily rations consisting of two pieces of bread and a couple of scoops of beans or peas. *2907
One subject who was held in room number three, stated that prisoners in his area of detention were fed one meal a day, usually outdoors. *2908 It was also reported that on occasion, food was withheld as a punitive measure. He stated: «Sometimes, we were not fed. We were being specially punished. The men in the other rooms were fed but we were not.» *2909
It was reported that prisoners at the camp were abused during mealtime. *2910 Prisoners were beaten on their way to the place where food was handed out. Guards reportedly lined up to beat the crowd of prisoners arbitrarily and some subjects described oil and water being poured on steps to cause prisoners to fall and suffer further beatings. *2911 Other examples of abuse during meal-time was reported. *2912
Water: It was reported that the prisoners were not routinely given water but that they were given containers which they could fill themselves in the bathroom, if given the chance. *2913 One subject reported that the «second section» had a water faucet which permitted prisoners to drink water whenever they desired. *2914
Other subjects described low quality water. One subject who arrived at the camp on 20 July 1992, described being given «some type of polluted water to drink.» *2915 The water was also described as: «river water which had been formerly used as cooling water for the factory circuits». *2916
Sleeping Facilities: It was reported that the prisoners at the camp were held in overcrowded rooms, where it was often impossible to sit or lay down. *2917 One subject described the conditions at the camp on 20 July 1992, when he was placed in room number three. He reported that the room had about 400 men occupying it. The subject stated that people were standing on top of each other; that there was no air to breathe, and that it was very hot. *2918
One subject reported that in early July 1992, he was brought to an unidentified room which held an estimated 550 prisoners. The subject reported that the prisoners were packed so tightly into this and other rooms that they could sit, but they could not lie down. *2919 Another subject described a similar room holding 550 prisoners. According to the subject, the room was so crowded that the prisoners had to take turns standing so some could lie or sit. However, the subject noted that there were beds in the room for the oldest and sickest prisoners. The room was reportedly the largest at the camp. *2920 Another subject similarly described a room in the second «section» which held 550 prisoners. He estimated that the third and fourth «sections» held approximately 250 or more prisoners each. The subject reported that in the second «section», three prisoners were made to share a one square metre space. He added that they hardly had any room to stand and move, and when sleeping they had to lay over each other. *2921
One subject reported that after arriving at the camp on 20 July 1992, the prisoners were processed and taken to a larger room which already housed prisoners. According to the subject, there were about 300 prisoners in the room, but as buses kept arriving, more men were put inside. The subject stated that although prisoners were already crowded against the walls of the room, an additional 100 prisoners were placed there. Eventually, 400 men were crowded into the room. *2922
It was reported that although there were often stifling hot temperatures in the rooms, prisoners were not allowed to open the windows. *2923
Prisoners at the camp reportedly slept without blankets on concrete floors. *2924 It was further reported, that the prisoners slept partly on pallets. *2925 One subject reported that the oldest and sickest prisoners had beds. *2926
Medical Treatment: It was reported that the Keraterm camp had no medical infirmary, no medical personnel and that the prisoners at the camp received no medical care. Some prisoners, however, were reportedly cared for by a doctor who was imprisoned with them. *2927
It was reported that prisoners at the camp suffered from diarrhoea, fleas, and serious weight loss. *2928
It was reported that the bathroom had no functioning plumbing and that dysentery resulted, though not at an epidemic proportion. *2929
Toilets: It was reported that a common bathroom area separated the two pairs of rooms at the camp, and was located between Rooms 2 and 3. *2930 The bathroom reportedly had no functioning plumbing. *2931 Each latrine was reported to have used buckets or barrels. *2932 It was also reported that there was no toilet paper in the bathroom. *2933
Prisoners were reportedly not allowed to use the bathroom at night, but were given containers which they could use in their holding areas. *2934 One subject reported that in one corner of each room was a metal barrel to be used by prisoners as a toilet during the night. According to the subject, the container in the second room frequently overflowed and the feces spilled onto the floor. *2935
During the day, the prisoners were allowed to use the bathroom, but as they passed outside from their rooms, they were reportedly kicked and severely beaten by the guards using metal pipes and rifle butts. *2936 A number of reports describe the beating and sometimes killing, of prisoners going to or returning from the toilet facilities. *2937
Hygiene: It was generally reported that Keraterm's prisoners were unable to wash and were not provided with soap. *2938 One subject reported that he went for 53 days without washing, shaving or washing his clothes. *2939 Another subject reported:
«[w]e had lice. I couldn't wash for 55 days. We couldn't shave . . . . In the hall in which I stayed there was a barrel for relieving nature. When it was full, the excess was laying around.» *2940Other subjects report that they did not wash for extended periods of time. *2941
One subject reported that at 6:00 a.m., the prisoners were allowed to remain outdoors for about an hour, during which time they could clean themselves. The subject added that if a prisoner had to use the bathroom at another time, he had to relieve himself in his room. *2942
Weight Loss: One source reported that prisoners held at the camp for longer periods of time, suffered weight loss of 20 kilograms on the average. *2943 Others reported a weight loss of up to approximately 30 kilograms after 50 days at the camp. *2944
Individual subjects reported the following weight loss: 32 kilograms from late May until August 1992; *2945 23 kilograms from late May to August 1992; *2946 17 kilograms in 29 days from late May 1992; *2947 and 10 kilograms from late June to early August 1992. *2948
Prisoner Routine: It was reported that prisoner exercise was limited to a few minutes a day in a small, paved courtyard off the northwest side of the building. *2949
It was also reported that guards tolerated occasional visitors at the camp who would talk with prisoners through the fence surrounding the courtyard. *2950
Members of a family, whose home was reportedly located in the vicinity of the Keraterm camp stated that they witnessed people bringing food to their relatives who were imprisoned at the camp. It was reported that on one occasion, an old man who brought food for his three sons was not allowed to give food to them and was denied access to the camp. According the report, the man was stopped approximately 50 metres from the camp by two drunk soldiers who beat him to death. *2951
Forced Labour: One subject reported that in late July 1992, he and nine other prisoners in his room, volunteered for the «wheat harvest» detail at the camp. The subject stated that camp guards seized an additional 20 prisoners at random to complete the work detail. According to the subject, the prisoners were driven to the village of Tukovi, where they collected firewood «for the wives of Serb soldiers at the front», and then to Sredeci where they began the three-day task of collecting corpses. The subject reported that the prisoners were also taken to other villages and that «[t]he most corpses were in Biscani, Zecovi and Carakovo.» *2952
One subject reported that prisoners called for work duty never came back. According to the subject, those who helped to load corpses onto trucks never came back. The subject also reported that soldiers would come to the camp to collect prisoners for work duty and that those prisoners never came back either. Another subject reported that while he was at the Keraterm camp, over 100 prisoners were taken out for work duty and never came back. He stated that his brother was taken away for work duty on 26 July 1992 and never reappeared. *2953
Special Treatment of Certain Prisoners: It was widely reported that mostly wealthy and educated prisoners were singled out for abuse at the camp. One subject reported that after arriving at the camp in early July, 1992, there was an initial systematic removal and killing of all educated individuals and those who had held any sort of civic or leadership role in their communities. The camp guards reportedly used registration lists initially obtained in May 1992 to identify individuals to be killed. The subject reported that guards followed this procedure nightly and that about 10-15 prisoners would be beaten severely and return to their rooms. The subject stated, however, that most of the other prisoners taken would not return and that shots were often heard. *2954
One subject recalled that guards would ask prisoners to give their professions, «and if they found someone with a high position or a higher educational degree, they would execute them. I think the intelligentsia of Prijedor has just disappeared», he said. *2955
It was also reported that at both the Keraterm and Omarska camps, Bosnian Muslim men who had been policemen were targeted for special abuse. *2956
One subject reported that identified guards would single out prisoners for beatings who received packages from their wives and families. *2957
It was also reported that victims also appeared to be chosen arbitrarily. *2958
Abuse and Killing During Detention: A family who lived near the camp reported that at night, they could hear the sounds of people being tortured at the camp. *2959 One subject reported that in his 55 days at the camp (from 14 June to 5 August 1992), he could recall only five days when beatings did not occur. *2960
It was reported that new prisoners were given the «rules of the house» by other prisoners, which was to hide at the back of the room if at all possible to avoid beatings when a guard entered. *2961
Subjects reported that camp guards and visitors to the camp used lists to call their victims. One subject reported that every evening, «irregular» soldiers came to the room and called out names from a list. Those prisoners were reportedly brought to a room and beaten severely. The prisoners were then returned to their original rooms where they in some cases, died. *2962 Another subject similarly reported that every evening, a truck of drunk soldiers would arrive at the camp and that the soldiers would beat the prisoners. According to the subject, the soldiers would call out people by name and sometimes administer fatal beatings. *2963
It was widely reported that prisoners at the camp would be beaten by drunk guards and other individuals at night. *2964 One subject reported that identified guards would come to the dormitories at night and call out prisoners, and that inevitably, one or two of the tortured prisoners died. He stated that the guards used rifle butts, batons with spike balls, heavy wire cables, and baseball bats for the beatings. *2965
One subject reported that every night, guards would read 10-15 names from a list. They would read out the person's first name, his surname and his date of birth. The men were then taken from the room and returned later in very poor condition. The victims were reported as bloody, with broken bones, falling down, vomiting blood, and fainting. According to the subject, by the morning some would die. *2966
One subject reported that he was subject to beatings almost everyday at the camp. He stated that a group of drunken «Cetniks» were at the camp each night. He stated that raw cattle «offal» was thrown to the prisoners and in their hunger people tore it up and ate it. He also stated that «Serbians» would cut strips of flesh from the arms of dead prisoners and force other prisoners to eat it. *2967
One subject reported that about two days after his arrival in late June 1992, a new group of guards arrived with a handwritten list containing the names of the approximately 15 newly arrived prisoners from Zecovi having the same last name as subject. The subject reported that he and the other prisoners were taken to a «special room» and on the way were again asked to turn over their valuables. The prisoners were then thrown into the room and told to lie on their stomachs on the floor. They were then reportedly kicked and beaten with rifle butts, and baseball bats. Some of the guards reportedly wore gloves without fingers, but with metal knobs inserted in the knuckle area. The subject reported that thereafter, a military truck arrived to take some of the victims away. A guard then reportedly arrived and rounded up four or five prisoners from Rooms 2 and 3, whose names were on a list he carried. The prisoners were then ordered to kneel on the ground and were reportedly shot and killed. The bodies were then loaded by prisoners and transported out of the camp. The same subject also reported that after about 15 days in the camp (in early July 1992), about 16 prisoners (including a doctor and a teacher) whose names were on a list, were taken from their rooms and were divided into two groups of eight, and were forced to kneel, facing each other. After a while, a group of guards then came over with baseball bats and one guard reportedly said to the teacher: «You are the person who planned the killing of 40 Serbs». Six or seven guards then reportedly concentrated their beating on the teacher, who was knocked unconscious, and died. *2968
It was reported that prisoners at the camp were frequently attacked with knives and other objects. One subject who was held at the camp from 14 June to 6 August 1992 reported:
«Several times I saw that Serbian soldiers used to stick a knife into the legs of prisoners. Other prisoners' arms were broken. Some were beaten with iron and rubber sticks. If they died from their injuries, the soldiers just threw them on the rubbish heap.» *2969
One subject reported that he was cut attacked by an identified guard at the camp who cut his left foot with a knife and forced him to sew it with a «twist». The subject further alleged soldiers cut a "U" for «Ustase» into his back. *2970
One subject reported that the camp guards would often torture prisoners by extinguishing cigarette butts on naked parts of their bodies, or on their faces. *2971
Another subject who arrived at the camp in mid-June 1992, reported that he witnessed as one brother was forced to bite the testicles off of another brother. The subject also reportedly witnessed a prisoner who was forced to sit naked upon a one litre Coca-Cola bottle and was beaten upon his shoulders until blood poured out of his anus and he bled to death. *2972 Other subjects similarly reported that prisoners had to take off their clothes and sit on bottles and were subjected to other «games» by the guards. *2973
It has been widely reported that on approximately 20-24 July 1992, a mass execution of prisoners took place at the Keraterm camp in Room 3. According to one representative account taken from former prisoners who claimed to have witnessed and survived the attack, the following events occurred up to and including the incident: Subjects reported that on 20 July 1992, 300 new prisoners from Kozarac arrived at the Keraterm camp. It was reported that the men were tormented, abused and beaten for the next four days by soldiers in the camp's parking lot. Thereafter, the prisoners were put back into Room 3. The temperature outside was reportedly 38 degrees Centigrade (100 degrees Fahrenheit), and it was also sweltering inside Room 3 where the men were locked up. According to reports, the men in Room 3 had not been given water for three days, and started to lost their minds. The men reportedly were running out of air in the room, hallucinating, and taking off their clothes. As they lost control, soldiers from the outside reportedly warned: «We're going to kill you if you don't stop.» According to a subject who was in Room 2, machine guns were lined up next to the door of Room 3. Another subject reported that he was near the door in Room 1 and saw five machine gun bays, all shooting into Room 3. It was reported that there was blood everywhere, and that prisoners were lying on the ground. In the morning, soldiers reportedly recruited prisoners to dispose of the dead bodies in Room 3. According to a subject, the bodies were piled like wood into a truck which was eight metres long. One subject estimated that 120 prisoners had been killed and 67 others wounded. The wounded were reportedly loaded onto the truck along with the dead. As the truck started to pull away, it was noted that there was a sound like water was spilling. According to a subject who reportedly saw the truckload of corpses drive by his home in Prijedor, the vehicle's tarp was rolled halfway back, and he could see corpses naked to the waist with bruises on their backs, thrown onto the truck like pieces of wood. *2974
Other reports appear to describe the same incident. While the accounts vary as to detail, they appear to describe the same series of events. *2975
As noted in the some of the accounts above, it was reported that in the days following the alleged mass-execution at the Keraterm camp, groups of men were reportedly taken out and killed by machine-gun. One source reported that former prisoners estimated that from 30 to 40 prisoners were killed on those occasions. *2976
Number of Prisoners Killed During Detention: Various reports estimate that between five and 10 prisoners were killed at the Keraterm camp per night. According to one report, between five and 10 prisoners «disappeared» every night at the camp. *2977 One subject reported that in Room 3 alone, five prisoners were taken out and shot every night from approximately 20 July until 5 August 1992. *2978 A subject who was held at the camp from 19 June to 5 August 1992 reported that five to six prisoners were killed every night at Keraterm. He stated that those prisoners were taken out of the halls and killed. He stated that when the soldiers at the camp were drunk, they killed even more. *2979
One subject who was held at the camp from 9 July to 5 August 1992 reported that every day over 10 prisoners were killed at the camp. He stated further that severely wounded individuals were brought away by truck and never came back. *2980 Another subject reported that at least 10 prisoners were killed per day at the camp. However, the subject added that there were days when as many as 200 prisoners were killed. *2981
One subject who was held at the camp from late May to August 1992, estimated that 15-20 prisoners died daily as a result of beatings and torture. *2982
One subject reported that during his time at the camp from 25 to 27 May 1992, 50 to 100 prisoners were killed by shooting or beating. *2983
A subject who was held at the camp from 26 June until 5 July 1992 stated that during the days of his detention, 200 to 300 prisoners died as a result of beating and torture, and direct killing. *2984
One subject reported that between early July to 5 August 1992, approximately 400 to 500 prisoners were killed at the Keraterm camp as a result of beatings, torture, or execution. *2985
Disposal of Bodies: Subjects reported that after prisoners were abused and killed, the bodies would be taken to an area for trash disposal, and in the morning, the bodies would be transported to unknown sites. *2986
It was generally reported that prisoners killed at the camp were transported away by truck and that prisoners at the camp were forced to load the bodies onto the vehicles. *2987 A family who lived near the camp reported that after mass killings, their street would be red with blood. *2988
It was reported that prisoners at the camp had to remove the bodies of those killed. *2989 It was also reported that often, those in charge of picking up bodies of prisoners killed or wounded at the camp often went missing after carrying out their duties. *2990
Subjects believed that bodies from the camp were buried in the village of Tomasica, near Omarska; *2991 one of three mass graves in areas near Prijedor: Tomasica, Omarska or Kurovo; *2992 the Tomasica, Omarska and Ljubija mines in the vicinity of Prijedor; *2993 a mass grave in a cemetery in the Pasinac area of Prijedor; *2994 near a former brickyard in the vicinity called «Bajr»; *2995 and Lake Ribnjak. *2996
Forced Beatings by Prisoners: One subject reported that from approximately 21 to 30 July 1992, prisoners were randomly selected and forced to strip and fight one another outside until one of the two men died. *2997 It was also reported that sometimes 10 to 15 prisoners were made to fight against each other. *2998
One subject reported that guards would force prisoners to run in a circle and kick the person in front of them in the kidneys. *2999
One subject reported that each day prisoners were forced to beat each other with wooden tool handles for about 20 minutes and that guards would also pick out a group of approximately 40 prisoners to be beaten at random. The subject added that a group of prisoners was then given the task of cleaning up the blood. *3000
One subject reported that every night guards would come into the room with about five soldiers and beat prisoners to death. The subject stated that the men would line up 50 prisoners and force them to fight each other with their bare hands. The soldiers would reportedly stand nearby with metal bars topped with a sort of ball and if anyone fell down, they would strike them on the head. Survivors of this ordeal were reported to have been killed later. *3001
It was reported that food was allowed from the outside, though it was first handed to the guards and then given to the prisoners. *3002
(The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State, Helsinki Watch and ICRC.)
Location: Trnopolje is a small village within the municipality of Kozarac, about five or six kilometres south of the town of Kozarac. The village lies just to the north of the railroad line running between Prijedor, Omarska and Banja Luka. The station itself is reportedly called «Kozarac station.» *3003 Across the tracks, a few hundred yards south of the village, is Lake Ribnjak, which is used as a fish hatchery. *3004
Prior to the Serb occupation, according to one subject, Trnopolje village had a population of about 950 families (approximately 5,000 people) of which 704 were Muslim, 10 Croat, the remainder being Serb, Ukrainian, Albanian, and others. The population primarily worked in agriculture, and a large number worked in various countries of western Europe. *3005
The village was reportedly occupied by Serb forces in late May 1992. *3006 According to one subject, later that day approximately 20 buses arrived with Bosnian Muslim «refugees» under the escort of about 50 Serbian Territorial Defence and Serbian Regular army soldiers. *3007 The refugees were placed in the Trnopolje school. *3008
The village was attacked at a later date. Trnopolje is described as a burned wreck in October 1992. *3009
One subject reports that after the occupation of Trnopolje in late May, non-Serb villagers were allowed to remain in their own homes. However in mid-June and early July, the Muslim villagers with homes in and around Trnopolje were forced into the camp. *3010
According to a another report, the town of Trnopolje was ethnically cleansed on 4 July 1992. *3011
Reportedly, the town was controlled through checkpoints around it, and barbed wire was placed around the central public buildings. *3012
Description: One report described the camp as being «hastily set up.» *3013 The camp reportedly had three entrances, and seven guard posts *3014 and was about 300 square metres. *3015
Trnopolje was referred to as a «refugee reception centre» or an «open camp» by Serb authorities. *3016 However, according to one report, Trnopolje was actually run like a detention centre from May to August 1992. *3017
When the camp was «discovered» by international journalists and later visited by the ICRC, *3018 one subject reports that the camp guards and administration became more lenient. *3019 The barbed wire was removed from the perimeter of the camp and the local Serbian Red Cross gave out identity cards. However, after the wire was removed the guards reportedly patrolled the camp with automatic weapons. *3020
The detainees were allowed to leave the camp for work or seeking food if they left their identification papers with the guards. *3021 However, many detainees feared attack once they left the camp and preferred to remain within the compound. *3022
While the reports are not consistent in their descriptions of the camp there is a basic consensus that the camp consisted of a school building and another public building, possibly a community building («dom»). *3023 Reports describe the makeshift tents where a large number of the detainees live as produced from scraps of wood and wire fencing covered with pieces of cloth or other material, with little waterproofing in evidence. *3024 However, one subject reports that a number of white nylon tents, each housing 20 people, were set up west of the school and community building. *3025 According to another subject, approximately 40 prisoners shared each tent and did their own cooking. *3026 One report states that the yard behind the community hall was full of the vehicles in which people had driven to the camp. *3027
«larger camps, such as those at Omarska, Banja Luka and Trnopolje, had almost identical construction features. For example, one metre spacing from the barbed wire with guard dogs in between, watchtowers at regular intervals with spotlights and mounted machine-guns. . . . [The] camps had separate groups of interior and exterior guards. The perimeter guards were regular line troops whose duties were confined to guarding the camp». *3028
Reportedly village houses were also incorporated into the camp due to the increasing number of detainees. According to one subject, houses around the camp are reported to have held at least 70 to 80 people. *3029 One subject reported that after 10 days at the camp she and others were allowed to move into a house. She states that the doors were required to be unlocked and that people were taken from the houses and women were raped. *3030
The camp administration offices are reported to have been located across the road from the camp (the community building and school). It is also reported that offices of the local Red Cross were at the same location. *3031
While it is reported that the camp had been ringed with barbed wire, whether the wire surrounded the various buildings or just the camp perimeter is not clear. *3032 Reportedly the barbed wire fencing was removed in early August, in response to the first visits by international journalists and the ICRC. *3033
With the removal of the fencing, Trnopolje gave the appearance of an open camp. *3034 However, guards with automatic weapons reportedly made patrols around the camp limits. *3035 One report describes the camp as
«more or less an open area, without wire enclosures, but with strategically placed guards to keep the prisoners from escaping. To discourage flight at night, shots were constantly fired over the heads of the people sleeping in the field after the 2100 hours curfew.» *3036
For the most part the men were detained separately from the women and children. *3037 Some of the detainees, mainly the women and children, slept in the schoolhouse and in the community building. However, it is reported that many of the detainees slept outside in the yard, in the open air. *3038
Camp Population: Helsinki Watch has identified what it believes were the three categories of Trnopolje detainees: *3039
The majority of the detainees were Muslims from north- west Bosnia, however Croats and other non-Serbs were also held at Trnopolje. The camp population consisted for the most part of women and children who had been expelled from their homes and whose male family members had been detained in other locations. Reportedly the residents of a village would be gathered a one location and then the women and children would be separated from the men and transported to Trnopolje. *3040 Many of the men held at Trnopolje had been brought there from other places of large- scale detention. There were also people who were seeking safety from the violence in the surrounding area *3041 and those hoping to qualify for third country resettlement. *3042 One subject reports that he was brought to the camp in a military vehicle after having paid 100 DM, because he didn't know where else to go. *3043
Because Trnopolje served as a transit camp the camp population fluctuated throughout its operation. Women, children, old men, and injured or sick younger men were taken in organized convoys to Muslim or Croatian-controlled areas. *3044
While one subject reports that the camp housed approximately 1,500 prisoners, *3045 the majority of reports place the number of detainees at between 1,500 and 6,000 during the summer and early fall of 1992. *3046 Other reports place the number higher, up to 10,000. *3047 One subject estimated the number of people at Trnopolje at about 5,000; of these 300 were children, 3,000 women, and the balance consisting mainly of elderly men. *3048
Organization of Prisoners: It is reported that the men and women were housed separately, and that women and children primarily were housed in the school, *3049 while many detainees slept outside in the yard. *3050 Some were able to improvise coverings or home-made tents. *3051
It is reported that men transferred from other camps were held for the first few days at the school building. *3052
Length of Detention: It is reported that groups of people «constantly» arrived and departed from the camp. And that while some of the detainees (primarily women and children) were held only a short time before being transferred out of Serb-held territory, *3053 some detainees were held for as long as four months. *3054
Prison Records: Reportedly people were called from lists and taken away and never seen again. According to one report the people called from the lists were professionals, teachers, the wealthy and those who had were suspected of having held arms. *3055
One subject reports that he was among the two busloads of prisoners transferred from Omarska on 3 June. The subject claims that when the buses arrived at Trnopolje, one of the Serbian guards had a list from which he called out names. Approximately 20 men were taken and none returned. *3056
Dates of Operation-Camp Opening: Testimony from former detainees indicate that Trnopolje camp opened some time in late May. *3057 There are some reports, however, which put the opening date as April. *3058 The camp was reported to still be in full operation 1 October 1992. *3059
Visits by Media and Outside Organizations: The international press visited Trnopolje in early August 1992, and photographed prisoners in the fenced area. *3060 However, prisoners reportedly could not talk freely because the visitors were under Serb military escort, and prisoners feared reprisals if they spoke frankly about conditions and treatment. *3061
Camp officials had the wire removed in early August after the first visits from the media and outside organizations. Reportedly, also at this time, the men sleeping outside were also allowed to erect makeshift tents. *3062
ICRC Monitoring: According to an ICRC report, representatives of that organization first visited Trnopolje on 27 August 1992. *3063 According to one report Serb officials refused to allow the Red Cross visit until that date. *3064
According to one report made in September 1992, the Red Cross had recently been delivering prepared meals, one for each detainee. *3065 Another subject reports that Red Cross food was distributed to many prisoners, however the representatives would stay for only 30 minutes and when they left the food was taken from the prisoners. *3066 According to another report Serbian soldiers, and not the detainees, received the packets with red crosses on them. *3067
One subject claims that detainees told ICRC representatives that the Serbs were stealing the food supplied by the ICRC, but were told that the ICRC was powerless to do anything about it. The subject says that the ICRC food appeared in the open market in Prijedor. *3068
Another subject reports that the ICRC came once a week to inspect the camp but that in between ICRC visits the tortures continued. One day a week they would let up because the prisoners requested the ICRC not to arrive at the same time of day on the day of their visits. *3069
Command Structure: Reports claim that there is no clear authority organizing the camp. *3070 One subject suggests that the prison was possibly subordinated to the JNA from Crna Gora, (Montenegro) since the guards came from unidentified units from that area. *3071
Another subject reports that the camp was visited almost daily by a Serbian official named Mirko Mudrinic, who wore a JNA uniform. Mudrinic was a former politician and Serbian Democratic Party Member. The subject did not know the purpose of the visits or Mudrinic's role at the camp. *3072
Serbian Red Cross: The local Red Cross was reported to have been in the camp the entire time of its operation. *3073 Their offices were reportedly in the same building as the camp administration. Some subjects reported that the camp authorities were located in the local Red Cross offices. *3074
According to one report, the local Red Cross knew about the rapes and that inmates were beaten but did nothing to stop it. The subject claims that it even withheld important medication from the Muslim doctors in the camp clinic. *3075
Control of Camp: It is corroborated by many reports that the camp commander was Major Slobodan Kuruzovic. (Other spellings of the name: Kurzovic, Koruzovic, Kurozovic, Kuduzovic, Kudzovic.) He was described as being between 40 and 50 years old, approximately 180 centimetres, 80 kilograms, with graying brown hair. Reportedly he wore a military uniform. *3076 He was reported to be an ardent Serbian nationalist, and it was thought that he had participated in the war against Croatia in 1991. *3077
According to several subjects, Kuruzovic had been a teacher and school administrator. One subject reports that Kuruzovic was his former elementary school principal from Prijedor. *3078
While it is reported that Kuruzovic was not observed to have personally mistreated or killed prisoners, it is alleged that his guard force did so upon his orders. *3079 Other reports claim that his guard force refrained from mistreating prisoners while he was around. *3080 One subject says that Kuruzovic took an interest in the prisoners and treated them with kindness. It was at night, after Kuruzovic had left that the terror began. *3081
One subject reported that Kuruzovic had informers among the prisoners. *3082
Guards: The reports vary on the number of guards on duty at the camp. The estimates range from 10 to 50 per shift. *3083 One subject reports that during her detention during June 1992, the area of the camp was guarded by approximately 100 Serb Cetniks who were in groups of two or three, spaced 25-30 metres apart. *3084
After the barbed wire was removed from the perimeter of the camp in early August, it is reported that the guards patrolled the camp with automatic weapons. *3085 According to one subject, to discourage flight at night, shots were constantly fired over the heads of the people sleeping in the field after the 9:00 p.m. curfew. *3086
The detainees reportedly felt threatened by the militia guarding the camp. *3087 Specifically, according to some reports, it was at night, after camp commander Kuruzovic had left that the terror began. *3088
According to one report the guards would walk about the camp, among the detainees, and take people away from time to time, including women. *3089
One subject reports that harassment occurred mostly with the changing of the guards. They would swear at the detainees and insult them. *3090
One subject, recognized two of the guards as former students at the school. Now, both in their early 20s, they had been placed in the class for maladjusted children. One of them was very aggressive and would beat several detainees every day. *3091
One subject claims that the guards wore masks, and that they beat and killed people. *3092
According to one subject the majority of the guards changed over time, except for those known for their cruelty. These guards also appeared to the subject to be on duty more than other guards. The subject speculated that these guards had volunteered for extra duty. *3093 The most notorious guards are identified by some subjects in various source documents. *3094
While one subject reports that the guards were not Bosnian Serbs, *3095 most report that the guards were from local towns. *3096 According to one subject the guards were Serbs from Prijedor and were part of the «Zoran Karlica» unit. *3097
Apparently, Serbs who were not part of the regular Trnopolje guard force were responsible for some abuse of detainees.
According to one subject, there was a special unit that acted as «escorts» for those being evacuated from camp. They wore camouflage uniforms and the Beli Orlovi (White Eagles) insignia. They were also called the «cleaners» because they would shoot or kill you if you did not hand over your money or gold, or if you tried to get out of line. *3098
Another subject reports that Cetniks who called themselves «Rambos» would abuse the prisoners. One irregular unit's members had various details to their uniforms such as «reticular» masks on their faces, black gloves and black ribbons on their foreheads. *3099
According to one subject the local Serbs appeared to be in fear of the Cetniks, who were better organized and armed. *3100
Origin of Prisoners: Large numbers of people would be brought to Trnopolje from towns which Serb forces had occupied. According to one report the majority of the camp detainees came from the town of Kozarac and the surrounding villages. *3101
One report claims that about 5,000 or 6,000 people were brought to the camp in late May from the following villages and towns: Sanski Most, Jakupovici, Kamcani, Softici, Kozarusa, Mahmuljini, Susici, Kozarac, Civici, Suhi Brod, Kevljani, Hadzici, Besici, and Brdjani. *3102
Former detainees interviewed for one report were all from the region of Prijedor in northern Bosnia: Donji Garevci, Hambarine, Hrnici, Kevljani, Kamicani, Kozarac, Kozarusa, Prijedor, Rakovcani, Raskovac, Rizvanovici, Sivci, Trnopolje, Tukovi, Zekovi. *3103
According to one subject, houses in Trnopolje village were used to hold people from the surrounding villages (such as Jakupovici, Kevljani, Hadzici, Kozarusa, Mahmuljini, Kuncani, Kozarac, Krnci, Duracice, and Duraci.) *3104
It is reported that the entire non-ethnic-Serb population of Trnopolje village were interned at the camp. *3105
Biscani: The town was attacked on July 20, although the Muslim residents had been generally harassed by Bosnian Serb soldiers and other officials since May.
One subject reports that most of the male villagers were shot dead immediately. The women and children were kept in a houses in the village until 27 July when about 35 women and children and 15 men (subject believes that they were the remaining surviving villagers) were forced to walk to a roadblock near the entrance of Prijedor (location unknown). At about 8:00 p.m., a bus arrived and transported the entire group to Trnopolje. *3106
Another subject reports that two buses from Autotransport Prijedor were brought to his part of the village. Residents were randomly divided into two parts. The subject was put onto the first bus with about 80 people. This bus was driven to the Prijedor police station where the prisoners were loaded onto another Autotransport bus with a different driver and guard. They were taken first to Keraterm which was full, then to Omarska which was also full, finally the prisoners were brought to Trnopolje. *3107
Kevljani: The village was attacked on 24 May.
One subject reports that on 25 May 1992, all 300 residents were brought by bus to transit camp at Brezicani. On 27 May the prisoners were separated into groups: women, children, and old men put on buses and sent to Trnopolje; men were sent to Omarska. *3108
Another subject reports that on 26 May the men were separated from the woman and children, and that the villagers forced to walk to Trnopolje camp. *3109
Kozarac: The attack of the town started on 24 May.
One subject reports that he and all the Kozarac civilians were forced to walk in the direction of Prijedor. Subject estimates that the column was 12 kilometres long. At a checkpoint on the outskirts of town Serbs made prison assignments. On 27 May, a group of about 50 Muslims, including the subject, were loaded on a bus for Trnopolje. *3110
One subject reports that on 26 May the women and children were separated from the men. Some of the women and children were released others transferred to Travnik, Zenica or Trnopolje. The men were divided into two groups: those who had been armed and the unarmed. Serb soldiers used a radio to determine which camps had room. The men were taken to Trnopolje, Keraterm and Omarska. *3111
One subject reports that her group of approximately 15 women and eight children hid outside for three days and then gave themselves up to «Cetniks» on 26 May and were subsequently taken to Trnopolje. *3112
According to one subject, men were taken to Keraterm and Omarska, women and children to a large sports hall (location not reported), then to Trnopolje. *3113
One subject reports that he and 40 other men were held behind when the others were bused out of town, and on 26 May they were forced to walk to Trnopolje. *3114
Kozarusa: The village was attacked on 24 May, and some villagers were bused at that time to Trnopolje; others were taken to Keraterm or Omarska. One subject hid for 24 days was caught and was put into an existing group of 300 prisoners and marched to Trnopolje. *3115
Matrici: According to one subject, on 9 July 1992, local and outside Serbs collected all Muslim males into groups and marched them to Trnopolje. Upon arrival at Trnopolje the men were bused to Omarska and then to Keraterm. *3116
Prijedor: According to one subject, most of the population fled to forests, but surrendered en masse to Serb forces on 26 May 1992. Most of the prisoners, about 10,000, were sent to Trnopolje, but were quickly released to their own homes and then re-interned at the camp later. *3117
Rakovcani: According to one report, Serb units entered the village on 22 July 1992, with deportations taking place from this date. Women and children were taken to Trnopolje. The men were taken to different camps, mainly to Trnopolje and Omarska. *3118
Rizvanovici: According to one subject, on 20 July 1992, Serb soldiers entered the village. Nearly all the men were rounded up and executed. The women and children were ordered to leave their homes and walk approximately three kilometres east to a main road where buses from Prijedor picked them up and transported them to Trnopolje. *3119
Trnopolje: Reportedly the village was occupied from late May 1992, but Serb troops did not enter the village until early July.
One subject reports that Serb troop entered the village on 9 July 1992. At that time women and children were taken away by train and the men were brought either to Trnopolje or Omarska and Keraterm. *3120
One subject reports that after the occupation of Trnopolje in late May, non-Serb villagers were allowed to remain in their own homes. However in mid-June and early July, the Muslim villagers with homes in and around Trnopolje were forced into the camp. *3121
According to a another report, the town of Trnopolje was «ethnically cleansed» on 4 July 1992. *3122
One subject reports that he was among those arrested by Bosnian Serb neighbours on 21 May 1992, and detained at the Trnopolje camp until they were transferred to Keraterm on 27 May. *3123
Tukovi: One subject reports that on 24 July she and the rest of the villagers were taken to Trnopolje. *3124
Transfer from Other Camps: Trnopolje received prisoners transferred from other camps in northwestern Bosnia throughout its period of operation.
According to one subject, on 3 June 1992, two buses were brought in to the Omarska camp and loaded with about 120 prisoners. They were told that Bus 1 was going to Kozarac and Bus 2 was going to Prijedor. However, both buses went to Trnopolje. *3125
It is reported that on 25 June 1992 approximately 100 inmates were transferred from Omarska to Trnopolje. *3126 One subject reports that the prisoners were selected by the Serbs by name, and these people included many weak individuals. *3127
One subject reports that he was captured in late July. He was interned at Ljubija soccer stadium and was among a group of minors who were transported to Trnopolje on 1 August. The subject reports that all the other prisoners at Ljubija were murdered. *3128
One subject reports that she had been held in a camp in Jajce. One day (possibly in November 1992), without warning, she was taken by truck along with some other women and children to Trnopolje. *3129
One subject reports that in mid-August 1992, he was transported to Trnopolje from Manjaca in a group of 150 prisoners, most of whom were very old or very young. *3130
While prisoners were transferred to Trnopolje from the Omarska and Keraterm concentration camps throughout the summer of 1992, their numbers increased in the first week of August when those camps were preparing to close operation.
One subject reports that on 5 August about 1,500 prisoners from Keraterm were transferred to Trnopolje, due to the impending visit from the ICRC. *3131
One subject reports that he was transported buses from Omarska to Trnopolje in late July. He states that the weaker inmates were taken out of Omarska because the ICRC was expected. *3132
Reportedly many prisoners were transferred from Omarska to Trnopolje on 3 August. According to one subject the camp was emptied of most of its prisoners on that date. Prisoners were directed to stand in two groups, one group of about 780 was sent to Trnopolje, the second group of about 1,200 left for Manjaca. *3133
One subject reports that on 3 August, she was among the group of 29 women who were transferred from Omarska to Trnopolje. *3134
On 4 August, detainees interviewed by journalists said that several hundred of them had arrived at Trnopolje that morning from Omarska or from another detention camp. *3135
It is reported that on 6 August, prisoners from Omarska were shuttled by bus to Trnopolje. *3136
According to one subject, he and approximately 850 prisoners were transferred from Omarska to Trnopolje when the camp closed on about 7 August 1992. *3137
Intake: Reportedly many detainees were beaten and required to turn over their money and valuables upon arrival at the camp. *3138 Another subject reports that his group was searched. *3139 One subject reports that personal documents were taken from the men brought to Trnopolje. *3140
Reportedly, new arrivals were kept separate from the other detainees for a period of time. Subjects report that male prisoners transferred from other camps were held for the first night in the school building. *3141 Another subject reports that his group spent the first three nights outside of the school building. *3142 One subject reports that a busload of men from Prijedor were initially held in a small shop. *3143
Reportedly many newly arrived detainees were not given food for the first few days. *3144 According to one report the prisoners who were transferred from Keraterm on 3 August 1992 were not fed for the first four days. The subject claims that he boiled grass for tea and made bread out of flour given to him by a resident of Kozarac who brought some from his home. *3145
One subject reports that once, when the camp was full, a new group of incoming prisoners were unloaded. They were told that there was no room for them so they were all shot on the spot. Young Muslim males were forced to bury them and were told that they themselves would be shot if they told anyone. *3146
Camp Conditions: Reportedly conditions at Trnopolje were as bad as the other camps before the arrival of the ICRC in early August. *3147
One subject reports that when he arrived, in late May, nothing was organized at the camp; there was no food and the water pumps did not work. The detainees were allowed to leave the camp to scavenge for food. They organized a communal kitchen for themselves. The ICRC later arrived with supplies. *3148
After visits by the international media in early August 1992, treatment of prisoners at Trnopolje reportedly improved immediately with no more starvation, torture, rapes. However, the detainees still feared attack by the Serbs in the surrounding villages and were concerned by the lack of attention by international relief workers. *3149
Other comments on the confirm that the condition at the camp were not good.
One report claims that in October 1992 prisoners lived in conditions of «unspeakable squalor» sleeping on lice-infested straw and thin blankets, drinking contaminated water, and surviving on minimum rations of bread. *3150
Another report described the camp as very crowded, and that the yard outside as a mixture of mud and human waste. *3151
One report states that the grounds of the camp were relatively free of litter but the single garbage container was overflowing onto the surrounding mud courtyard. There was an extensive garbage disposal area in one corner of the camp which was also used as a latrine. *3152
Food: It is reported that little or no food was provided by the authorities, *3153 and that detainees were dependant upon food brought from outside the camp *3154 or bought from guards or the Serbian Red Cross. *3155
One subject reported that the detainees would pool their money to buy food from the local Serbian Red Cross. Detainees who had no money would go hungry unless others shared with them. Muslims and Serbs living outside the camp would sometimes bring food to the detainees. *3156
However, another subject reports that food was received twice a day from the local Red Cross; usually just boiled macaroni and a slice of bread, *3157 and another subject reports that during his detention from late June until late July each prisoner received one quarter loaf of bread and a plate of food. (The frequency of this meal was not discussed.) *3158
Some of the detainees were reportedly allowed to leave the camp, either to go home and retrieve food or to the village and neighbouring fields to forage. *3159 However, other reports claim that those caught foraging were executed. *3160
Another subject reports that the detainees were allowed to leave the camp to search for food, blankets, water, etc., however only by themselves and for short periods. *3161
One subject reports that detainees from the nearby village of Kozarac were occasionally given permission to go home and get food from their gardens. These prisoners were in better physical condition than those transferred from Keraterm and Omarska. The Kozarac detainees would occasionally share their food with other prisoners. *3162
One report claims that the detainees received more food after the visit to the camp by journalists on 6 August 1992. *3163
Reportedly, during the initial ICRC visit, ICRC representatives were shown a high quality lunch which did not represent the typical lunch. *3164
According to one subject, Serbian soldiers, and not the detainees, received the packets with red crosses on them. *3165 One subject says that detainees told the representatives that the Serbs were stealing the food supplied by the ICRC, but were told that the ICRC was powerless to do anything about it. The subject says that the ICRC food appeared in the open market in Prijedor. *3166
Visitors: Reportedly the Trnopolje detainees were allowed contact with family and friends. *3167 Detainees could receive food and blankets from the visitors. As Muslims were not allowed to ride on buses by that time, the visitors would walk to the camp. One subject reports that if wives came to the camp by bike, the guards would steal their bikes. *3168
According to one subject, on 7 August 1992, a radio broadcast announced that Trnopolje detainees would be allowed direct contact visits by family members in the fenced off area of the camp. Hours were set from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., from 7 through 12 August, and family members were allowed to go to the camp on foot, as no transportation was authorized. However, on 9 August, some women arrived at the camp with bicycles. These women were raped and had their bicycles stolen. Also on that day visiting women and children were taken from the fenced-off area and beaten while the prisoners looked on. *3169
Water: Reportedly, while food was in short supply there was sufficient water for all the detainees. *3170 However, another report claims that there was not enough water for the detainees. *3171 And, one report describes the water as contaminated. *3172
According to a report from September 1992, water for consumption and washing of self and clothing was brought to the centre in a tanker truck most days, and remained while the detainees filled whatever containers they had available. The report commented further that, under such circumstances, it was impossible to maintain personal hygiene. *3173
Other reports say that the women were allowed to get water from a well outside the camp compound. *3174
Sleeping Facilities: Reportedly there was no bedding provided by the camp authorities. Detainees slept directly on the ground, or the floor if housed inside one of the camp buildings. *3175 One subject who was nine months pregnant was given no special treatment, and also slept on the floor. *3176
Health and Medical Treatment: Trnopolje was reportedly the only detention camp in BiH with a functioning medical clinic. *3177 However, according to one report the doctors had no access to medicine. *3178
The inmates reportedly did not show the clear signs of starvation like those at Omarska. *3179 However, according to one subject, reportedly one of the clinic doctors, the worst problems encountered among his patients were diarrhea and beatings. He said that he also had pulled many teeth when chronically bad teeth were aggravated by malnutrition and beatings. He claims that he had examined some of the raped women but that he was not allowed to indicate on any documents that they had been raped. *3180
Reportedly upper respiratory infection was wide-spread in the camp. Adults and children suffered from diarrhea, presumably due to contaminated water and a near-total absence of sanitation. *3181
It is reported by one subject that due to her son suffering from pneumonia, she was transferred from the camp following a certificate issued by the Serbian Red Cross suggesting a «temporary release» for medical reasons. *3182
One subject reports that those detained in camp were weak from extreme loss of weight, diarrhea and some had typhus. She claimed that she knew of six deaths caused by typhus. *3183 Another subject claimed that babies and little children died from the lack of water and food; the subject heard of three buried on one day. *3184
One subject claims that her daughter had chronic hepatitis which she contracted while at Trnopolje. *3185
Reportedly one of the doctors photographed a prisoner who had been beaten at Trnopolje, and was able to smuggle the film out of the camp. This doctor also reports that the beating was done in a room next to where the doctor was, and that he could hear the beating and the crying. *3186
The clinic doctors reportedly obtained permission for seriously ill detainees to go to hospital in Prijedor. However, when patients returned severely beaten and claiming that they had received no medical treatment, the doctors stopped requesting transfers to hospital. *3187
The doctor reports that the prisoners transferred from the Keraterm and Omarska camps were sick and suffered from diarrhea. He said that on average these prisoners had lost about 15 kilograms in 40 days. The most extreme case he saw lost 35-40 kilograms in that time period. *3188
According to one report, prisoners transferred from Omarska in mid-June reportedly were kept separate from the other detainees because they were lice-ridden. *3189
Electricity: According to one report the camp had no electricity. *3190
Toilets: According to reports there were insufficient toilets for the number of prisoners. *3191 One report states that the camp was serviced by a two person pit latrine which was not maintained, and that there was an extensive waste disposal area in one corner of the camp which was also used as a latrine. *3192 Another report states that in August 1992, the camp smelled from the open toilets dug in an adjoining field, and that the camp was plagued by flies. *3193
Interrogation During Detention: There are reports of interrogations of detainees at Trnopolje. *3194 Reportedly, an office in one of the main camp building was used for interrogations and torture. *3195
One subject reports that he was interrogated by a man wearing a black hat with the letters SDS affixed. He was interrogated and beaten by this man and three others who were present. They beat him with steel rods, table legs, and truncheons. He was even hit over the head with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and was stabbed with a knife in his left leg. *3196
One subject reports that every day various males were taken to one of the houses near the camp that were used for interrogation. There they were interrogated and often had their achilles tendons cut. The subject speculated that since the men were of fighting age, this was done so they would be physically unable to fight Serbs in the future. *3197
Another subject reports that the office used for interrogations was locked when not in use, and at night the prisoners could hear the screams coming from the room. He claims that none of the men taken for interrogation would return to the camp as all were killed from beatings. *3198
According to one report women were sometimes interrogated at night about their husbands and fathers. The subject claims that women taken from the sleeping rooms at night were brought to a room for questioning. *3199
Reportedly, camp commander Slobodan Kuruzovic, conducted the interrogations.
One subject reports that he and several other minors were caught by Serbian troops in the woods and interned at the Ljubija soccer stadium. They were interrogated during their detention at Ljubija and then were transferred to Trnopolje on 1 August. The next morning, the boys were interrogated by Maj. Kuruzovic, who asked questions about their destination and men who the Serbs were searching for. No records were made. *3200
Another subject reports that Kuruzovic and members of the Serbian Army used to interrogate the inmates. *3201
According to some of the reports some of the men interrogated at Trnopolje had already been previously interrogated in other camps. *3202
Temporary Release: Reportedly some of the detainees were released from the camp either to go home or to live with relatives or friends, but were captured later and re-interned at Trnopolje. *3203
One subject reports that on 26 May 1992, residents of Kozarac were sent to Trnopolje, Keraterm, or Omarska. Those who were sent to Trnopolje (about 10,000) were quickly released to their own homes and then re-interned later in smaller groups. *3204
Another subject reports that she fled the village of Kozarusa on 24 May and stayed at the camp for 10 days. She was able to leave the camp and stay with her daughter (town not recorded) until they were «run out», and forced to return to Trnopolje camp. *3205
Forced Labour: According to one subject, many people were taken for work, such as during the potato harvest. The subject reports that commonly 10 people would never return, and as it was impossible to flee it was supposed that they had been killed. *3206
Rape During Detention: Reports corroborate the claims that women from the camp were beaten and sexually abused by Serbian men. *3207 However the numbers of victims and the frequency of incidents are not consistently recorded. *3208
The incidents are usually reported as occurring at night when drunk soldiers entered the rooms where the women and children slept and by the light of flashlights choose the women who would be taken away. *3209
One subject reports that Serb soldiers with flashlights came around midnight every night for at least 20 nights in July. Approximately 10 young women were taken each night, and were raped across the hall from where the women slept. Subject claims that she submitted because five girls who refused were shot in front of her. *3210
According to one subject every night at about 9:00 p.m., drunk soldiers would come into the camp and take two or three young girls over 12 and rape them. They would bring the girls back after a few hours or early in the morning. Many of the girls were taken to a hospital in Prijedor after being raped. Some were never returned; after being raped they were killed and buried near the lake located a few hundred yards from the village. *3211
Some reports state that it was the camp guards who raped the women. *3212 However, other reports attribute the rapes to Serb soldiers who were not associated with the camp. *3213 Several reports describe the perpetrators as tank soldiers. *3214
According to two subjects drunken tank drivers came into the camp on 6 June 1992, between 10:00 p.m. and midnight. They took iron rods with them and used flashlights to choose women, especially girls up to 18 years old. This group of girls were returned at around midnight and the soldiers went into the hall and got more. The women told the subjects that the soldiers had threatened them if they reported what had happened. *3215
According to one report, on an unrecalled date in mid- July, two T-55 tanks with about 20 drunken soldiers on each, arrived at Trnopolje from the direction of Kozarac. Four soldiers (one described as wearing a hat with a cockard displaying a two- headed eagle) entered the former Community Hall and selected three females (identified). They were taken away and returned the next morning by car. *3216
Another subject reports an incident in late August when two T-54 tanks from a unit in Omarska arrived at the camp. Approximately 10 tankers, wearing blue uniforms, selected several young women and raped them in the central heating plant of the school building. One of the tankers (identified in report) was reportedly feared by the camp guards. *3217
Some subjects report that the women were taken outside of the camp for raping. *3218 One subject report that the raping would take place in the camp. *3219 Another subject reports that her daughter was taken every night and raped in a different tent. *3220 And there are reports of subjects having heard the sound of women being raped on at least one occasion. *3221
One subject reports that she was picked up by guards when returning to the camp after getting water from a well about 50 metres from the prison gates. The subject and nine other girls were taken to a house across the meadow out of site of the roadway where they were sexually abused and raped by 30 Serb soldiers, some dressed like a tank crew. *3222
Another subject claims that she was raped on 7 June, by two soldiers while out of the camp to get food. She was then compelled to return regularly because the soldiers threatened to rape her in front of her husband and then kill her husband and children afterward. *3223
There are reports of attempts to protect the women. One subject reports that when drunken soldiers burst into the hall to choose a few of the women to take away, some of the local Serbs working as guards at the camp had tried to intervene. *3224
Another subject claims that a Bosnian man who was present when the soldiers came for her tried to protect her by saying «leave her alone.» He was shot immediately and she was dragged to the room over his bleeding body. *3225
One subject reports that a grandfather tried to keep his girl from being taken, and that he was beaten so badly that he couldn't stand. *3226
One subject says that the detainees never told the ICRC about the rapes. They were afraid he says because Major Kuduzovic [sic] was there when the ICRC came. *3227
However, other accounts state that the rapes in early June were brought to the attention of the camp authorities. *3228
One subject reports that after the mass rape the camp commander apologized the next day and personally guaranteed the future safety of the women. For the next few nights armed guards were posted around the women and the incident was not repeated. *3229
The girls' parents reported the incident to camp commander Major Kuruzovic who told them that it would not happen again, and it did not. *3230
Reportedly one soldier was jailed by the commander on rape charges, but he was let out after drunk soldiers in his regiment threatened to open fire on the military barracks unless he was released. *3231
One subject reports that sometimes women were kept until they became pregnant and released when it was too late for them to terminate the pregnancy. *3232
Reportedly young girls were also raped. *3233
Beatings, Torture and Killings During Detention: It is reported that beatings and killings occurred at Trnopolje. *3234 However, the number and frequency of incidents is not consistently reported. *3235
Prisoners who were transferred to Trnopolje from other camps (Omarska, Keraterm, Manjaca) said that there was much less abuse at Trnopolje. However, one subject who was transferred to Trnopolje on 5 August, attributed the restraint of the guards to the arrival of the ICRC. *3236
According to another subject, the ICRC came once a week to inspect the camp. He says that in between ICRC visits the tortures went on. One day a week they would let up, because the prisoners requested the ICRC not to arrive at the same time of day on the day of their visits. *3237
One subject reports that toward the end of June, he was one of at least eight men chosen to dig graves. He says that non- Serb men were killed in one of three scenarios: 1) leaving the Trnopolje camp to scavenge for food, 2) after being «disappeared» from the camp, 3) and during the ethnic cleansing of the villages in the area. *3238
One report states that people were being mistreated in a room near the camp's health clinic. *3239 Another report claims that one of the clinic doctors photographed a prisoner who had been beaten, and was able to smuggle the film out of the camp. This doctor also reports that the beating was done in a room next to where the doctor was, and that he could hear the beating and the crying. *3240
Personal vendettas appear to be the reason for some of the abuse perpetrated against the prisoners, rather than the random beatings reported at other camps. *3241 One subject reports a reprisal for a supposed war-related incident. *3242 Another subject explains that Muslims married to Serbs were subject to particularly harsh treatment. *3243
According to reports, some prisoners would be taken away and never be seen again. *3244 Reportedly the guards would sometimes read from lists the names of those prisoners to be taken away. *3245 There are also reports of some men shot at random by guards. *3246
Beatings and killings were also reportedly perpetrated by Serb soldiers who came in to the camp. *3247
One subject reports that on an unrecalled date in July, men who had been sleeping in the school were required to sleep outside (2,500 women and children from the Kozarac area were being held one night at the camp). At around 1:00 a.m. four or five soldiers came to where the men were sleeping and took away six men from Kamicani, all with the same surname. *3248 The next day seven prisoners were selected to dig the mass grave. According to the men who dug the grave, the men from Kamicani had had crosses carved on their chests, knives pushed through their chin and tongue with wire inserted through the hole in the tongue. *3249
Another report describes what might be the same incident. In late June or early July, a group of seven or eight Bosnian Serb irregulars (identified in report) entered the camp. Six men (three sets of brothers, all from Donji Forici near Kozarac) were called from a list, and accompanied by the camp commander, taken to the administration building which was located in a house near the camp. The men were tortured there within hearing range of the other prisoners. After the torture the six were led by the same group of Bosnian Serbs to a watermill about 400 metres from the camp. The next day a group of men who had been let out of the camp to forage told the subject that they had seen the mutilated bodies of the six men, and that their eyes were gouged out and their tongues were pierced with wires and tied together in pairs. *3250
One subject reports that many people were killed by shooting or having their throat slit. He also reports witnessing two little children killed by Cetniks, by being thrown into a rotating cement mixer while the mother watched, and a prisoner led around by a wire driven through his tongue. *3251
Reportedly one woman was killed at the camp, apparently unintentionally, on the stairs in front of the school. *3252 One subject claims to have seen soldiers kill a mentally disturbed man who had taken food from another man at the camp. *3253
Disposal of Bodies: According to reports prisoners were ordered to bury the bodies of those killed at the camp. *3254
One subject reports that those killed at the camp were usually buried at the cemetery in Sivic, a small town two kilometres from the camp, in the park in Trnopolje one kilometre from the camp, or in the fields around the camp. The graves were not marked and the names not registered. *3255 Another subject reports that many of the prisoners were buried in backyards of homes near the camp. *3256
Mock Attacks: Reportedly, Serbian forces filmed their defensive actions against supposed Muslim attacks. According to two subjects, upon arrival at the camp the prisoners were forced to lie in the mud with their heads down for two hours while Serbian soldiers shot rifles and claimed to be protecting the prisoners from an attack by Muslim Green Berets. *3257 Another subject reports that a woman was killed, apparently unintentionally, during a mock defence filmed for Banja Luka TV. *3258
Transfer of Prisoners to Other Camps: Most of the transfer of prisoners appears to have been to Trnopolje rather than from Trnopolje to other camps. However, according to one subject, on 9 July, the men from Matrici were collected and were marched to Trnopolje. Upon arrival at Trnopolje, the men were bused to Omarska and then to Keraterm. *3259 Another subject, a Muslim female from Trnopolje village and a detainee at the camp, reports that on 9 July 1992 the Bosnian Serb army from Banja Luka came and took all men between the ages of 15 and 70 to Keraterm. *3260
Release of Prisoners: Trnopolje served as a transit camp for many of the detainees. Women, children, boys under 16 men over 65, and the very sick would be taken and released into Muslim and Croat controlled areas. Apparently, in the beginning, the convoys consisted of suffocating cattle cars on trains bound for Doboj. Later the detainees were transported in large trucks bound for Travnik. *3261
One subject reports that women and children tended to be held at the camp for three to five days until their numbers swelled to a few thousand, at which time the Bosnian Serbs then arranged to deport them, mostly to Travnik. *3262
According to one report thousands of people were released from Trnopolje at the end of June 1992 and allowed to go to Croatia. *3263
One subject reports that on 25 and 26 July 1992, all of the women and children were removed from the school and transported on trucks to a location near the BiH controlled refugee transition centre in Travnik. *3264
One subject reports that she was held at Trnopolje until 18 August 1992, when she was released to Travnik. *3265
According to one report detainees judged harmless by the Serb authorities could «buy» their way out. *3266
One subject reports that he was released from Trnopolje when he bribed an ethnic Serbian doctor. *3267
One subject reports that she was able to secure the release of herself and her two daughters by giving a guard her last savings of 1,000 DM and her jewelry, on 26 June 1992. *3268
Another subject reports that on 21 August 1992, he was able to secure a release with a bribe of 100 German Marks. *3269
One subject who had been transferred to Trnopolje from Omarska in late July, reports that he was among 30 people who were released because they were so thin and weak. He claims that camp officials were afraid that journalists would take pictures of them. *3270
One subject reported that on 10 August 1992, camp administration announced that for the next two days any prisoner who could prove that he had donated blood to the Red Cross 10 times in the last year would be released. Many wives were able to bring blood donation cards and secure release of their husbands. *3271
One subject reports that on approximately 13 August 1992, he was given a permit to leave the camp because his aunt guaranteed to take him in. *3272
According to one subject who reports that he was one of 780 prisoners transferred to Trnopolje from Omarska on 3 August he was released from Trnopolje on 15 August. *3273
It is reported that 1,000 prisoners had been released from Trnopolje in the second week of August 1992. *3274
As a result of negotiations between the ICRC and Bosnian Serb authorities during peace talks in London in August 1992, the Bosnian Serb authorities promised to close down the camps. *3275 The ICRC arranged the transport of thousands of detainees.
Reportedly the ICRC arranged for the release of 1580 detainees to Karlovac, Croatia on 17 September. *3276
One subject claims that the ICRC negotiated with the Serbs for a conditional release of most prisoners, and on 30 September, a convoy was formed and left Trnopolje for Karlovac to continue from there to Zagreb. *3277
Reportedly, the ICRC supervised the transport of 1,500 people to the Karlovac transit camp in Croatia in early October 1992. *3278
According to one subject, on 1 October 1992, the ICRC took about 1,600 detainees to Karlovac, leaving about 1,000 in Trnopolje to pick up later. The subject states that the Serbs got the idea that they could have the ICRC the ethnic cleansing for them. So Serbs went from house to house rounding up people to bring to Trnopolje. When the ICRC returned, instead of 1,000 there were 3,500 detainees. This subject reports that when the Serbs realized the ICRC wasn't going to take these detainees from Trnopolje, two buses of Serb special soldiers, with special helmets, came to beat and drive the people out. Some people were killed. Everyone had to go on foot from Trnopolje to Prijedor. The subject's home was gone so he and his family moved on until they were helped by a Serb friend who paid the «tax-bribes» to get the family into Croatia. *3279
It is reported that some prisoners were required to sign waivers to secure their release.
According to one report, in order to be brought to Karlovac under the patronage of the ICRC and the UNHCR, the camp authority required all detainees to sign a document stating that they would not return to BiH before the end of the war. In addition, by signing this paper, they disclaimed all property rights in their country. *3280
One subject reports that on 12 August prisoners were ordered to sign over all their possessions to the Serbian forces. He claims that those who would not sign were taken to a camp in the Travnik area. *3281
According to one subject, he and approximately 850 prisoners were transferred from Omarska to Trnopolje when the camp closed on about 7 August 1992. He stayed at Trnopolje for seven days until his release. They were offered their freedom in return for signing a certificate in which they relinquished all personal property and all claims against the Bosnian Serb Government. *3282
Another subject reports that many detainees signed forms stating that they would leave the Serb-held area of BiH. *3283
Reportedly some detainees were released in prisoner exchanges.
One subject who reports that she was raped at Trnopolje in July 1992, claims that shortly thereafter she and her relatives were among a group of Trnopolje prisoners released in exchange for Serb prisoners in Maglaj. *3284
According to one subject, after spending two months at the camp she was exchanged on the night of 1 January 1993. She states that she and two other girls were taken outside and given over to Croatian soldiers in exchange for seven Serbs. Her group was taken to the town of Novska from where she left for the Karlovac camp. *3285
Vlasic Mountain Mass Murder: Reportedly, as many as 250 Muslim (and perhaps also Croatian) men were removed from a prisoner release convoy travelling from Trnopolje camp to BiH- controlled Travnik and were shot at a cliff near Vlasic mountain. *3286
On 21 August 1992, approximately 250 men and 150 women and children from Trnopolje camp were loaded into four buses and told they would be transferred to Travnik and set free. *3287 Other vehicles carrying mostly women and children from the surrounding area were added to the convoy. *3288 According to one subject the buses were escorted both at the front and rear by police cars from Prijedor. Several Serb paramilitaries boarded the subject's bus when the convoy went through Banja Luka toward Skender Vakuf. *3289
Reportedly the people on the bus were ordered to give up their valuables to one of the guards on the bus. *3290
One subject reports that about 18 kilometres southeast of Skender Vakuf on the road to Travnik, the convoy crossed a bridge over the Ilomska River. Passing the bridge, the convoy stopped. *3291
Reportedly the convoy stopped at approximately 5:00 p.m., and between 150 and 350 male prisoners were removed from the vehicles and grouped beside two buses. *3292 They were told that they were to be exchanged for Serb prisoners. *3293 Women and children were removed from these buses and were put into other vehicles. *3294
One subject reports that during this stop, the men were beaten at random by a very large, dark complexioned policeman. The men were then loaded into the buses «in layers, one atop the other». Five policemen also boarded his bus. *3295
The convoy then resumed with the two buses holding the men at the rear. After travelling a short distance the buses pulled off the side of the road (about 100 metres apart), while the rest of the convoy continued. *3296 The road there was bordered by a hill on the east and a steep ravine on the west which ended in a slope descending to the Ilomska River. *3297
Reportedly, the men in the rear bus were forced out and ordered to kneel at the edge of the cliff. The guards then opened fire with automatic weapons and continued to fire for about five minutes. Some prisoners jumped over the cliff to avoid being shot. *3298 The guards continued to shoot down at the bodies in the ravine. *3299 One subject claims that the soldiers also dropped hand grenades down the ravine at the bodies. *3300
One report states that the men in the front bus were then taken off the bus in groups of three and led to the west edge of the road where they were shot and their bodies thrown off the cliff. *3301
Names and descriptions of the alleged perpetrators are listed in some of the reports. *3302 One subject reports that the guards in the vehicles wore blue uniforms. *3303 According to another subject, soldiers wearing blue camouflage uniforms and red berets were waiting at the gorge site. *3304
According to one report Bosnian Serb military and police officials acknowledged that the incident had occurred. *3305
Bistrica or Lamovita: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the US Department of State.) This is one of several small camps reportedly set up within 20 kilometres of Omarska. Each of these camps is reported to hold from 200 to 250 prisoners. *3306
This camp is reportedly located in a school or local government social centre approximately two or three kilometres from Omarska, straight across the Banja Luka-Prijedor road. *3307 A search of maps locate towns by the names of Lamovita and Bistrica north of Omarska.
Bozici: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the US Department of State.) This is one of several small camps reportedly set up within 20 kilometres of Omarska. Each of these camps is reported to hold from 200 to 250 prisoners. *3308
This camp is reportedly located in the village primary school, located approximately two kilometres northwest of the village of Jaruge, north of the Kozarac-Prijedor road. *3309
Jaruge: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) This is one of several small camps reportedly set up within 20 kilometres of Omarska. Each of these camps is reported to hold from 200 to 250 prisoners. *3310
This camp is reportedly located in a fruit storage shed or stables, north of the Kozarac-Prijedor road. *3311 A map search locates the village of Jaruge approximately four kilometres west of Kozarac, north of the main access road between Kozarac and Prijedor.
Marica or Gradiska: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the US Department of State.) This is one of several small camps reportedly set up within 20 kilometres of Omarska. Each of these camps is reported to hold from 200 to 250 prisoners. *3312
This camp is reportedly located in a school in the village of either Marica or Gradiska, southwest of Omarska. *3313 A map search turned up two villages approximately five kilometres southwest of Omarska called Maricka and Gradina.
Brezicani: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) It is reported that a Serb-run camp was located in the former school in the village of Brezicani, three kilometres northwest of Prijedor. *3314 One report refers to Brezicani as a transit camp. *3315 There is an estimate that 2,000 persons were detained at Brezicani as of 22 August 1992. *3316 Dates of operation for this camp otherwise are not known.
Reportedly on 25 May 1992, all the residents approximately 300 men, women and children of the village of Kevljani were brought by bus to Brezicani. There were reportedly about 1,000 people already held at the camp when they arrived. *3317 On 27 May, Serbian soldiers identified as military police from Brezicani and Sudon separated the detainees into groups, with old men, women and children taken by bus to Trnopolje camp, and about 500 men forced into buses and sent to Omarska. *3318
Reportedly, after the capture of Kozarac by Serb forces on 25-26 May 1992, the Muslim residents were ordered to report to the city centre. From there, the women and children were bused to Trnopolje and the men were transported to Brezicani. The men were reportedly held overnight at Brezicani before being transferred to Omarska. *3319
A subject reports that the Kevljani residents were mistreated by Serbian forces as soon as they arrived in Brezicani: beaten as they exited the buses and subjected to verbal abuse and taunts. He says they were held at the camp for two days and two nights without food water or toilet facilities. *3320
Cela: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including an official UN source.) Reportedly a Serb-run camp. While there is no specific location reported, a town by this name is located south of the town of Prijedor.
It is reported that 200 persons were detained at Cela as of 19 November 1992. *3321 Another report estimated the number of detainees as 220, as of 22 August 1992. *3322
Ciglane: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including Roy Gutman.) There are reports of a Serb-run camp, Ciglane («brickyard») next to the former Keraterm tile works, near the town of Prijedor. *3323 The majority of the people imprisoned were reportedly from the village of Kozarac, the surrounding area of Prijedor, and Bosanski Novi. *3324
One subject reports that during his detention at the camp in late May 1992, there were about 1,000 people of all ages, including entire families, incarcerated there. *3325 Reportedly the men were separated from the women and children. *3326
The detainees reportedly slept outside on the concrete under the eaves of the brickyard. A subject states that people would urinate in a spot only 10 metres from the rest of the prisoners. *3327
The guards at the camp were reportedly all «White Eagles» (described in the report as an «ultra-fascist Cetnik paramilitary formation») from Serbia, and wore cockades (the «Cetnik» insignia) but had no beards. *3328
Acts of abuse and murder are reported as having occurred at this camp.
One subject reports that women were raped at this camp, and that children were thrown into ovens and burned. He claims that one day 15 children, ranging from babies to five year olds, were thrown into ovens by the guards. Those mothers who resisted giving up their children were killed on the spot. Reportedly an order came that this activity should stop and it was not done any more. *3329
Another subject reports having witnessed a policeman from Kozarac burned alive after a beating. First his bones were broken and then a piece of clothing was put into his mouth, he was drenched with gas and set on fire. *3330
The guards would reportedly choose a group of five people and would kill them with pistols or knives, *3331 or machine-gun fire would be heard. *3332
At least 20 of the detainees from Ciglane were reportedly transferred to Omarska camp. *3333
Gorni Garevci: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) It is reported that a detention centre was located at Gorni (Gornji) Garevci. *3334 A village by this name is located approximately five kilometres northeast of Kozarac. No further information is available on this reported camp.
Jajce: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely an official UN source.) Reportedly, a camp at this location held approximately 500 detainees, mostly women and children, although there were some families. *3335
The subject reports that the camp was a very large barn, with two big rooms without a full partition between them. There were no beds. On her first night she heard shooting and found out later that most of the men in the camp had been killed. *3336
The subject reports gang raping of the female detainees by Serbian men wearing masks. She describes the raping of girls as young as seven or eight years old. The females were often beaten during the rape episodes. The subject reports that in the living quarters there were always many injured women, and young girls who would bleed profusely after their rapes. The subject claims that about 10 women and several girls died after being raped. *3337
According to the subject, the women's jewelry was ripped from their ears, and in one incident a girl's finger was torn off in removing her ring; the girl died the next day of this and other injuries. *3338
The subject reports that new arrivals were brought to the camp approximately every 10 days, from Bihac, Prijedor, and some from Sarajevo. (There is no information as to whether these were women and children only.) *3339
According to subject, food was limited, and the detainees were always hungry. The detainees were given bread, rice, vegetables and beans but in small quantity only. The detainees were so hungry that they resorted to eating grass. *3340
The subject reports that without warning she was transferred to Trnopolje by truck along with some other women and children. She states that the trip took eight hours because the road was very bad. *3341
Karan: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report this was a Serb-run camp in Prijedor county. *3342 The report gave no specific location, however, and a search of available maps did not show any locations by this name in Prijedor. There is however a location by this name in Serbia.
Kebljani: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report this was a Serb-run camp in Prijedor county. *3343 It is possible that this is a typographical misspelling of Kevljani.
Keramica (Keramika) Firm: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) It is reported that the Keramika camp was based in a former large ceramics factory. Location coordinates for the camp are not given but the camp was reportedly associated with the Omarska camp. *3344
A subject reports that at the begining of the war the camp was at its fullest and detained approximately 1,500 Muslims and Croats. As of 31 December 1992, the date of the subject's statement, it was not known if the camp was still active. *3345
Kevlani: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) A subject from the Prijedor area reported that some people had disappeared from the school at Kevlani. *3346 A search of available maps, however, does not identify a location by that name. It may be a different spelling of Kevljani.
Kevljani: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources including a UN Civil Affairs Report.) Reportedly 2,000 persons were detained at «Kevljani, Brezicani» as of 19 November 1992. *3347 The village of Kevljani is located southeast of the town of Prijedor.
Kevljani Youth Centre: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the US Department of State.) Reportedly after the residents of Kevljani surrendered to Serb forces, the women and children were taken to the youth centre in town; the men were taken to the Keraterm factory on the edge of town. *3348
Kratelj: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report, about 3,000 persons were held in Kratelj as of 22 August 1992. *3349 However, a search of available maps does not identify a town by that name in any of the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Ljubija Mine: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) Reports state the existence of a Serb run camp located in an iron mine at Ljubija, southwest of the city of Prijedor. *3350 It is reported that this was one of the camps set up by the Serbs to avoid international scrutiny, after the involvement of the ICRC at the Manjaca and Omarska camps. *3351 Reportedly 2,300 persons were held at the Ljubija Mine as of 22 August 1992. *3352
Ljubija Soccer Stadium: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) Reportedly, Muslim prisoners were detained here and recount incidents of severe abuse by the Serb soldiers guarding the location. *3353 Reports claim that the majority of the prisoners were either killed, or only held briefly at the stadium. *3354 One report describes a dressing room in the stadium which was used as a «prison» and interrogation area, for extended detention. *3355
According to one report the stadium is located just east of the main road through Ljubija, north of the town. This report describes the stadium as surrounded by a rough brick wall forming a square, with each side measuring from 120 to 130 metres. The buses carrying the prisoners entered through a gate at the southwest corner. Along the south wall of the stadium were buildings that housed locker rooms. The playing field was surrounded by a low, wire mesh fence. The subject of this report also claims that there were approximately 600 to 800 Bosnian Serb soldiers forming a ring around the outer perimeter of the stadium. *3356
This subject described the treatment received by one group of prisoners held at the stadium in late July 1992. *3357 The prisoners were removed from the buses immediately upon arrival at the stadium. They were required to stand in a spreadeagle position with their faces against the rough brick wall forming the western edge of the stadium. The prisoners were each forced to the ground and beaten with rifle butts or kicked. The prisoners' heads and faces were also slammed with great force against the brick wall.
The subject estimates that 60 of the prisoners were taken to the locker room buildings and mutilated and killed. He says that the remaining prisoners could only see about seven or eight unidentified Bosnian Serb soldiers carrying out the mutilations and killings. The tools used in the mutilation were openly displayed and consisted of hammers, bolt cutters, pliers, and one medical instrument that was designed to remove the top of an individual's skull. This instrument consisted of a combination of screw-set pins and a scoring and sawing device held in a metal ring that fit over the head.
The subject claims that the surviving prisoners, who numbered at this point at about 30 or 40, were forced to carry the corpses of the victims from the locker rooms to one of the buses. (This bus was an accordion bus with a flexible segment at the centre to help it to negotiate curves, and some of the seats had been removed.) Some of the bodies were headless or had missing limbs, and some had their abdomens cut open and the abdominal cavity exposed.
At about 10:00 p.m., after spending approximately four hours at the stadium, the surviving prisoners were placed on the same bus with the approximately 60 to 70 corpses and were taken to a strip mining area south of Ljubija. Here the subject claims that he escaped a mass killing of the remaining prisoners. *3358
Another subject describes his experience of what is apparently the same incident: Approximately 100 Muslim prisoners of war were brought by bus to the stadium from Miska Glava in late July 1992. This subject reports incidents of abuse inflicted by between 100 and 120 local Serbs wearing camouflage uniforms with Serb flags or «Cetnik» symbols on them. *3359
Upon arrival at the stadium the prisoners were lined up in two rows. Two men were killed immediately. Then the prisoners were beaten and punctured with rods, described as being round with pointed tops. One of the prisoners was beaten while he was being forced to lick up the blood of those killed. *3360
Sixteen minors, including the subject, and 15 other prisoners were separated from the larger group *3361 and were placed in the stadium dressing room, referred to as the «prison». The youngest of these detainees was 13 years old.
During their detention in the dressing room, the 31 prisoners were interrogated by the same men who had participated in the beatings outside the stadium. Every half hour prisoners were taken to a separate room where they would be seated on a chair and interrogated. The detainees were questioned about who had hidden in the woods and about the participants in the attack on Prijedor. The subject reports that while the prisoners were kicked and hit with gun butts during the interrogations no one was killed. After an unidentified period of detention at the stadium, the prisoners were transferred to Trnopolje. *3362
Majdan (Mine) Camp: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report, this camp was located in Prijedor. *3363 A search of available maps does not identify a town by that name in Prijedor, however there are locations by that name in other counties of BiH.
Miska Glava Village Hall: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) Reportedly, on or about 26 July 1992, a group of at least 100 Bosnian Muslim males who had attempted to evade Serb forces by hiding in the woods, were captured and detained in a public building in the village of Miska Glava. *3364 While a search of available maps did not locate this village, a postal listing of towns in the former Yugoslavia indicates that the village of Miska Glava uses the Ljubija town post office. *3365
According to one report, 114 Muslim paramilitaries were captured by Serb paramilitaries in the village of Miska Glava *3366 and held overnight in the Miska Glava village hall. The prisoners were then transferred by bus to the Ljubija soccer stadium. *3367
The subject reported that some of his captors were dressed in YPA uniforms but most wore camouflage uniforms. The soldiers abused the prisoners throughout the night, taking them in groups of two or three, beating them and forcing them to sing Serb songs. One of the soldiers demanded 10 volunteers from the village of Rizvanovici, or else all the prisoners would be killed. These 10 men were thrown to the ground, their hands tied with barbed wire, they were battered and finally the subject heard machine gun fire. He is not certain what happened to them. After this incident the soldiers reportedly continued as previously, to take a few prisoners at a time out to beat and force to sing Serb songs. *3368
Another report claims that 117 Muslim males were held in the cafe portion of a public building in the centre of the village of Miska Glava. The prisoners included some, like the subject, who had been captured in the woods, and residents of local villages who had been rounded up in the sweep of the previous day. *3369
The subject says that the room was cramped and very hot. He says that during the three days that he was detained, the prisoners were given no food or water, nor were they allowed to use the toilet. The prisoners were reportedly interrogated and beaten with rifle butts. The subject says that at some point 10 men were taken from the group as «volunteers» and were never returned. *3370
According to the subject, seven prisoners were killed in front of the other men by one of two methods. *3371 The prisoners would either be forced to kneel and would have his throat cut by one of the perpetrators standing behind him. Or the prisoner would lie face up, his arms and legs held down by soldiers, and one or more of the perpetrators would open the prisoner's abdomen and remove his internal organs while the prisoner was still alive. In both cases, the prisoners would be left on the ground until they died.
The subject reports that the remaining 100 prisoners were taken from the cafe late in the afternoon of 30 or 31 July 1992, put on two buses and taken to a sports stadium in Ljubija.
Mrakovica Mountain Barracks: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) It is reported that Bosnian Muslims were held in a toilet block at the small barracks on the site of a World War Two memorial on Mt. Mrakovica. *3372
According to one subject there were about 100 men of various ages detained in the structure. There was no lighting in the block and for the three days that the subject was detained there, his hands and legs were tied together. The prisoners were reportedly given no food during the subject's detention. *3373
The subject reported that the detainees were eventually transferred to Omarska camp. He says that on the way to the bus, the men were forced to pass through two rows of Serbs who beat them. *3374
Mrakovica Mountain Hotel: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) Reportedly a Serb-run camp detaining Croat and Muslim women from villages on the slopes of Kozara Mountain. *3375 According to one report the camp was located in a 100 room hotel next to a World War memorial. *3376
One report characterizes the camp as a rape-death camp. This report claims that the camp was established at the beginning of 1992. The number of detainees is not known. *3377
Prijedor Hospital: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) Reportedly some seriously ill or injured detainees of the Trnopolje and Omarska camps and the Prijedor Prison were taken to the Serb-controlled Prijedor Hospital, where the patients from the camps were reportedly mistreated. *3378
One report says that patients from the Trnopolje camp were returned from the hospital having been severely beaten there, and claimed that they had received no medical treatment. *3379
According to another report a subject and his brother were injured in their detention cell at Omarska by bullets randomly fired by drunken soldiers. The subject reports that he had a compound fracture with a protruding bone. The brothers were taken to a doctor who said that they needed hospital treatment and they were admitted to the Prijedor hospital. (The subject has not seen his brother since they were admitted to the hospital.) At the hospital he was told that he needed an operation, but received only a cast around his leg and was in traction for over a month. The subject claims that the Serbs in the hospital (it isn't clear if these were patients or staff) objected to his being there and wanted him thrown out. The subject believes that these people were plotting to kill him at night. The subject was returned to Omarska camp on 7 July 1992. *3380
Another subject who reportedly had been severely beaten and left for dead at Prijedor Prison was brought to the hospital on 29 May 1992. He was put in a large ward in the hospital with other Muslim and Croat patients. The subject claims that a Serb nurse put him on an intra-venous solution which he believes saved his life. This subject reports that on 6 or 7 June, a Serb doctor announced that all Muslim and Croat patients (about 100) had to leave the hospital immediately. The Muslim and Croat staff also had to leave. The subject was moved by truck to Keraterm camp. *3381
Prijedor Police Station: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) Reportedly Bosnian Muslims were held for as long as two days at the Prijedor police station. *3382 Interrogations reportedly were conducted here by the militia and the military police and mistreatment of the prisoners was also initiated by both the militia and the police. *3383
One subject reported that on 25 May 1992, 50 to 60 men, women, and children were taken from Kozarac to the police station. There, the women and children were separated from the men. The subject reports that he was beaten and cursed as soon as he got off the bus. The soldiers laughed and drank while beating the prisoners. Later, a bus came and took the men to Keraterm. *3384
One subject reported that he was arrested on 2 June 1992 by the «Specijalna Milicija» and brought to the station, where he was interrogated. He claims that he was not physically mistreated during the interrogation, however he was subjected to verbal abuse. After his interrogation, the subject was released. He was again arrested and brought to the police station on four July. At this time he was slapped by two policemen. After two days at the prison he was taken to Keraterm camp. *3385
On 14 June 1992, a Bosnian Croat woman was reportedly detained for several hours in the Prijedor Police Station with two other women (named) and two men. The detainees were held in a small, blood-spattered room. They were eventually driven by police to Omarska where, they were told, they were to be interrogated. *3386
Reportedly, on 21 July 1992, a Bosnian Muslim from Rizvanovici and two other Muslim men were taken from Trnopolje camp to the Serbian Police Headquarters in Prijedor. *3387 The subject says he was questioned there for five hours after which he and the other two men were taken to Omarska camp. *3388
Prijedor Prison: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the United States Government.) A former member of the Muslim Territorial Defence Force reports that he was held overnight at this prison. The subject reported that he and two other Muslim prisoners were severely beaten by three Serbs, who were not guards, with fists and metal pipes. He says he was left for dead and was taken the following day by other Serbs to the Prijedor Hospital. *3389 No further information about the prison is reported.
Prijedor Sports Centre: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including the US Department of State.) Women and children from the village of Dera who had surrendered to the Serbs on 26 May 1992 were brought to the sport hall in Prijedor for a couple of hours before being transferred to Trnopolje. *3390 According to one report 2,600 persons were held at the Prijedor Sports Centre as of 22 August 1992. *3391 Another report also says that the Prijedor Sports Centre held 2,600 detainees as of 19 November 1992. *3392
Prijedor SUP building (Secretariat of Internal Affairs): (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the Canadian Government.) It is reported that on 30 May 1992, when the town of Prijedor was under attack by Serbian troops, a number of men were detained at the SUP building. The detainees were reported to have been beaten, tortured and some killed. *3393
One subject reports that he and the other men were all severely beaten. That there were about 100 Serb soldiers in the room «interrogating and beating them». The prisoners were forced to face the wall so that they couldn't see who was beating them. The subject says his skull was pierced with a gun breech. *3394
Puharska District, Prijedor: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by a neutral source, namely the UK Defence Debriefing Team.) Described by one report as the ghetto into which the Prijedor Muslims were herded after Serbs took control of the town and burned down Muslim houses. *3395 The account does not give the details or characteristics of the detention.
Senkovac: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report this was a camp located in Prijedor. *3396 A search of available maps does not identify a town or area by this name.
Sivac: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report this was a camp located in Prijedor. *3397 A search of the available maps does not identify a town or area by this name in the county of Prijedor, however, there is a town by this name in Serbia.
Tukovi: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) According to one report this camp was located in the vicinity of the town of Prijedor. *3398 A search of available maps does not locate a town by this name, however, a directory of towns in the former Yugoslavia indicates that Tukovi uses Prijedor's post office. *3399
Tomasica: (The existence of this detention facility has been corroborated by multiple sources, including a UN Civil Affairs Report.) Reportedly a camp located in Prijedor. *3400 A search of available maps does not identify a town or area by this name. According to one report 4,000 people were detained at «Tomasica, Trnopolje» as of 19 November 1992. *3401
Trnopolje area: «Survivors [of Trnopolje camp] testify about the establishment of a number of smaller local residences for the purposes of sexually abusing females.» *3402
Dip Jela Sawmill: (The existence of this detention facility has not been corroborated by multiple sources.) A location where, reportedly, women detained at Trnopolje camp were brought for raping by Serb soldiers. *3403 The report states that the sawmill is about three miles from Trnopolje. Reportedly the women were raped in the 17 offices attached to the sawmill. *3404
The suspects claim that about five girls and women from each of the 30 classroom where detainees were held at the Trnopolje camp were taken to the sawmill nightly (about 100 every night).
One subject and three other witnesses relate that their treatment was worse when the Serb soldiers had lost a battle. Reportedly, conditions were particularly bad on the night of 9 or 10 June, after the Serb commander Vojvoda Karlica was killed near Foca. *3405
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