This is the eighth submission by the United States Government of information pursuant to paragraph 5 of Security Council resolution 771 (1992) relating to the violations of humanitarian law, including grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, being committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. As in our previous reports, we have focused on grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and, in accordance with resolution 771, have provided information that is "substantiated," that is, which rests upon eyewitness testimony directly available to us or that includes detail sufficient for corroboration.
As with previous reports, we have tried to ensure that our collection effort has been even-handed and aimed at gathering information on crimes committed by all parties to the conflict. It should be noted, however, that access to independent sources within the territory of the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro has proved very difficult, due to limitations imposed by authorities in those areas.
We have tried not to duplicate information provided to us from other countries and non-governmental sources, which we understand will submit reports pursuant to resolutions 771 and 780. We have not repeated individual accounts listed under one category, such as "willful killing," in other categories, such as "torture. " The United States has further information substantiating the incidents included in this report, which we will make available on a confidential basis directly to the Commission of Experts, established under Security Council resolution 780 or, as appropriate, to the Prosecutor of the international Tribunal, established under Security Council resolution 827.
Resolution 827, which was adopted since our last submission, ensures that the UN Commission of Experts continues to pursue its work of conducting investigations, establishing a data base, and preparing evidence during the interim period before the appointment of the Tribunal's Prosecutor and hiring of staff to begin authoritative investigations and preparations for trial of persons responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia. We urge other countries to continue to submit information on a regular basis to the Commission during this interim period and to join us in making financial contributions to the Commission to facilitate its important work.
In accordance with paragraph 1 of resolution 780, the United States intends to continue providing information that comes into our possession. As in our previous reports, the notations at the end of each of the items indicate the source from which the information was drawn.
United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520
EIGHTH SUBMISSION
(1) Apr-May 93:Bosnian Croatian and Muslim forces attacked civilians of each other's ethnic group in Vitez, executing entire families in their homes, from April 15, 1993, for about a week. According to the British commander of the UN troops:
Ò"The soldiers have seen some things that will mark them for life -- children held in the arms of their mothers and both of them shot. Reports of atrocities are correct. Whole families have been killed. We do not know who is doing this -- the bodies do not have names on them. "
In Vitez, Bosnian Croat soldiers went from house to house executing Muslims. Some women were murdered as they were taking in the laundry. Multiple rapes by Bosnian Croat soldiers in the Vitez area has also been confirmed. A 36-year-old Muslim refugee, who was shot in the arm, said:
ÒThey are shooting every day, every hour, every moment.Ó
On the outskirts of Travnik, a Muslim military police unit attacked Croatian civilians, driving them from their homes.
In Konjic, Croat militiamen engaged in house-to-house fighting.
In Santici, Bosnian Croat gunmen killed villagers and livestock; they burned houses and the village mosque. An UNPROFOR officer described the activity:
ÒFifteen or twenty (Bosnian Croat militiamen) lobbed grenades through the front windows of Muslim houses, then waited for the people to bolt out the door and shot them.Ó
In Ahmici, UNPROFOR officials discovered charred bodies in Muslim homes that had been torched by Bosnian Croat gunmen. As of May 4, the Ahmici death toll had reached 103. According to the EC Monitoring Mission in Zenica:
ÒIt was a large-scale massacre, organized and well planned.Ó
(The Washington Post, The New York Times, London, Press Association, Paris AFP)
(2) 24 Apr 93:
Residents of Miletici, a village located north of Vitez and consisting of 11 houses, were attacked by a band of locally-based Muslims.
The Miletici village men attempted to defend their houses and, during the short and mismatched gun battle, killed one of the "mujahideen" soldiers. According to eyewitnesses interviewed by a UNHCR field worker:
ÒThe (Muslim) gunmen maintained that each one of them was worth five villagers. They'd already killed one, so they took four men, between the ages of 20 and 40 into a house, held them there, tied up the rest of the villagers, (then) returned to the house to torture and execute the four men.Ó (Department of State, Reuters)
(3) May 92:
Two Muslim former soldiers, aged 25 and 33, were released on April 21, 1993, after having been in a series of Serbian camps since their capture on May 30, 1992. Both had admitted to being soldiers when they were captured.
After their capture, the men were first sent to a camp in Vlasenica, called Susica, where they were held for only a few days before being transferred to a prison in the same town, where they remained for two months. They were then sent to a camp in Batkovic, where they remained for one month, then to two different camps in Doboj, where they were held for six months, until March 2, 1993. Finally, they were sent to a camp in Bijeljina, until their release on April 21.
The witnesses said Batkovic was the worst of the camps in which they had been held. There had been about 1,600 prisoners in Batkovic when they arrived, all of them from northeastern Bosnia. A number of children and elderly men were moved out of the camp in closed trucks after it was announced there would be an ICRC visit to the camp.
Beatings were common at Batkovic. Zulfo Saracevic, aged 55, died of beatings. A jeweler from Bijeljina died after three nights of beatings, the purpose of which was to get him to tell where he had hidden gold and jewelry. Several elderly men died from the bad conditions at the camp. One of the witness's cousins died of gangrene in a leg wound for which he had received no medical care.
On several occasions, they and other prisoners were forced to remove their clothes and perform sex acts on each other and on some of the guards. The two witnesses named the three worst guards, all Serbs from the Bijeljina area.
The witnesses, however, said that the very worst abuses were committed by a fellow Muslim prisoner from Gornja Tuzla, whose nickname was "Pupa." They described this Muslim as a ÒtrusteeÓ similar to the ÒKaposÓ in German camps during World War II. The witnesses said that they had encountered other Muslim prisoners serving in the same capacity in other camps in which they had been held.
The two camps in Doboj were located in a commercial warehouse and in a warehouse at the Bare barracks. The men were not registered with the ICRC in either camp; the ICRC was not permitted to visit either camp during their time there. There were approximately 100 detainees in the two camps who were used as laborers to dig military trenches.
The witnesses said that two Serb camp managers in Doboj were Ògood menÓ who did not allow abuse of the prisoners. On weekends, however, when these two managers went home to visit their families, the prisoners were beaten. Those beatings were perpetrated by Serb prisoners who often received gifts, including alcohol, from their relatives on weekends. The Serb guards allowed these beatings but apparently did not participate. (Department of State)
(4) Jul-Aug 92:
A 30 year-old Bosnian Croatian from Brisevo witnessed the July 1992 movement of JNA forces through the area south of Prijedor and west of Ljubija. Meeting little or no resistance, these forces moved through each town and forced out the remaining inhabitants.
For about four days, JNA forces positioned mobile antiaircraft weapons on the top of a ridge about two and a half kilometers east of Ljubija. Antiaircraft guns were used to fire on unarmed refugees fleeing along the east slope of the ridge.
In mid-August, a bus arrived from Ljubija with about 20 Muslim prisoners, some from the area of Carakovo, southwest of Prijedor. They were removed from the bus with their hands tied with wire behind their necks and escorted by about 10 guards with assault weapons. After their hands were freed, the prisoners were forced to dig a pit.
The guards beat and shot them, then pushed their bodies into the pit. Before departing, the guards covered the bodies in the pit with dirt. During the last half of August, the witness could see human hands and feet protruding from the mound.
On about August 24, the area of Brisevo southwest of Prijedor was under attack by Yugoslav army mortars. After the mortar attack, infantry troops moved from village to village indiscriminately seeking out and killing inhabitants. Most people were hiding from the shelling in their basements where the soldiers killed them. Muslims buried about 70 bodies, all of which had suffered multiple bullet wounds. The following is a list of the locations of the graves of some of these 70 victims:
A. In Dimaci, on the west side of the paved road, alongside a small creek flowing towards Begac on the sloping field below the house of Stipe Dimaca. This grave contained the badly burned bodies of two males and one female.
B. In Mlinari, on the west side of the paved road from Dimaci to Buzuci, 10 meters behind the house of Ivitsa Mlinar. This grave contained six bodies, at least two of which were males.
C. About 400 meters west of Mlinari towards Groarac, a grave contained four male bodies with multiple bullet wounds. In the same immediate area about 10 meters from the well near the house of Marko Busuk, three males were buried. One had been severely tortured, and his eyes gouged out. The other two were invalids who had been shot.
D. On the east side of the paved road from Dimaci to Buzuci, approximately 150 meters northwest of the site described above in C, was the grave of a woman.
E. On the west bank of the Stare Nitsa, about 450 meters downstream from the grave described in F, uphill from an old water mill, and among some young ÒbrezaÓ trees, an unidentified man.
F. The grave of Ilija Atlija, about 400 meters southwest of the grave site described, above in E, on the north side of the Stare Nitsa stream, five meters to the right of the front of the house of Ilija Atlija.
G. The grave of a man who died from knife wounds, located across the road from a smell church that had burned, 300 meters from where the stream joins the road, and behind the house of Jozo Jakara.
H. The site of two graves, 200 meters from the road south of Lisina near the house of Sreco Ivandic. One grave held the remains of four males and one female; the other contained the bodies of three males and one female. The two graves were about 70 meters apart.
I. Graves of two 16-year-old males, located on the Zunica Ravana road northwest of Buzuci, near the church, along a small stream flowing 30 meters from the house of Kata Zunica. One boy was buried on the south side of the stream; the other buried on its north side. Their bodies bore identification stating they were from Rizvanovici. (Department of State)
(5) 6 Aug 92:
A 45-year-old Bosnian Muslim from Sanski Most witnessed the arrival at Manjaca camp of a convoy carrying 1,300 prisoners from Omarska, and the murder of 15-20 of these men during the lunch hour. Camp guards beat the men to death with wooden boards, bats, and thick electrical cables. Three of the victims were stabbed repeatedly and their throats were cut. The witness identified Jakupovic and Dedo Crnalnic as two of the casualties. (Department of State)
(6) Jul-Aug 92:
A 26-year-old Bosnian Muslim from Donja Puharska, a suburb of Prijedor, Bosnia, was imprisoned in Omarska camp on July 13, 1992, and transferred to Manjaca camp on August 6, where he remained until December 19.
On July 13, all of Muslim men remaining in Donja Puharska were arrested and taken to the Omarska camp. On July 21, the witness was transferred to a building called the Òwhite houseÓ, where he was kept for seven days. A Serbian irregular came into the Òwhite houseÓ on July 26 and declared that he had come from the front, where nine Serbian soldiers had been killed. The irregular stated that three Muslim men would be killed for each of the Serbian soldiers and that he would return at midnight to kill them.
He returned after midnight with a soldier and a truck. The irregular and the soldier entered the room where the 50-60 men were held, grabbed one prisoner, and took him outside. The prisoners heard the sounds of beating and screams for help. The two men returned and grabbed another prisoner and the same thing happened. The irregular and the soldier came back and took one man each time until they had taken 27 prisoners. At 5:00 am, they came and asked for four volunteers to load the dead bodies on the truck.
On July 27, the witness was called out by two soldiers and taken for interrogation to an upstairs room in the same building, where five men beat him with objects that included a policeman's stick, a whip, a rubber stick, a square metal stick, and a metal ball on a chain. The man with the metal stick kept hitting the witness on the legs, and after a while his legs grew numb and he felt no pain in them.
Omarska camp contained a building called the Òred houseÓ, where victims were killed with knives. The witness saw dead bodies outside the Òred houseÓ each day, some missing arms or legs, and said the stench was unbearable.
On August 6, some of the prisoners were transferred by bus to a camp in Manjaca. Upon arrival, the witness saw guards kill a man named Dzusin. The guards had called him from the bus, took him about 10 meters away, made him kneel, and cut his throat. (Department of State)
(7) Jul 92:
A 45-year-old Muslim witnessed, from his house in Visegrad, the systematic butchering of about 450 Muslims on a bridge over the Drina River.
On July 11, 1992, a Volkswagen Passat drove backwards on to the Òstone bridgeÓ over the Drina and stopped in the middle. The blue-gray car, which had come from the direction of the city center, was cramped with six Muslims and at least one armed Serb. Another group of ÒchetniksÓ was already waiting for them on the bridge.
The man in charge of this group was a well-known Serb from Arandjelovac or Kraljevo, Serbia. He announced over a megaphone to ÒMuslims hiding in the surrounding woods,Ó that they would have a Òbloody bajram (holiday), Balkan styleÓ. He also announced that Òevery Serb who protects a Muslim will be killed immediately,Ó and that for every Serb killed by a Muslim, a thousand Muslims would be sacrificed.
The group then cut off the heads of the six prisoners, a process that took about three minutes. The time was about 4:15 pm. They threw the bodies into the Drina River. About a half hour later, a van arrived with another eight Muslims. They were killed in the same manner. Women and children were included in a third group that was brought to the bridge about 7:00 pm. The killing went on through much of the night.
The massacre continued the following day. Victims included a dentist named Dervis, Alia Selac, and AliaÕs father. At least 20 ÒchetniksÓ participated in the slaughter on the second day. The witness estimates at least 450 people were killed on the bridge over three or four days. (Department of State)
(8) Jul 92:
A 68-year-old Bosnian Muslim from Lakat, Bosnia, witnessed the killing of l9 elderly Bosnian Muslims in Borci and on Borasnica mountain, near Konjic, by Bosnian Serb forces on July 9-10, 1992.
On June 28, the Bosnian Muslim residents of Lakat fled their village. Only 20 elderly Bosnian Muslim men and women residents chose to remain. On the morning of July 8, two Bosnian Serbs, also from Lakat, announced that remaining Bosnian Muslims would be evacuated by bus to Buscak where they would be exchanged. That evening, they were put on a military truck destined for Pridvorci.
Two armed guards were stationed in the back of the truck with the prisoners. After going through Pridvorci, the truck continued north for another 10 kilometers to Luka where they stopped. The prisoners were transferred to a two-ton truck that took them to Borci where the prisoners were put in the basement of a building. There had been three other Bosnian Muslim prisoners inside the basement.
The next morning, July 9, the door to the basement was opened and the prisoners were ordered to come out in pairs. After the first two prisoners walked out, they were met by 10 guards who beat them and questioned them about the whereabouts of their sons. The second pair of prisoners, including Osman Demic, was then called. During the questioning his right ear was cut off, and the other Prisoner was beaten unconscious.
Then the third pair was called out. Halil Golos was one of these men. During the questioning, one of his ears was cut off. From the next pair, Salko Demic was beaten to death. From the following pair, Ahmed Hrnicic was also beaten to death. After all the prisoners had been questioned, those who were still alive were taken back to the basement. That same night, four guards returned to the basement and removed Ibro Kajan, his wife Hava Kajan, and Osman Demic. Once outside, the three were lined up and executed.
On the morning of July 10, the prisoners were removed from the basement and ordered to load the bodies of Salko Demic, Ahmed Hrnicic, Osman Demic, Ibro Kajan, and Hava Kajan onto the back of a waiting truck. The guards ordered all to lie down in the back of the truck. The guards killed 80-year-old Urija Golos because she did not lie down quickly enough.
The two vehicles then traveled about 15 kilometers to Borasnica Mountain (Borasnica Planina) in Konjic County (Konjic Obcine), where they stopped on the road. The prisoners were ordered to throw down all the bodies from the vehicle, and then to get out and carry the bodies off the road. When all the bodies and prisoners were about 25 meters from the road, the guards opened fire on the prisoners, killing all except the witness, whom they presumed was also dead. (Department of State)
(9) Jun-Aug 92:
A 38-year-old Bosnian Muslim from Gacko, Bosnia, was interned by Bosnian Serb forces at Bileca camp until August 18, 1992.
On June 1, Bosnian Serb forces detained about 110 Bosnian Muslim and Cro-atian males in Gacko, Bosnia, until June 5 when they were transferred to the processing center located in the basement of the Samacki Hotel on the southeast end of Gacko.
On June 18, after Bosnian Serb forces had announced that the Bosnian Muslim and Croatian residents could leave the town, a convoy with approximately 100 men, women, and children left Gacko and headed toward neighboring Montenegro. Approximately seven kilometers south of Gacko, near the Kosuta Motel in Zborna Gomila, the convoy was intercepted by Serbian irregulars from the ÒWhite EaglesÓ paramilitary organization. All able-bodied males were segregated from the rest of the convoy and ordered to lie down on the road. They were searched individually for valuables. The women and children were then loaded on several military trucks and returned to Gacko. The men were placed on two military trucks and taken to the Secretariat for Internal Affairs (SUP) building in Gacko. After the prisoners were interrogated and tortured by two inspectors, they were transferred to the basement of Samacki Hotel.
The witness identified the following prisoners who were killed at the processing center in the Samacki Hotel from June 18 to July 1:
Osman Omanovic, about 60, from Domanovic; Mirsad Dzeko, about 35, from Gacko; Arif Jaganjac, about 60, from Gacko; Miralem Voloder, about 32, from Gacko; Edin Sahovic, about 37, from Gacko; Latif Halilovic, about 42, worked in Gacko; Azis Faslagic, about 4l, from Gacko. On July 1, about 140 detainees were loaded onto four military trucks. While they were boarding the trucks, 55-year-old Aziz Hasanbegovic, who was unable to get on the truck because of his weight, was shot and killed. Two other prisoners were also killed: 33-year-old Senad Memic from Gacko, whose throat was slashed; and 17-year-old Enver Redzovic, from Gacko, who was stabbed in the stomach. Their bodies were loaded onto the trucks.
The convoy with the prisoners arrived in Bileca about two hours later. Prisoners were forced to walk between two rows of guards who beat them as they passed. Prisoners were placed in one of the basements where another group of approximately 200 prisoners were already confined. Prisoners were not fed nor allowed to go to the restrooms for the next three days. They were indiscriminately beaten every day with large wooden and metal sticks by groups of some 10 guards until the guards tired and could no longer beat them.
The following prisoners were beaten to death between July 2-4:
Sabit Saric, about 52, from Gacko, Sevko Catovic, about 28, from Gacko; Adem Ramic, about 70, from Gacko; Zecer Krvavac, about 80, from Gacko. On August 10, the prisoners were taken upstairs for an interview conducted by Radivoje Gutic, from the Bosnian Serbian News Agency (SRNA) and Fnu Vulacic from Belgrade Television, in the presence of Red Cross officials. Days prior to this interview, the prisoners were allowed for the first time to take a shower and shave. After the interview was over, the prisoners were taken to the interrogation and torture room and were tortured for telling the truth about the conditions and treatment received at the camp. These tortures continued until August 18 when 378 prisoners from the camp were exchanged in Stolac, Bosnia. (Department of State)