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Gornji Vakuf shelling

Gornji Vakuf is a town to the south of the Lašva Valley and of strategic importance at a crossroads en route to Central Bosnia. It is 48 kilometres from Novi Travnik and about one hour's drive from Vitez in an armoured vehicle. For Croats it was a very important connection between the Lašva Valley and Herzegovina, two territories included in the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia. The Croat forces shelling reduced much of the historical oriental center of the town of Gornji Vakuf to rubble. [51]

On January 10, 1993, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Gornji Vakuf, the Croat Defence Council (HVO) commander Luka Šekerija, sent a "Military – Top Secret" request to Colonel Tihomir Blaškic and Dario Kordic, (later convicted by ICTY of war crimes and crimes against humanity i.e. ethnic cleansing) for rounds of mortar shells available at the ammunition factory in Vitez. [52] Fighting then broke out in Gornji Vakuf on January 11, 1993, sparked by a bomb which had been placed by Croats in a Bosniak-owned hotel that had been used as a military headquarters. A general outbreak of fighting followed and there was heavy shelling of the town that night by Croat artillery. [51]

During cease-fire negotiations at the Britbat HQ in Gornji Vakuf, colonel Andric, representing the HVO, demanded that the Bosnian forces lay down their arms and accept HVO control of the town, threatening that if they did not agree he would flatten Gornji Vakuf to the ground. [51] [53] The HVO demands were not accepted by the Bosnian Army and the attack continued, followed by massacres on Bosnian Muslim civilians in the neighbouring villages of Bistrica, Uzricje, Duša, Ždrimci and Hrasnica.[54] [55] During the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing it was surrounded by Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council for seven months and attacked with heavy artillery and other weapons (tanks and snipers). Although Croats often cited it as a major reason for the attack on Gornji Vakuf, the commander of the British Britbat company claimed that there were no Muslim holy warriors in Gornji Vakuf (commonly known as Mujahideen) and that his soldiers did not see any. The shelling campaign and the attackes during the war resulted in hundreds of injured and killed, mostly Bosnian Muslim civilians. [51]

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References:

1. a b c d "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 2. The Conflict in Gornji Vakuf". [51]
2. "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 4. Role of Dario Kordic". [52]
3. "SENSE Tribunal: Poziv na predaju". [53]
4. "SENSE Tribunal: Ko je poceo rat u Gornjem Vakufu". [54]
5. "SENSE Tribunal: "James Dean" u Gornjem Vakufu". [55]

 

War in Herzegovina

The Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia took control of many municipal governments and services in Herzegovina as well, removing or marginalising local Bosniak leaders. Herzeg-Bosnia took control of the media and imposed Croatian ideas and propaganda. Croatian symbols and currency were introduced, and Croatian curricula and the Croatian language were introduced in schools. Many Bosniaks and Serbs were removed from positions in government and private business; humanitarian aid was managed and distributed to the Bosniaks' and Serbs' disadvantage; and Bosniaks in general were increasingly harassed. Many of them were deported into concentration camps: Heliodrom, Dretelj, Gabela, Vojno and Šunje.

Up till 1993 the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) had been fighting side by side against the superior forces of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in some areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even though armed confrontation and events like the Totic kidnappings strained the relationship between the HVO and ARBiH the Croat-Bosniak alliance held in Bihac pocket (northwest Bosnia) and the Bosanska Posavina (north), where both were heavily outmatched by Serb forces.

According to ICTY judgment in Naletilic-Martinovic case Croat forces attacked the villages of Sovici and Doljani, about 50 kilometers north of Mostar in the morning on April 17, 1993. The attack was part of a larger HVO offensive aimed at taking Jablanica, the main Bosnian Muslim dominated town in the area. The HVO commanders had calculated that they needed two days to take Jablanica. The location of Sovici was of strategic significance for the HVO as it was on the way to Jablanica. For the Bosnian Army it was a gateway to the plateau of Risovac, which could create conditions for further progression towards the Adriatic coast. The larger HVO offensive on Jablanica had already started on April 15, 1993. The artillery destroyed the upper part of Sovici. The Bosnian Army was fighting back, but at about five p.m. the Bosnian Army commander in Sovici, surrendered. Approximately 70 to 75 soldiers surrendered. In total, at least 400 Bosnian Muslim civilians were detained. The HVO advance towards Jablanica was halted after a cease-fire agreement had been negotiated. [61]

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References:

1. ICTY (Naletilic-Matinovic): 1. Sovici and Doljani- the attack on 17 April 1993 and the following days [61]

Siege of Mostar

Mostar was surrounded by the Croat forces for nine months, and much of its historic city was severely damaged in shelling including the famous Stari Most bridge.[62]

HVO (Croatian Defence Council) masterpiece the destruction of the Old Bridge (Stari Most)

Mostar was divided into a Western part, which was dominated by the Croat forces and an Eastern part where the Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was largely concentrated. However, the Bosnian Army had its headquarters in West Mostar in the basement of a building complex referred to as Vranica. In the early hours of May 9, 1993, the Croatian Defence Council attacked Mostar using artillery, mortars, heavy weapons and small arms. The HVO controlled all roads leading into Mostar and international organisations were denied access. Radio Mostar announced that all Bosniaks should hang out a white flag from their windows. The HVO attack had been well prepared and planned.[63]


Destruction of Mostar by HVO (Croatian Defence Council) - Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Croats took over the west side of the city and expelled thousands[62] Bosniaks from the west side into the east side of the city. The HVO shelling reduced much of the east side of Mostar to rubble. The JNA (Yugoslav Army) demolished Carinski Bridge, Titov Bridge and Lucki Bridge over the river excluding the Stari Most. HVO forces (and its smaller divisions) engaged in a mass execution, ethnic cleansing and rape on the Bosniak people of the West Mostar and its surrounds and a fierce siege and shelling campaign on the Bosnian Government run East Mostar. HVO campaign resulted in thousands of injured and killed.[62]



Bosnian Army launched an operation known as Neretva 93 against the Croatian Defence Council and Croatian Army in September 1993 in order to end the siege of Mostar and to recapture areas of Herzegovina, which were included in self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. The operation was stopped by Bosnian authorities after it received the information about the massacre against Croat civilians and POWs in the villages of Grabovica and Uzdol.

The Croat leadership (Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pušic) is presently on trial at the ICTY on charges including crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the laws or customs of war. Dario Kordic, political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia was convicted of the crimes against humanity in Central Bosnia i.e. ethnic cleansing and sentenced to 25 years in prison. [58] Bosnian commander Sefer Halilovic was charged with one count of violation of the laws and customs of war on the basis of superior criminal responsibility of the incidents during Neretva 93 and found not guilty.

Click here to see the documentary "Unfinished Business".

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References:

1. a b c "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict". [58]
2. a b c "ICTY: Prlic et al. (IT-04-74)". [62]

Ahmići massacre

Ahmići massacre was the culmination of the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing committed by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military leadership on Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) civilians during the Bosnian War in April 1993. It is the biggest massacre committed during the conflict between Croats and the Bosnian government (dominated by Bosniaks). The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague has ruled that these crimes amounted to crimes against humanity in numerous verdicts against Croat political and military leaders and soldiers, most notably Dario Kordić, political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia who got 25 years in prison. [1]

The attack began at 05:30 hours on April 16, 1993. The Croat Defence Council (HVO) shelled the Bosniak part of Ahmići and moved in killing many Bosniaks, including women, children and the elderly. They destroyed a large number of Bosniak homes, and caused extensive damage to the village's two mosques. An estimate puts the death toll at 120. The youngest was a three-month-old baby, who was machine-gunned to death in his crib, and the oldest was a 96-year-old woman.

Aerial shot of Ahmici - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Background

Ahmici is a village in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the municipality of Vitez in the Lašva Valley. According to the 1991 census, 1,178 people lived in the village of them 509 were Bosniaks, 592 were Croats, 30 were Serbs and 47 were others.

On April 3, 1993, the Croat leadership met in Mostar to discuss the implementation of the Vance-Owen Peace Plan. The Croats decided to implement the creation of "Croatian Provinces" (Provinces 3, 8 and 10) placing the Bosnian armed forces under the command of the General Staff of the HVO. On April 4, according to Reuters, the HVO HQ in Mostar set a deadline for President Izetbegovic to sign the above agreement and stated: If Izetbegovic fails to sign this agreement by April 15, the HVO will unilaterally enforce its jurisdiction in cantons three, eight and ten. In a message from Kordic, Ignac Koštroman and Anto Valenta, the Croat people were told to display more Croatian flags on buildings. [2]

An organized attack

On Friday, April 16, 1993 at 05:30 hours, Croatian forces simultaneously attacked Vitez, Stari Vitez, Ahmići, Nadioci, Šantici, Pirici, Novaci, Putiš and Donja Veceriska. General Blaškic spoke of 20 to 22 sites of simultaneous combat all along the road linking Travnik, Vitez and Busovača. The ICTY Trial Chamber found that this was a planned attack against the Bosniak civilian population. [3] The attack was preceded by several political declarations announcing that a conflict between Croatian forces and Bosnian forces was imminent. On the day of the attack, telephone lines had been cut because all communication exchanges in the municipality of Vitez were under HVO control.

Croat inhabitants of those villages were warned of the attack and some of them were involved in preparing it. Croat women and children had been evacuated on the eve of the fighting. The method of attack displayed a high level of preparation. The attacks in the built-up areas, such as those carried out in the Ahmici area were operations planned in minute detail with the aim of killing or driving out the Bosniak population, resulting in a massacre. On the evening of April 15, unusual HVO troop movements had been noticed. On the morning of April 16, the main roads were blocked by Croat troops. According to several international observers, the attack occurred from three sides and was designed to force the fleeing population towards the south where elite marksmen with particularly sophisticated weapons shot those escaping. Other troops, organised in small groups of about five to ten soldiers, went from house to house setting them on fire and killing the residents. Around one hundred soldiers who took part in the operation. [4] The attack resulted in the massacre of the Bosniak villagers and the destruction of the village. Among the more than 100 who died were 32 women and 11 boys and girls under the age of 18. The aim of the HVO artillery was to support the infantry and destroy structures which the infantry couldn't. The mosque, for example, was hit by a shot from a powerful weapon. Later the minaret was blown up by Bralo and Jukic. [5]

Murders of civilians

Most of the men were shot at point blank range. Some men had been rounded up and then killed by Croatian soldiers. Twenty or so civilians were also killed in Donji Ahmići as they tried to flee the village. The fleeing inhabitants had to cross an open field before getting to the main road. About twenty bodies of people killed by very precise shots were found in the field. Military experts concluded that they had been shot by marksmen. Other bodies were found in the houses so badly charred they could not be identified and in positions suggesting that they had been burned alive. The victims included many women and children. [6]

An ECMM observer said he had seen the bodies of children who, from their position, seemed to have died in agony in the flames: "some of the houses were absolute scenes of horror, because not only were the people dead, but there were those who were burned and obviously some had been burned with flame launchers, which had charred the bodies and this was the case of several of the bodies". According to the ECMM report, at least 103 people were killed during the attack on Ahmici. [6]

Destruction of property

According to the Centre for Human Rights in Zenica, 180 of the existing 200 Bosniak houses in Ahmići were burned during the attack. The Commission on Human Rights made the same finding in its report dated May 19, 1993. According to the ECMM practically all the Bosnian Muslim houses in the villages of Ahmići, Nadioci, Pirici, Sivrino Selo, Gacice, Gomionica, Gromiljak and Rotilj had been burned. According to ECMM observer "it was a whole area that was burning". [7] Several religious buildings were destroyed. Two mosques were deliberately mined and given the careful placement of the explosives inside the buildings. Furthermore, the mosque in Donji Ahmici was destroyed by explosives laid around the base of its minaret.[8]

The troops involved

The troops involved in the attack included the Military Police Fourth Battalion and, in particular, the Džokeri Unit. The Džokeri (Jokers), an anti-terrorist squad with twenty or so members, were created in January 1993 from within the Military Police on the order of Zvonko Vokovic, whose mission was to carry out special assignments such as sabotage, stationed at the bungalow in Nadioci. Other participants included the Vitezovi, the Viteška brigade of the municipality of Vitez, the Nikola Šubic Zrinski brigade of Busovaca, together with Domobrani units (units set up in each village in accordance with a decision from Mostar dated February 8, 1993) stationed at Ahmići, Šantici, Pirici and Nadioci. Many witnesses in the Blaškic case also referred to soldiers in camouflage uniforms being present, wearing the emblem of the Croatian Army. Several Croat inhabitants of these villages also participated in the attack. They were members of the Domobrani such as Slavko Milicevic for the Donji Ahmici sector, Žarko Papic for the Zume area, Branko Perkovic in Nadioci, Zoran Kupreškic in Grabovi (an area in the centre of Ahmici), Nenad Šantic and Colic in Šantici. [9]

Denial

After the massacre, Croat leaders, supported by propaganda efforts, tried to deny the massacre or to blame other sides in the Bosnian War. Dario Kordić denied to Payam Akhavan, an investigator with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, that the HVO were involved in the Ahmici massacre; indeed, he said that his men, as good Christians, would never commit such acts and blamed the Serbs or the Muslims themselves: according to him, no investigation was necessary. A similar response was given by general Tihomir Blaškić to British Colonel Stewart in Kordić's presence.[5]

Trial

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague has ruled that these crimes amounted to crimes against humanity in numerous verdicts against Croat political and military leaders and soldiers, most notably Dario Kordic, political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia who got 25 years in prison. [1] Based on the evidence of numerous HVO attacks at that time, the ICTY Trial Chamber concluded in the Kordić and Cerkez case that by April 1993 Croat leadership had a common design or plan conceived and executed to ethnically cleanse Bosniaks from the Lašva Valley. Dario Kordić, as the local political leader, was found to be the planner and instigator of this plan. [10] Further concluding that the Croatian Army was involved in the campaign, the ICTY defined the events as an international conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.[11] The ICTY initially indicted sixteen Croats and convicted eight of them by now of their roles in the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing. The conviction of Tihomir Blaškić, who was the HVO commander for the Central Bosnian Operative Zone, was reduced from 45 to 9 years, and he was released after serving 8 years and 4 months of his sentence.

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References:

1. a b "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict". [1]
2. "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict - ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings- C. The April 1993 Conflagration in Vitez and the Lasva Valley". [2]
3. "ICTY: Blaškic verdict - B. The municipality of Vitez - 1. Ahmici, Šantici, Pirici, Nadioci". [3]
4. "ICTY: Blaškic verdict - B. The municipality of Vitez - 1. Ahmici, Šantici, Pirici, Nadioci - A planned attack with substantial assets". [4]
5. a b "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict - C. The April 1993 Conflagration in Vitez and the Lašva Valley - 3. The Attack on Ahmici". [5]
6. a b "ICTY: Blaškic verdict - B. The municipality of Vitez - 1. Ahmici, Šantici, Pirici, Nadioci - b) An attack against the Muslim civilian population - iv) Murders of civilians". [6]
7. "ICTY: Blaškic verdict - B. The municipality of Vitez - 1. Ahmici, Šantici, Pirici, Nadioci - b) An attack against the Muslim civilian population - v) Destruction of dwellings". [7]
8. "ICTY: Blaškic verdict - B. The municipality of Vitez - 1. Ahmici, Šantici, Pirici, Nadioci - b) An attack against the Muslim civilian population - vi) Destruction of institutions dedicated to religion". [8]
9. "ICTY: Blaškic verdict - B. The municipality of Vitez - 1. Ahmici, Šantici, Pirici, Nadioci - ii) The troops involved". [9]
10. "ICTY: Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - C. The April 1993 Conflagration in Vitez and the Lašva Valley - 3. The Attack on Ahmici (Paragraph 642)". [10]
11. "HRW: Conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia". [11] 12. Photo: © Gilles Peress courtesy of the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

THE PROSECUTOR OF THE TRIBUNAL

AGAINST

JADRANKO PRLIC
BRUNO STOJIC
SLOBODAN PRALJAK
MILIVOJ PETKOVIC
VALENTIN CORIC
and BERISLAV PUSIC

INDICTMENT

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, pursuant to her authority under Article 18 of the Statute of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (the "Tribunal Statute"), charges:

JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC,
SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC,
VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC

with Crimes Against Humanity, Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions and Violations of the Laws or Customs of War, as follows:

THE ACCUSED

 

1. The Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna declared its existence on 18 November 1991 as a political and territorial entity on the territory of what was then the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("SRBiH"). In August 1993, the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna declared itself the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna, and this entity, in both its forms, is hereafter referenced as "Herceg-Bosna." Mate Boban was the President of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna from its inception, and continued as President of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna, until approximately February 1994. By actions taken on 8 April 1992 and 15 May 1992, various Herceg-Bosna leaders, including Mate Boban, established the Croatian Defence Council ("HVO") as Herceg-Bosna's armed forces and government, describing the HVO as Herceg-Bosna's "supreme" executive, administrative and defence body.

 

2. JADRANKO PRLIC, son of Mile, was born on 10 June 1959 in Djakovo, in the Socialist Republic of Croatia. He graduated from the Economics Faculty in Mostar, in the SRBiH, and obtained his master's and doctor’s degrees at the Economics Faculty in Sarajevo. He served for a time as President of the Executive Council of Mostar Municipality. In 1989, he became the Vice-President of the Government of the SRBiH and, in late 1990, he became its acting President. On 15 May 1992, Mate Boban appointed JADRANKO PRLIC head of the HVO Department of Finance, and on 14 August 1992, Mate Boban appointed JADRANKO PRLIC President of Herceg-Bosna's supreme executive, administrative and defence body -- the HVO. After the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna became the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna in late August 1993, JADRANKO PRLIC's title or position changed from President to Prime Minister (with his functions remaining largely the same). He continued in this position through the time covered by this indictment.

 

3. For most of 1992-1993, JADRANKO PRLIC was, other than Mate Boban, the most powerful official in the Herceg-Bosna/HVO political and governmental structures, and, by late 1993, he effectively eclipsed Mate Boban. As President, JADRANKO PRLIC had de jure and/or de facto power, effective control and/or substantial influence over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO government and military. He directed the work of and was responsible for the HVO government, including military matters. He signed decisions and decrees that comprised the HVO's official policy. JADRANKO PRLIC had the power to appoint and dismiss persons in positions of significant authority in the civilian, military and judicial organs of Herceg-Bosna and the HVO. He also possessed authority to close Herceg-Bosna/HVO prisons and concentration camps.

 

4. BRUNO STOJIC, son of Zarko, was born on 8 April 1955 in the village of Hamzici, in Citluk Municipality, in the SRBiH. He has a degree in Economics. After multiparty elections in 1990, BRUNO STOJIC was named an Assistant Minister of the Interior (or Internal Affairs) in the SRBiH central government, in Sarajevo. BRUNO STOJIĆ was a member of the principal Croat nationalist political party in the SRBiH and later the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("HDZ-BiH"). On 18 September 1991, he was listed as a member of the party’s newly-formed Crisis Staff, which would become the core of the HVO's military arm. On 3 July 1992, Mate Boban named BRUNO STOJIC head of the HVO Department (later Ministry) of Defence, and he remained in this position until November 1993. On 16 December 1993, BRUNO STOJIC was named Head of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna's Office for the Production and Sales of Weapons and Military Equipment.

 

5. As head of the HVO Department (later Ministry) of Defence, BRUNO STOJIC was that body's top political and management official, in charge of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. He exercised de jure and/or de facto power, effective control and substantial influence over all parts and branches of such forces' operations. His areas of authority and responsibility included, among others, the following areas: security, including the work of the HVO Military Police and an HVO intelligence service known as the Security and Information Service ("SIS"); moral education, which included Information and Propaganda; defence-related health, medical and sanitation services, which were responsible for conditions and services in the Herceg-Bosna/HVO prisons and detention facilities; and military production and logistics. It was part of his responsibility to ensure that all Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces conduct themselves in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and that all prisoners, detainees and other persons held by Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces be treated in compliance with such conventions and law. BRUNO STOJIC had authority to appoint and dismiss HVO military commanders up to the level of brigade commander. He could and did issue organisational, strategic and combat orders. He exercised authority and effective control over HVO prisons and detention facilities, in whole or part, through the HVO Military Police and the head of such police, VALENTIN CORIC.

 

6. SLOBODAN PRALJAK, also known as "Brada," son of Mirko, was born on 1 or 2 January 1945, in the town of Capljina, in Capljina Municipality, SRBiH. After studying in Zagreb, he worked as a theatrical, film and television producer and a lecturer in philosophy, psychology and electrical engineering. In the early summer of 1991, he joined the Army of the Republic of Croatia and, by 3 April 1992, held the rank of major general in the Croatian Army. On about 14 March 1992, SLOBODAN PRALJAK became Assistant Minister of Defence for the Republic of Croatia, and worked closely with the Minister of Defence, Gojko Susak. On 10 September 1992, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman appointed SLOBODAN PRALJAK to be one of fourteen members of the Republic of Croatia's Council of National Defence, and he remained in this position until at least 15 June 1993. On 13 May 1993, SLOBODAN PRALJAK was named to the Republic of Croatia's state commission for relations with the United Nations Protection Force ("UNPROFOR").

 

7. From approximately March 1992 to July 1993, SLOBODAN PRALJAK served simultaneously as a senior Croatian Army officer, Assistant Minister of Defence and senior representative of the Croatian Ministry of Defence to the Herceg-Bosna/HVO government and armed forces. He served as a conduit for orders, communications and instructions from President Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak and other senior officials of the Republic of Croatia to the Herceg-Bosna/HVO government and armed forces, and reported to and kept Croatia's senior officials informed of developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this period, SLOBODAN PRALJAK played a prominent role in securing weapons and ammunition for the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. He directly and indirectly commanded Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces and operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From approximately 24 July 1993 to 9 November 1993, SLOBODAN PRALJAK served as the top overall military commander of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces.

 

8. In his various positions and functions, SLOBODAN PRALJAK exercised de jure and/or de facto command and control over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. At times relevant to the indictment, he exercised effective control and substantial influence over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces (including the operative zone commanders). He was responsible for the management, organization, planning, preparation, training, discipline, supply, deployment and operations of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. He issued organisational, strategic and combat orders. It was part of his responsibility to ensure that all Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces conduct themselves in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and that all prisoners, detainees and other persons held by Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces be treated in compliance with such conventions and law. SLOBODAN PRALJAK also had command authority over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO civilian police, when they acted under or in co-ordination with the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces during times of armed conflict. He was closely involved in all aspects of Herceg-Bosna/HVO military planning and operations.

 

9. MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, son of Jerko, was born on 11 October 1949 in Sibenik, Socialist Republic of Croatia. MILIVOJ PETKOVIC graduated from the military academy of the Yugoslav National Army ("JNA") and held the rank of lieutenant-colonel when he left the JNA on or about 25 July 1991 and joined the Croatian Army. On or about 14 April 1992, Croatian Army General Janko Bobetko assigned MILIVOJ PETKOVIC to the command of the Croatian Army's forward command center in the town of Grude, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was or became the top command staff of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. From April 1992 until about 24 July 1993, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC served as the overall commander of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces, as "Chief of the HVO Main Staff." When SLOBODAN PRALJAK was named the top HVO commander on or about 24 July 1993, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC continued as one of the very top Herceg-Bosna/HVO commanders. On or about 26 April 1994, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC was again named the overall HVO commander, and he remained in this position until about 5 August 1994.

 

10. In his various positions and functions, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC exercised de jure and/or de facto command and control over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. At times relevant to the indictment, he exercised effective control and substantial influence over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces (including the operative zone commanders). He was responsible for the management, organization, planning, preparation, training, discipline, supply and deployment and operations of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces. He issued organisational, strategic and combat orders. It was part of his responsibility to ensure that all Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces conduct themselves in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and that all prisoners, detainees and other persons held by Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces be treated in compliance with such conventions and law. MILIVOJ PETKOVIC also had command authority over the Herceg-Bosna/HVO civilian police, when they acted under or in co-ordination with the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces during times of armed conflict. He was closely involved in all aspects of Herceg-Bosna/HVO military planning and operations.

 

11. VALENTIN CORIC, son of Andrija, was born on 23 June 1956 in the village of Paoca, in Citluk Municipality, in the SRBiH. He has a degree in engineering and served as Maintenance Director of the Bauxite Mines in Citluk. After joining the HDZ-BiH, VALENTIN CORIC became a member of the Citluk Municipal Staff, where he became involved in military matters and obtaining weapons and equipment. VALENTIN CORIC was later named commander of the military training center at Krvavice, in the Republic of Croatia, where some eight hundred soldiers from Herceg-Bosna were trained. In April 1992, Mate Boban appointed VALENTIN CORIC Deputy for Security and Commander of the HVO Military Police. His position was later titled "Chief of the Military Police Administration" (within the HVO Department, later Ministry, of Defence), and he continued in this position until 20 November 1993. On or about 20 November 1993, VALENTIN CORIC was appointed Minister of Interior in the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna.

 

12. In his various positions and functions, VALENTIN CORIC, from at least April 1992 to late 1993, played a central role in the establishment, administration and operation of the HVO Military Police. He had de jure and/or de facto command and control of the HVO Military Police, which regularly played important roles in administering Herceg-Bosna/HVO prisons and detention facilities (including the release and transfer of prisoners and detainees) and in combat and ethnic cleansing operations. VALENTIN CORIC exercised effective control and substantial influence over the HVO Military Police, and had the authority and responsibility to command and discipline members of the HVO Military Police. It was part of his responsibility to ensure that all Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces, including the Military Police, conduct themselves in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and that all prisoners, detainees and other persons held by Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces be treated in compliance with such conventions and law. It was also part of the duties of the Military Police, which VALENTIN CORIC commanded, to investigate alleged crimes by Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces.

 

13. BERISLAV PUSIC, also known as "Berto" or "Berko," son of Andrija, was born on 8 June 1952, in the town of Mostar, in Mostar Municipality, in the SRBiH. In 1992, BERISLAV PUSIC became an officer in the HVO Military Police in Mostar, and held a command position in the Military Police in 1993. By an order dated 22 April 1993, VALENTIN CORIC assigned BERISLAV PUSIC to act on behalf of the HVO Military Police in exchanging Bosnian Muslim detainees held by the HVO. On 11 May 1993, BRUNO STOJIC appointed BERISLAV PUSIC as an HVO liaison officer to UNPROFOR. On 5 July 1993, JADRANKO PRLIC appointed BERISLAV PUSIC as Head of the Service for the Exchange of Prisoners and Other Persons. On 6 August 1993, BRUNO STOJIC appointed BERISLAV PUSIC as president of the commission to take charge of all Herceg-Bosna/HVO prisons and detention facilities holding prisoners of war and detainees. During 1993, BERISLAV PUSIC was also president of the HVO Commission for Exchange of Prisoners.

 

14. As a result of his various positions and functions, BERISLAV PUSIC was an instrumental, high-level official in the Herceg-Bosna/HVO system concerning the detention, use, release, exchange, transfer and deportation of Bosnian Muslims. Based on his de jure and/or de facto powers, he exercised effective control and substantial influence over various components and personnel in this system. It was part of his responsibility to classify and process Muslim detainees in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law. BERISLAV PUSIC issued orders and decisions, signed authorisations and gave instructions for the handling of Bosnian Muslim detainees, which controlled their continued detention and/or their transfer or deportation to other areas or countries.

THE JOINT CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

 

15. From on or before 18 November 1991 to about April 1994 and thereafter, various persons established and participated in a joint criminal enterprise to politically and militarily subjugate, permanently remove and ethnically cleanse Bosnian Muslims and other non-Croats who lived in areas on the territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were claimed to be part of the Croatian Community (and later Republic) of Herceg-Bosna, and to join these areas as part of a "Greater Croatia," whether in the short-term or over time and whether as part of the Republic of Croatia or in close association with it, by force, fear or threat of force, persecution, imprisonment and detention, forcible transfer and deportation, appropriation and destruction of property and other means, which constituted or involved the commission of crimes which are punishable under Articles 2, 3, and 5 of the Tribunal Statute. The territorial ambition of the joint criminal enterprise was to establish a Croatian territory with the borders of the Croatian Banovina, a territorial entity that existed from 1939 to 1941. It was part of the joint criminal enterprise to engineer the political and ethnic map of these areas so that they would be Croat-dominated, both politically and demographically.

 

16. Numerous persons participated in this joint criminal enterprise. Each participant, by his or her acts, omissions, practices or conduct, both individually and in concert with or through other persons, substantially contributed to carrying out the enterprise and accomplishing its purpose. The following persons, among others, participated in the joint criminal enterprise: Franjo Tudjman (deceased, 10 December 1999), the President of the Republic of Croatia; Gojko Šusak (deceased, 3 May 1998), the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Croatia; Janko Bobetko (deceased, 29 April 2003), a senior General in the Army of the Republic of Croatia; Mate Boban (deceased, 8 July 1997), President of the Croatian Community (and Republic) of Herceg-Bosna; JADRANKO PRLIC; BRUNO STOJIC; SLOBODAN PRALJAK; MILIVOJ PETKOVIC; VALENTIN CORIC; BERISLAV PUSIC; various other officials and members of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO government and political structures, at all levels (including in municipal governments and local organisations); various leaders and members of the Croatian Democratic Union ("HDZ") and Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("HDZ-BiH"), at all levels; various members of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces, special units, military and civilian police, security and intelligence services, paramilitaries, local defence forces and other persons acting under the supervision of or in co-ordination or association with such armed forces, police and other elements; various members of the armed forces, police, security and intelligence services of the Republic of Croatia; and other persons, both known and unknown. These persons led, directed, planned, prepared, encouraged, promoted, instigated, ordered, committed, carried out, facilitated, participated in, contributed to, supported and otherwise acted in furtherance of the joint criminal enterprise.

 

17. Each of the accused -- JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC -- acting individually and through the positions and powers described above, and in concert with other members of the joint criminal enterprise, participated as leaders in the joint criminal enterprise in one or more of the following ways:

 

1. establishing, organising, directing, funding, facilitating, supporting, maintaining and/or operating Herceg-Bosna/HVO governmental and political structures and processes (or various elements thereof), including governmental or state-like powers over the control of housing and property, the status of refugees and displaced persons, the provision of public services and humanitarian assistance, restrictions on freedom of movement, and the exchange of prisoners, which were used to pursue and implement the joint criminal enterprise;

 

2. establishing, organising, commanding, ordering, directing, funding, facilitating, participating in, supporting, maintaining and/or operating the Herceg-Bosna/HVO military, police, intelligence and other forces through which the objectives of the joint criminal enterprise were pursued and implemented and by which various crimes charged in this indictment, such as killing, forcible transfer and destruction of property, were committed;

 

3. initiating, promoting, planning, preparing, participating in, supporting and/or encouraging the development, formulation, dissemination and/or implementation of Herceg-Bosna/HVO political, governmental and/or military policies, programs, plans, decrees, decisions, regulations, strategies or tactics which were used as bases or vehicles for various actions against or to the disadvantage of Bosnian Muslims, such as depriving them of fundamental human rights, housing, property and/or humanitarian assistance, as part of the joint criminal enterprise;

 

4. instigating, supporting, encouraging, facilitating and/or participating in the dissemination of information and propaganda to Bosnian Croats that was intended to advance the joint criminal enterprise, by engendering in Bosnian Croats fear, hatred and mistrust of Bosnian Muslims, or to gain support and participation in the joint criminal enterprise, such as information that Bosnian Croats were at imminent risk of oppression and extermination at the hands of Bosnian Muslims, that various territories on which Bosnian Muslims resided were Croatian territory, and that Mostar was the rightful capital of Herceg-Bosna;

 

5. planning, instigating, commanding, directing, participating in, facilitating or supporting the HVO takeover of various municipal governments and efforts to "Croatise" the Bosnian Muslim and other non-Croat population in areas which the Herceg-Bosna/HVO leaders claimed were part of Herceg-Bosna.

 

6. encouraging, controlling, funding, facilitating, assisting and/or participating in the production, acquisition or distribution of military equipment, arms, ammunition, funds, logistical support and other means which were used to advance the joint criminal enterprise;

 

7. requesting, obtaining, arranging, facilitating and/or co-ordinating the participation and assistance of elements of the Republic of Croatia government, armed forces, police and intelligence services, including funding and logistical support, in furtherance of the joint criminal enterprise;

 

8. establishing, organising, directing, funding, facilitating, supporting, participating in, maintaining and/or operating a system of Herceg-Bosna/HVO prisons, concentration camps and other detention facilities which were used to imprison and detain Bosnian Muslims as part of and in furtherance of the joint criminal enterprise;

 

9. establishing, organising, directing, funding, facilitating, supporting, participating in, maintaining and/or operating a system for the deportation or forcible transfer of Bosnian Muslims to other countries or parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were not claimed or controlled by Herceg-Bosna, as part of and in furtherance of the joint criminal enterprise;

 

10. ordering, instigating, promoting, encouraging, facilitating and/or implementing the systematic use by Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces of Bosnian Muslim detainees for unlawful forced labour;

 

11. promoting, instigating, encouraging and condoning the commission of crimes against Bosnian Muslims by failing to report and/or investigate crimes or alleged crimes against them, to follow up on such investigations, and/or to punish or discipline subordinates and others in the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces for crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims or other non-Croats; and

 

1. engaging in, encouraging, facilitating or supporting efforts to deny, conceal and/or minimise crimes committed by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces against Bosnian Muslims or other non-Croats, including the provision of false, incomplete or misleading information to international organisations, monitors, investigators and the public.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

 

1. The events alleged in this indictment occurred as part of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. The Republic of Croatia declared its independence on 25 June 1991. By September 1991, the Republic of Croatia was at war with nationalist Serb forces attempting to incorporate parts of Croatia into a "Greater Serbia." A United Nations peace agreement ended the war in Croatia in January 1992, after Serb forces had taken control of about one-fourth to one-third of the Republic of Croatia's territory. The European Community recognised the Republic of Croatia as an independent State on 15 January 1992 and the United Nations admitted Croatia as a member-State on 22 May 1992.

 

2. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Bosnia and Herzegovina") was recognised by the European Community as an independent State on 6 April 1992, and admitted as a member-State of the United Nations on 22 May 1992. By the spring of 1992, Bosnian Serb forces had already begun an armed campaign to dismember the fledgling country and expel Muslims and Croats from territory claimed as Greater Serbia.

 

3. The ruling party in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union (the "HDZ"), organised and controlled the branch of the party in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the HDZ-BiH. By the latter part of 1991, the more extreme nationalist elements of the HDZ-BiH, under the leadership of Mate Boban, Dario Kordic and others, with the support of Franjo Tudjman and Gojko Susak, had taken effective control of the party.

 

4. On 18 November 1991, the more extreme nationalist elements of the HDZ-BiH, led by Mate Boban and Dario Kordic, proclaimed the existence of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna, as a separate "political, cultural, economic and territorial whole," on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 28 August 1993, the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna declared itself the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna. (As stated earlier, this entity, whether as the "Community" or "Republic," is referenced hereafter as "Herceg-Bosna.") Neither the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina nor the international community ever recognised Herceg-Bosna as a State. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared Herceg-Bosna illegal, first on or about 14 September 1992 and again on 20 January 1994.

 

5. According to Article 2 of the 18 November 1991 Decision on the Establishment of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna, Herceg-Bosna consisted of the following municipalities in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jajce, Kresevo, Busovaca, Vitez, Novi Travnik, Travnik, Kiseljak, Fojnica, Kakanj, Vares, Kotor Varos, Tomislavgrad, Livno, Kupres, Bugojno, Gornji Vakuf, Prozor, Konjic, Jablanica, Posusje, Mostar, Siroki Brijeg, Grude, Ljubuski, Citluk, Capljina, Neum, Stolac and parts of Skender Vakuf (Dobretici) and Trebinje (Ravno). By virtue of Article 4 of the same Decision, the municipality of Zepce was added to Herceg-Bosna in about October 1992.

 

6. In the course of and as part of the joint criminal enterprise, the leaders and other members of the enterprise, including Franjo Tudjman, Mate Boban and JADRANKO PRLIC, pursued a two-track policy toward the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its territory. On the one hand, the leaders and various members of the joint criminal enterprise often claimed publicly to support the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (sometimes hereafter "BiH Government") and an independent and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the other hand, and less publicly but more substantially, the leaders and other members of the enterprise pursued their objective of a Greater Croatia, along the lines of the Croatian Banovina. In a similar fashion, while Franjo Tudjman and other Croatian officials sometimes made efforts to distance themselves, at least publicly, from the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities, they generally worked closely together behind-the-scenes and in their dealings with the international community and media.

 

7. During a meeting in Zagreb on 27 December 1991, Franjo Tudjman summarised the joint criminal enterprise's objective, saying: "SICt is time that we take the opportunity to gather the Croatian people inside the widest possible borders." In a meeting on 17 September 1992, Franjo Tudjman told other leaders of the joint criminal enterprise, including Gojko Susak, Mate Boban and JADRANKO PRLIC, after first discussing the Croatian Banovina, that it was in the "vital interest" of the Croatian state "that we secure our position, in the national and territorial sense, in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

 

8. By a decision dated 8 April 1992, leaders and members of the joint criminal enterprise, including Mate Boban, established the Croatian Defence Council (the "HVO"), as Herceg-Bosna's "supreme defence body," "to defend the sovereignty of the territories of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna." On 15 May 1992, the HVO was likewise declared Herceg-Bosna's "supreme executive and administrative body," combining political, governmental and military powers. While the self-proclaimed political entity and its territory were referred to as "Herceg-Bosna," the government and armed forces of Herceg-Bosna were called the "Croatian Defence Council" or "HVO." The governmental and political leadership and administrative authorities of Herceg-Bosna and the HVO (the "Herceg-Bosna/HVO leadership" or "Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities") were in charge of, and worked closely with the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces, special units, military and civilian police, security and intelligence services, paramilitaries, local defence forces and other persons acting under the supervision of or in co-ordination or association with such armed forces, police and other elements ("Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces"). While not every member of the HVO or the HDZ-BiH was part of the joint criminal enterprise, Herceg-Bosna, the HVO and the HDZ-BiH were essential structures and instruments of the joint criminal enterprise.

 

9. Following Herceg-Bosna's establishment in November 1991, and especially from May 1992 forward, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO leadership (including the accused and other leaders and members of the joint criminal enterprise) engaged in continuing and co-ordinated efforts to dominate and "Croatise" the municipalities which they claimed were part of Herceg-Bosna, with increasing persecution and discrimination directed against the Bosnian Muslim population. The HVO took control of many municipal governments and services, removing or marginalising local Bosnian Muslim leaders. Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces took control of the media and imposed Croatian ideas and propaganda. Croatian symbols and currency were introduced, and Croatian curricula and the "Croatian language" were introduced in schools. Many Bosnian Muslims were removed from positions in government and private business; humanitarian aid was managed and distributed to the Muslims' disadvantage; and Muslims in general were increasingly harassed.

 

10. In the spring and early summer of 1992, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces, while asserting their control and engaging in the actions described above, carried out military operations with armed forces of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in response to JNA and Bosnian Serb military actions in Herzegovina and elsewhere. In connection with or following the Serb forces leaving Mostar, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO-led forces destroyed the city's Serbian Orthodox Church and nearby Serb houses. Many Serbs left Mostar during this time, while others were held in poor conditions in HVO-run detention camps.

 

11. Despite some co-operation in the spring and summer of 1992, tensions between the Herceg-Bosna/HVO structures and Bosnian Muslims continued and increased over time. Significant violence broke out between the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces and Bosnian Muslims on 19 October 1992 in Novi Travnik, the site of an important munitions factory, and in the course of several days thereafter, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces cleansed most of the Muslims from the town of Prozor and several surrounding villages.

 

12. In January 1993, United Nations and European Community peace negotiators met in Geneva with Croat, Serb and Muslim representatives and discussed a proposed peace agreement, known as the Vance-Owen Peace Plan, which would maintain a single, unified Bosnia and Herzegovina with a central government and ten numbered provinces. While neither the Serbs nor Muslims had agreed to the Vance-Owen proposals by mid-January 1993, Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak and the Herceg-Bosna/HVO leadership (including the accused) found the plan, as they envisioned and interpreted it, much to their favour -- essentially giving them the Croatian Banovina and even additional territory, covered by the proposed Vance-Owen provinces 3, 8 and 10, despite the fact that many of the areas included in these provinces had majority or at least equal Muslim populations and were controlled or occupied by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

13. At a meeting in Zagreb on 15 January 1993, Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak and Mate Boban failed to convince Bosnia and Herzegovina's President, Alija Izetbegovic, to accept their views and immediately set out to implement their plans without the agreement of the BiH Government or the international peace negotiators. On the same day, the HVO President, JADRANKO PRLIC, signed a Decision that "SaCll units of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina which at this moment are stationed in provinces 3, 8 and 10, which have been declared Croatian provinces in the Geneva accords, shall be subordinated to the Command of the Main Staff of the HVO Armed Forces. . . . The deadline for implementing this Decision is hereby set at five (5) days, starting from today, 15 January 1993."

 

14. Despite the fact that neither the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina nor the international peace negotiators had agreed to the unilateral implementation of their views of the Vance-Owen proposals, Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces, with the passage of the 15 January 1993 deadline and around that time, took military and violent actions to enforce the ultimatum, attacking and pressing the Muslims at a number of locations, including at Novi Travnik, Gornji Vakuf and Busovaca. Following international protests, a cease-fire was put in place after some days.

 

15. While tensions remained high and there were local skirmishes, major conflict was avoided until the end of March 1993, when President Izetbegovic, following further negotiations, provisionally accepted the Vance-Owen plan (which the Serbs never accepted), with certain military aspects of the plan still to be resolved. As in January 1993, knowing that the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina had not agreed on the remaining issues and that the Bosnian Serbs had not accepted the plan, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO leadership (including the accused) once again set a deadline, stating that all units of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in provinces 3, 8 and 10, by 15 April 1993, either subordinate themselves to the HVO or leave the areas covered by the proposed provinces.

 

16. When the 15 April deadline passed without the BiH Government acceding to their position, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces set about a broad campaign of persecutions, military actions, arrests and expulsions to enforce their demands, with more than thirty attacks on Muslim towns and villages on 16-18 April 1993, including the attacks and atrocities in Ahmici on 16 April, in Sovici and Doljani on 17 April, and in Parcani, Lizoperci and Toscanica on 17-19 April.

 

17. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO attacks, arrests and expulsions in the second half of April 1993 set in motion an extensive campaign of such actions, interrupted by occasional ceasefires, which continued even after the signing of another peace plan, the Washington Agreement, in March 1994.

 

18. On 9-10 May 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked Bosnian Muslims in Mostar, a city on the Neretva River in southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces rounded up hundreds, if not thousands, of Bosnian Muslim men, women, children and elderly. Large numbers of Bosnian Muslims were expelled into east Mostar, while hundreds of others were detained at the Heliodrom prison. By June 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces had commenced a siege against east Mostar which continued to April 1994 and involved continual shelling, sniper fire, blocking of humanitarian aid and horrible deprivations, directed against the Bosnian Muslims in east Mostar.

 

19. After an attack by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("ABiH") on an HVO camp in the northern part of Mostar town on 30 June 1993, JADRANKO PRLIC and BRUNO STOJIC issued a proclamation stating that Croat civilians were being exterminated, that the very existence of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina was in extreme and imminent danger and that Mostar was and would remain a Croatian town. On 2 July 1993, criminal enterprise leader Franjo Tudjman told Gojko Susak and others in a meeting in Zagreb that it was "important to put pressure on the Muslim units on the Neretva front."

 

20. In early July, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces, supported by (and involving) the government and armed forces of the Republic of Croatia, launched a massive campaign to attack, arrest and cleanse Bosnian Muslims from areas claimed to be part of Herceg-Bosna (including the municipalities of Mostar, Prozor, Stolac, Capljina and Ljubuski). From June through September 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces systematically arrested, mistreated and evicted tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men, women, children and elderly from their homes, detained them and/or transferred them to other areas or deported them to other countries.

 

21. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO actions followed a pattern: First, most of the Bosnian Muslim military-aged men (including many who had served in the HVO) were arrested and detained at various HVO prisons and concentration camps. Then, with most of the Muslim men removed, the HVO took control of towns and villages and systematically rounded up Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly, who were then detained for varying lengths of time and/or transferred to ABiH-controlled areas or deported to other countries.

 

22. As part of and in the course of these actions, involving ethnic cleansing on a widespread and systematic basis, and in furtherance of the joint criminal enterprise, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC, together with other leaders and members of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces, engaged in:

 

1. Instigation and Fomentation of Political, Ethnic or Religious Strife, Division and Hatred: By speeches, propaganda and false information, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities created, instigated and supported a charged anti-Muslim atmosphere, promoted ethnic division and fostered religious mistrust.

 

2. Use of Force, Intimidation and Terror: Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and military and police units used force and the threat of force to dominate, suppress and persecute Bosnian Muslims. In the course of mass arrests and evictions, Bosnian Muslims were killed, severely injured, sexually assaulted, robbed of their property and otherwise abused. Identity papers and similar documents were often taken from Muslims, placing them at various risks and limiting their freedom of movement. In attacks on Muslim towns, villages and areas, and in the siege of east Mostar, there was regular and widespread shelling and sniping of Muslim civilians.

 

3. Appropriation and Destruction of Property: Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and soldiers forced Bosnian Muslims to abandon their homes or sign them over to the HVO. Money, cars and personal property were often taken or looted. Muslim dwellings and other buildings, including public buildings and services, were appropriated, destroyed or severely damaged, together with Muslim buildings, sites and institutions dedicated to religion or education, including mosques. Much of this destruction was meant to ensure that Muslims could not, or would not, return to their homes and communities. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities appropriated public property belonging to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Seized or abandoned Muslim apartments and homes were often given or assigned to HVO members or Croat refugees.

 

4. Detention and Imprisonment: The accused and other members of the joint criminal enterprise, together with various members of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces, established, supported and operated a system of ill-treatment, involving a network of prisons, concentration camps and other detention facilities (including, without limitation, the Heliodrom Camp, Ljubuski Prison, Dretelj Prison, Gabela Prison and Vojno Camp) to arrest, detain and imprison thousands of Bosnian Muslims, including women, children and elderly. Many of the imprisoned and detained Muslims were kept in horrible conditions and deprived of basic human necessities, such as adequate food, water and medical care. Many suffered inhumane treatment and physical and psychological abuse, including beatings and sexual assaults.

 

5. Forcible Transfer and Deportation: The accused and other members of the joint criminal enterprise, together with various members of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces, established, supported and operated a system of ill-treatment to deport Bosnian Muslims to other countries or transfer them to parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina not claimed or controlled by Herceg-Bosna. Many of the transferred or deported Muslims were first imprisoned and detained as described above, and only "released" to be transferred or deported. Many persons so transferred or deported were forced to sign over their property to the HVO or to simply abandon their property and leave their belongings.

 

6. Forced Labour: Many Bosnian Muslims held by the HVO were forced to engage in physical labour, such as building military fortifications, digging trenches, carrying ammunition and retrieving bodies, often in combat and dangerous conditions, which resulted in many Bosnian Muslim detainees being killed or severely wounded. Some were used as human shields or to draw fire from enemy positions, in order to locate those positions. HVO units and soldiers used Muslim prisoners to plunder and loot Muslim homes and property.

 

1. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO campaign of attacks and ethnic cleansing continued into the latter part of 1993, as demonstrated by the HVO's 23 October 1993 attack on the Muslim village of Stupni Do. After discussions in Zagreb on what to do concerning the HVO officer who commanded the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces involved in the killings at Stupni Do, senior political and military leaders engaged in what Franjo Tudjman described as a "game": the international community was told that the HVO officer had been removed, when in fact, he simply changed his name, remained in essentially the same position and was never punished.

 

2. As a result of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO campaign of persecution and ethnic cleansing, the Bosnian Muslim population in many parts of Herceg-Bosna was substantially reduced, and those who remained were plainly dominated by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces, as planned and intended by the joint criminal enterprise, including the accused.

 

3. On about 1 March 1994, Franjo Tudjman and the Herceg-Bosna/HVO leadership entered into the Washington Agreement, which established the Croat-Muslim federation and ended the large-scale open fighting between the two sides.

PROZOR MUNICIPALITY

 

1. Prozor Municipality is located in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 1991 population of approximately 19,760 persons. In the 1991 census, about 62% of the municipality's inhabitants declared themselves Croat, and 36.5% declared themselves Muslim. The principal town in Prozor Municipality is Prozor. Its 1991 population (about 3,500 persons) was approximately 60% Muslim.

 

2. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Prozor Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna. By a decision of Mate Boban, the HVO Municipal Government was officially established in Prozor Municipality on 12 August 1992.

 

3. From August to October 1992, tensions between the HVO and ABiH increased. On 19 October 1992, the Croatian flag was raised on the police station in Prozor town. On the morning of 23 October 1992, the HVO President in Prozor told the Bosnian Muslims, inter alia, that the increasing Croat-Muslim tensions would be solved by the Bosnian Muslims' immediate acceptance of Herceg-Bosna/HVO political and military control. The Muslims did not accept the HVO proposal.

 

4. On the afternoon of 23 October 1992, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked the Bosnian Muslims in Prozor town. On 23-24 October 1992, after they had taken control of Prozor town, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces plundered, burned and destroyed Bosnian Muslim homes and other properties.

 

5. On 24 October 1992, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces rounded up Bosnian Muslims, promising that no harm would be done to them. In fact, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces arrested the Bosnian Muslim men and detained them in the Ripci primary school. Some of the Muslim men were kept for several days, while others were kept for several weeks. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces severely beat a number of the Muslim detainees.

 

6. On about 24 October 1992, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked Paljike, a predominantly Muslim village approximately one kilometer south of Prozor town. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces deliberately destroyed Bosnian Muslim houses and property. HVO forces confined four Bosnian Muslims inside a house and then fired shots and threw hand grenades inside the house, killing two of the civilians (named in the Confidential Annex) (hereafter "Annex"). The HVO detained all of the Bosnian Muslim men in one house in the village and transferred them the next day to the Ripci primary school.

 

7. On the evening of 24 October 1992, an area HVO commander reported that Prozor town was "ethnically pure," the Muslim population having been detained or having fled. On 26 October 1992, BRUNO STOJIC, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, Janko Bobetko and others were informed that the HVO had taken control of Prozor on 25 October, with many casualties on the Muslim side.

 

8. In November 1992, after negotiations between the Herceg-Bosna/HVO and ABiH authorities, Bosnian Muslim civilians returned to Prozor Municipality. The HVO, however, continued to harass and persecute the Bosnian Muslim population.

 

9. On about 17-19 April 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked several villages, including Parcani, Lizoperci and Toscanica. In Parcani, Lizoperci and Toscanica, most inhabitants fled into the surrounding woods for safety when they saw the HVO soldiers approaching the villages. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces killed Bosnian Muslim civilians in Toscanica (named in the Annex), entered the villages, burned houses, destroyed livestock and looted the area.

 

10. Beginning in the summer of 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities required that all movements of Bosnian Muslims into, out of or within Prozor Municipality be approved by Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities.

 

11. From June to mid-August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked Bosnian Muslim civilians and destroyed and looted Bosnian Muslim civilian property in or about the villages of Duge, Lug, Lizoperci, Skrobucani, Parcani, Munikoze, Podonis (sometimes referenced as Podanis) and Gracanica. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces also attacked Muslim civilians hiding in the region of Prajine and Tolavac, killing six of them. (Annex) Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces burned down the mosque in Skrobucani and the Islamic Community building in Prozor town, and seriously damaged the mosque in Lizoperci.

 

12. From spring 1993 until the end of that year, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces arrested Bosnian Muslim men and took them to various detention centres in Prozor Municipality, including the Secondary School Centre, the Unis building, the military police building located at the fire station and the Ministry of Interior ("MUP") building. HVO soldiers physically abused the Muslim detainees, some of whom were taken away and never seen again. Beginning in July 1993, the HVO transferred some detainees to other detention facilities at Ljubuski, the Heliodrom, Dretelj and Gabela.

 

13. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces used Bosnian Muslim detainees to perform forced labour, including construction of military fortifications and digging trenches. Some Muslim detainees died or were injured while performing forced labour. HVO soldiers often beat and humiliated Muslim detainees while they were being held or used as labourers, and on some occasions forced them to perform sexual acts. (Annex)

 

14. On or about 31 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces took approximately fifty Muslim detainees from the Secondary School Centre to the confrontation line at Makljen Crni Vrh. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces tied the detainees together with telephone cable around their arms and necks and forced them to walk in front of HVO soldiers in the direction of ABiH positions near the forest. While the detainees were walking in front of the HVO soldiers, the HVO soldiers opened fire in their direction and at least twenty detainees were killed. The dead detainees were untied and left behind while the HVO forced the remaining detainees to walk toward the forest. (Annex)

 

15. During July and August 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces collected and confined (in houses under HVO control) several thousand Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly in or about the villages of Lapsunj and Duge and in a part of Prozor town called Podgrade. The various locations were over-crowded and the living conditions were deplorable. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces frequently robbed, abused and humiliated the Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly and looted their property. Members of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces often raped Bosnian Muslim women. (Specific instances of rapes and sexual assaults, as representative allegations, are set forth in the Annex).

 

16. In late August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces gathered the several thousand Bosnian Muslim civilians kept in the three villages, loaded them onto trucks and took them to the village of Kucani near the frontline, where they were forced to walk in the direction of ABiH-held territory. As the Muslim civilians walked toward ABiH territory, the HVO fired shots at them, resulting in several Muslims being injured.

 

17. At the end of August 1993 and thereafter, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces continued to persecute and mistreat Bosnian Muslim civilians who remained in Prozor Municipality, subjecting them to harassment, physical and sexual assault and humiliating acts. (Annex) By December 1993, there were only about 500 to 600 Muslims in Prozor Municipality and by the end of the month, most of them were either in HVO concentration camps, sent to ABiH-held territory or deported to other countries.

 

18. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); rape (Count 4); inhuman treatment (sexual assault) (Count 5); deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); unlawful labour (Count 18); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21); appropriation of property (Count 22);and plunder (Count 23).

GORNJI VAKUF MUNICIPALITY

 

19. Gornji Vakuf Municipality is located in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 1991 population of approximately 25,181 persons. In the 1991 census, about 56% (or 14,063) of the municipality’s inhabitants declared themselves Muslim, and about 42.5% (or 10,706 persons) as Croat.

 

20. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Gornji Vakuf Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna. By a decision of Mate Boban, the HVO armed forces were officially established in Gornji Vakuf on 8 April 1992. In the first few months of its existence, the HVO recruited a large number of Bosnian Croats and set up various checkpoints to control population movement in the municipality.

 

21. On or about 24-25 October 1992, shortly after Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked Bosnian Muslims in neighbouring Prozor Municipality on 23 October 1992, Herceg-Bosna/HVO and ABiH forces engaged in fighting in Gornji Vakuf town, and the HVO seized control of several factories and the MUP building.

 

22. On 6 January 1993, two days after Mate Boban announced that the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities had accepted the Vance-Owen peace plan, the HVO provoked the predominantly Muslim population in Gornji Vakuf town by raising a Croatian flag. The HVO shot at an ABiH soldier who tried to remove the flag. On 11-12 January 1993, open fighting between the HVO and ABiH broke out and continued in Gornji Vakuf town and several surrounding villages, including Dusa, Hrasnica, Uzricje and Zdrimci.

 

23. As described above, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities demanded on 15 January 1993 that ABiH forces in large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Gornji Vakuf, either subordinate themselves to the HVO or withdraw from these areas. On 16 January 1993, the HVO issued a specific ultimatum to the Bosnian Muslims in Gornji Vakuf, demanding, inter alia, that the ABiH troops withdraw from the area by midnight, 17 January 1993. The ABiH rejected the HVO ultimatum.

 

24. On 18 January 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces, using heavy artillery, attacked Bosnian Muslim residential areas in Gornji Vakuf town and several surrounding villages, including Dusa, Hrasnica, Uzricje and Zdrimci. The HVO attacks and artillery fire killed a number of Bosnian Muslim civilians and destroyed or damaged a substantial amount of Bosnian Muslim property. (Annex)

 

25. Following the HVO attack on Dusa, Hrasnica, Uzricje and Zdrimci, the HVO plundered and burned Bosnian Muslim houses and property in and around these villages. The HVO robbed hundreds of arrested or captured Bosnian Muslims of their valuables and separated the Muslim men from the Muslim women, children and elderly. In most instances, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces took the Muslim men away to HVO detention facilities, while they detained the women, children and elderly in one or two houses in the village. During their detention, Muslim women, children and elderly were kept in harsh conditions and often mistreated or abused. The HVO actions resulted in hundreds of Muslim civilians leaving the Gornji Vakuf area.

 

26. Following the HVO takeover of Zdrimci around 18 January 1993, the HVO forces separated Muslim women and children from the men and detained them in a few houses for approximately one month. During this time, the HVO forces burned down the Muslim houses in the village. The Muslim women and children were often intimidated and harassed by the HVO forces, being forced to say Christian prayers and cross themselves. On one occasion, all of the Muslim women and children were lined up in front of a mekteb in the village. An HVO soldier asked them to take a Koran and set fire to the mekteb. When none of the Muslim women or children would do so, the HVO soldiers burned the mekteb down.

 

27. Following the HVO takeover of Hrasnica around 18 January 1993, the HVO transferred the Bosnian Muslim population in buses to a furniture factory in Trnovaca which served as an HVO detention center. After the first day of detention, the HVO took the Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly to Muslim houses in the neighbourhood, where they were held for another two weeks. On being released, HVO soldiers told the Muslims to go to ABiH-held territory and live there.

 

28. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces detained approximately sixty military-aged Bosnian Muslim men from Dusa and Hrasnica in the Trnovaca furniture factory, for about two weeks. The Bosnian Muslim men were frequently beaten and subjected to physical and psychological abuse, intimidation and inhuman treatment by HVO soldiers. After approximately two weeks, the Bosnian Muslim men from Dusa were exchanged, while the Muslim men from Hrasnica were transferred to an HVO detention facility in Prozor.

 

29. After the HVO takeover of Uzricje around 22 January 1993, the HVO detained the entire Bosnian Muslim population in the only two remaining Muslim houses in the village for several weeks, under horrible conditions. It was winter and each house had only a wood stove, with no electricity. The fifty to sixty Muslims detained in the houses received no food and stayed alive by eating whatever was left in these houses. When the HVO released the Muslim detainees, HVO soldiers told the Muslims to go to ABiH-held territory and live there.

 

30. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC and VALENTIN CORIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21); appropriation of property (Count 22); and plunder (Count 23).

SOVICI AND DOLJANI
(JABLANICA MUNICIPALITY)

 

31. The villages of Sovici and Doljani are located in the western part of Jablanica Municipality. According to the 1991 census, about 71% of Jablanica Municipality's total population of approximately 12,691 inhabitants declared themselves Muslim, and 18% as Croat. The village of Sovici was predominantly Muslim, while Doljani was predominantly Croat.

 

32. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Jablanica Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna, despite the fact that the municipality was 71% Muslim.

 

33. As described above, in early April 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO leadership issued statements calling for all ABiH forces in large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Jablanica Municipality and Sovici and Doljani, to either subordinate themselves to the HVO or leave these areas by no later than 15 April 1993.

 

34. Shortly after the 15 April 1993 deadline passed, and around the same time that Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked other locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the HVO attacked Sovici and Doljani, on 17 April 1993. A number of Bosnian Muslim men attempted to defend the villages, but most resistance was quickly overcome by late afternoon on 17 April 1993, when the Bosnian Muslim commander surrendered.

 

35. On 17-18 April 1993, the HVO collected and detained approximately 70 to 90 military-aged Bosnian Muslim men at a school in Sovici (the "Sovici school"). During or about this time, the HVO executed at least four Bosnian Muslim men near the Sovici school. (Annex) The HVO severely beat, mistreated, and abused other Muslim men.

 

36. On about the evening of 18 April 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces transported many of the Muslim men detained at the Sovici school to Ljubuski Prison, where they continued to be detained. While being transported to Ljubuski, the HVO continued to beat, abuse and humiliate the Muslim men and forced them to sing nationalistic Croatian songs.

 

37. Commencing on about 18 April 1993 and continuing thereafter, the HVO expelled and collected Bosnian Muslim men, women, children and elderly from their homes in the Sovici-Doljani area. The HVO detained several hundred Bosnian Muslim men, women, children and elderly at the Sovici school and in about six or seven houses in the Junuzovici hamlet (the "Junuzovici houses"). The conditions at these locations were harsh and inhumane, with little food or water and inadequate sanitation facilities. The HVO beat, mistreated, and abused many Muslim detainees, including women.

 

38. In the following days, between approximately 18 April and 23 April 1993, other Bosnian Muslim men were either captured by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces or surrendered. The HVO took a number of these men to the HVO headquarters located at a fish farm near Doljani. There, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces mistreated, abused, interrogated and tortured the men. The HVO executed some of the Muslim detainees.

 

39. The HVO used Bosnian Muslim men detained in the Sovici-Doljani area for forced labour at various places in the surrounding area, in building military fortifications, digging trenches and carrying ammunition.

 

40. On 18 April 1993 and thereafter (continuing to about 24 April 1993), after all or most of the principal fighting had ended, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces deliberately burned or otherwise destroyed most of the Bosnian Muslim homes in Sovici and Doljani.

 

41. Between about 18 April and 22 April 1993, the HVO deliberately destroyed two buildings dedicated to the Muslim religion in Sovici and Doljani (including at least one mosque).

 

42. On 17 April 1993 and for several days thereafter, the HVO blocked international observers and peace-keeping forces from entering the Sovici-Doljani area, although much of the destruction and burning houses could be seen from a distance.

 

43. From 17 April 1993 to approximately 4 May 1993 and thereafter, Muslim property was confiscated, stolen, plundered and robbed by Herceg-Bosna/HVO members. An HVO decision on 13 May 1993 declared that all property of the "exiled Muslim population" was HVO property.

 

44. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces continued to hold Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly at the Sovici school and the Junuzovici houses until approximately 4-5 May 1993, when the HVO transported 400 to 500 Bosnian Muslim civilians toward Gornji Vakuf. There, the HVO unloaded the Muslim women, children and elderly and told them to walk toward ABiH-controlled territory.

 

45. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); unlawful labour (Count 18); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21); appropriation of property (Count 22);and plunder (Count 23).

MOSTAR MUNICIPALITY

 

46. Mostar Municipality is located in southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 1991 population of approximately 126,628 persons. In the 1991 census, approximately 34.6% of the municipality's inhabitants (43,856 persons) declared themselves Muslim, approximately 33.9% (43,037 persons) declared themselves Croat; 18.8% (23,846 persons) as Serb; and 12.3% (15,889) as Yugoslav or "other." The town of Mostar ("Mostar town") is the historical capital and largest city of that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina known as Herzegovina. As of 1991, Mostar town was approximately 34.2% Muslim, 28.7% Croat, 18.6% Serb, and 18.5% Yugoslav or "other."

 

47. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Mostar Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna. Despite the fact that Mostar town was only about 29% Croat, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities claimed Mostar as Herceg-Bosna's capital.

 

48. As described above, Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities, in 1992, engaged in a campaign to control and "Croatise" Mostar Municipality (including Mostar town), with increasing persecution and discrimination aimed at the municipality's Bosnian Muslim population. By mid-1992 and continuing into 1993, Bosnian Muslims, with few exceptions, were removed from positions in the municipal and local governments; humanitarian aid was distributed to the Muslims' disadvantage; and Muslims in general were increasingly harassed.

 

49. In October 1992, Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities ordered the HVO Military Police to tighten its control over Mostar town. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces occupied government and public buildings, disarmed Muslim soldiers, took over the refugee centers and raided the local headquarters of the leading Muslim political party, the Party of Democratic Action ("SDA"). The Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities took the Muslim radio station off the air and imposed a curfew.

 

50. As described above, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities demanded on 15 January 1993 that ABiH forces, including those in Mostar Municipality, either subordinate themselves to the HVO or withdraw from the area. In mid-January 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities raised the Mostar HVO forces' combat readiness to the highest level and imposed a curfew. All Muslim transports of weapons and military equipment were ordered confiscated.

 

51. As described above, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities made a similar demand in early April 1993, with a deadline of 15 April 1993. On that same day, 15 April 1993, the HVO Mostar Municipal Government adopted a "Decision on the Statutory Rights of Refugees and Expelled and Displaced Persons in Mostar Municipality," which redefined the criteria for determining an individual's status as a "refugee," at a time when being classified as a "refugee" was a prerequisite to obtaining humanitarian aid. At that time, there were approximately 19,000 refugees in Mostar, nearly 18,000 of whom were Muslim, and the effect of the Decision was to disqualify approximately 10,000 persons from receiving aid.

 

52. On the morning of 9 May 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked Bosnian Muslims in Mostar. As part of this operation, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked the Vranica building complex, which was an apartment complex in West Mostar housing a large number of civilians. A part of the basement in one building serving as a local ABiH headquarters, with a small number of ABiH soldiers. On 10 May 1993, the Vranica building's civilian and military inhabitants surrendered to the HVO. Most of the military-aged Bosnian Muslim men were detained and taken to the Tobacco Institute, some to the Mechanical Engineering Faculty building, and some to the police station (or "MUP building"). The other Bosnian Muslim inhabitants were taken to the Velez football stadium and from there to the Heliodrom. The Bosnian Croat inhabitants were released. Muslim men taken to the Tobacco Institute -- where they were presented to a gathering of senior Herceg-Bosna/HVO officials and officers -- were beaten, mistreated and abused by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces.

 

53. Twelve of the military-aged Muslim men who surrendered at the Vranica building on 10 May 1993 were taken to an HVO military police headquarters at the Mechanical Engineering Faculty building, where they were interrogated, severely beaten and humiliated. (Annex) One of the detainees had an ear cut off while being beaten and was subsequently shot to death. After the beatings, two HVO soldiers entered the room where the men were held and fired numerous shots at the detainees at close range. None of the twelve Muslim men were ever seen again.

 

54. Also commencing on 9 May 1993, at about the same time that the HVO attacked the Vranica building complex, and continuing on 10 May 1993, the HVO rounded up and detained hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men, women, children and elderly living in the part of Mostar west of the Neretva River. Some of the Bosnian Muslims were expelled into east Mostar, while many others were taken to the Velez football stadium, and then either transported or forced to walk to the Heliodrom (described below), just south of Mostar. Approximately 1,800 Bosnian Muslim civilians were detained by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces at the Heliodrom for varying periods, up to about ten days. Some Muslim detainees were transferred to Ljubuski Prison, while others continued to be held at the Heliodrom, notwithstanding an internationally negotiated cease-fire agreement.

 

55. On or about 9 May 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces blew up the Baba Besir Mosque (also known as the Balinovac Mosque) in the Balinovac district, in west Mostar. On or about 11 May 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces dynamited the Hadzi Ali-Beg Lafo Mosque (sometimes known as the Hadji Ali-Bey Lafa Mosque) at Pijesak, also in west Mostar.

 

56. The HVO actions on 9-10 May 1993 and thereafter resulted in Mostar town being divided by an HVO-ABiH confrontation line, running north and south along the Bulevar and Santiceva Street, just west of the Neretva River. Most of the Bosnian Muslims were surrounded in a small area located on the east side of the river, together with a narrow strip of buildings on the west bank (hereafter "East Mostar"). The Bosnian Croats and HVO occupied most of the west bank ("West Mostar") and the areas north and south of the Muslim enclave, with Bosnian Serb forces to the east.

 

57. From 9 May 1993 and continuing to April 1994 and thereafter, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces engaged in the systematic expulsion and forcible transfer of thousands of Bosnian Muslim civilians from West Mostar. During and in the course of these expulsions, often at gunpoint, Bosnian Muslims were routinely beaten, sexually assaulted, shot at, robbed, had their property confiscated and were otherwise mistreated. Some of the evicted Bosnian Muslims were taken to HVO concentration camps and detained there, while many others were forced across the confrontation line into East Mostar.

 

58. During and throughout this time, from May 1993 forward, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces allowed some Bosnian Muslims in West Mostar to go to ABiH-controlled parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina or other countries, so long as they left Herceg-Bosna. Hundreds of Bosnian Muslims were allowed to leave Mostar only if they signed a statement, required by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities, that they "voluntarily" relinquished all of their belongings to the HVO. The homes and flats from which the Bosnian Muslims were evicted were assigned by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities to HVO soldiers and Bosnian Croat civilians.

 

59. While many Bosnian Muslims who were arrested and detained on 9-10 May 1993 were released after being held a short time, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces continued to evict Bosnian Muslims from their homes and flats in West Mostar, in the second half of May 1993.

 

60. In about mid-June 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled and forcibly evicted a large number of Bosnian Muslims from their homes in West Mostar.

 

61. On 30 June 1993, the ABiH attacked and occupied the HVO's "Tihomir Misic" Barracks (also known as the "Northern Barracks"), in the north part of Mostar town. Following this attack, the HVO arrested several thousand military-aged Bosnian Muslim men in and around Mostar, and detained them at the Heliodrom or Dretelj Prison. In connection with or following the mass arrest of Muslim men, approximately 400 Bosnian Muslim families (women, children and elderly) were expelled from West Mostar.

 

62. During the time from 9 May 1993 and thereafter, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces used the Mechanical Engineering Faculty building in Mostar to detain, interrogate and mistreat arrested or captured Bosnian Muslim men. In the first week of July 1993, five Bosnian Muslim men were arrested near Dreznica and taken to the Mechanical Engineering Faculty building. HVO members severely beat the five men, two of whom died from the beating. (Annex)

 

63. In mid-July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces carried out another round of forcible evictions, expelling Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly from their homes in West Mostar and into East Mostar. Around the same time, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities offered to release Muslim men detained at the Heliodrom, as well as their families in the Mostar area, if they agreed to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina and go to another country. Approximately 800 Bosnian Muslims agreed to this proposal and were deported to the Republic of Croatia, as a transit point to other countries.

 

64. On about 14 July 1993, a Muslim boy and his grandfather were arrested at their home in Buna (just outside Mostar town) and taken to an HVO Military Police station, where they were interrogated and tortured by HVO Military Police. Later the same day, they were put in a van to be transported to Dretelj Prison. On their way to Dretelj Prison, the HVO Military Police stopped the van and ordered the boy and his grandfather to stand at the edge of the road, above the Neretva River. The HVO Military Police then fired a hail of bullets at them, seriously wounding the boy (who fell down the riverbank and survived) and killing his grandfather. (Annex)

 

65. During the same period of the continuing evictions from West Mostar, from May 1993 forward, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces regularly engaged in looting, theft and plunder of Muslim property, either in the course of the continuing evictions themselves or by separately entering still occupied or abandoned Muslim homes and apartments.

 

66. On or about 24 August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked various locations around Mostar town, including the village of Rastani, the Mostar hydro-electric plant and the "Tihomir Misic" Barracks. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces entered Rastani and surrounded houses where ABiH soldiers were believed to be quartered. When HVO soldiers surrounded the house of one local Muslim man, he was the only ABiH soldier in the house, along with fifteen relatives and neighbours who were Muslim civilians. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces ordered all of the persons to come out of the house, and immediately shot and killed the unarmed ABiH soldier and three other unarmed military-aged Muslim men as they came out of the house. (Annex) The HVO forces lined the Muslim women and children in front of a wall and stole their money and jewellery and otherwise mistreated them. The surviving Muslims were then ordered to cross the Neretva River to ABiH-held territory.

 

67. In late September 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces engaged in another round of evictions of Bosnian Muslims from West Mostar, in the Centar II district. Approximately 600 Bosnian Muslim civilians were forced from their homes, and at least one Bosnian Muslim woman was raped. (Annex)

 

68. From about June 1993 to April 1994, East Mostar and certain areas connected to it, including Blagaj, were under siege. As a result of Bosnian Muslims being expelled into this enclave or fleeing to the enclave from other areas, the Muslim population in this area increased from a pre-war estimate of approximately 18,400 persons to a number estimated as high as 51,600 persons. In East Mostar itself, the Muslim population increased from about 10,400 to approximately 27,700 persons.

 

69. During this time, from June 1993 to April 1994, there was continued fighting between Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces and the ABiH in and around Mostar town. While the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces were generally better equipped with heavier weapons, including tanks and artillery, the smaller Muslim forces, using primarily light infantry weapons, resisted HVO advances and held the small strip of land west of the Neretva River.

 

70. The Bosnian Muslims in East Mostar lived, or attempted to live, in increasingly dangerous, squalid and horrific conditions. While the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces regularly forced more Bosnian Muslims into the small, densely populated area of East Mostar, the same forces continually shelled East Mostar with artillery and fired at civilians using sniper and other direct fire weapons (including heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft weapons). At the same time, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities blocked and deprived the Bosnian Muslims in East Mostar of humanitarian aid, and cut off or failed to repair water and power supplies to that part of the city. Constant shelling and sniping forced the civilian Muslim population into an underground life. Venturing out for food, water and other necessities was often a terrifying, dangerous experience.

 

71. In the early part of the East Mostar siege, from approximately late June 1993 to late August 1993, international organisations and humanitarian agencies were completely or substantially blocked from entering East Mostar, which caused increasing hardships for the Bosnian Muslims in East Mostar, who were cut off from outside aid.

 

72. The HVO shelling of East Mostar killed or wounded hundreds of Bosnian Muslim civilians, of both sexes and all ages. Herceg-Bosna/HVO gunfire killed or wounded at least 135 civilians in East Mostar, including women, children and elderly. (Annex) (Specific instances of sniping attacks against Muslim civilians, as representative allegations, are set forth in the Annex.) Firemen responding to emergencies, women washing their clothes, family members going out for water and small children who ventured outside were killed or wounded by Herceg-Bosna/HVO snipers.

 

73. Members of international organisations were also routinely targeted by Herceg-Bosna/HVO sniper fire and, on occasion, were targeted by HVO artillery and mortar fire, with several UN peacekeepers and others being killed or wounded.

 

74. As part of and in the course of the East Mostar siege, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces deliberately destroyed or significantly damaged the following mosques or religious properties in East Mostar: Sultan Selim Javuz Mosque (also known as the Mesdjid Sultan Selimov Javuza Mosque), Hadzi Mehmed-Beg Karadjoz Mosque, Koski Mehmed-Pasa Mosque, Nesuh Aga Vucjakovic Mosque, Cejvan Cehaja Mosque, Hadzi Ahmed Aga Lakisic Mosque, Roznamedzija Ibrahim Efendija Mosque, Cosa Jahja Hodza Mosque (also known as the Dzamiha Cose Jahja Hodzina Mosque), the Hadzi Kurto or Tabacica Mosque, and the Hadzi Memija Cernica Mosque. On 9 November 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed the Stari Most ("Old Bridge"), an international landmark that crossed the Neretva River between East and West Mostar.

 

75. The East Mostar siege ended around 12 April 1994, following a peace agreement signed by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and the Muslim side in Split, in the Republic of Croatia.

 

76. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); rape (Count 4); inhuman treatment (sexual assault) (Count 5); deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21); appropriation of property (Count 22); plunder (Count 23); unlawful attack on civilians (Count 24); unlawful infliction of terror (Count 25); and cruel treatment (Mostar siege) (Count 26).

HELIODROM CAMP

 

77. The Heliodrom Camp (also called the "Central Military Prison" or "Central Military Remand Prison") (the "Heliodrom") was located in Rodoc, just south of Mostar town, in Mostar Municipality. The Heliodrom was a complex of buildings, with some parts of the complex used as an HVO prison or detention facility, and other parts as barracks for HVO and other troops. The HVO prison/detention facility was established in September 1992, on the orders of BRUNO STOJIC and VALENTIN CORIC, and held Bosnian Muslim detainees until 21 April 1994.

 

78. As described above, on 9-10 May 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces systematically rounded up and detained hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men, women, children and elderly living in West Mostar. Hundreds of arrested Bosnian Muslims were either transported or forced to walk to the Heliodrom, where most of them were detained for periods up to about ten days.

 

79. As described above, on 30 June 1993, the ABiH attacked and occupied the HVO's "Tihomir Misic" or Northern Barracks. Following this attack, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces arrested several thousand military-aged Muslim men in Herzegovina, and detained many of them at the Heliodrom, for extended periods of time.

 

80. As a result of the arrests, the prison population at the Heliodrom increased from a small number of persons prior to May 1993 to approximately 1,800 detainees around 9-10 May 1993, and then declined to about 500 persons by late June 1993. From July to December 1993, the prison population averaged several thousand persons, with an estimated maximum of about 6,000 detainees held at any one time. While the remaining Bosnian Muslim women were released from the Heliodrom on 17 December 1993, a substantial number of Muslim men were held there until April 1994.

 

81. Bosnian Muslim men were held and continued to be detained at the Heliodrom concentration camp without any bona fide or adequate effort by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities or forces to distinguish, classify or separate military prisoners from civilian detainees, or to provide for the release of civilian detainees.

 

82. Conditions at the Heliodrom concentration camp were inhumane, with severe overcrowding, inadequate medical and sanitary facilities, insufficient food and water, inadequate ventilation, and in the summer, suffocating heat. Detainees often slept on concrete floors with no bedding or blankets. On some occasions, HVO guards withheld all food and water from the detainees, in retaliation for HVO military setbacks.

 

83. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces regularly mistreated and abused, and allowed the mistreatment and abuse of, Bosnian Muslim detainees, both at the Heliodrom itself and at various locations where detainees were taken for forced labour or other purposes. There was regular cruel treatment and infliction of great suffering, with HVO soldiers and guards routinely beating detainees, often to the point of unconsciousness and severe injuries. Muslim detainees lived in constant fear of physical and mental abuse. Passing HVO soldiers often fired their weapons indiscriminately at Muslim detainees held in crowded areas. Other detainees were attacked by HVO guard dogs which were released by the guards for the specific purpose of inflicting injury and fear. Muslim detainees were often humiliated in various ways, including being forced to sing nationalistic Croatian songs.

 

84. From approximately mid-May to 17 December 1993, at least thirty Bosnian Muslim women (including some more than 70 years old and others with young children with them) were detained at the Heliodrom concentration camp, in the main building of the detention facility. Some were kept in the attic and others were placed in isolation cells in the basement. The conditions were inhumane, with insufficient sanitary facilities and medical attention, inadequate food and water and poor ventilation. They often slept on concrete floors with no bedding or blankets.

 

85. As described above, the HVO actions on and following 9-10 May 1993 resulted in Mostar town being divided by an HVO-ABiH confrontation line, running along the Bulevar and Santiceva Street. During the period from May 1993 to April 1994, Bosnian Muslim men held at the Heliodrom were taken on a virtually daily basis to perform forced labour at the Mostar confrontation line and at other locations in the Mostar region. Such labour regularly involved building military fortifications, digging trenches, loading weapons, carrying ammunition and explosives, and retrieving the bodies of killed HVO soldiers, all in dangerous combat conditions, with many Muslim detainees being killed or wounded.

 

86. From approximately August 1993 to March 1994, Bosnian Muslim men detained at the Heliodrom concentration camp were transported to Vojno Camp (described below), often on a seven-day rotation, where they were used in forced labour in dangerous conditions. Many Muslim detainees were killed or injured in the course of such labour.

 

87. On a number of occasions, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces used Muslim detainees as human shields, placing them between HVO and ABiH forces or making them walk in front of advancing HVO forces. On some occasions, Muslim detainees were given wooden rifles or otherwise made to look like HVO soldiers and forced to walk toward ABiH positions in order to draw fire and assist the HVO in identifying ABiH positions.

 

88. The use of Bosnian Muslim detainees held at the Heliodrom in forced labour or as human shields resulted in at least fifty-four Muslim detainees being killed and at least 178 being wounded. (Annex)

 

89. Some Bosnian Muslim detainees were released or permitted to leave the Heliodrom on the conditions that they surrender all of their property to the HVO and move to another country. On about 17 July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities offered to release Muslim men detained at the Heliodrom if they agreed to be transferred to the Republic of Croatia, from where the HVO would allegedly assist them in relocating to other countries. Approximately 800 Bosnian Muslims accepted this proposal, and were transported to the island of Obonjan and Gasinci in the Republic of Croatia, with the direct involvement of Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces and Republic of Croatia police.

 

90. Similar practices continued from July to November 1993, with the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities agreeing to release detained Muslim men on the usual condition that they leave Herceg-Bosna. Between 15-17 December 1993, at least 1,477 Muslim detainees were released from the Heliodrom. Many were deported to the Republic of Croatia or other countries, and some were sent or allowed to return to East Mostar. On some occasions, Muslim detainees were also told they would be released if they signed loyalty oaths to the HVO.

 

91. On various occasions, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities blocked international observers and humanitarian organisations from gaining full and truthful information about the existence and circumstances of Muslim detainees held at the Heliodrom, and on some occasions barred international observers from having contact with the detainees. On 18 May 1993, representatives of international humanitarian organisations who visited the Heliodrom were not permitted to inspect all of the premises where detainees were kept, and were given false information concerning the detention and release of Bosnian Muslims, including Muslim women. By August 1993, an international humanitarian organisation had notified the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities of violations of the Geneva Conventions related to the detention of Muslims at the Heliodrom, including their use in forced labour.

 

92. In January 1994, representatives of an international humanitarian organisation were prevented from having contact with detainees who were still being used in forced labour.

 

93. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); and unlawful labour (Count 18).

VOJNO CAMP

 

94. From approximately June 1993 to March 1994, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces used and operated several buildings in the area of Vojno, in Mostar Municipality, about twelve kilometers north of Mostar town, as a place to detain Bosnian Muslim men, women and children who had been arrested or otherwise taken into custody ("Vojno Camp"). The camp was located close to an active HVO-ABiH confrontation line.

 

95. Conditions at Vojno Camp were harsh and unhealthy, with overcrowding, insufficient food and water, poor ventilation, insufficient bedding and inadequate sanitation facilities.

 

96. The HVO physically and mentally abused Bosnian Muslim men detained at the Vojno Camp on a daily basis. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces killed at least thirteen Muslim men while they were detained at Vojno Camp and injured many others. (Annex) The HVO forces routinely beat Bosnian Muslim men with fists, feet, rubber batons and various wooden objects. Muslim men were subjected to electrical shocks, often forced to beat each other and otherwise abused and humiliated. Muslim detainees were forced to witness the summary execution of other detainees. Detainees were often subjected to particularly severe mistreatment in retaliation for ABiH military successes.

 

97. From approximately August 1993 to March 1994, Bosnian Muslim men detained at Vojno Camp, together with Bosnian Muslim men detained at the Heliodrom (who were often sent to Vojno Camp on a seven-day rotation) were used in forced labour in the Vojno area. The forced labour included building military fortifications, digging trenches, carrying ammunition to HVO soldiers, and retrieving killed and injured HVO soldiers, often along the confrontation line and in the midst of combat conditions. Bosnian Muslim men engaged in such labour were regularly exposed to mortar, sniper and other small arms fire, and at least thirty-nine Muslim men were killed or wounded. (Annex)

 

98. The HVO detained approximately fifty civilian Bosnian Muslim women and girls (together with their small children) at Vojno Camp, from approximately June to December 1993. The Muslim women and others were held without any genuine or bona fide effort by the HVO to determine their status or distinguish military detainees from civilians. Neither did the HVO provide for the civilians’ release or transfer to a safe location.

 

99. HVO soldiers repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted Bosnian Muslim women and girls detained at Vojno Camp. (Annex) Such episodes of sexual assault were often preceded or accompanied by beatings or threats that non-compliance would result in the woman's child (or children) being killed.

 

100. Bosnian Muslim children detained at the Vojno Camp were regularly exposed to cruel treatment, hunger and separation from their mothers, resulting in physical suffering and trauma to these, some of the younger victims of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO persecution and cleansing.

 

101. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); rape (Count 4); inhuman treatment (sexual assault) (Count 5); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); and unlawful labour (Count 18).

LJUBUSKI MUNICIPALITY
AND DETENTION CENTERS

 

102. Ljubuski Municipality is located in southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, bordering the Republic of Croatia. In 1991, approximately 92% of Ljubuski Municipality's total 28,340 inhabitants declared themselves Croat and only 5.6% (or about 1,592 persons) as Muslim.

 

103. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Ljubuski Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna. In 1992 and continuing into 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces increasingly persecuted Bosnian Muslims in Ljubuski town and the villages of Gradska and Vitina.

 

104. Commencing in April 1993 and continuing through March 1994, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces operated the Ljubuski Military Remand Prison ("Ljubuski Prison") in Ljubuski town and another detention center located in a tin hangar in or near the hamlets of Vitina and Otok ("Vitina Hangar," sometimes also known as the "Otok camp"). The HVO operated these camps, in whole or part, as places to detain and imprison Bosnian Muslims, including Bosnian Muslim leaders, civilian Muslim women and Muslim intellectuals, as well as Muslims arrested or collected in the Republic of Croatia and sent to Ljubuski Prison.

 

105. Conditions at the Ljubuski Prison concentration camp and the Vitina Hangar were harsh and unhealthy due to overcrowding, bad ventilation, a complete lack of beds, insufficient bedding, insufficient food and water and poor sanitation facilities.

 

106. From approximately April 1993 to March 1994, the HVO regularly used Bosnian Muslims detained at Ljubuski Prison and the Vitina Hangar to perform forced labour. This labour included dangerous military-related tasks such as building bunkers and digging trenches in combat conditions, which resulted in the death or injury of a number of Muslim detainees.

 

107. Particularly during the time from May to July 1993, the HVO routinely beat, tortured, and mistreated Bosnian Muslims detained at Ljubuski Prison and the Vitina Hangar, both at the detention facilities themselves and while engaged in forced labour.

 

108. Between 16 August 1993 and 28 August 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities deported the Bosnian Muslim populations of Gradska, Vitina and Ljubuski town from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This mass deportation was accomplished by allowing Bosnian Muslims to leave HVO concentration camps and detention facilities only if they provided a letter of guarantee from another country willing to accept them and their families. Bosnian Muslims from Ljubuski Municipality were arrested, robbed of their property and subsequently deported with their families to third countries, via the Republic of Croatia.

 

109. From November 1993 to March 1994, many of the Bosnian Muslims detained at the Ljubuski Prison concentration camp and the Vitina Hangar were transferred to Gabela Prison or the Heliodrom, sent to East Mostar or ABiH-held territory or deported to third countries.

 

110. In September 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed the mosque in the village of Gradska, as part of the continuing persecution directed against the Bosnian Muslims.

 

111. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); and destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21).

STOLAC MUNICIPALITY

 

112. Stolac Municipality is located in southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 1991 population of approximately 18,681 persons. According to the 1991 census, 43.4% of the population (8,101 persons) declared themselves Muslim, and 33.1% (6,188 people) declared themselves Croat. The main town in the municipality is Stolac town, with a 1991 population of approximately 5,530 persons. About 62% of the town's inhabitants (3,426 persons) declared themselves Muslim, and approximately 12% (653 persons) declared themselves Croat.

 

113. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Stolac Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna, despite the fact that Bosnian Croats constituted a minority in the municipality. As in other municipalities described in this indictment, there were growing tensions between the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and Bosnian Muslim population in 1992 and 1993, with increasing HVO persecution against the Muslims. When Bosnian Serb forces and much of the Serb population left Stolac town in mid-1992, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities took control of the town.

 

114. Despite the HVO's efforts to Croatise the institutions and population in Stolac Municipality, the municipality's Bosnian Muslims rejected Herceg-Bosna/HVO control. In December 1992, the Bosnian Muslim members of the Stolac Crisis Staff refused to endorse the incorporation of Stolac Municipality into Herceg-Bosna.

 

115. During the early part of 1993, tensions between the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and the Bosnian Muslims increased. Around 20 April 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities arrested prominent Bosnian Muslims in Stolac Municipality (including the Bosnian Muslim members of the Stolac Crisis Staff) and detained them for varying periods of time in HVO detention facilities at Dretelj, Gabela, Ljubuski and the Heliodrom.

 

116. On or about 10 May 1993, the HVO converted the Kostana Hospital in Stolac to an HVO Military Police facility and transferred the hospital’s bone disease patients to the Grabovina barracks in Capljina Municipality. The HVO then used the Kostana Hospital building as a short-term detention facility for Bosnian Muslim men.

 

117. As described above, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities, in July 1993, carried out a massive, orchestrated campaign to expel, cleanse and forcibly transfer Bosnian Muslims from various parts of Herzegovina, including Stolac Municipality. After first arresting and detaining most of the Bosnian Muslim men, the HVO systematically removed Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly from their homes and ultimately expelled them to ABiH-controlled areas. In the course of expelling the Bosnian Muslim civilians, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces robbed them of their property.

 

118. On or about 6 July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities forcibly expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from in or around the village of Prenj.

 

119. On or about 12-15 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from in or around the villages of Aladinici, Pjesivac Greda and Rotimlja on the Dubrave Plateau. In the course of forcibly expelling Bosnian Muslim civilians from Pjesivac Greda on 12-13 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces shot and killed an eighteen-year-old Bosnian Muslim woman. (Annex)

 

120. In the course of expelling Bosnian Muslim civilians from the Dubrave Plateau, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces, on 13-15 July 1993, destroyed Bosnian Muslim houses in Aladinici and Rotimlja, including Muslim houses and property in the Huskovici, Medine and Selo parts of Rotimlja. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed the mosques in Aladinici and Rotimlja on 14 July 1993.

 

121. On 13-14 July 1993, in Stolac town, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly and destroyed the Sultan Selim Mosque (also known as the Emperor Mosque).

 

122. In late July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed Bosnian Muslim houses and property in Borojevici.

 

123. On 4-5 August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed Bosnian Muslim houses and property in Prenj, including the mosque.

 

124. On or about 4 August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities forcibly expelled additional Bosnian Muslim civilians from Stolac town. During or about the time of 4 August 1993, the HVO destroyed the Begovina Complex and the old town center (including the market) in Stolac town, and three additional mosques -- the Ali Pasa Rizvanbegovic Mosque, the Hadzi Alija Hadzisalihovic Mosque and the Ismail Kapetan Saric Mosque. Including the earlier expulsions on 13-14 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled the vast majority of all Bosnian Muslims from Stolac town, totalling more than 3,000 persons.

 

125. As part of the expulsion campaign, Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities immediately placed Bosnian Muslims (primarily women, children and elderly) on trucks and buses and transported them to Muslim enclaves or ABiH-held territory or its vicinity. From there, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities forced or told the detainees to walk to such enclaves or territory. In Buna especially, Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities forced Bosnian Muslims to walk to Blagaj, often under gunfire.

 

126. In other instances, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities detained or held Bosnian Muslim civilians at various locations, including the Crnici School, the TGA factory and the VPD (Stolac Juvenile Correction Center), as well as the Silos in Capljina town. At other locations, Bosnian Muslim civilians were kept in private houses and severely limited in their freedom of movement. The conditions and practices at these locations were inhumane and overcrowded, involving cruel treatment, insufficient food and water, and inadequate sanitary facilities, bedding and medical care. Many of those detained were eventually transferred to ABiH-controlled areas.

 

127. During the summer and fall of 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO members severely mistreated Bosnian Muslim men held at the Kostana Hospital detention facility, kicking and beating them with batons, clubs, rifle butts and chairs, often in the course of interrogations and for prolonged periods. Many Muslim detainees died or were seriously injured by this mistreatment, with at least five Muslim men dying between July and mid-October 1993. (Annex) (One of the Muslim men died from his injuries after he was moved to Dretelj Prison.)

 

128. By the latter part of September 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO leaders assured President Tudjman in Zagreb that not a single Muslim remained in Stolac Municipality, and that the HVO had re-populated and filled the Muslim homes in the area with Croats from Central Bosnia.

 

129. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21); appropriation of property (Count 22); and plunder (Count 23).

CAPLJINA MUNICIPALITY

 

130. Capljina Municipality is located in southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 1991 population of approximately 27,882 persons. According to the 1991 census, 53.7% of the municipality's inhabitants (or about 14,969 persons) declared themselves Croat, and 27.5% (7,672 persons) Muslim. The Bosnian Muslim population was concentrated in the municipality's principal town, Capljina, and in villages on the Dubrave Plateau, which straddles Stolac and Capljina Municipalities. In 1991, about 41% (or 3,067 persons) of Capljina town's inhabitants declared themselves Croat, and 29.4% (or 2,191 persons) as Muslim.

 

131. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Capljina Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna. As in other municipalities described in this indictment, there were growing tensions between the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and Bosnian Muslim population in 1992 and 1993, with increasing HVO persecution against the Muslims.

 

132. Around 20 April 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities arrested a substantial number of Bosnian Muslim men in Capljina Municipality, including prominent Muslim men in that area, and detained them at various HVO detention facilities (including the Grabovina barracks) for varying periods of time.

 

133. The HVO's conduct and practices in the systematic and large-scale arrests and expulsions in other parts of Herzegovina in July 1993 were also applied to Bosnian Muslims in Capljina Municipality. After first arresting and detaining most of the Bosnian Muslim men, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities systematically removed Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly from their homes, and expelled them to ABiH-controlled areas or other countries, via the Republic of Croatia. In the course of expelling the Bosnian Muslims, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces robbed them of their property.

 

134. During the days around 13 July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities forcibly expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from or around the village of Domanovici. During these expulsions, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces shot and killed two young Bosnian Muslim women. (Annex)

 

135. During the days around 13 July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from or around the village of Bivolje Brdo. In the course of these expulsions, HVO soldiers shot and killed an 83-year-old Bosnian Muslim man at his home in the Kevcici hamlet, and destroyed Bosnian Muslim houses. (Annex) On 16 July 1993, in the course of expelling Bosnian Muslims from Bivolje Brdo, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces separated twelve Bosnian Muslim men, who went missing and were never seen alive again. (Annex)

 

136. Around 13 July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from in or around the village of Pocitelj. Between 27 July 1993 and 5 August 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces evicted additional Bosnian Muslims from Pocitelj, including many who had fled there from other villages. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces loaded many of the Muslim civilians onto trucks and took them to Buna, where they were made to walk to Blagaj (which was part of the East Mostar enclave).

 

137. Around 13 July 1993, and again from 27 July 1993 to 5 August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces forcibly expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from in or around the village of Oplicici. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces burnt and dynamited Bosnian Muslim houses and buildings in Oplicici on 4 August 1993, and destroyed the mosque in Oplicici on 7 August 1993.

 

138. During the time from 13 July to 15 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from in or around the village of Lokve. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed the mosque in or about Lokve on 14 July 1993 and destroyed Bosnian Muslim houses there on 16 July 1993.

 

139. On about 14 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces destroyed the mosque in or about the village of Visici. On 11 August 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled Bosnian Muslim civilians from the village of Visici, initially detaining them for several days at Silos in Capljina town, and then evicting them from HVO-held territory.

 

140. During August and September 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled and forcibly transferred Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly from Capljina town. The main expulsion occurred on or about 23 August 1993, when Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces loaded about 3,000 Bosnian Muslim civilians into a large convoy of trucks and removed them from the town. After a brief stop at Silos, where their personal property was taken from them, the Muslim civilians were removed to ABiH-held territory. Around 29 September 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces expelled the last remaining Bosnian Muslims from Capljina town, even though many of these civilians had obtained letters of guarantee to go to other countries. Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces took the civilians to Buna and made them walk to Blagaj.

 

141. During and as part of the expulsions, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities placed some Bosnian Muslims on trucks and buses and transported them to Muslim enclaves or ABiH-held territory (or to its vicinity, from where they were told or forced to walk to such enclaves or territory). The HVO detained other Bosnian Muslim civilians for varying periods of time at various locations, such as the Silos in Capljina town, the Crnici school in Stolac Municipality and at various houses and schools. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities often held the detained Bosnian Muslims in inhumane, overcrowded, and cruel conditions, with insufficient food and water and inadequate sanitary facilities, bedding, and medical care. Many of those detained were eventually transferred to ABiH-controlled areas, or deported to other countries, via the Republic of Croatia.

 

142. When the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities converted the Kostana Hospital in Stolac Municipality to an HVO Military Police facility on about 10 May 1993, the HVO transferred the bone disease patients (most of whom were unable to move by themselves), to the Grabovina barracks in Capljina Municipality. On 24 July 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces harshly loaded these bone disease patients onto the back of a truck without their wheelchairs or other medical aids, saying that the wheelchairs and aids would not be needed. The truck's Bosnian Muslim driver ignored the HVO's instructions to drive the truck to an isolated part of HVO-controlled territory and took the patients instead to an ABiH-controlled area.

 

143. From July to September 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities expelled and forcibly transferred or deported thousands of Bosnian Muslim civilians from Capljina Municipality.

 

144. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment Count 17); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); destruction or wilful damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education (Count 21), appropriation of property (Count 22); and plunder (Count 23).

DRETELJ DISTRICT MILITARY PRISON

 

145. Dretelj is a village located in Capljina Municipality, approximately 1.5 kilometers from Capljina town. The Dretelj District Military Prison ("Dretelj Prison") was part of, or located alongside, the Dretelj Barracks, and consisted of five tin hangars and two ammunition storage tunnels. The HVO used Dretelj Prison in 1992 and the first half of 1993 to hold arrested and captured Serbs.

 

146. The HVO detained Bosnian Muslim men at the Dretelj Prison concentration camp primarily from April to September 1993, with some Muslims detained there until approximately April 1994. The prison population at Dretelj Prison peaked on 11 July 1993, when the HVO detained approximately 2,270 Bosnian Muslim men at the prison. After that, the detainee population averaged about 1,700 Muslim men.

 

147. As described elsewhere, during the time from 30 June until mid-July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities conducted mass arrests of Bosnian Muslim men, including Muslim members of the HVO, and detained many of them at Dretelj Prison. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities held and continued to detain Bosnian Muslim men at the Dretelj Prison concentration camp irrespective of their civilian or military status, including a number of boys younger than sixteen and men older than sixty. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities made no bona fide or adequate effort to distinguish military detainees from civilians, or to provide generally for the release of civilian detainees. During August and September 1993, the HVO criteria for releasing Bosnian Muslim men from detention included being married to a Croat woman or possessing a visa and letter of guarantee to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina to another country. Many Bosnian Muslims detained at Dretelj Prison were deported by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities to other countries, via the Republic of Croatia.

 

148. Conditions at Dretelj Prison were harsh and unhealthy due to overcrowding, bad ventilation, no beds and insufficient bedding, and inadequate sanitary facilities. The HVO provided the detainees with insufficient food and water and often made them eat under cruel and humiliating circumstances. In the heat of mid-July 1993, the HVO kept detainees locked up without food and water for a number of days, resulting in the death of at least one Bosnian Muslim detainee.

 

149. Throughout the time that Bosnian Muslims were detained at Dretelj Prison, HVO members, including the prison warden and members of HVO units not attached to the prison, subjected detainees to beatings and cruel treatment, including constant fear of physical and mental abuse. Bosnian Muslim detainees were sometimes forced or instigated to beat or abuse other Muslim detainees. Muslim detainees held in the isolation cell were particularly brutalised. Muslim detainees were harassed, subjected to ethnic insults and humiliated.

 

150. The HVO acts and practices resulted in the serious injury and occasional death of many Bosnian Muslim detainees. At least four Bosnian Muslim detainees died at the Dretelj Prison concentration camp as a result of being beaten or shot by HVO members. (Annex)

 

151. The HVO denied international observers and humanitarian organisations access to Dretelj Prison until approximately August 1993. At the end of August 1993, the HVO moved detained Muslim clerics, detainees in the worst physical condition and detainees held in the isolation cell to another location (Silos) in Capljina, in order to conceal them from representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross who visited the prison in early September 1993.

 

152. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); and cruel treatment (Count 17).

GABELA DISTRICT MILITARY PRISON

 

153. Gabela is a village located in Capljina Municipality, approximately 4.1 kilometers south of Capljina town. The Gabela District Military Prison ("Gabela Prison") was located outside Gabela in a former JNA logistics base, where detainees were held in four tin hangers.

 

154. Although the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities detained some Bosnian Muslim men in Gabela Prison after the arrest of prominent Bosnian Muslims from Stolac and Capljina Municipalities in April 1993, the prison was officially established on 8 June 1993. While the HVO officially converted Gabela Prison to a transit center for released detainees on 22 December 1993, they continued to hold Muslim men at the prison until April 1994. During the principal time of its use (from June to December 1993), the HVO, at any one time, confined about 1,200 Muslim men at Gabela Prison.

 

155. During the time of the mass arrests of Bosnian Muslim men from 30 June until mid-July 1993, the Herceg-Bosna / HVO forces detained many of the Bosnian Muslim men at the Gabela Prison concentration camp. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities held and continued to detain Muslim men at Gabela Prison irrespective of their civilian or military status, including boys younger than age sixteen and men older than sixty. The authorities made no bona fide or adequate effort to distinguish military detainees from civilians, or to provide generally for the release of civilian detainees. As at Dretelj Prison, during August and September 1993, the HVO criteria for releasing Bosnian Muslim men from detention included being married to a Croat woman or possessing a visa and a letter of guarantee to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina to another country.

 

156. Conditions at Gabela Prison were harsh and unhealthy due to overcrowding, bad ventilation, no beds and insufficient bedding, and inadequate sanitary facilities. The HVO provided the Bosnian Muslim detainees with insufficient food and water and often made them eat under cruel and humiliating circumstances. In the heat of mid-July 1993, the HVO kept Muslim detainees locked up without food and water for several days.

 

157. Throughout the time that Bosnian Muslims were detained at the Gabela Prison concentration camp, HVO members, including the prison warden and members of HVO units not attached to the prison, subjected detainees to beatings and cruel treatment, including constant fear of physical and mental abuse. Bosnian Muslim detainees were harassed, subjected to ethnic insults and humiliated. Muslim detainees were sometimes forced or instigated to beat or abuse other Muslim detainees. Muslim detainees held in the isolation cell were particularly brutalised.

 

158. The HVO acts and practices resulted in the death or serious injury of many Bosnian Muslim detainees. At least six Muslim detainees died at Gabela Prison as a consequence of being beaten or shot by HVO members. (Annex)

 

159. The HVO denied international observers and humanitarian organisations access to Gabela Prison during its first months of existence. During October 1993, the HVO concealed Bosnian Muslim detainees held in the isolation cell at Gabela Prison from representatives of an international humanitarian organisation when those representatives came to inspect the prison and visit the detained persons.

 

160. Many Bosnian Muslims detained at Gabela Prison were deported by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities to other countries, via the Republic of Croatia, which continued after the time that Gabela Prison was operated as a transit center.

 

161. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); deportation (Count 6); unlawful deportation of a civilian (Count 7); inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8); unlawful transfer of a civilian (Count 9); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); and cruel treatment (Count 17).

VARES MUNICIPALITY

 

162. Vares Municipality is located in central Bosnia, north of Sarajevo, with a 1991 population of 22,203 persons. According to the 1991 census, 40.60% of the population (9,016 persons) declared themselves Croat, 30.23% (6,714 persons) as Muslim, 16.41% as Serb, and 12.73% as other. Stupni Do was a predominantly Muslim village of about 250 inhabitants and 60 houses, located approximately four kilometers southeast of Vares town.

 

163. The 18 November 1991 proclamation of Herceg-Bosna included Vares Municipality as part of Herceg-Bosna. On 1 July 1992, the HVO took over the Vares municipal government, and the Bosnian Muslim members of the previously elected municipal government established a separate "War Presidency." Even so, the Croats, Muslims and others in Vares Municipality continued to live in relatively peaceful co-existence until mid-1993.

 

164. In June 1993, following an ABiH military action in neighbouring Kakanj Municipality, around 13,000 Bosnian Croats (including HVO soldiers) moved to Vares town. Around the same time, the Vares HVO government issued an ultimatum to the Muslims in Stupni Do to surrender their weapons or they would be attacked. The villagers in Stupni Do refused to give up their weapons and, on the expiration of the ultimatum and fearing an attack, fled to neighbouring villages. After several days when the HVO did not attack Stupni Do, the villagers returned home.

 

165. On 18 October 1993, the HVO arrested six local ABiH members at an HVO checkpoint in Pajtov Han. The detainees were interrogated and beaten by Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces, who were seeking information about armed Muslims in Stupni Do.

 

166. On 21-22 October 1993, the ABiH attacked the village of Kopjari in Vares Municipality, with the village's Bosnian Croat residents moving to the village of Pogar. At about this same time, on 21 October 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO commanders, including MILIVOJ PETKOVIC and Ivica Rajic, decided to send additional Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces to Vares. On the same day, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces, including the "Maturice" and "Apostoli" units, left Kiseljak for Vares. The HVO forces passed through Bosnian Serb-controlled territory and reached Vares town on 22 October 1993.

 

167. On 23 October 1993, SLOBODAN PRALJAK ordered Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces in the Vares area to "show no mercy to anyone." HVO forces arrested several Vares HVO officials and more than 250 Bosnian Muslim men, regardless of their civilian or military status. While arresting the Muslim men, HVO soldiers entered their houses, physically and mentally abused the persons present and robbed them of their valuables.

 

168. The Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces detained the arrested Bosnian Muslim men in two schools in Vares, the "Ivan Goran Kovacic" high school and the "Vladimir Nazor" elementary school. The conditions at the schools were horrible, with insufficient food and no sanitary facilities. Detainees were forced to stand during the day with their hands behind their backs and looking at the floor. HVO soldiers entered the schools and physically abused the detainees. HVO soldiers forced detainees to beat each other, often forcing family members to beat other family members. Some of the detainees were transferred to the prison in Vares Majdan, where HVO soldiers severely beat them.

 

169. On the morning of 23 October 1993, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces attacked Stupni Do. After gaining control of various parts of the village, HVO soldiers forced the civilians out of their homes and hiding places, robbed them of their valuables, sexually assaulted Muslim women and killed at least thirty-one Muslim men, women and children. (A list of the victims killed and the women sexually assaulted is part of the Annex.) During and following the attack, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces wantonly destroyed almost the entire village. All together, the HVO attack on Stupni Do resulted in the deaths of at least thirty-seven Muslim men, women and children.

 

170. In the days following the HVO attack on Stupni Do, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities told Bosnian Croats living in Vares that they had to leave Vares because of the risk of being killed by ABiH forces responding to the HVO attack on Stupni Do. Thousands of Bosnian Croats left Vares and went to Kiseljak.

 

171. From 23 October to 3 November 1993, before leaving Vares town, Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces appropriated and looted Muslim and other property, robbed Muslims of their valuables and sexually assaulted Muslim women. (Annex) On about 3 November 1993, the HVO forces guarding the two schools and the Vares Majdan prison left the area and, consequently, the Muslim detainees were free to leave.

 

172. As information began to reach international organisations in the area, UNPROFOR representatives attempted to enter Stupni Do and the two schools in Vares town. HVO forces blocked and obstructed these international organisations. UNPROFOR finally entered Stupni Do in armoured vehicles on 26 October 1993.

 

173. On 26 October 1993, in response to media allegations of HVO atrocities in Vares and Stupni Do, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC ordered an investigation. On 31 October 1993, JADRANKO PRLIC, when questioned about the events in Stupni Do, informed international representatives that any crimes committed there were unacceptable, that an investigation had been requested and that all of the commanders involved had been suspended. In fact, as of 30-31 October 1993, none of the HVO commanders involved had been suspended or disciplined in any way.

 

174. Following a meeting in Zagreb involving Franjo Tudjman and others, the international community was assured that Ivica Rajic, the HVO officer commanding the Herceg-Bosna/HVO forces in Vares and Stupni Do, had been removed and that a judicial investigation had been initiated. In reality, and with the knowledge of senior military commanders and political leaders, Ivica Rajic simply changed his name and remained in essentially the same position. Neither Ivica Rajic nor any other person was ever disciplined or punished for what happened in Stupni Do.

 

175. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions and as further described in Paragraphs 15-17, 39 and 218-230, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes: persecutions, as charged in Count 1; murder (Count 2); wilful killing (Count 3); rape (Count 4); inhuman treatment (sexual assault) (Count 5); imprisonment (Count 10); unlawful confinement of a civilian (Count 11); inhumane acts (conditions of confinement) (Count 12); inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 13); cruel treatment (conditions of confinement) (Count 14); inhumane acts (Count 15); inhuman treatment (Count 16); cruel treatment (Count 17); extensive destruction of property (Count 19); wanton destruction (Count 20); appropriation of property (Count 22); and plunder (Count 23).

CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

 

176. The crimes charged in this indictment were part of the joint criminal enterprise described in Paragraphs 15, 16 and 17 and were committed in the course of the enterprise, or were the reasonable and foreseeable consequences of implementing or attempting to implement the criminal enterprise. The joint criminal enterprise was in existence at the time of the commission of the crimes charged in this indictment, and at the time of the participatory conduct of each of the accused in furtherance thereof.

 

177. Each of the accused, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC, acted with the knowledge and state of mind required for the commission of each crime charged in this indictment. To the extent required, other perpetrators or actors involved in, or aiding or abetting, the commission of each crime charged in this indictment acted with the requisite state of mind.

 

178. Each of the accused, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC, acting individually and in concert with or through other persons, knowingly and substantially participated in the joint criminal enterprise, possessing the requisite state of mind and/or sharing the requisite state of mind with other members and participants in the joint criminal enterprise or of those otherwise connected to the enterprise, or possessing, sharing or knowing the state of mind of those aiding or abetting the enterprise or committing crimes.

 

179. Pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute, each of the accused is criminally responsible for the crimes charged in this indictment which he planned, instigated, ordered or committed, or in the planning, preparation or execution of which he aided and abetted. As part of his responsibility, each accused is also charged as a co-perpetrator and/or indirect perpetrator.

 

180. In addition or in the alternative, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute, each accused is criminally responsible for the crimes which were intended and committed as part of the joint criminal enterprise, in the sense that each of the accused committed these crimes as a member of or participant in such enterprise. (By using the word "committed" in this context, the Prosecutor does not mean to indicate that a particular accused, or any of them, necessarily committed, by his own physical person, the crime(s) charged. "Committed" in this context refers to the accused’s participation in a joint criminal enterprise.) As part of his responsibility, each accused is also charged as a co-perpetrator and/or indirect perpetrator.

 

181. In addition or in the alternative, to the extent that an accused was not a member of the joint criminal enterprise, he is criminally responsible for aiding and abetting the joint criminal enterprise.

 

182. Each accused was a knowing and significant member or part of, or substantially participated in establishing, supporting, operating and/or enforcing, a system of ill-treatment involving a network of prisons, concentration camps and other detention facilities which were systematically used in arresting, detaining and imprisoning thousands of Bosnian Muslims in unlawful and harsh conditions, where they were subjected or exposed to beatings, sexual assaults and other deprivations and abuse, and is criminally responsible for participating in this system, including as a co-perpetrator and/or indirect perpetrator.

 

183. Each accused was a knowing and significant member or part of, or substantially participated in establishing, supporting, operating and/or enforcing, a system of ill-treatment designed and implemented to deport Bosnian Muslims to other countries or transfer them to parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina not claimed or controlled by Herceg-Bosna or the HVO, and is criminally responsible for participating in this system, including as a co-perpetrator and/or indirect perpetrator.

 

184. In addition or in the alternative, to the extent that an accused was not a member of or substantial participant in one or both of the systems of ill-treatment described in Paragraphs 224-225, he is criminally responsible for aiding and abetting those systems, or either of them.

 

185. In addition or in the alternative, as to any crime charged in this indictment which was not within the objective or an intended part of the joint criminal enterprise, such crime was the natural and foreseeable consequence of the joint criminal enterprise and of implementing or attempting to implement the enterprise and each accused was aware of the possible consequence and, despite this awareness, joined and continued in the enterprise and is responsible for the crime charged.

 

186. In addition or in the alternative, pursuant to Article 7(3), each of the accused is criminally responsible as a superior official or officer for the criminal acts or omissions of subordinates or other persons about or over whom he had effective de jure and/or de facto control, where he knew or had reason to know that such persons were about to commit or had committed such acts or omissions and failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or omissions or punish such persons. Each of the accused acted as a superior over or through other persons or subordinates about whom he exercised, or could have exercised, effective control or substantial influence who were involved in the commission of crimes charged in this indictment, and knew or had reason to know that one or more such persons was about to commit or had committed such acts or omissions and failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or punish, remove or discipline such persons.

COUNTS 1 TO 26

 

187. By the foregoing acts, conduct, practices and omissions, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC are responsible for the following crimes:

Count 1: persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(h), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 21-41, 43-59, 61-71, 73-86, 88-117, 119-134, 136-142, 144-152, 154-170, 172-185, 187-193, 195-202 and 204-216);

Count 2: murder, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(a), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 37, 39, 48, 51, 53, 56, 66, 77, 80, 95, 104, 106, 108, 114, 127, 128, 130, 138, 139, 161, 169, 176, 177, 190, 191, 192, 199, 200 and 211);

Count 3: wilful killing, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(a), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 37, 39, 48, 51, 53, 56, 66, 77, 80, 95, 104, 106, 108, 114, 127, 128, 130, 138, 139, 161, 169, 176, 177, 190, 191, 192, 199, 200 and 211);

Count 4: rape, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(g), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 38, 39, 57, 59, 99, 109, 141, 211 and 213);

Count 5: inhuman treatment (sexual assault), a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(b), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 38, 39, 55, 57, 59, 99, 109, 141, 211 and 213);

Count 6: deportation, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(d), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 26, 28-30, 33-41, 59, 93, 100, 105, 131-133, 150-51, 175, 182, 183, 185, 189, 197 and 202);

Count 7: unlawful deportation of a civilian, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(g), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 26, 28-30, 33-41, 59, 93, 100, 105, 131-133, 150-51, 175, 182, 183, 185, 189, 197 and 202);

Count 8: inhumane acts (forcible transfer), a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(i), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 26, 28, 29, 30, 33-41, 57-59, 67, 69, 71, 86, 93, 96, 99, 100-103, 105, 108-110, 132, 150, 151, 159-163, 166-168, 170, 175-185 and 197);

Count 9: unlawful transfer of a civilian, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(g), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 26, 28, 29, 30, 33-41, 57-59, 67, 69, 71, 86, 93, 96, 99, 100-103, 105, 108-110, 132, 150, 151, 159-163, 166-168, 170, 175-185 and 197);

Count 10: imprisonment, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(e), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 28, 33-39, 41, 47-49, 54, 57, 67-71, 77-80, 86, 94, 96, 99, 103-105, 119-134, 136-142, 146-151, 157-159, 168, 169, 174, 175, 181, 183, 184, 187-193, 195-202, 207, 209 and 210);

Count 11: unlawful confinement of a civilian, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(g), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 28, 33-39, 41, 47-49, 54, 57, 67-71, 77-80, 86, 94, 96, 99, 103-105, 119-134, 136-142, 146-151, 157-159, 168, 169, 174, 175, 181, 183, 184, 187-193, 195-202, 207, 209 and 210);

Count 12: inhumane acts (conditions of confinement), a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(i), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 57, 67, 71, 79, 124-126, 133, 134, 137, 142, 147, 168, 183, 190, 193, 198, 201 and 210);

Count 13: inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement), a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(b), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 57, 67, 71, 79, 124-126, 133, 134, 137, 142, 147, 168, 183, 190, 193, 198, 201 and 210);

Count 14: cruel treatment (conditions of confinement), a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR, as recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva Conventions, punishable under Statute Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 57, 67, 71, 79, 124-126, 133, 134, 137, 142, 147, 168, 183, 190, 193, 198, 201 and 210);

Count 15: inhumane acts, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Statute Articles 5(i), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 33-40, 46-48, 51-59, 66-70, 77-81, 94, 95, 99, 104, 106, 108, 112-114, 125, 127-130, 133, 134, 138, 139, 141, 142, 148-150, 161, 167, 169, 176, 177, 184, 188, 190-193, 198-201, 207, 209, 210 and 211);

Count 16: inhuman treatment, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(b), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 33-40, 46-48, 51-59, 66-70, 77-81, 94, 95, 99, 104, 106, 108, 112-114, 125, 127-130, 133, 134, 138, 139, 141, 142, 148-150, 161, 167, 169, 176, 177, 184, 188, 190-193, 198-201, 207, 209, 210 and 211);

Count 17: cruel treatment, a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, as recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva Conventions, punishable under Statute Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 33-40, 46-48, 51-59, 66-70, 77-81, 94, 95, 99, 104, 106, 108, 112-114, 125, 127-130, 133, 134, 138, 139, 141, 142, 148-150, 161, 167, 169, 176, 177, 184, 188, 190-193, 198-201, 207, 209, 210 and 211);

Count 18: unlawful labour, a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, as recognised by Article 40, 51 and 95 of Geneva Convention IV and Articles 49, 50 and 52 of Geneva Convention III, punishable under Statute Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 55, 81, 127, 128, 130, 139, 148 and 149);

Count 19: extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(d), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 46, 48, 51, 53, 66-68, 82-84, 162, 164-166, 177, 179, 180 and 211);

Count 20: wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity, a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, punishable under Statute Articles 3(b), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 46, 48, 51, 53, 66-68, 82-84, 162, 164-166, 177, 179, 180 and 211);

Count 21: destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion or education, a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, punishable under Statute Articles 3(d), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 53, 68, 83, 84, 97, 116, 152, 162, 163, 165, 166 and 179-181);

Count 22: appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, a GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 2(d), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 46, 57, 67, 85, 99, 100, 107, 108, 159, 175, 182, 209, 211 and 213);

Count 23: plunder of public or private property, a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, punishable under Statute Articles 3(e), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 39, 46, 57, 67, 85, 99, 100, 107, 108, 159, 175, 182, 209, 211 and 213);

Count 24: unlawful attack on civilians (Mostar), a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, as recognised under customary law and Article 51 of Additional Protocol I and Article 13 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 35-37, 39, 98 and 110-117);

Count 25: unlawful infliction of terror on civilians (Mostar), a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, as recognised under customary law and Article 51 of Additional Protocol I and Article 13 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, punishable under Statute Articles 3(d), 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 35-37, 39, 98 and 110-117); and

Count 26: cruel treatment (Mostar siege), a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, as recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva Conventions, and punishable under Statute Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3) (as alleged in Paragraphs 15-17, 35-37, 39, 98 and 110-117).

 

188. Notwithstanding any language to the contrary, the accused BERISLAV PUSIC is not charged in this indictment with any crimes in connection with the events in Prozor Municipality in October 1992 or in Gornji Vakuf Municipality in January 1993.

ADDITIONAL ALLEGATIONS

 

189. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all acts and omissions alleged in this indictment occurred on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

 

1. At all times relevant to this indictment, a state of armed conflict, international armed conflict and partial occupation existed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which involved, in whole or part, the State of the Republic of Croatia and its government, armed forces and representatives in an armed conflict against the State of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and/or against the ABiH and/or Bosnian Muslims on the territory of the State of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

2. Acts, omissions or conduct charged as persecution were committed, omitted or carried out with discriminatory intent, with the intention to discriminate on political, racial, ethnic or religious grounds.

 

3. All acts, omissions, conduct and events charged as a crime against humanity occurred as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed by the Herceg-Bosna/HVO authorities and forces against the Bosnian Muslim civilian population.

 

4. At all times relevant to this indictment, JADRANKO PRLIC, BRUNO STOJIC, SLOBODAN PRALJAK, MILIVOJ PETKOVIC, VALENTIN CORIC and BERISLAV PUSIC were required to abide by the laws and customs governing the conduct of armed conflict, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional protocols thereto.

 

5. All acts and omissions charged as crimes against persons were committed against or involved persons protected under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (and the additional protocols thereto) and the laws and customs of war.

 

6. All acts and omissions charged as crimes against property were committed against or involved property protected under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (and the additional protocols thereto) and the laws and customs of war.

 

7. None of the acts or omissions charged as crimes were justified by military necessity. Acts, omissions or conduct charged in connection with the destruction of property were committed, omitted or carried out unlawfully and wantonly.

 

Carla Del Ponte
Prosecutor

DATED this 2 March 2004
At The Hague,
The Netherlands

---

Reference:

http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm

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