Stajicevo camp
Encyclopedia
The Stajićevo camp was an agricultural farm in Stajićevo
near Zrenjanin
, Serbia
(then part of SFR Yugoslavia, then FRY) where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities. The camp also acted as a transit facility where prisoners were taken before being moved to the Sremska Mitrovica camp
. Individual reports have said that 1500 people were held there. The ICTY's figure for the camp was 1700 detainees.
The camp was cited in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
's case against then Serbian president Slobodan Milošević
. Goran Hadžić
is also indicted on charges by the ICTY related to the camp.
Prisoners at the camp included future Croatian parliamentarian Ivica Pančić's father and brother.
was also active at the camp.
According to the reports, the age of the detainees ranged from 8 to 80. At least 17 people were killed in the camp. The conditions in the camp were generally poor: people had to sleep on the concrete floor in November on their first day in the camp, but were latter given a blanket. In the first 10 days, they received only two meals a day, mostly tea and bread with cheese. There were also no toilets in the farm, so the detainees had to relieve themselveson the floor. After 10 days, latrine
s were finally added in the camp. After five days, they were given water to wash themselves.
The Yugoslav People's Army officers in control of the camp expected all detainees to be Croats
, so when one of them recognized a Serb
detainee, one Aleksandar Jevtić, they showed them lenience and offered to move them to a separate part of the facility. Jevtić in turn decided to report several of his Croat friends as Serbs in order to help them, an act for which he would later be decorated by the Croatian President.
Detainees were exchanged in January 1992, after spending over three months in the camp.
Stajicevo
Stajićevo is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Zrenjanin municipality, in the Central Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,999 people .-History:...
near Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the Central Banat District of Serbia...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(then part of SFR Yugoslavia, then FRY) where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities. The camp also acted as a transit facility where prisoners were taken before being moved to the Sremska Mitrovica camp
Sremska Mitrovica camp
Sremska Mitrovica prison is the biggest prison in Serbia, consisting of two facilities. It is situated in Sremska Mitrovica, Vojvodina province....
. Individual reports have said that 1500 people were held there. The ICTY's figure for the camp was 1700 detainees.
The camp was cited in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
's case against then Serbian president Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
. Goran Hadžić
Goran Hadžic
Goran Hadžić is a former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina who was in office during the Croatian War of Independence. He is accused of crimes against humanity and of violation of the laws and customs of war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.The court...
is also indicted on charges by the ICTY related to the camp.
Prisoners at the camp included future Croatian parliamentarian Ivica Pančić's father and brother.
Conditions at the camp
Former prisoners at the camp reported being beaten, with at least one claiming to have received electric shocks by guards. According to reports, the White Eagle paramilitaryWhite Eagles (paramilitary)
The White Eagles , also known as the Avengers , were a Serbian paramilitary group associated with the Serbian National Renewal and the Serbian Radical Party...
was also active at the camp.
According to the reports, the age of the detainees ranged from 8 to 80. At least 17 people were killed in the camp. The conditions in the camp were generally poor: people had to sleep on the concrete floor in November on their first day in the camp, but were latter given a blanket. In the first 10 days, they received only two meals a day, mostly tea and bread with cheese. There were also no toilets in the farm, so the detainees had to relieve themselveson the floor. After 10 days, latrine
Latrine
A latrine is a communal facility containing one or more commonly many toilets which may be simple pit toilets or in the case of the United States Armed Forces any toilet including modern flush toilets...
s were finally added in the camp. After five days, they were given water to wash themselves.
The Yugoslav People's Army officers in control of the camp expected all detainees to be Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
, so when one of them recognized a Serb
Serbs of Croatia
Višeslav of Serbia, a contemporary of Charlemagne , ruled the Županias of Neretva, Tara, Piva, Lim, his ancestral lands. According to the Royal Frankish Annals , Duke of Pannonia Ljudevit Posavski fled, during the Frankish invasion, from his seat in Sisak to the Serbs in western Bosnia, who...
detainee, one Aleksandar Jevtić, they showed them lenience and offered to move them to a separate part of the facility. Jevtić in turn decided to report several of his Croat friends as Serbs in order to help them, an act for which he would later be decorated by the Croatian President.
Detainees were exchanged in January 1992, after spending over three months in the camp.