Vukovar massacre
Encyclopedia
The Vukovar massacre, also known as Vukovar hospital massacre or simply Ovčara, was a war crime
that took place between November 20 and November 21, 1991 near the city of Vukovar
, a mixed Croat/Serb
community in northeastern Croatia
. A mostly Croatian group of 263 men and 1 woman (including civilians and POWs), of whom 194 have been identified, were murdered by members of the Serb
militia
s following the Yugoslav People's Army
(JNA) withdrawal from Ovčara after it brought those patients there from the Vukovar hospital. The murders occurred at the end of the Battle of Vukovar
.
For their roles in orchestrating the massacre
, the Yugoslav
military leaders Veselin Šljivančanin
and Mile Mrkšić
were convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The original indictment included a number of 264 non-Serb men killed, and a third defendant, one Miroslav Radić, who was released free of charge. In the trial against Vojislav Šešelj
, the indictment listed 255 names in relation to Ovčara. The names include one woman, a 77-year old man as the oldest and a 16-year old boy as the youngest victim of the massacre. Of these, 23 were older than 49 years of age, which is higher than Croatian military service
age. Victims also included French volunteer Jean-Michel Nicollier and journalist Siniša Glavašević
and his technician Branimir Polovina.
Ovčara is a location near Vukovar, where around two hundred men prisoners from the Vukovar hospital were massacred by Serbian forces on November 20, 1991. Ovčara was also a Serbian transit camp for Croatian prisoners from October to December 1991.
-raising facilities after the World War II
. These facilities are storage hangar
s, which are fenced and can be easily guarded. The hangars are made of brick and have a big sliding front door, which includes a small door.
The Serbian forces turned Ovčara into a prison camp
in early October 1991. Aside from the massacre, 3,000 to 4,000 men prisoners were temporarily held in the camp before being transported to the prison in Sremska Mitrovica
or to the local army barracks, which was the transit point for the Serbian concentration camps Stajićevo
, Begejci
and others. Some of the Serb forces were led by Željko Ražnatović
"Arkan" who directed much of the pillaging and murder that occurred in Vukovar during and after the siege.
The men brought to Ovčara included wounded patients, hospital staff and some of their family members, former defenders of Vukovar, Croatian political activists, journalists and other civilians. One member of the group standing trial in Belgrade for the executions testified that "among the prisoners, there were quite a number of civilians and wounded persons with bandaged wounds and casts", including a pregnant woman. Several witnesses at the trial, former JNA soldiers, also confirmed there were civilians present at Ovčara.
The archive of the City Government of Vukovar has some testimonies of Ovčara prisoners. When they came out of the buses, they had to run between two rows of Serbian soldiers and other forces, who beat them with rifle butts, clubs and other blunt weapons. The beatings continued in the hangars; at least two men died from those beatings. Ovčara was closed on December 25, 1991. Its total count was around 200 men killed and 64 missing prisoners.
(November 18, 1991), a number of soldiers of the Croatian National Guard
went hiding in the hospital, masked as patients or staff. The witness denied this claim as well, although she said it was impossible to be certain of who was dressed how in the mass.
Serbian forces captured the Vukovar hospital with the promise that the JNA would safely evacuate it following an agreement reached together with the Croatian government. Serb militia failed to live up to an agreement with the Red Cross and other international observers to monitor the surrender. When the agreed time approached, an armoured Serb vehicle blocked the observers’ access across a bridge to the hospital while the prisoners were smuggled out in buses in another direction.
They gathered the 300 men, among them wounded combatant
s and civilian
s alike, put them in buses and transported them to Ovčara. Many were beaten, until they were taken to a wooded ravine away from the town. The soldiers and paramilitary
fighters then killed the majority of men prisoners, executing them by firearms. The bodies were then mostly thrown in a trench and covered by earth (a bulldozer
was used to bury them in a mass grave
). Among the dead was a French
combatant who was regarded as a mercenary.
The Ovčara mass grave
lies northeast from the facilities, one kilometer from the Ovčara-Grabovo road. It belongs to the category of the mass graves with the remains of men prisoners of war
and civilians executed in the immediate vicinity or at the very place of the grave. Exhumation started on September 1, 1996 and lasted 40 days. 200 bodies were found, of which 194 were identified. Among those executed were Croatian Radio Vukovar journalist Siniša Glavašević
and his technician Branimir Polovina, both civilians.
Pursuant to the Act for Marking Mass Graves from the Croatian War of Independence
, passed by the Croatian Parliament in 1996, the Ovčara Monument was the first such monument. Made by Slavomir Drinković and uncovered on December 29, 1998, it is a grey obelisk
with a sculpted dove
and the inscription:
There is also a memorial centre near the site of the massacre.
Jovica Stanišić
and Franko Simatović
were also initially indicted for the Vukovar massacre, but due to lack of evidence the Tribunal redacted their charges for that specific case in the second, amended indictment.
on December 4, 2003 the Prosecution for War Crimes indicted Miroljub Vujović and associates for the criminal act of war crime
against prisoners of war
. Two more indictments for the same criminal act were published: against Milan Lazunčanin and associates on May 24, 2004 and against Predrag Dragović and associates on May 25, 2004. All these indictments have been merged in one case.
The bill of indictment says that the accused, as members of the Territorial Defense
of Vukovar which was formerly a part of the Yugoslav armed forces along with JNA, or as members of the volunteer corps called Leva Supoderica, organized and ordered murders and inhuman acts against the imprisoned men members of armed forces and other men included in armed forces or following armed forces and took the life of 192 men and buried them, at the agricultural property in Ovčara near Vukovar, on November 20–21, 1991 (from the afternoon to the early morning). The trial ended in 2005 and 15 were found guilty with sentences 5 to 20 years and two acquitted. However, the Serbian Supreme Court nullified the verdict and the case is being retried.
In 2008, Serbian police arrested British citizen Milorad Pejic for alleged involvement in the massacre.
On March 12, 2009, the Belgrade District Court
passed the verdict for the Vukovar massacre. A total of thirteen people were sentenced to a total of 193 years in prison. Miroljub Vujovic, one of 18 defendants for the crime, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Sentences ranged from 5 to 20 years in prison, while five were acquitted of charges.
of Serbia became the first Serbian leader to visit the site and apologize for the atrocity. Tadic was accompanied to the site by Ivo Josipovic
and stated: "By acknowledging the crime, by apologising and regretting, we are opening the way for forgiveness and reconciliation."
In Croatian:
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
that took place between November 20 and November 21, 1991 near the city of Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
, a mixed Croat/Serb
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
community in northeastern Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. A mostly Croatian group of 263 men and 1 woman (including civilians and POWs), of whom 194 have been identified, were murdered by members of the Serb
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...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s following the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
(JNA) withdrawal from Ovčara after it brought those patients there from the Vukovar hospital. The murders occurred at the end of the Battle of Vukovar
Battle of Vukovar
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army , supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats,...
.
For their roles in orchestrating the massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
, the Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
military leaders Veselin Šljivančanin
Veselin Šljivancanin
Veselin Šljivančanin is a former Montenegrin officer in the Yugoslav People's Army who participated in the Battle of Vukovar and was subsequently convicted on a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his role in the Vukovar massacre...
and Mile Mrkšić
Mile Mrkšic
Mile Mrkšić is a former Serb Colonel of the Yugoslav People's Army in charge of the unit involved in the Battle of Vukovar during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991...
were convicted by 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...
in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The original indictment included a number of 264 non-Serb men killed, and a third defendant, one Miroslav Radić, who was released free of charge. In the trial against Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj, JD is a Serbian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the founder and president of the Serbian Radical Party and was vice-president of Serbia between 1998 and 2000...
, the indictment listed 255 names in relation to Ovčara. The names include one woman, a 77-year old man as the oldest and a 16-year old boy as the youngest victim of the massacre. Of these, 23 were older than 49 years of age, which is higher than Croatian military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
age. Victims also included French volunteer Jean-Michel Nicollier and journalist Siniša Glavašević
Siniša Glavaševic
Siniša Glavašević was a Croatian reporter who was killed in the Battle of Vukovar.-Early life:A native of Vukovar, Glavašević finished primary schooling there and entered the University of Sarajevo, where he graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature...
and his technician Branimir Polovina.
Ovčara is a location near Vukovar, where around two hundred men prisoners from the Vukovar hospital were massacred by Serbian forces on November 20, 1991. Ovčara was also a Serbian transit camp for Croatian prisoners from October to December 1991.
Prison camp
Ovčara is located 5 kilometers southeast of the city of Vukovar. It is a desolate stretch of land where the Vukovar agricultural conglomerate built cattleCattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
-raising facilities after the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These facilities are storage hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
s, which are fenced and can be easily guarded. The hangars are made of brick and have a big sliding front door, which includes a small door.
The Serbian forces turned Ovčara into a prison camp
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in early October 1991. Aside from the massacre, 3,000 to 4,000 men prisoners were temporarily held in the camp before being transported to the prison in Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica camp
Sremska Mitrovica prison is the biggest prison in Serbia, consisting of two facilities. It is situated in Sremska Mitrovica, Vojvodina province....
or to the local army barracks, which was the transit point for the Serbian concentration camps Stajićevo
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:...
, Begejci
Begejci camp
The Begejci camp was a detention camp established in September-October 1991 in Begejci near Zrenjanin, Serbia where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities during the Croatian War of Independence. The detainees were mostly brought from Vukovar and some were later...
and others. Some of the Serb forces were led by Željko Ražnatović
Željko Ražnatovic
Željko Ražnatović , widely known as Arkan was a Serbian career criminal and later a paramilitary leader who was notable for organizing and leading a paramilitary force in the Yugoslav Wars...
"Arkan" who directed much of the pillaging and murder that occurred in Vukovar during and after the siege.
The men brought to Ovčara included wounded patients, hospital staff and some of their family members, former defenders of Vukovar, Croatian political activists, journalists and other civilians. One member of the group standing trial in Belgrade for the executions testified that "among the prisoners, there were quite a number of civilians and wounded persons with bandaged wounds and casts", including a pregnant woman. Several witnesses at the trial, former JNA soldiers, also confirmed there were civilians present at Ovčara.
The archive of the City Government of Vukovar has some testimonies of Ovčara prisoners. When they came out of the buses, they had to run between two rows of Serbian soldiers and other forces, who beat them with rifle butts, clubs and other blunt weapons. The beatings continued in the hangars; at least two men died from those beatings. Ovčara was closed on December 25, 1991. Its total count was around 200 men killed and 64 missing prisoners.
Vukovar hospital
During a cross-examination of a witness, defenders of the three men accused for the massacre claimed that members of the Serbian population were mistreated at the hospital, to the point that they were afraid of asking for help in it and wounded Yugoslav National Army soldiers were provided with inadequate care and kept in the hospital as hostages. The witness denied this claim. They also claimed that after the end of the Battle of VukovarBattle of Vukovar
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army , supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats,...
(November 18, 1991), a number of soldiers of the Croatian National Guard
Croatian National Guard
The Croatian National Guard was the name of the first modern Croatian military force. Croatian president Franjo Tuđman signed to law the Decree of Formation of the Croatian National Guard on April 20, 1991 which became the first professional armed forces with defence and training duties.These...
went hiding in the hospital, masked as patients or staff. The witness denied this claim as well, although she said it was impossible to be certain of who was dressed how in the mass.
Serbian forces captured the Vukovar hospital with the promise that the JNA would safely evacuate it following an agreement reached together with the Croatian government. Serb militia failed to live up to an agreement with the Red Cross and other international observers to monitor the surrender. When the agreed time approached, an armoured Serb vehicle blocked the observers’ access across a bridge to the hospital while the prisoners were smuggled out in buses in another direction.
They gathered the 300 men, among them wounded combatant
Combatant
A combatant is someone who takes a direct part in the hostilities of an armed conflict. If a combatant follows the law of war, then they are considered a privileged combatant, and upon capture they qualify as a prisoner of war under the Third Geneva Convention...
s and civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s alike, put them in buses and transported them to Ovčara. Many were beaten, until they were taken to a wooded ravine away from the town. The soldiers and paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
fighters then killed the majority of men prisoners, executing them by firearms. The bodies were then mostly thrown in a trench and covered by earth (a bulldozer
Bulldozer
A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...
was used to bury them in a mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
). Among the dead was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
combatant who was regarded as a mercenary.
Exhumation and remembrance
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
lies northeast from the facilities, one kilometer from the Ovčara-Grabovo road. It belongs to the category of the mass graves with the remains of men prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
and civilians executed in the immediate vicinity or at the very place of the grave. Exhumation started on September 1, 1996 and lasted 40 days. 200 bodies were found, of which 194 were identified. Among those executed were Croatian Radio Vukovar journalist Siniša Glavašević
Siniša Glavaševic
Siniša Glavašević was a Croatian reporter who was killed in the Battle of Vukovar.-Early life:A native of Vukovar, Glavašević finished primary schooling there and entered the University of Sarajevo, where he graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature...
and his technician Branimir Polovina, both civilians.
Pursuant to the Act for Marking Mass Graves from the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, passed by the Croatian Parliament in 1996, the Ovčara Monument was the first such monument. Made by Slavomir Drinković and uncovered on December 29, 1998, it is a grey obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
with a sculpted dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
and the inscription:
- In remembrance of 200 wounded Croatian men defenders and civilians from the Vukovar hospital who were executed in the Greater Serbian aggression against the Republic of Croatia.
There is also a memorial centre near the site of the massacre.
International trial
The ICTY indicted a total of seven people for their role in the massacre.- Former Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević was indicted, but died before a verdict.
- Slavko DokmanovićSlavko DokmanovicSlavko Dokmanović was born on 14 December 1949 in Trpinja, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia, and died on 29 June 1998, in The Hague...
, president of the Vukovar MunicipalityMunicipalityA municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
from 1990 to mid-1996, committed suicide in the HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
on June 29, 1998. - Former JNA officers Veselin ŠljivančaninVeselin ŠljivancaninVeselin Šljivančanin is a former Montenegrin officer in the Yugoslav People's Army who participated in the Battle of Vukovar and was subsequently convicted on a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his role in the Vukovar massacre...
, Mile MrkšićMile MrkšicMile Mrkšić is a former Serb Colonel of the Yugoslav People's Army in charge of the unit involved in the Battle of Vukovar during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991...
and Miroslav Radić were also indicted. Mrkšić surrendered to the ICTY on May 15, 2002 and was transferred to the court the same day. Šljivančanin was arrested and transferred to the detention unit on 1 July, 2003. On September 27, 2007 Mrkšić was sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaThe 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...
to 20 years' imprisonment for murderMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, Šljivančanin was sentenced to 5 years' in jail on charges of torture, but was acquitted on charges of exterminationExterminationExtermination or exterminate may refer to:* Pest control, elimination of insects or vermin* Genocide, the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group...
, while Radić was acquittedAcquittalIn the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
. In 2007, Šljivančanin was released because he already served his punishment of 5 years in custody. In 2009, his sentence was extended to 17 years, and Mrkšić's was upheld. In 2010, Šljivančanin's sentence was reduced to 10 years in a controversial decision that, for the first time, overturned a binding verdict of the court. - As part of the ICTY's trial against Vojislav ŠešeljVojislav ŠešeljVojislav Šešelj, JD is a Serbian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the founder and president of the Serbian Radical Party and was vice-president of Serbia between 1998 and 2000...
, it is alleged that he commanded or incited the soldiers who committed the massacre. - Goran HadžićGoran HadžicGoran 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...
was also indicted, but not arrested until July 20, 2011, in a forest outside of Krusedol in northern Serbia.
Jovica Stanišić
Jovica Stanišic
Jovica Stanišić is a former head of the State Security Service now BIA within the Serbian Ministry of the Interior. He is facing trial at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his role in the wars in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina...
and Franko Simatović
Franko Simatovic
Franko "Frenki" Simatović was the head of the Serbian secret police of Slobodan Milošević, the Special Forces of State Security of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was the founder of the "Special Operations Unit"....
were also initially indicted for the Vukovar massacre, but due to lack of evidence the Tribunal redacted their charges for that specific case in the second, amended indictment.
Trial in Serbia
In Serbia and MontenegroSerbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
on December 4, 2003 the Prosecution for War Crimes indicted Miroljub Vujović and associates for the criminal act of war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
against prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. Two more indictments for the same criminal act were published: against Milan Lazunčanin and associates on May 24, 2004 and against Predrag Dragović and associates on May 25, 2004. All these indictments have been merged in one case.
The bill of indictment says that the accused, as members of the Territorial Defense
Territorial Defense Forces (Yugoslavia)
The Territorial Defense Forces were a separate part of the armed forces of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The forces acted as a Home Guard which roughly corresponded to a military reserve force or an official governmental paramilitary...
of Vukovar which was formerly a part of the Yugoslav armed forces along with JNA, or as members of the volunteer corps called Leva Supoderica, organized and ordered murders and inhuman acts against the imprisoned men members of armed forces and other men included in armed forces or following armed forces and took the life of 192 men and buried them, at the agricultural property in Ovčara near Vukovar, on November 20–21, 1991 (from the afternoon to the early morning). The trial ended in 2005 and 15 were found guilty with sentences 5 to 20 years and two acquitted. However, the Serbian Supreme Court nullified the verdict and the case is being retried.
In 2008, Serbian police arrested British citizen Milorad Pejic for alleged involvement in the massacre.
On March 12, 2009, the Belgrade District Court
District court
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:-Australia:District Court is the name given to the intermediate court in most Australian States. They hear indictable criminal offences excluding treason, murder and, in some States, manslaughter...
passed the verdict for the Vukovar massacre. A total of thirteen people were sentenced to a total of 193 years in prison. Miroljub Vujovic, one of 18 defendants for the crime, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Sentences ranged from 5 to 20 years in prison, while five were acquitted of charges.
Apology from the Serbian government
In 2010, President Boris TadicBoris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...
of Serbia became the first Serbian leader to visit the site and apologize for the atrocity. Tadic was accompanied to the site by Ivo Josipovic
Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović is a Croatian politician who has been President of Croatia since 2010. Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia , and played a key role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the SDP that replaced the...
and stated: "By acknowledging the crime, by apologising and regretting, we are opening the way for forgiveness and reconciliation."
Sources
In English:In Croatian:
- Tourist board of the Vukovar-Srijem County
- Croatian Association of Prisoners of Serbian Concentration Camps
See also
- Vukovar children massacreVukovar children massacreVukovar children massacre or Vukovar baby massacre was well known case of Serbian propaganda in the Yugoslav Wars.Day before the execution of 264 Croatian prisoners of war's and civilians in the Ovčara massacre, Serbian media released the news of 40 Serb babies being slaughterd in Vukovar...
- List of massacres in Croatia
- Role of the media in the Yugoslav wars
- Battle of VukovarBattle of VukovarThe Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army , supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats,...
- Serbian war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars
- Harrison's FlowersHarrison's FlowersHarrison's Flowers is a 2000 French film by Elie Chouraqui. It stars, among others, Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Brendan Gleeson, Adrien Brody, Marie Trintignant, Gerard Butler and David Strathairn....
- Velepromet concentration campVelepromet concentration campVelepromet camp was a short-lived concentration camp set up during the Battle of Vukovar by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serbian paramilitary forces in 1991 on the outskirts of the Croatian city of Vukovar....
External links
- "Vukovar massacre: What happened", BBC News, 13 June 2003
- "Croatia massacre trial under way", BBC News, 11 October 2005
- Return to Vukovar, Martin Bell, BBC, 2011
- ICTY Indictment
- Documentary 52': Vukovar,the City of Lost Souls