We Should Know the Facts: Mrkonjić Grad, October 10, 1995

In the Croatian armed forces offensive on Mrkonjić Grad municipality on October 10, 1995, 480 Serbs were killed or disappeared. Up to this date, only 219 bodies were found and identified.

According to the data the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) obtained in March and April 1996 during the exhumation of bodily remains buried in the Orthodox Christian’s cemetery in Mrkonjić Grad, the remains of 181 were found in that location. On that occasion forensic experts identified 136 bodies: 34 civilians (nine women and 25 men) and 102 members of the Army of Republika Srpska. Seven unidentified bodies were in civilian clothes (two women and five men) and the remaining 38 unidentified bodies were in military uniforms.

Out of 136 identified bodies 25 were civilians between the age of 60 and 88 years. The oldest indentified male victim was Jovan Lazendić from Podbrdo, who was 91 years old when he was killed, and the oldest female victim was Ljubica Oroz from the village of Bočac, Mrkonjić Grad municipality, who was killed at the age of 90.

Register of Croatian citizens of Serbian ethnicity, killed in the armed conflict in Croatia

According to a number of independent assessments, between 21,000 and 23,000 people were killed or disappeared during the conflict in Croatia.  That number includes 14,000 -16,000 (largely) ethnic Croatian civilians and members of Croatian Armed Forces, and approximately 7,000 ethnic Serb civilians and members of armed forces (members of the former JNA and the armed forces of the Republic of Srpska Krajina, most of whom were ethnic Serbs), who were living in Croatia during the war.

 

The first statements relating to the murder and disappearance of ethnic Serbs during and immediately following Croatia’s military operations were taken by the HLC’s researchers over the second half of 1995.  They gathered 45 statements from witnesses and families of ethnic Serbs that were killed or who disappeared in May 1995 during the Bljesak military operation conducted by Croatia’s armed forces.  107 statements were taken in August 1995 from the survivors and victims’ family members fleeing Oluja – another military operation conducted by Croatia’s police and armed forces.  The process of gathering statements and other data continued in March of 2012.  As of August 31, 2012, a five-member research team had conducted interviews with 266 witnesses and family members of those killed or who disappeared, all of whom are now living in Serbia. Over that period, they also gathered 306 documents and 250 victims’ photos.

Human Losses in the armed conflict in Macedonia

Available data puts the number of Macedonian citizens who lost their lives during the armed conflict in Macedonia from January to the end of December 2011 at 200 or more.

Human Losses in the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia

The project was envisaged as a record of all war crimes victims, soldiers killed in combat and persons that disappeared during, or in connection with the conflict. According to a number of independent assessments, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia led to more than 130,000 deaths. According to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) records – as of August 30, 2012, the remains of 12,656 persons have yet to be recovered. The remains of 1,762 disappeared have been located (but not exhumed), while the fate of 10,894 persons remains unknown.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 8,603 individuals are still listed as missing. The Republic of Croatia is still searching for 2,282 persons that disappeared between 1991 and 1995. According to the ICRC, during the Kosovo conflict, a total of 1,771 persons disappeared, although the Humanitarian Law Center’s records set that number at 1,842. The HLC’s records also show that, among the disappeared were 1,326 ethnic Albanians and 516 from other ethnic groups, mainly Serbs and Roma.

The process of listing all individuals killed or who disappeared during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia is being conducted as a regional project, involving the HLC, its Kosovo branch (HLC Kosova), the Center for Research and Documentation (CRD) and Dokumenta. The CRD completed its list of persons killed or missing during the war in B&H in August of 2012. According to its records – more than 95,000 citizens of B&H were killed or went missing between 1992 and 1995 in connection with the war in Bosnia.

First Sentences for Perjury in War Crimes Trials Rendered in Kosovo

On September 16, 2010 the Municipal Court in Peć/Pejë convicted Bekim, Engjell, and Prenk Luli of acts of perjury and sentenced them to suspended jail sentences of five months. In a separate trial, the court convicted Gjerg Luli and Kole Krasniqi of the same crimes. Kole Krasniqi is the only one whose jail sentence was not suspended and must be serevd.

We Need to Know: Gornje Obrinje, September 26, 1998

Serb forces killed 27 civilians, including children, in Gornje Obrinje / Obri e Epërme, Kosovo on September 26, 1998.

We Should Know the Facts: September 9, 1993 – Medak Pocket, Croatia

In the joint operation by Croatian military police conducted in the period from September 9 – 17, 1993, Croatian armed forces killed 36 civilians and several soldiers after they had been captured. For the duration of the operation between 40 and 45 members of the police and Army of the then-Republic of Serbian Krajina were killed.

HLC Calls upon the Institutions of the Republic of Serbia and Other post-Yugoslav States to Discover the Location of Remaining Mass Graves

On the occasion of the International Day of Missing Persons, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) calls upon the institutions of the Republic of Serbia to find the location of remaining mass graves and to ratify the international Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Criminal Complaint Filed Against Members of VJ and MUP Serbia Accused of War Crimes Against Albanian Civilians in the Villages of Zahać/Zahaq and Plavljan/Pavlan

On August 23, 2010 the Humanitarian Law Center filed with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia a criminal complaint against an unidentified number of members of the former Yugoslav Army (VJ), members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia (MUP Serbia), and members of criminal groups operating under the control of VJ and MUP Serbia for their responsibility for for war crimes committed against Albanians in the villages of Plavljane/Pavlan, Zahać/Zahaq, and other surrounding villages and settlements in the Peć/Pejë municipality during 1998 and 1999.

Criminal complaint against persons suspected to have committed a criminal act of genocide in Srebrenica, BiH

Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia against an unspecified number of members of the former Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), believed to be responsible for committing a criminal act of genocide against over 1800 Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica in July 1995.