On February 25, 2025, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes of the Republic of Serbia against Milorad Vukašević, Commander of the First Partisan Infantry Brigade of the Army of the Republic of Srpska (VRS), and other members of this unit for killings of 34 Bosniak civilians in June 1992 in Jezero (Jajce municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
In early June 1992, members of the First Partisan Infantry Brigade (hereinafter 1st PartBr), part of the 30th Partisan Division of the First Krajina Corps VRS in whose zone of responsible the municipality of Jajce was located, carried out an artillery and infantry attack on the civilian population of Jezero, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Milorad Vukašević. Mortars and anti-tank rockets were used in the attack. The poorly organized Bosniak population of Jezero, mostly armed with hunting rifles, resisted the Serbian forces. However, shortly after the attack began, they decided to flee. As all roads leading out of Jezero were blocked, most residents escaped during the night between June 1 and 2, 1992, crossing Pliva Lake by boat and fleeing toward Jajce. Those who remained in Jezero were mostly elderly individuals and those unwilling to leave their homes.
During and after the armed attack on Jezero on June 2 and 3, 1992, the accused commanders and unit leaders of the First Partisan Infantry Brigade ordered and/or participated, along with other unidentified perpetrators, in the capture and execution of civilians who had not fled from Jezero. A total of 34 civilians were captured and subsequently killed, including three minors, ten women, and ten people over the age of 70.
On the orders of the accused Lieutenant Colonel Vukašević, a three-member commission was established on June 5, 1992, to investigate the “case of civilian removal” in Jezero. However, the commission’s report did not identify those responsible for the killings or explain how they were committed, merely stating that they were carried out with infantry weapons. The exact number of executed civilians was also not determined.
To this day, 18 victims from Jezero remain listed as missing, and the search for their mortal remains continues. The remains of one victim were found in a house where they had been killed and burned, while 15 victims were exhumed in 2002 and 2003 from two mass graves near Jezero.
To date, no one has been held accountable for these crimes before either international or domestic courts.
The War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade conducted proceedings against Jovo Jandrić and Slobodan Pekez, who were convicted in December 2024 for the execution of 23 civilians from the villages of Čerkazovići and Ljoljići (Jajce municipality), which took place on September 10, 1992, in Tisovac, near Jezero. The victims of this war crime were neighbors, relatives, and family members of those who perished in Jezero in June 1992.
The Humanitarian Law Center demands that the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes thoroughly investigate the allegations in the criminal complaint, considering witness statements and more than 20 submitted military and police documents related to this crime, in order to prosecute those responsible and contribute to achieving justice for the victims and their families.
