The judgements of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) determined that the Ministry of the Interior of Republika Srpska (MUP RS), in coordination with the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and other military and paramilitary units, took part in the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), including in the forced take-over of municipalities, forcible transfer and deportation of the non-Serbian population, imposition of repressive and discriminatory measures, and imprisonment, abuse and killing of civilians and other protected ethnic non-Serbs.
In July 1995, multiple units of the MUP RS took part in the military operation for seizing Srebrenica, and through their actions contributed to the perpetration of genocide in Srebrenica.
This Dossier is based on documents from the Ministry of the Interior and the Army of Republika Srpska, and the judgements and evidence of the ICTY, the Higher Court in Belgrade and the Court of BiH, as well as numerous open sources, including academic papers and the database of the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC).
The Dossier demonstrates that during the armed conflicts in BiH, Tomislav Kovač, as Head of the Command Staff of the police forces of the MUP RS, and Deputy Minister and Minister of the Interior of RS, acted in contravention of the Law on Internal Affairs and other regulations of the Republika Srpska and of the norms of international humanitarian law, that required him to protect the civilian population. Even though he was responsible and obligated to bring charges against his subordinates if they had committed a crime, he made MUP RS units available to the Army of Republika Srpska in the enforcement of the plan for the forcible transfer of several tens of thousands of women, children and elderly from the territory of Srebrenica, and the execution of at least 8,000 men, including minors.
