Doboj massacre

Doboj municipality

The Doboj massacre refers to war crimes, including murder, wanton destruction and ethnic cleansing, committed against Bosniaks and Croats in the Doboj area by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serb paramilitary units from April until October 1992 during the Bosnian war. The Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo registered over 2,300 dead or missing people in the area during the war.^[1]

On 26 September 1997, Nikola Jorgic was found guilty by the Düsseldorf Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court) on 11 counts of genocide involving the murder of 30 persons in the Doboj region, making it the first Bosnian Genocide prosecution. Jorgic's appeal was rejected by the German Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court) on 30 April 1999. The Oberlandesgericht found that Jorgic, a Bosnian Serb, had been the leader of a paramilitary group in the Doboj region that had taken part in acts of terror against the local Muslim population carried out with the backing of the Serb rulers and intended to contribute to their policy of "ethnic cleansing".^[2][3][4]

Takeover of Doboj in 1992

Doboj was strategically important during the Bosnian War. In May 1992, the occupation of Doboj by the Serbian forces began. The Serbian Democratic Party took over the governing of the city. What followed was a mass disarming and subsequently mass arrests of all non-Serb civilians (namely Bosniaks and Croats).^[5]

Serb forces were implicated in the systematic looting and destruction of Bosniak and Croatian homes and villages during the Bosnian War. Women were raped and civilians tortured and killed.^[5] Widespread looting and destruction of Bosniak homes and property took place daily and the Bosnian Muslim mosques in town were destroyed.^[5] Many of the non-Serbs who were not immediately killed were detained at various locations in the town, subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture and strenuous forced labour. A school in Grabska and the factory used by the Bosanka company that produced jams and juices in Doboj was used as a rape camp. Four different types of soldiers were present at the rape camps including the local Serbian militia, the Yugoslav army (JNA), police forces based in the Serbian-occupied town of Knin (or "Marticevci" as their commander was Milan Martic)^[5] and members of the "White Eagles" (Beli Orlovi) paramilitary group who wore an insignia bearing three eagles and a "kokarda" on their hats.^[5]

ICTY convictions

In its verdict, the ICTY stated that Biljana Plavšić and Momčilo Krajišnik, acting individually or in concert with Radovan Karadžić and others, planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted the planning, preparation or execution of the destruction, in whole or in part, of the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat national, ethnical, racial or religious groups, as such, in several municipalities, including but not limited to Doboj. Plavšić was sentenced to 11 and Krajišnik to 20 years in prison.^[6][7] Plavisic's indictment related to genocide charges in Doboj specifically included but were not limited to the following killings:^[6]

• the killing on or about 10 May 1992 of thirty-four Bosnian Muslim /Bosniak and/or Bosnian Croat civilians of the village of Gornja Grapska - Doboj municipality.
• many of the Bosnian Muslims /Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats who survived the attacks and forced marches were taken to these camps and detention facilities, including but not limited to: Bare ammunition warehouse from 1 May 1992, Spreca prison from 1 May 1992, the SUP station from 1 May to 31 July 1992, Percin’s Disco from 1 May 1992, Sevarlije JNA barracks from 1 May to 30 June 1992, and the JNA hangars near the Bosanska plantation from May 1992, all in the Doboj municipality.

Other incidents currently under investigation include:^[6]

• the execution of 15 civilians from the Spreca Central Prison in Doboj in May 1992;
• a series of mass executions of non-Serbs on the banks of the river Bosna on June 17–19, 1992;
• a series of mass executions in the "July 4th" military barracks in the village of Miljkovac on July 12, 1992; and
• the use of civilians as human shields against a Bosnian Army advance the same month.

As of 2011, Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović are still on trial, among others for war crimes in Doboj.^[8]

See also

• Srebrenica massacre
• Foča massacres
• List of Bosnian genocide prosecutions

References

1. ^ IDC - Rezultati istraživanja "Ljudski gubici '91-'95" (Posavina)
2. ^ "Jorgić, Nikola". haguejusticeportal.net. http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/eCache/DEF/6/908.html. Retrieved January 4, 2011. 
3. ^ Alan Cowell (September 27, 1997). "German Court Sentences Serb To Life for Genocide in Bosnia". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/27/world/german-court-sentences-serb-to-life-for-genocide-in-bosnia.html. Retrieved January 4, 2011. 
4. ^ "Bosnian Serb Given Life by German Court". Los Angeles Times. September 27, 1997. http://articles.latimes.com/1997/sep/27/news/mn-36609. Retrieved January 4, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, established pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 780 (1992), Annex III.A — M. Cherif Bassiouni; S/1994/674/Add.2 (Vol. IV), 27 May 1994, Special Forces, (p. 735). Accessdate January 20, 2011
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Prosecutor v. Biljana Plavsic judgement.". http://www.icty.org/x/cases/plavsic/tjug/en/pla-tj030227e.pdf. 
7. ^ "Prosecutor v. Momcilo Krajisnik judgement". http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/acjug/en/090317.pdf. "Sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment" 
8. ^ "The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic". ICTY. December 2003. http://www.icty.org/x/cases/stanisic_simatovic/ind/en/sta-ai031209e.pdf. Retrieved 29 October 2010. 

Coordinates: 44°44′N 18°08′E / 44.733°N 18.133°E / 44.733; 18.133