Voćin massacre

Voćin massacre was a war crime committed against Croatian civilians in the village of Voćin. It was perpetuated by Serb paramilitary units in December 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence.
[ [http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/vocin.html Blaskovich, Jerry (1 November 2002) "The Ghastly Slaughter of Vocin Revisited:Lest We Forget" The New Generation Hrvatski Vjesnik--English supplement] ] According to the ICTY the number of killed was 32, [ [http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/ses-ii030115e.htm Šešelj Indictment] ] although a local Croatian police chief testified that 45 people were killed. [ [http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/vocin.html Blaskovich, Jerry (1 November 2002) "The Ghastly Slaughter of Vocin Revisited:Lest We Forget" The New Generation Hrvatski Vjesnik--English supplement] ] Its significance is in the fact that it is the most documented in the war, as foreign medical experts were on the scene as soon as it was liberated by Croatian forces and managed to conduct forensic examination.

War comes to Voćin

Voćin is a village situated in Western Slavonia, one of the three major areas of local Serb revolt against the new Croatian government in the 1990-91 period. The arrival of the Yugoslav Army (JNA) into the area in mid-1991 signaled the beginning of an offensive to capture areas outside Serb control (i.e., with Croatian majority). One of the villages captured during these offensive operations was Voćin which was shelled heavily and captured on the morning of August 19. These forces were assisted by local Serb civilians, which pointed the Serb forces to the Croat civilians, carrying lists. Before the war, the village had a population of 426, which was now down to 80 Croats that were captured.

According to testimonies by survivors, the village was put under military occupation by the paramilitary unit White Eagles (calling themselves Chetniks) and its occupants "treated like slaves", abused, exploited and killed. In November 1991, Vojislav Šešelj (founder and leader of the White Eagles) visited Voćin and incited the troops to burn houses and kill civilians in the villages of Voćin, Hum, Bokane, and Krašković. [ [http://www.ictytranscripts.org/TrialTranscripts/HTML/transe67/03-02-26-IA.html ICTY transcript: Šešelj trial, charges] ]

By December, the Croatian army in the area regrouped and launched Operation Orkan 91. Serb forces were on the general retreat and decided to abandon the village. Before they left, on December 13, they committed a massacre. Voćin was recaptured the following morning by Croatian forces. When they entered the village, bodies were found on the streets, in their burned houses and in yards.

Then-Congressman Frank McCloskey (Indiana Democrat) had been in the vicinity, when he received reports about what had taken place. He arrived while the bodies were still warm. A number of the villagers survived by hiding and now gave them telling testimony within hours of the event, along with captured Serb paramilitaries. Contacting doctor Dr. Jerry Blaskovich of the University of Southern California, an American physician in Croatia at the time, they arranged for him to conduct a forensic examination of the victims in Zagreb.

The massacre

With one exception, all the victims were Roman Catholic Croatian villagers. A large number was elderly - half the victims were over 62 and the eldest was 84 years old. Most of the young people, especially the males of the village had fled; or were rounded up by the Serb invaders and shipped to parts unknown.

Almost all of the victims were abused, tortured and then killed. Two of the victims, a husband and wife, were found bound with chains and burned. Subsequent chemical tissue analysis performed at the University of Zagreb Medical School laboratories revealed that they were burnt alive. Others had their skulls split open by axes or chain sawed in half while still alive. A large number of victims were murdered by chain saws, knives, axes and other weapons.

One of the victims, Marija Majdandžić (72), was an American citizen born in Erie, Pennsylvania. She was trapped in her house which was torched down. She was probably the first American casualty of the conflict. The only non-Croat victim of the massacre was a 77-year old Serb who tried to intervene on behalf of his Croatian co-villagers to stop the massacre. He was tortured and then beaten to death. Fact|date=February 2008

The historic Catholic church, "Our Lady of Voćin", built some 750 years previously, was destroyed. The Serbs stacked some of the bodies in the Church that they attempted to destroy by explosives - the church's basement was loaded with munitions of almost every description since it had been used as a central ammunition depot by the Serbs. Despite the massive destruction, over 50 bodies were eventually found there; a great number of others, including children, disappeared without a trace. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE4D8173FF93AA25751C1A967958260 Villagers in Croatia Recount Massacre by Serbian Forces - The New York Times] ]

Aftermath

There were about 20 survivors from the 80 people who were in the village at the time of the massacre. They survived by hiding in basements and cornfields and were witnesses to what happened.

Several of the Serbs failed to retreat on time and were captured and interrogated. Aside from giving details about the slaughter they committed, the Serb soldiers admitted to being members of Vojislav Šešelj’s infamous "White Eagles" and that they had been acting under direct orders from Belgrade. Fact|date=February 2008

Congressman McCloskey arranged for a press conference in Hotel Intercontinental, Zagreb, the next morning where they revealed what has happened, calling the Voćin massacre an act of genocide. [ [http://www.hic.hr/english/ARCHIVE.htm#abr Croatian American Association: A tribute to Frank McCloskey] ] After this, he became an outspoken critic of Serb/former Yugoslav actions in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. He was among the first to call for air strikes against Serb forces.

Later events

The extensive documentation of the massacre meant that it was included in the ICTY indictments against Serb President Slobodan Milošević [ [http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/cis/milosevic/cis-060330.pdf Milošević indictment] ] and Chetnik "Duke" Vojislav Šešelj [ [http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/cis/seselj/cis-seselj.pdf Šešelj Indictment] ] . Milošević died in prison. As of 2007, the Šešelj trial is still on-going.

References

ources

* Jerry Blaskovich, "Anatomy of Deceit: An American Physician's First-hand Encounter With The Realities Of The War In Croatia"
* Milos Judas and Ivica Kostović, "Mass Killing and Genocide"
* [http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/021007IT.htm Testimony of Djuro Matovina] , Transcript of 7 October 2002, p. 11049, lines 12-16.

External links

Testimonies
*sr icon [http://www.hlc-rdc.org/srpski/Haski_tribunal/Sudjenje_Milosevicu/incident.php?file=599.html Humanitarian Law Center] Milošević Trial - ICTY - Incidents - Voćin
*sr icon [http://www.hlc-rdc.org/srpski/Haski_tribunal/Sudjenje_Milosevicu/incident.php?file=591.html Humanitarian Law Center] Milošević Trial - ICTY - Voćin - attack on police station
*sr icon [http://www.hlc-rdc.org/srpski/Haski_tribunal/Sudjenje_Milosevicu/incident.php?file=594.html Humanitarian Law Center] Milošević Trial - ICTY - Podravska Slatina - JNA attack on police station
*sr icon [http://www.hlc-rdc.org/srpski/Haski_tribunal/Sudjenje_Milosevicu/incident.php?file=598.html Humanitarian Law Center] Milošević Trial - ICTY - Voćin - taking over of police station
*sr icon [http://www.hlc-rdc.org/srpski/Haski_tribunal/Sudjenje_Milosevicu/Transkripti.php?file=778.html#in597d Humanitarian Law Center] Milošević Trial - ICTY - Čojlug
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/HR/17/Vocin.html Voćin] on fallingrain.com
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/HR/0/Bokane.html Bokane] on fallingrain.com
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/HR/17/Hum.html Hum Voćinski] on fallingrain.com
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/HR/0/Kraskovic.html Krašković] on fallingrain.com