Dalj massacre

Dalj killings/ Dalj massacre
Dalj Dalj on the map of Croatia, August 1991. Serbian-held territories are highlighted in red.
Location	Dalj, Croatia
Date	August, 1991
Target	Croats
Attack type	Mass killing and ethnic cleansing
Death(s)	112-135
Perpetrator(s)	Serbian paramilitary groups

Dalj killings and Dalj massacre refer to the events beginning on 1 August 1991^[1] which resulted in the murder of 11 Croatian civilians and 28 Croatian policemen in the village of Dalj, eastern Slavonia at the hand of Serbian paramilitaries, during the Croatian War of Independence.

August killings

At the early stage of fighting thousands of Croat and other non-Serb civilians fled from villages of Erdut, Dalj and Aljmaš.^[1]

In August 1991, Serb forces led by notorious war criminal Arkan^[2] arrested Croat civilians who stayed in their homes and kept them in a detention facility in the police building in Dalj. Eleven of them were shot immediately and their bodies were buried in a mass grave in the village of Ćelija (near Trpinja).^[3][4] Other victims were buried in Daljski Atar.^[5]

On 1 August 1991, Serb paramilitaries with some Serb officials entered the detention facility in the police building in Dalj and shot 28 regional Croat police officers.^[4] The bodies of the police officers were then taken from the building and dumped into the nearby Danube River.^[6]

Aftermath

Following the end of the Battle of Vukovar in November 1991, Dalj was also used as one of the detention facilities for prisoners from Vukovar, where some of them were abused and at least 35 of them were executed.^[7]

At least 135 other Croat and non-Serb civilians were killed in this region up until May 1992,^[4] which makes it the second largest massacre carried out against Croats, after the Vukovar massacre.

War crimes charges by the ICTY

• Slobodan Milošević - president of Serbia, charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for ordering murder, deportations and torture of non-Serbs in Dalj through paramilitary soldiers.^[8][1][9] He died before a verdict was reached.
• Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović - Stanišić, Head or Chief of the State Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, and Simatović, commander of the Special Operations Unit of the same agency, were both charged for persecutions, deportations and murder of at least 62 people as a crime against humanity in Dalj.^[10] According to the prosecution, the Red Berets were commanded by Simatović, while ‘Arkan’s men’ and Scorpions were units also responsible for various crimes. The evidence called by the prosecution alleges that the Serbian State Security Service controlled those units and organized their training.^[11][12] The trial is still pending.
• Goran Hadžić - president of the SAO SBWS, charged with unlawful confinement, deportations murder of at least 89 people in Dalj. His trial is pending.^[3]

See also

• Erdut massacre
• List of massacres in Croatia

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Testimony of Witness C-013 in ICTY v. Slobodan Milošević
2. ^ Arkan responsible for Dalj massacre
3. ^ ^{a b} "The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Goran Hadzic - Amended Indictment" (in English). The Hague: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. http://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzic/ind/en/110722.pdf. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Milosevic Indictment: Text". BBC News. Monday, 29 October, 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/354561.stm. Retrieved 1 August 2011. "In September and October 1991, Serb forces arrested Croat civilians and kept them in a detention facility in the police building in Dalj. Eleven detainees were shot and their bodies buried in a mass grave in the village of Celija. On 4 October 1991, Serb officials entered the detention facility in the police building in Dalj and shot 28 Croat civilian detainees. The bodies of the victims were then taken from the building and dumped into the nearby Danube River. At least 135 other Croat and non-Serb civilians were killed in this region up until May 1992." 
5. ^ "EVIDENCE FROM MASS GRAVES". The Hague: Sense Agency. 1 June 2010. http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/evidence-from-mass-graves.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=11718. Retrieved 1 August 2011. "The witness then attended the exhumation in Daljski Atar where 23 bodies were discovered in a well. The bodies belonged to Croats, residents of Dalj, who were taken out of their homes in 1991 and 1992, the witness explained. The bodies of persons who had been taken out earlier were located near the bottom of the well, while the bodies of civilians that disappeared later were closer to the top." 
6. ^ Serbs officers face trial - International Herald Tribune
7. ^ "Item #55". The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Slobodan Milosevic – Second Amended Indictment. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. 23 October 2002. http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/ind/en/mil-2ai020728e.htm. Retrieved 24 October 2011. "Between 18 and 20 November 1991, after the termination of the military operations in and around Vukovar, the JNA deported thousands of Croat and other non-Serb inhabitants into the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Following a request of Goran HADZIC to retain those non-Serbs who were suspected of participation in the military operations, the JNA transported a large number of inhabitants of Vukovar to the detention facilities in Dalj on around 20 November 1991. There, Serb TO members selected those suspected of participating in the defence of Vukovar. The selected detainees were interrogated, beaten and tortured. At least thirty-five were executed. The names of the victims are set out in Annex I attached to this indictment." 
8. ^ Mark McKeon referring to testimonies of Witnesses 1187 and C-1052 in ICTY v Slobodan Milošević
9. ^ ICTY - Milosevic Trial Chamber Decision
10. ^ "The Prosecutor against Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović - Third Amended Indictment" (in English). The Hague: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 10 July 2008. http://www.icty.org/x/cases/stanisic_simatovic/ind/en/staj-in3rdamd080710.pdf. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 
11. ^ "PROSECUTION OPPOSES SIMATOVIC’S ACQUITTAL" (in English). The Hague: Sense Agency. 11 April 2011. http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/prosecution-opposes-simatovic%E2%80%99s-acquittal.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=12692. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 
12. ^ "‘OUTSIDE THE LAW’, FOLLOWING MILOSEVIC’S DICTATE". The Hague: Sense Agency. 29 April 2008. http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/%E2%80%98outside-the-law%E2%80%99-following-milosevic%E2%80%99s-dictate.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=10883. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 

Coordinates: 45°25′48″N 19°01′12″E / 45.43°N 19.02°E / 45.43; 19.02