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Monday, 18.06.2007.

10:50

Croatia: Operation Storm victims exhumed

Exhumations have uncovered 160 ethnic Serb victims of the Croatian Army's Operation Storm in a mass grave in Petrinja.

Izvor: B92

Croatia: Operation Storm victims exhumed IMAGE SOURCE
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19 Komentari

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mc

pre 16 godina

We will see if this goes through. Many of the Serbs from Krajina will not return to Croatia because they know that if they do, Croatian authorities will arrest and prosecute them and self-proclaimed 'Krajina' was built in 1991 on the mass slaughter of up to 20,000 Croats more than 4000 are still missing and the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands more. I would also note that Pulizter prize winning journalist Roy Gutman, who was in Knin at the time, has critisized the allegation that Croatia pushed Serbs to flee. There is evidence that it is estimated that at least 1,000 Serbs suspected of committing major war crimes against Croats from 1991-1995 left with the Serb evacuees. The victims were definitely not in Serbia and not in Belgrade.

Bakone Moloto EU presiding judge, said In October 1991, Croats in the villages of Hrvatska Dubica and Cerovljani were forced from their homes, beaten and used as human shields by Serbs. When they fled, Serbs moved into their homes, Judge Moloto said. On Oct. 20, 1991, Croatian Serb forces detained more than 40 villagers at a local fire station. Eleven were released or managed to escape, but the next day the remaining prisoners were taken to the banks of a nearby river and killed, Judge Moloto said. Their bodies were dumped in several graves, including a mass grave judges visited during the trial. Croatians should indeed be proud of their own liberation from such a hell. Where is your outrage?

Serbia and you can run her lies and propaganda which nobody wants to hear them anymore, as far as Kosovo, from 1989 till 1998 during the Serb apartheid we managed to run our lives and never gave up gaining independence in a peaceful way till serb army came and did what everybody knows, killing almost 10000 people, deporting a million of them, 3000 of them still missing. I liked the comments made by the ambassador of Germany to Serbia. He is telling the truth to the Serbs. Enough is enough, now they must wake up and realize what they have done against their neighbours.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - As you are so fond of backing the separatist Albanian independence campaign then i'm sure you'd allow the serbs in Krajina and slavonia to break away from Croatia.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - 80,000 troops? who are you kidding.

"Daveo, I think there is a slight difference between ordering an evacuation and someone physically forcing u out of your home." So when Serbs leave before an enemy army arrives it is of their own free will, yet i have noticed that you talk of the Serbian army expelling the Kosovans. tell me how that can be when they were leafletted by the KLA and told to leave by them? So Serbs expel populations and the Croats don't, is that what you are insinuating?

"I dont deny that there were serb victims. there definately were. but it was not necessary. they were brainwashed by Milosevic and the like of the threat that only existed in their head." Was it Milosevic or a Croat militiaman who physically pulled the trigger and killed the Serbs? Working with your logic, then it is the Croat people who are responsible for the war in Croatia as it was the Croats, NOT the Serbs who rebelled in former Yugoslavia and fired the first shots in anger. Likewise the muslims in Bosnia.

The simple fact is that if the Croats weren't so nationalistic then the war in Yugoslavia would never have happened. The Croats were whipped up into a frenzy by the likes of Tudjman and when Serbs see Croat civilians on TV jumping onto JNA tanks and killing their personnel when they were trying to calm the situation what do you think the Serb population in Croatia thought was going to happen to them?

Walter

pre 16 godina

Victor writes “they were brainwashed by Milosevic” but Victor does not read well. The comments above were about Croats Victor.

I have been censored by B92 not because of foul language but because they lack insight into what really goes on in the West. Regrettably B92 also needs to be cognizant that their funding comes from the West. Walter Cronkite used to end his newscast with the words “and that is the way it is” but after (note I said after) his retirement from CBS he said that it was never the way he said it since the news was manipulated to reflect the views of those who funded the program. As long as you have private news outlets, or government controlled ones the news will be manufactured. When government controls the media we know who the propaganda serves while we never know who is served by private news outlets.

Vuk

pre 16 godina

Victor I think I speak on behalf of the majority of people on this site when I say your comments are not welcome, serbs and other alike.
Your main intention is to spread hate.
"Something evil happened in Serbia"

Yugoslavia fell apart because it was systamticlly dismantled by western powers just as Guatamala was by the US have a read if you wish.

As far as RSK goes the difference between the Croats cleansed out of RSK (i dont deny this) and the Serbs cleansed during the storm is not merely numerical, Storm was sponsored by the government and the US RSK militias recieved no money from Belgrade and could not be justified. Croatia wanted war and they got it in RSK when nearly all were defeated.
After all guys Croatia didnt want its's southern coastline seperated from the north by a load of Serbs! HA just get rid of them!! Job Done.

Victor

pre 16 godina

«...they were brainwashed by Milosevic .»

Very much so! It is not normal that Serb neighbours turned against their neighbours and kill them; that young men in their 20s became commanders of concentration camps; that ordinary Serbs who were living friendly with Muslims and Croats helped in the ethnic cleansing campaign and raciale purification.

Something evil happened in Serbia to change a nation behavior so dramatically!

Walter

pre 16 godina

I will tell you why they left and of course Victor will deny it as some invention by Walter. I visited Lika which is in Krajina. I went to a cemetery and what shocked me was that over half of the grave stones had the same date of dearth inscribed on them. These people left because they knew that Tudjman orders were to cleanse Krajina of Serbs. How this was to be accomplished mattered not to him. In Gospic many Serbs were killed before the conflict even started
According to Miroslav Bajramović a former member of the unit led by Mirko Korac from Zagreb:
"Our group executed between 90 and 100 people in less than a month there ... The order for Gospić was: "ethnically cleanse." So we killed the directors of the post office and the hospital, restaurant owners, and other assorted Serbs. The killing was done by shooting at point-blank range, since we did not have much time. I repeat, orders from above were to reduce the percentage of Serbs in Gospić." [4]

Princip, UK

pre 16 godina

Daniel,

so you are happy to agree, utilise & go on record that in
"1993, there were 480,000 residents: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others"

- great so you agree 500,000 give or take 20,000 within 2 years were ethnicaly cleansed from Krajina in the scorched earth policy which drove all inhabitants out through the coordinated bombardment in a series of attacks on civilian populations culminating but the final attack of Storm adopted by Tudjman (who had he not dies would have been indicted) and his generals - one of whom was Ceku!

On another point what of the thousands of Serbs within Croatia proper who were forced from their homes?? At least within Krajina the Serb population for the 5 years (1990-95) had some form of sanctuary from the radical right Croat institutions of Tudjman as did clearly approx 35,000 Croatians (7% of 480,000) - clearly the Serbs were happy to have Croats amongst them!!!

Oh by the way my comments do get editted and blocked at times so be sure that this not a non-Serb censureship by B92 I would tend to think given some comments that get posted hat the bias is actually anti-Serb on the whole! But that is good gives a chance to provide intelligent responses back to the xenophobics!

Daniel

pre 16 godina

PB,

300,000? Firstly the operation was with 80,000 troops so obviously u have no idea about the operation at all. As for croat arny rushing out of krajina, what army exactly? at best, at the time, Croatia army consisted of hand guns and hunting rifles. and had come up with the strongest non-nuclear army at the time. Hardly enough to fend off tanks, machine guns etc.

Daveo, I think there is a slight difference between ordering an evacuation and someone physically forcing u out of your home. I dont deny serbs left in fear, but to automatically assume that they would have been killed is also wrong and i guess we can only speculate. I dont deny there were crimes committed during the operation, but it wasnt the ethnic cleansing thats usually associated with the term. Evacuation order has to be counted in and the region certainly wasnt empty by the time croat troops came in and had the croats had the intention to kill, there would have been alot more than the amount of people actually killed.

I dont deny that there were serb victims. there definately were. but it was not necessary. they were brainwashed by Milosevic and the like of the threat that only existed in their head. he fed on their fears and it worked. Serbs preach about propaganda of the west but dont realise that quiet a successful propaganda campaign was used against them by milosevic, karadzic and martic/babic.

FeeleyTwo

pre 16 godina

Operation Storm was conceived, planned, backed, and participated in with air power bt the USA, so I'm sure there will be little if anything in the mainstream media about it. That's called freedom of the press. Free to print stories about Muslims and Croats found in mass graves, and free not to print about Serbian victims. That's America for you, and our proud military machine.

svojgazda

pre 16 godina

Don't worry Victor and Daniel, this story won't get paste B92. I have not seen it on any western news services. Only Muslim and Croatian deaths are reported in the media. Serbian deaths are deemed as justified by leaders of of the Free World. I'm sure you feel the same.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - "The serbs army showed much bravery in Krajina...but only whilst they had superior tanks and other weapons etc supplied by JNA but as soon as a retaliation threatened...they ended up leaviong before the civilians. " - Pot calling kettle black. Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't the Croats rush out of Krajina when the Serbian army invaded in large numbers but were very "brave" during operation storm with 300,000 troops, backed by US air power!

Daveo Dinkum

pre 16 godina

Thanks for your comments Daniel,

There was an order to evacuate? Thats so cowardly, why didnt those innocent Serbian people that have been living in that land their whole life stay and face whatever was coming from the advancing armies. If they didn't leave who knows what would happen to them.

Is it really evacuation, or leaving because armed forces were advancing into their towns. Is there really a difference? They had to leave for a reason, they wouldn't give up their homes and lives because they didnt want to live in Croatia anymore.

As for the RSK army, why would the common man stay and potentially get killed or captured. They all have their own families to look after. I find it very sad that some portray these men in a bad light. Nobody deserves to die just because theyre not welcome to live where they are anymore.

Serbs may not be innocent in the same regard towards others, but theyre definately victims. I plead to see humanity in general united and past events observed in an equal manner as everyone is affected here.

These people you subjectively talk about without (I assume) having experienced it first hand have families and loved ones like you and me.

Nobody deserves to die over bad politics. Free your mind, think for yourself, and most importantly love one another. Everyone can make a difference to make the world better.

Marco NL

pre 16 godina

Daniel, when I first visited the B92 website, I was struck by the number of anti-serbian comments posted on the B92 site. The posts you previously tried to publish on the B92 site therefore must have contained insulting language...

Daniel

pre 16 godina

Princip, I respond to your comment if B92 lets me for once. They seem to block out much relating to comments from non-serbs here as I am yet to see a serb complain that they were blocked. but we will see if this goes through for once.

Firstly, do you not acknowledge the order by RSK to evacuate the Krajina population prior to Oluja? Remember this was in 1995.

I do like ur link though, I also found something else on the same website...I quote:
The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed).[6] Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern Slavonia (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). By that time there were 2,200 Croats killed and 140,000 became refugees.

this was 1991, Oluja was 1995. I dont remember u ever metnioning this when you mention what happened in croatia. why is that? Ill go on, the same website also says the following: "According to a local census by the RSK authorities from 1993, there were 480,000 residents: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others. In 1994, the RSK's government estimated the population at 430,000 people [14]. The apparent fall in the population may have been due to the RSK authorities' efforts to drive out the non-Serb minorities as well as the ongoing exodus of Serbs.". Croatia did not have control of Krajina at this time so ill let everyone else be the judge on the 50,000 difference prior to Oluja. Lets just say that the government of Croatia certainly did not give them an order to evacuate.


As for fighting farmers, you are right Vuk. The serbs army showed much bravery in Krajina...but only whilst they had superior tanks and other weapons etc supplied by JNA but as soon as a retaliation threatened...they ended up leaviong before the civilians.

Have fun with that B92.

Victor

pre 16 godina

Vuk,

The Hague is interested in the crimes committed against the Serbs in the Krajina. Gotovina and other Croat generals have been arrested and if Bobetko still alive, he will also be at the Hague to answer questions about the crimes committed there during Operation Oluja. Try to be objective, pelase.

Your figure of 500 000 Serbs living in the Krajina is completely inaccurate; not more that 200 000 were evacuated by the Serb army before the arrival of the Croats in 1995.

I find terrible that your information about your own history is so inaccurate! Where do you live?

Princip, UK

pre 16 godina

Victor

please don't insult Vuk nor I might add all the Serbs who have been ethnically cleansed and lost family from Krajina and Croatia.

"I find terrible that your information about your own history is so inaccurate! Where do you live?"

FYI Victor;
"The Serbs of Croatia are the largest national minority in that country. The total population of Serbs who originate directly from Croatia can safely be estimated at around 700,000 people. Due to various reasons, only a fraction of Croatian Serbs actually still live in their native homeland of Croatia: 201,631 according to the 2001 population census"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia#History_-_Recent

Victor,
700,000 - 200,000 = 500,000

I suggest Victor you get your facts right before commenting anymore & do some actual research instead of rantings of some anti-serb obsession!!!

Vuk

pre 16 godina

The Hague is not interested in the crimes against Serbs because they don't matter, they are not even humans, they are the bad guys who killed everyone else of course!
Ridicules stance and frankly Operation storm was illeagal and still nothing done about it because 30% of Croatia's territory is still Krajina which was cleansed of Serbs so techiniclly occupied territory to this day since barely any Serbs live there now and no attempts have been made to help the 500,000 move back to their homes.
But why would the Croatians want them to move back? Of course not that would defeat the point of the mission and all of NATO/US hard work in planning the operation would be gone to waste along with the Croatian national holiday of thanksgiving which celebrates the cleansing.

P.S It wasnt a military victory which would be justified in some peoples minds because Krajina was demilitarised, they were fighting farmers and old men and women.

Vuk

pre 16 godina

The Hague is not interested in the crimes against Serbs because they don't matter, they are not even humans, they are the bad guys who killed everyone else of course!
Ridicules stance and frankly Operation storm was illeagal and still nothing done about it because 30% of Croatia's territory is still Krajina which was cleansed of Serbs so techiniclly occupied territory to this day since barely any Serbs live there now and no attempts have been made to help the 500,000 move back to their homes.
But why would the Croatians want them to move back? Of course not that would defeat the point of the mission and all of NATO/US hard work in planning the operation would be gone to waste along with the Croatian national holiday of thanksgiving which celebrates the cleansing.

P.S It wasnt a military victory which would be justified in some peoples minds because Krajina was demilitarised, they were fighting farmers and old men and women.

Victor

pre 16 godina

Vuk,

The Hague is interested in the crimes committed against the Serbs in the Krajina. Gotovina and other Croat generals have been arrested and if Bobetko still alive, he will also be at the Hague to answer questions about the crimes committed there during Operation Oluja. Try to be objective, pelase.

Your figure of 500 000 Serbs living in the Krajina is completely inaccurate; not more that 200 000 were evacuated by the Serb army before the arrival of the Croats in 1995.

I find terrible that your information about your own history is so inaccurate! Where do you live?

Princip, UK

pre 16 godina

Victor

please don't insult Vuk nor I might add all the Serbs who have been ethnically cleansed and lost family from Krajina and Croatia.

"I find terrible that your information about your own history is so inaccurate! Where do you live?"

FYI Victor;
"The Serbs of Croatia are the largest national minority in that country. The total population of Serbs who originate directly from Croatia can safely be estimated at around 700,000 people. Due to various reasons, only a fraction of Croatian Serbs actually still live in their native homeland of Croatia: 201,631 according to the 2001 population census"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia#History_-_Recent

Victor,
700,000 - 200,000 = 500,000

I suggest Victor you get your facts right before commenting anymore & do some actual research instead of rantings of some anti-serb obsession!!!

Daniel

pre 16 godina

Princip, I respond to your comment if B92 lets me for once. They seem to block out much relating to comments from non-serbs here as I am yet to see a serb complain that they were blocked. but we will see if this goes through for once.

Firstly, do you not acknowledge the order by RSK to evacuate the Krajina population prior to Oluja? Remember this was in 1995.

I do like ur link though, I also found something else on the same website...I quote:
The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed).[6] Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern Slavonia (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). By that time there were 2,200 Croats killed and 140,000 became refugees.

this was 1991, Oluja was 1995. I dont remember u ever metnioning this when you mention what happened in croatia. why is that? Ill go on, the same website also says the following: "According to a local census by the RSK authorities from 1993, there were 480,000 residents: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others. In 1994, the RSK's government estimated the population at 430,000 people [14]. The apparent fall in the population may have been due to the RSK authorities' efforts to drive out the non-Serb minorities as well as the ongoing exodus of Serbs.". Croatia did not have control of Krajina at this time so ill let everyone else be the judge on the 50,000 difference prior to Oluja. Lets just say that the government of Croatia certainly did not give them an order to evacuate.


As for fighting farmers, you are right Vuk. The serbs army showed much bravery in Krajina...but only whilst they had superior tanks and other weapons etc supplied by JNA but as soon as a retaliation threatened...they ended up leaviong before the civilians.

Have fun with that B92.

Marco NL

pre 16 godina

Daniel, when I first visited the B92 website, I was struck by the number of anti-serbian comments posted on the B92 site. The posts you previously tried to publish on the B92 site therefore must have contained insulting language...

Daveo Dinkum

pre 16 godina

Thanks for your comments Daniel,

There was an order to evacuate? Thats so cowardly, why didnt those innocent Serbian people that have been living in that land their whole life stay and face whatever was coming from the advancing armies. If they didn't leave who knows what would happen to them.

Is it really evacuation, or leaving because armed forces were advancing into their towns. Is there really a difference? They had to leave for a reason, they wouldn't give up their homes and lives because they didnt want to live in Croatia anymore.

As for the RSK army, why would the common man stay and potentially get killed or captured. They all have their own families to look after. I find it very sad that some portray these men in a bad light. Nobody deserves to die just because theyre not welcome to live where they are anymore.

Serbs may not be innocent in the same regard towards others, but theyre definately victims. I plead to see humanity in general united and past events observed in an equal manner as everyone is affected here.

These people you subjectively talk about without (I assume) having experienced it first hand have families and loved ones like you and me.

Nobody deserves to die over bad politics. Free your mind, think for yourself, and most importantly love one another. Everyone can make a difference to make the world better.

svojgazda

pre 16 godina

Don't worry Victor and Daniel, this story won't get paste B92. I have not seen it on any western news services. Only Muslim and Croatian deaths are reported in the media. Serbian deaths are deemed as justified by leaders of of the Free World. I'm sure you feel the same.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - "The serbs army showed much bravery in Krajina...but only whilst they had superior tanks and other weapons etc supplied by JNA but as soon as a retaliation threatened...they ended up leaviong before the civilians. " - Pot calling kettle black. Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't the Croats rush out of Krajina when the Serbian army invaded in large numbers but were very "brave" during operation storm with 300,000 troops, backed by US air power!

FeeleyTwo

pre 16 godina

Operation Storm was conceived, planned, backed, and participated in with air power bt the USA, so I'm sure there will be little if anything in the mainstream media about it. That's called freedom of the press. Free to print stories about Muslims and Croats found in mass graves, and free not to print about Serbian victims. That's America for you, and our proud military machine.

Daniel

pre 16 godina

PB,

300,000? Firstly the operation was with 80,000 troops so obviously u have no idea about the operation at all. As for croat arny rushing out of krajina, what army exactly? at best, at the time, Croatia army consisted of hand guns and hunting rifles. and had come up with the strongest non-nuclear army at the time. Hardly enough to fend off tanks, machine guns etc.

Daveo, I think there is a slight difference between ordering an evacuation and someone physically forcing u out of your home. I dont deny serbs left in fear, but to automatically assume that they would have been killed is also wrong and i guess we can only speculate. I dont deny there were crimes committed during the operation, but it wasnt the ethnic cleansing thats usually associated with the term. Evacuation order has to be counted in and the region certainly wasnt empty by the time croat troops came in and had the croats had the intention to kill, there would have been alot more than the amount of people actually killed.

I dont deny that there were serb victims. there definately were. but it was not necessary. they were brainwashed by Milosevic and the like of the threat that only existed in their head. he fed on their fears and it worked. Serbs preach about propaganda of the west but dont realise that quiet a successful propaganda campaign was used against them by milosevic, karadzic and martic/babic.

Princip, UK

pre 16 godina

Daniel,

so you are happy to agree, utilise & go on record that in
"1993, there were 480,000 residents: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others"

- great so you agree 500,000 give or take 20,000 within 2 years were ethnicaly cleansed from Krajina in the scorched earth policy which drove all inhabitants out through the coordinated bombardment in a series of attacks on civilian populations culminating but the final attack of Storm adopted by Tudjman (who had he not dies would have been indicted) and his generals - one of whom was Ceku!

On another point what of the thousands of Serbs within Croatia proper who were forced from their homes?? At least within Krajina the Serb population for the 5 years (1990-95) had some form of sanctuary from the radical right Croat institutions of Tudjman as did clearly approx 35,000 Croatians (7% of 480,000) - clearly the Serbs were happy to have Croats amongst them!!!

Oh by the way my comments do get editted and blocked at times so be sure that this not a non-Serb censureship by B92 I would tend to think given some comments that get posted hat the bias is actually anti-Serb on the whole! But that is good gives a chance to provide intelligent responses back to the xenophobics!

Walter

pre 16 godina

I will tell you why they left and of course Victor will deny it as some invention by Walter. I visited Lika which is in Krajina. I went to a cemetery and what shocked me was that over half of the grave stones had the same date of dearth inscribed on them. These people left because they knew that Tudjman orders were to cleanse Krajina of Serbs. How this was to be accomplished mattered not to him. In Gospic many Serbs were killed before the conflict even started
According to Miroslav Bajramović a former member of the unit led by Mirko Korac from Zagreb:
"Our group executed between 90 and 100 people in less than a month there ... The order for Gospić was: "ethnically cleanse." So we killed the directors of the post office and the hospital, restaurant owners, and other assorted Serbs. The killing was done by shooting at point-blank range, since we did not have much time. I repeat, orders from above were to reduce the percentage of Serbs in Gospić." [4]

Victor

pre 16 godina

«...they were brainwashed by Milosevic .»

Very much so! It is not normal that Serb neighbours turned against their neighbours and kill them; that young men in their 20s became commanders of concentration camps; that ordinary Serbs who were living friendly with Muslims and Croats helped in the ethnic cleansing campaign and raciale purification.

Something evil happened in Serbia to change a nation behavior so dramatically!

Vuk

pre 16 godina

Victor I think I speak on behalf of the majority of people on this site when I say your comments are not welcome, serbs and other alike.
Your main intention is to spread hate.
"Something evil happened in Serbia"

Yugoslavia fell apart because it was systamticlly dismantled by western powers just as Guatamala was by the US have a read if you wish.

As far as RSK goes the difference between the Croats cleansed out of RSK (i dont deny this) and the Serbs cleansed during the storm is not merely numerical, Storm was sponsored by the government and the US RSK militias recieved no money from Belgrade and could not be justified. Croatia wanted war and they got it in RSK when nearly all were defeated.
After all guys Croatia didnt want its's southern coastline seperated from the north by a load of Serbs! HA just get rid of them!! Job Done.

Walter

pre 16 godina

Victor writes “they were brainwashed by Milosevic” but Victor does not read well. The comments above were about Croats Victor.

I have been censored by B92 not because of foul language but because they lack insight into what really goes on in the West. Regrettably B92 also needs to be cognizant that their funding comes from the West. Walter Cronkite used to end his newscast with the words “and that is the way it is” but after (note I said after) his retirement from CBS he said that it was never the way he said it since the news was manipulated to reflect the views of those who funded the program. As long as you have private news outlets, or government controlled ones the news will be manufactured. When government controls the media we know who the propaganda serves while we never know who is served by private news outlets.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - 80,000 troops? who are you kidding.

"Daveo, I think there is a slight difference between ordering an evacuation and someone physically forcing u out of your home." So when Serbs leave before an enemy army arrives it is of their own free will, yet i have noticed that you talk of the Serbian army expelling the Kosovans. tell me how that can be when they were leafletted by the KLA and told to leave by them? So Serbs expel populations and the Croats don't, is that what you are insinuating?

"I dont deny that there were serb victims. there definately were. but it was not necessary. they were brainwashed by Milosevic and the like of the threat that only existed in their head." Was it Milosevic or a Croat militiaman who physically pulled the trigger and killed the Serbs? Working with your logic, then it is the Croat people who are responsible for the war in Croatia as it was the Croats, NOT the Serbs who rebelled in former Yugoslavia and fired the first shots in anger. Likewise the muslims in Bosnia.

The simple fact is that if the Croats weren't so nationalistic then the war in Yugoslavia would never have happened. The Croats were whipped up into a frenzy by the likes of Tudjman and when Serbs see Croat civilians on TV jumping onto JNA tanks and killing their personnel when they were trying to calm the situation what do you think the Serb population in Croatia thought was going to happen to them?

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - As you are so fond of backing the separatist Albanian independence campaign then i'm sure you'd allow the serbs in Krajina and slavonia to break away from Croatia.

mc

pre 16 godina

We will see if this goes through. Many of the Serbs from Krajina will not return to Croatia because they know that if they do, Croatian authorities will arrest and prosecute them and self-proclaimed 'Krajina' was built in 1991 on the mass slaughter of up to 20,000 Croats more than 4000 are still missing and the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands more. I would also note that Pulizter prize winning journalist Roy Gutman, who was in Knin at the time, has critisized the allegation that Croatia pushed Serbs to flee. There is evidence that it is estimated that at least 1,000 Serbs suspected of committing major war crimes against Croats from 1991-1995 left with the Serb evacuees. The victims were definitely not in Serbia and not in Belgrade.

Bakone Moloto EU presiding judge, said In October 1991, Croats in the villages of Hrvatska Dubica and Cerovljani were forced from their homes, beaten and used as human shields by Serbs. When they fled, Serbs moved into their homes, Judge Moloto said. On Oct. 20, 1991, Croatian Serb forces detained more than 40 villagers at a local fire station. Eleven were released or managed to escape, but the next day the remaining prisoners were taken to the banks of a nearby river and killed, Judge Moloto said. Their bodies were dumped in several graves, including a mass grave judges visited during the trial. Croatians should indeed be proud of their own liberation from such a hell. Where is your outrage?

Serbia and you can run her lies and propaganda which nobody wants to hear them anymore, as far as Kosovo, from 1989 till 1998 during the Serb apartheid we managed to run our lives and never gave up gaining independence in a peaceful way till serb army came and did what everybody knows, killing almost 10000 people, deporting a million of them, 3000 of them still missing. I liked the comments made by the ambassador of Germany to Serbia. He is telling the truth to the Serbs. Enough is enough, now they must wake up and realize what they have done against their neighbours.

Vuk

pre 16 godina

The Hague is not interested in the crimes against Serbs because they don't matter, they are not even humans, they are the bad guys who killed everyone else of course!
Ridicules stance and frankly Operation storm was illeagal and still nothing done about it because 30% of Croatia's territory is still Krajina which was cleansed of Serbs so techiniclly occupied territory to this day since barely any Serbs live there now and no attempts have been made to help the 500,000 move back to their homes.
But why would the Croatians want them to move back? Of course not that would defeat the point of the mission and all of NATO/US hard work in planning the operation would be gone to waste along with the Croatian national holiday of thanksgiving which celebrates the cleansing.

P.S It wasnt a military victory which would be justified in some peoples minds because Krajina was demilitarised, they were fighting farmers and old men and women.

Victor

pre 16 godina

Vuk,

The Hague is interested in the crimes committed against the Serbs in the Krajina. Gotovina and other Croat generals have been arrested and if Bobetko still alive, he will also be at the Hague to answer questions about the crimes committed there during Operation Oluja. Try to be objective, pelase.

Your figure of 500 000 Serbs living in the Krajina is completely inaccurate; not more that 200 000 were evacuated by the Serb army before the arrival of the Croats in 1995.

I find terrible that your information about your own history is so inaccurate! Where do you live?

Princip, UK

pre 16 godina

Victor

please don't insult Vuk nor I might add all the Serbs who have been ethnically cleansed and lost family from Krajina and Croatia.

"I find terrible that your information about your own history is so inaccurate! Where do you live?"

FYI Victor;
"The Serbs of Croatia are the largest national minority in that country. The total population of Serbs who originate directly from Croatia can safely be estimated at around 700,000 people. Due to various reasons, only a fraction of Croatian Serbs actually still live in their native homeland of Croatia: 201,631 according to the 2001 population census"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia#History_-_Recent

Victor,
700,000 - 200,000 = 500,000

I suggest Victor you get your facts right before commenting anymore & do some actual research instead of rantings of some anti-serb obsession!!!

Daniel

pre 16 godina

Princip, I respond to your comment if B92 lets me for once. They seem to block out much relating to comments from non-serbs here as I am yet to see a serb complain that they were blocked. but we will see if this goes through for once.

Firstly, do you not acknowledge the order by RSK to evacuate the Krajina population prior to Oluja? Remember this was in 1995.

I do like ur link though, I also found something else on the same website...I quote:
The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed).[6] Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern Slavonia (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). By that time there were 2,200 Croats killed and 140,000 became refugees.

this was 1991, Oluja was 1995. I dont remember u ever metnioning this when you mention what happened in croatia. why is that? Ill go on, the same website also says the following: "According to a local census by the RSK authorities from 1993, there were 480,000 residents: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others. In 1994, the RSK's government estimated the population at 430,000 people [14]. The apparent fall in the population may have been due to the RSK authorities' efforts to drive out the non-Serb minorities as well as the ongoing exodus of Serbs.". Croatia did not have control of Krajina at this time so ill let everyone else be the judge on the 50,000 difference prior to Oluja. Lets just say that the government of Croatia certainly did not give them an order to evacuate.


As for fighting farmers, you are right Vuk. The serbs army showed much bravery in Krajina...but only whilst they had superior tanks and other weapons etc supplied by JNA but as soon as a retaliation threatened...they ended up leaviong before the civilians.

Have fun with that B92.

Marco NL

pre 16 godina

Daniel, when I first visited the B92 website, I was struck by the number of anti-serbian comments posted on the B92 site. The posts you previously tried to publish on the B92 site therefore must have contained insulting language...

Daveo Dinkum

pre 16 godina

Thanks for your comments Daniel,

There was an order to evacuate? Thats so cowardly, why didnt those innocent Serbian people that have been living in that land their whole life stay and face whatever was coming from the advancing armies. If they didn't leave who knows what would happen to them.

Is it really evacuation, or leaving because armed forces were advancing into their towns. Is there really a difference? They had to leave for a reason, they wouldn't give up their homes and lives because they didnt want to live in Croatia anymore.

As for the RSK army, why would the common man stay and potentially get killed or captured. They all have their own families to look after. I find it very sad that some portray these men in a bad light. Nobody deserves to die just because theyre not welcome to live where they are anymore.

Serbs may not be innocent in the same regard towards others, but theyre definately victims. I plead to see humanity in general united and past events observed in an equal manner as everyone is affected here.

These people you subjectively talk about without (I assume) having experienced it first hand have families and loved ones like you and me.

Nobody deserves to die over bad politics. Free your mind, think for yourself, and most importantly love one another. Everyone can make a difference to make the world better.

svojgazda

pre 16 godina

Don't worry Victor and Daniel, this story won't get paste B92. I have not seen it on any western news services. Only Muslim and Croatian deaths are reported in the media. Serbian deaths are deemed as justified by leaders of of the Free World. I'm sure you feel the same.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - "The serbs army showed much bravery in Krajina...but only whilst they had superior tanks and other weapons etc supplied by JNA but as soon as a retaliation threatened...they ended up leaviong before the civilians. " - Pot calling kettle black. Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't the Croats rush out of Krajina when the Serbian army invaded in large numbers but were very "brave" during operation storm with 300,000 troops, backed by US air power!

FeeleyTwo

pre 16 godina

Operation Storm was conceived, planned, backed, and participated in with air power bt the USA, so I'm sure there will be little if anything in the mainstream media about it. That's called freedom of the press. Free to print stories about Muslims and Croats found in mass graves, and free not to print about Serbian victims. That's America for you, and our proud military machine.

Daniel

pre 16 godina

PB,

300,000? Firstly the operation was with 80,000 troops so obviously u have no idea about the operation at all. As for croat arny rushing out of krajina, what army exactly? at best, at the time, Croatia army consisted of hand guns and hunting rifles. and had come up with the strongest non-nuclear army at the time. Hardly enough to fend off tanks, machine guns etc.

Daveo, I think there is a slight difference between ordering an evacuation and someone physically forcing u out of your home. I dont deny serbs left in fear, but to automatically assume that they would have been killed is also wrong and i guess we can only speculate. I dont deny there were crimes committed during the operation, but it wasnt the ethnic cleansing thats usually associated with the term. Evacuation order has to be counted in and the region certainly wasnt empty by the time croat troops came in and had the croats had the intention to kill, there would have been alot more than the amount of people actually killed.

I dont deny that there were serb victims. there definately were. but it was not necessary. they were brainwashed by Milosevic and the like of the threat that only existed in their head. he fed on their fears and it worked. Serbs preach about propaganda of the west but dont realise that quiet a successful propaganda campaign was used against them by milosevic, karadzic and martic/babic.

Princip, UK

pre 16 godina

Daniel,

so you are happy to agree, utilise & go on record that in
"1993, there were 480,000 residents: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others"

- great so you agree 500,000 give or take 20,000 within 2 years were ethnicaly cleansed from Krajina in the scorched earth policy which drove all inhabitants out through the coordinated bombardment in a series of attacks on civilian populations culminating but the final attack of Storm adopted by Tudjman (who had he not dies would have been indicted) and his generals - one of whom was Ceku!

On another point what of the thousands of Serbs within Croatia proper who were forced from their homes?? At least within Krajina the Serb population for the 5 years (1990-95) had some form of sanctuary from the radical right Croat institutions of Tudjman as did clearly approx 35,000 Croatians (7% of 480,000) - clearly the Serbs were happy to have Croats amongst them!!!

Oh by the way my comments do get editted and blocked at times so be sure that this not a non-Serb censureship by B92 I would tend to think given some comments that get posted hat the bias is actually anti-Serb on the whole! But that is good gives a chance to provide intelligent responses back to the xenophobics!

Walter

pre 16 godina

I will tell you why they left and of course Victor will deny it as some invention by Walter. I visited Lika which is in Krajina. I went to a cemetery and what shocked me was that over half of the grave stones had the same date of dearth inscribed on them. These people left because they knew that Tudjman orders were to cleanse Krajina of Serbs. How this was to be accomplished mattered not to him. In Gospic many Serbs were killed before the conflict even started
According to Miroslav Bajramović a former member of the unit led by Mirko Korac from Zagreb:
"Our group executed between 90 and 100 people in less than a month there ... The order for Gospić was: "ethnically cleanse." So we killed the directors of the post office and the hospital, restaurant owners, and other assorted Serbs. The killing was done by shooting at point-blank range, since we did not have much time. I repeat, orders from above were to reduce the percentage of Serbs in Gospić." [4]

Victor

pre 16 godina

«...they were brainwashed by Milosevic .»

Very much so! It is not normal that Serb neighbours turned against their neighbours and kill them; that young men in their 20s became commanders of concentration camps; that ordinary Serbs who were living friendly with Muslims and Croats helped in the ethnic cleansing campaign and raciale purification.

Something evil happened in Serbia to change a nation behavior so dramatically!

Vuk

pre 16 godina

Victor I think I speak on behalf of the majority of people on this site when I say your comments are not welcome, serbs and other alike.
Your main intention is to spread hate.
"Something evil happened in Serbia"

Yugoslavia fell apart because it was systamticlly dismantled by western powers just as Guatamala was by the US have a read if you wish.

As far as RSK goes the difference between the Croats cleansed out of RSK (i dont deny this) and the Serbs cleansed during the storm is not merely numerical, Storm was sponsored by the government and the US RSK militias recieved no money from Belgrade and could not be justified. Croatia wanted war and they got it in RSK when nearly all were defeated.
After all guys Croatia didnt want its's southern coastline seperated from the north by a load of Serbs! HA just get rid of them!! Job Done.

Walter

pre 16 godina

Victor writes “they were brainwashed by Milosevic” but Victor does not read well. The comments above were about Croats Victor.

I have been censored by B92 not because of foul language but because they lack insight into what really goes on in the West. Regrettably B92 also needs to be cognizant that their funding comes from the West. Walter Cronkite used to end his newscast with the words “and that is the way it is” but after (note I said after) his retirement from CBS he said that it was never the way he said it since the news was manipulated to reflect the views of those who funded the program. As long as you have private news outlets, or government controlled ones the news will be manufactured. When government controls the media we know who the propaganda serves while we never know who is served by private news outlets.

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - 80,000 troops? who are you kidding.

"Daveo, I think there is a slight difference between ordering an evacuation and someone physically forcing u out of your home." So when Serbs leave before an enemy army arrives it is of their own free will, yet i have noticed that you talk of the Serbian army expelling the Kosovans. tell me how that can be when they were leafletted by the KLA and told to leave by them? So Serbs expel populations and the Croats don't, is that what you are insinuating?

"I dont deny that there were serb victims. there definately were. but it was not necessary. they were brainwashed by Milosevic and the like of the threat that only existed in their head." Was it Milosevic or a Croat militiaman who physically pulled the trigger and killed the Serbs? Working with your logic, then it is the Croat people who are responsible for the war in Croatia as it was the Croats, NOT the Serbs who rebelled in former Yugoslavia and fired the first shots in anger. Likewise the muslims in Bosnia.

The simple fact is that if the Croats weren't so nationalistic then the war in Yugoslavia would never have happened. The Croats were whipped up into a frenzy by the likes of Tudjman and when Serbs see Croat civilians on TV jumping onto JNA tanks and killing their personnel when they were trying to calm the situation what do you think the Serb population in Croatia thought was going to happen to them?

PB

pre 16 godina

Daniel - As you are so fond of backing the separatist Albanian independence campaign then i'm sure you'd allow the serbs in Krajina and slavonia to break away from Croatia.

mc

pre 16 godina

We will see if this goes through. Many of the Serbs from Krajina will not return to Croatia because they know that if they do, Croatian authorities will arrest and prosecute them and self-proclaimed 'Krajina' was built in 1991 on the mass slaughter of up to 20,000 Croats more than 4000 are still missing and the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands more. I would also note that Pulizter prize winning journalist Roy Gutman, who was in Knin at the time, has critisized the allegation that Croatia pushed Serbs to flee. There is evidence that it is estimated that at least 1,000 Serbs suspected of committing major war crimes against Croats from 1991-1995 left with the Serb evacuees. The victims were definitely not in Serbia and not in Belgrade.

Bakone Moloto EU presiding judge, said In October 1991, Croats in the villages of Hrvatska Dubica and Cerovljani were forced from their homes, beaten and used as human shields by Serbs. When they fled, Serbs moved into their homes, Judge Moloto said. On Oct. 20, 1991, Croatian Serb forces detained more than 40 villagers at a local fire station. Eleven were released or managed to escape, but the next day the remaining prisoners were taken to the banks of a nearby river and killed, Judge Moloto said. Their bodies were dumped in several graves, including a mass grave judges visited during the trial. Croatians should indeed be proud of their own liberation from such a hell. Where is your outrage?

Serbia and you can run her lies and propaganda which nobody wants to hear them anymore, as far as Kosovo, from 1989 till 1998 during the Serb apartheid we managed to run our lives and never gave up gaining independence in a peaceful way till serb army came and did what everybody knows, killing almost 10000 people, deporting a million of them, 3000 of them still missing. I liked the comments made by the ambassador of Germany to Serbia. He is telling the truth to the Serbs. Enough is enough, now they must wake up and realize what they have done against their neighbours.