Čavić: Murderers belong in prison

Čavić: Murderers belong in prison

Čavić explains that he will address the European Commission on this issue because Croatia and Bosnia are in different EU association phases. “After that, I expect the international community in Bosnia and in general to start proceedings to ensure that the perpetrators of these evident war crimes are not walking around free, but are instead put in prison where they belong”.

In the video broadcast by B92 Television (real video 32.7mb, avi 1.45mb), made on August 6, 1995 during Operation Storm in the Dvor municipality, members of the Fifth Bosnian Army Corps 505th Buzimska Brigade are seen killing a prisoner in cold blood. The Veritas center representatives believe it might be Ilija Trivanović. Janko Velimirović from the Documentation center in RS says that Trivanović is not the only victim murdered that day, since one of the perpetrators in the video, a member of a reconnaissance unit called “Hamza” is heard saying: “Kill this one too”.

“The question is what was left unrecorded. What is filmed shows a prisoner who is not resisting, with his hands above his head, and they killed him in cold blood”, Velimirović said.

The refugee convoy was shelled and bombarded from the air. According to the Croatian Helskinki Committee, near Dvor most of the civilians died in the so-called UN Sector North. The convoy was trapped for two days. Those who found themselves near the village of Rajevac met the worst fate. The “Hamza” cameras were there precisely.

Most of the survivors of the convoy near Žirovac are today in Serbia. No one has to date been brought to trial for the crimes committed in Dvor na Uni. The Croatian general Petar Stipetić, at the time responsible for the area, was interviewed by the Hague tribunal representatives on several occasions but was never indicted. The same goes for the Bosnian army members.

Filip Švarm, Vreme weekly editor, believes there is a parallel between the crimes committed and filmed in Jahorina, and the ones the Serbian public had an opportunity to see last night. “We have seen savage, cold-blooded murder of prisoners of war, refugees, and unarmed people. This speaks about the bestial nature of wars lead in the former Yugoslavia and that there is no difference at all between various formations on all sides”.

Švarm said that these videos show that Operation Storm was not purely a military and a police action, but a planned ethnic cleansing. Those who did not believe it were convinced last night: Croatia had two goals: to fight the Serbs in Krajina and their army and to ethnically cleanse the area, Švarm concludes.

The video, a part of the Hague tribunal evidence, takes place on August 7 and 8, 1995: real video 32.7mb, avi 1.45mb.

More on yesterday's marking of Operation Storm here.

Dudaković surprised…

Atif Dudaković, war time commander of the Fifth Bosnian Army Corps claims he has no knowledge of the video footage in question. He commanded the units that at the time of Operation Storm crossed into Croatia toward Plitvice and Korenica. Dudaković is unaware what the units under his command did in the north of the so-called Bihać pocket. He stresses he never received reports of war crimes. “Of course I’m surprised. When I heard about it I talked to my inferiors. Naturally, those recognized in the footage will have to answer for their actions, all I can say is that no one ever got an order to act contrary to the Geneva Convention.”