THE
PROSECUTOR OF THE TRIBUNAL AGAINST
MILE MRKSIC, MIROSLAV RADIC, AND VESELIN SLJIVANCANIN
INDICTMENT
Richard J. Goldstone,
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
pursuant to his authority under Article 18 of the Statute of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Tribunal Statute), alleges:
1. This indictment
charges persons responsible for the mass killing at Ovcara, near Vukovar, Croatia,
of approximately 260 captive non-Serb men who had been removed from Vukovar
Hospital on 20 November 1991.
2. The city of
Vukovar is located in the Eastern Slavonian region of Croatia on the banks of
the Danube River, which there marks the border between the Republic of Serbia
and the Republic of Croatia. In the 1991 census, the population of the Vukovar
municipality, which included the city and surrounding villages, was 84,189
of which 36,910 were Croat (43.8 %), 31,445 Serb (37.4 %), 1,375 Hungarian (1.6
%), 6,124 Yugoslav (7.3 %), and 8,335 others (9.9 %).
3. After a 19 May
1991 referendum in the Republic of Croatia regarding Croatia's future in the
Yugoslav federation, Croatia declared its independence on 25 June 1991. At the
urging of the European Community, the effective date of independence was postponed
until 8 October 1991.
4. Soon after the
25 June 1991 declaration of independence, Serbs living in Croatia intensified
the armed insurrection they had begun several months earlier, which the Croatian
authorities attempted to suppress. The federal Yugoslav Peoples Army (JNA) intervened
in support of the Serb insurgents.
5. After attacking
some of the surrounding villages that were inhabited mostly by non-Serbs, by
late August 1991, the JNA had surrounded the city of Vukovar and was laying
siege to it. In conjunction with the siege, the JNA engaged in a sustained artillery
assault on the city, killing hundreds of persons and destroying most of the
buildings in the city. The JNA and Serb paramilitary forces also launched infantry
and armoured attacks that ultimately led to the fall of Vukovar on 18 November
1991. The JNA and Serb paramilitary forces then occupied what remained of the
city.
6. The JNA unit
with primary responsibility for the attack and subsequent occupation of Vukovar
was the Belgrade-based Guards Brigade, commanded by Colonel Mile MRKSIC. Subordinate
to Colonel MRKSIC was Major Veselin SLJIVANCANIN, who had direct operational
command of JNA forces in the immediate area of the city. Major SLJIVANCANIN
was the security officer for the Guards Brigade, and he also commanded a military
police battalion which was part of the brigade. Another part of the brigade
that took an active role in the siege and occupation of the city was the special
infantry unit commanded by Captain Miroslav RADIC, a close associate of Major
SLJIVANCANIN.
7. In the last
days of the siege, several hundred people sought refuge at Vukovar Hospital,
which was near the city centre, in the belief that it would be evacuated
in the presence of neutral international observers. This evacuation had been
agreed upon in Zagreb in negotiations between the JNA and the Croatian government
on 18 November 1991. In addition to the sick and wounded, civilians, families
of hospital staff, and soldiers who had been defending the city, some posing
as patients or hospital staff, gathered on the hospital grounds.
8. On the afternoon
of 19 November 1991, JNA units arrived at Vukovar Hospital and took control
of it. Those inside offered no resistance. Early the following morning, Major
SLJIVANCANIN ordered the nurses and doctors to assemble for a meeting.
While the medical staff was attending this meeting, JNA and Serb
paramilitary soldiers hurriedly removed about 400 men from the hospital.
Among those removed in this way were wounded patients, hospital
staff, soldiers who had been defending the city, Croatian political
activists, and other civilians. By the time the medical staff
meeting with Major SLJIVANCANIN concluded, the soldiers had removed almost all
of the men who were at the hospital.
9. The soldiers
loaded about 300 of these men onto buses and held them on the buses under
JNA guard. Later that morning, the buses left the hospital compound and proceeded
through the centre of Vukovar to the JNA barracks on the south side of the city.
The men were kept inside the buses at the barracks for about two hours. During
that time, on orders from Major SLJIVANCANIN, about 15 of the
men were removed from the buses, apparently because the men were part
of the hospital staff or were related to staff members.
10. The remaining
men were then driven to a building at the Ovcara farm, about four kilometres
southeast of Vukovar. There JNA and Serb paramilitary soldiers took the
men from the buses and forced them to run between two lines of soldiers, who
beat the men as they passed. Inside the farm building, the soldiers continued
to beat the men for several hours. At least two men died from the beatings.
About seven of the men were released after Serbs who were present intervened
on their behalf. These men were driven back to Vukovar.
11. The remaining
men were held in the building at Ovcara. The Serb authorities listed identifying
information about each man and then divided the men into groups of ten to twenty.
The soldiers loaded each group in turn into a truck which left the farm building
with the group and then returned empty a short while later.
12. The truck travelled
south from the Ovcara farm building on the road leading to Grabovo. Approximately
one and one-tenth kilometres southeast of the building, the truck turned left
and then travelled northeast on a dirt field road which ran between a cultivated
field on the left and a wooded ravine on the right. At the head of the ravine,
approximately 900 metres from the Ovcara-Grabovo road, the soldiers removed
the men from the truck.
13. At this spot,
JNA and Serb paramilitary troops under the command and supervision of Colonel
Mile MRKSIC, Captain Miroslav RADIC and Major Veselin SLJIVANCANIN were assembled
on the north side of the site. During the evening hours of 20 November 1991,
these soldiers, firing in a southerly direction, shot and killed about 260 men.
After the killings, the bodies of the victims were buried by a bulldozer in
a mass grave at the same location.
14. Of the 300
men taken from Vukovar Hospital on the morning of 20 November 1991, 261 remain
missing. All of these men were alive after the end of hostilities in Vukovar,
and all of these men were taken under JNA guard first to the JNA barracks and
then to the Ovcara farm. They have not been seen alive since that time. The
names of these men, with their fathers' names in parenthesis, and their dates
of birth are as follows:
Adzaga, Jozo (Ilija) 21.05.49
Andrijanic, Vinko (Marko) 09.02.53
Anic-Antic, Jadranko (Ante) 19.04.59
Arnold, Kresimir (Alojz) 18.04.58
Asadanin, Ilija (Jovan) 01.01.50
Babic, Drazen (Josip) 01.10.66
Bainrauch, Ivan (Stjepan) 21.06.56
Bajnrauh, Tomislav (Franjo) 13.12.38
Baketa, Goran (Stojan) 28.06.60
Balas, Stjepan (Andrija) 01.05.56
Balaz, Vesna (Jozo) 06.09.55
Balog, Dragutin (Josip) 19.06.74
Balog, Josip (Dragutin) 25.11.28
Balog, Zvonko (Ivan) 10.01.58
Balvanac, Duro (Andrija) 17.07.52
Banozic, Boris (Drago) 02.02.67
Baranjaji, Pero (Ratko) 19.06.68
Barbaric, Branko (Jozo) 01.11.67
Barbir, Lovro (Ivan) 01.11.35
Baricevic, Zeljko (Stjepan) 17.08.65
Barisic, Franjo (Andrija) 28.05.46
Barta, Andelko (Ivan) 31.01.67
Batarelo, Josip (Danijel) 12.03.47
Batarelo, Zeljko (Ante) 25.10.55
Baumgertner, Tomislav (Tomislav) 27.11.73
Begcevic, Marko (Ivo) 01.04.68
Begov, Zeljko (Mato) 30.09.58
Bingula, Stjepan (Stjepan) 15.10.58
Bjelanovic, Ringo (Nikola) 24.11.70
Blaskovic, Miroslav (Mijo) 06.04.59
Blazevic, Zlatko (Zdenko) 24.02.64
Bodrozic, Ante (Marijan) 07.06.53
Bosak, Marko (Juraj) 02.07.67
Bosanac, Dragutin (Lavoslav) 21.08.19
Bosanac, Tomislav (Antun) 05.03.41
Bosnjakov, Josip (Ilija) 05.09.60
Bozak, Ivan (Franjo) 28.08.58
Bracic, Zvonimir (Ivan) 04.07.70
Bradaric, Josip (Sime) 02.03.49
Brajdic, Josip (Pavo) 16.03.50
Buovac, Ivan (Ilija) 03.09.66
Buzic, Zvonko (Stjepan) 27.08.55
Crnjac, Ivan (Slavko) 18.05.66
Caleta, Zvonimir (Nikola) 24.02.53
Colak, Ivica (Blago) 26.09.65
Cupic, Mladen (Marko) 19.05.67
Dalic, Tihomir (Zvonko) 02.11.66
Dolisni, Ivica (Petar) 27.11.60
Dosen, Ivan (Ivan) 04.01.58
Dosen, Martin (Ivan) 19.02.52
Dosen, Tadija (Ivan) 09.10.50
Dragun, Josip (Srecko) 09.09.62
Duvnjak, Stanko (Vladimir) 23.05.59
Dudar, Sasa (Duro) 05.03.68
Dukic, Perica 23.09.53
Dukic, Vladimir (Ivan) 21.02.48
Ebner, Vinko-Duro (Vinko) 07.04.61
Edelinski, Goran (Vladimir) 29.07.75
Firi, Ivan (Duro Kulik) 01.06.15
Fitus, Karlo (Istvan) 28.09.64
Friscic, Dragutin (Matija) 02.11.58
Furundzija, Petar (Danko) 30.11.49
Gajda, Robert (Mihajlo) 27.12.66
Galic, Milenko (Mate) 10.12.65
Galic, Vedran (Ivan) 29.05.73
Garvanovic, Borislav (Ivan) 23.11.54
Gaspar, Zorislav (Dragutin) 14.03.71
Gavric, Dragan (Pavo) 31.10.56
Glavasevic, Sinisa (Petar) 04.11.60
Gojani, Jozo (Ivo) 01.01.66
Golac, Krunoslav (Veljko) 06.07.59
Graf, Branislav (Vladimir) 07.09.55
Granic, Dragan (Mile) 01.01.60
Grejza, Milan (Mato) 27.06.59
Gruber, Zoran (Ilija) 05.09.69
Gudelj, Drago (Ivan) 09.09.40
Gudelj, Zdravko (Marijan) 31.01.59
Hegedus, Tomislav (Franjo) 02.11.53
Hegedusic, Mario (Dragutin) 29.06.72
Herceg, Zeljko (Slavko) 20.01.62
Herman, Ivan (Dragutin) 14.05.69
Herman, Stjepan (Antun) 10.03.55
Hincak, Zvonimir (Duro) 08.09.55
Hlevnjak, Nedeljko (Andelko) 08.01.64
Holjevac, Nikica (Ivan) 10.04.55
Horvat, Ivica (Josip) 27.11.58
Horvat, Viktor (Simun) 27.08.49
Husnjak, Nedjeljko (Juraj) 30.06.69
Iles, Zvonko (Ivan) 12.12.41
Imbrisic, Ivica (Pavle) 13.02.58
Ivan, Zlatko (Eugen) 25.12.55
Ivezic, Aleksander (Ivan) 05.12.50
Jajalo, Marko (Ivan) 28.10.57
Jakubovski, Martin (Ivan) 01.04.71
Jalsovec, Ljubomir (Antun) 02.11.57
Jambor, Tomo (Dragutin) 03.03.66
Janic, Mihael (Antun) 09.10.39
Janjic, Borislav (Ivan) 08.09.56
Jantol, Boris (Duro) 21.09.59
Jarabek, Zlatko (Kamilo) 21.04.56
Jezidzic, Ivica (Stipo) 05.11.57
Jovan, Zvonimir (Vlatko) 07.04.67
Jovanovic, Branko (Todor) 04.02.55
Jovanovic, Oliver (Duro) 08.12.72
Jularic, Goran (Andrija) 15.02.71
Jurela, Damir (Tomislav) 25.04.69
Jurela, Zeljko (Bozo) 30.06.56
Jurendic, Drago (Juro) 23.04.66
Jurisic, Marko (Franjo) 17.08.46
Jurisic, Pavao (Pavo) 28.08.66
Jurisic, Zeljko (Rude) 20.12.63
Kacic, Igor (Petar) 23.08.75
Kapustic, Josip (Josip) 08.12.65
Kelava, Kresimir (Antun) 17.01.53
Kiralj, Damir (Josip) 10.03.64
Kiralj, Damir (Julije) 17.07.59
Kitic, Goran (Mitar) 23.02.66
Knezic, Duro (Franjo) 02.04.37
Kolak, Tomislav (Dobroslav) 22.07.62
Kolak, Vladimir (Dobroslav) 20.01.66
Kologranic, Dusko (Josip) 23.10.50
Komorski, Ivan (Pero) 23.06.52
Kostenac, Bono (Andrija) 15.02.42
Kostovic, Borislav (Ante) 24.12.62
Kosir, Bozidar (Mirko) 28.09.57
Kovac, Ivan (Mate) 18.06.53
Kovac, Mladen (Branko) 20.08.58
Kovacevic, Zoran (Zlata) 16.04.62
Kovacic, Damir (Tomo) 14.07.70
Kozul, Josip (Frano) 08.03.68
Krajinovic, Ivan (Luka) 14.10.66
Krajinovic, Zlatko (Ante) 04.12.69
Krasic, Ivan (Petar) 18.06.64
Krezo, Ivica (Hrvoje) 10.09.63
Kristicevic, Kazimir (Branko) 13.06.59
Krizan, Drago (Jozo) 05.11.57
Krunes, Branimir (Mate) 28.02.66
Lendel, Tomislav (Franjo) 06.08.57
Lendel, Zlatko (Franjo) 18.00.49
Lerotic, Zvonimir (Filip) 13.09.60
Lesic, Tomislav (Branko) 10.05.50
Let, Mihajlo (Duro) 25.04.56
Lili, Dragutin (Dragutin) 26.01.51
Ljubas, Hrvoje (Luka) 26.01.71
Loncar, Tihomir (Dorde) 28.03.55
Lovric, Joko (Ivo) 06.11.68
Lovric, Jozo (Lovro) 15.07.53
Lucic, Marko (Mijo) 08.09.54
Lukenda, Branko (Ivan) 14.04.61
Lukic, Mato (Marko) 02.03.63
Magdic, Mile (Ivan) 25.03.53
Magoc, Predrag (Mihael) 18.12.65
Majic, Robert (Tvrtko) 23.02.71
Major, Zeljko (Stjepan) 14.12.60
Mandic, Marko (Antun) 26.07.53
Maricic, Zdenko (Marko) 27.09.56
Marijanovic, Martin (Marko) 17.08.59
Mazar, Ivan (Antun) 20.11.34
Medesi, Andrija (Janko) 16.10.36
Medesi, Zoran (Andrija) 09.09.40
Meric, Ohran (Muhamed) 10.07.56
Mihovic, Tomislav (Gaspar) 23.06.52
Mikletic, Josip (Stjepan) 26.02.52
Mikulic, Zdravko (Slavko) 15.03.61
Mikulic, Zvonko (Slavko) 11.05.69
Milic, Slavko (Mijo) 17.04.55
Miljak, Zvonimir (Ivan) 10.05.50
Misic, Ivan (Marko) 22.12.68
Mlinaric, Mile (Pavo) 05.12.66
Mokos, Andrija (Stevan) 16.11.55
Molnar, Aleksandar (Stjepan) 08.04.65
Mutvar, Antun (Antun) 30.01.69
Nad, Darko (Vladimir) 27.02.65
Nad, Franjo (Franjo) 17.08.35
Nejasmic, Ivan (Milan) 19.10.58
Nicollier, Jean Michael 01.07.66
Omerovic, Mersad (Jusuf) 01.01.70
Oreski, Ivan (Dragutin) 12.04.50
Papp, Tomislav (Andrija) 01.01.63
Pataric, Zeljko (Nikola) 16.07.59
Pavlic, Slobodan (Adam) 24.09.65
Pavlovic, Zlatko (Duro) 19.11.63
Perak, Mato (Ante) 28.11.61
Perko, Aleksandar (Branko) 17.03.67
Perkovic, Damir (Josip) 28.10.65
Perkovic, Josip (Jure) 24.03.63
Petrovic, Stjepan (Stanko) 26.10.49
Pinter, Nikola (Nikola) 04.10.40
Plavsic, Ivan (Mato) 24.03.39
Podhorski, Janja (Stjepan) 17.11.31
Polhert, Damir (Ivan) 22.11.62
Polovina, Branimir (Vojin) 22.06.50
Posavec, Stanko (Gustav) 09.04.52
Pravdic, Tomo (Pero) 11.01.34
Prpic, Tomislav (Milan) 03.04.59
Pucar, Dmitar (Nikola) 18.01.49
Raguz, Ivan (Antun) 22.04.55
Rasic, Milan (Franjo) 16.04.54
Ratkovic, Kresimir (Milan) 04.03.68
Razic, Josip 17.11.69
Ribicic, Marko (Ivan) 11.11.51
Rimac, Salvador (Slavko) 06.11.60
Rohacek, Karlo (Antun) 21.10.42
Rohacek, Zeljko (Karlo) 16.05.71
Saiti, Ceman (Azem) 17.09.60
Samardzic, Damjan (Marko) 23.07.46
Savanovic, Tihomir (Dragoslav) 17.07.64
Sencic, Ivan (Martin) 21.02.64
Sotinac, Stipan (Jozo) 25.11.39
Spudic, Pavao (Ivan) 17.07.65
Stanic, Marko (Mato) 02.08.58
Stanic, Zeljko (Niko) 23.06.68
Stefanko, Petar (Vasilije) 05.05.42
Stojanovic, Ivan (Zivko) 19.03.49
Stubicar, Ljubomir (Vladimir) 12.07.54
Sajtovic, Davor (Martin) 13.11.61
Sajtovic, Martin (Adam) 14.04.28
Sarik, Stjepan (Stefan) 02.04.55
Saskin, Sead (Hasan) 22.03.60
Sindilj, Vjekoslav (Vladimir) 01.11.71
Srenk, Duro (Gabrijel) 21.04.43
Stefulj, Drazen (Juraj) 01.01.63
Tabacek, Antun (Josip) 05.06.58
Tadic, Tadija (Jozo) 26.08.59
Tarle, Dujo (Jozo) 06.05.50
Terek, Antun (Bozidar) 06.10.40
Tisljaric, Darko (Tomo) 01.06.71
Tivanovac, Ivica (Pavo) 22.02.63
Tomasic, Tihomir (Albin) 04.07.63
Tordinac, Zeljko (Ivan) 14.12.61
Tot, Tomislav (Eugen) 06.06.67
Traljic, Tihomir (Petar) 17.07.67
Turk, Miroslav (Antun) 12.04.50
Turk, Petar (Petar) 30.06.47
Tustonjic, Dane (Jozo) 10.10.59
Tuskan, Drazen (Dragutin) 26.10.66
Usak, Branko (Martin) 17.07.58
Vagenhofer, Mirko (Josip) 03.06.37
Varenica, Zvonko (Franjo) 19.05.57
Veber, Sinisa (Vladimir) 22.02.69
Vidos, Goran (Mato) 04.10.60
Vilenica, Zarko (Jovo) 19.06.69
Virges, Antun (Antun) 09.06.53
Vlaho, Mate (Drago) 03.02.59
Vlaho, Miroslav (Marko) 30.12.67
Voloder, Zlatan (Ljubo) 23.11.60
Von Basingger, Harllan (Dusan) 25.08.71
Vujevic, Zlatko (Antun) 28.10.51
Vukojevic, Slaven (Josip) 23.06.70
Vukovic, Rudolf (Rudolf) 18.11.61
Vukovic, Vladimir (Zlatko) 25.11.57
Vukovic, Zdravko (Nikola) 07.09.67
Vulic, Ivan (Ante) 18.07.46
Vulic, Vid (Vid) 01.09.41
Vulic, Zvonko (Ivan) 07.06.71
Zera, Mihajlo (Vasilj) 07.08.55
Zeljko, Josip (Danko) 14.03.53
Zeravica, Dominik (Stjepan) 11.11.59
Zivkovic, Damir (Josip) 17.11.70
Zivkovic, Goran (Pavao) 20.12.60
Zugec, Borislav
(Mato) 21.11.63
THE ACCUSED
15. Mile MRKSIC,
born on 20 July 1947 near Vrginmost, Croatia, was a colonel in the JNA and was
commander of the Guards Brigade which had primary responsibility for the attack
on Vukovar. After the siege of Vukovar, he was promoted to general rank with
the Yugoslav Army (JA) and later became the commanding officer of the Army of
the "Republic of Serb Krajina."
16. Miroslav
RADIC, approximately 35 years of age, was a captain in the JNA. He commanded
a special infantry unit which was a component of the Guards Brigade from Belgrade.
17. Veselin
SLJIVANCANIN, born in 1953 near Zabljak, Montenegro, was a major in the
JNA in command of a military police battalion and also served as the security
officer for the Guards Brigade. He was the operational commander for the JNA
in the latter stages of the siege of Vukovar. Afterward, he was promoted to
the rank of colonel and is now in command of a JA brigade in Podgorica, Montenegro.
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
18. Unless otherwise
set forth below, all acts and omissions alleged in this indictment took place
during November 1991 in Vukovar municipality in the Republic of Croatia in the
territory of the former Yugoslavia.
19. At all times
relevant to this indictment, a state of international armed conflict
existed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
20. At all times
relevant to this indictment, all persons described in this indictment as victims
were protected by the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
21. At all times
relevant to this indictment, all of the accused in this indictment were required
to abide by the laws and customs governing the conduct of war, including the
Geneva Conventions of 1949.
22. All acts and
omissions charged as crimes against humanity were part of a widespread, systematic
or large-scale attack against the non-Serb residents of the municipality of
Vukovar.
23. Each of the
accused is individually responsible for the crimes alleged against him in this
indictment pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Tribunal Statute. Individual criminal
responsibility includes committing, planning, instigating, ordering or otherwise
aiding and abetting in the planning, preparation or execution of any crimes
referred to in Articles 2 to 5 of the Tribunal Statute.
24. Each of the
accused is also or alternatively criminally responsible as a commander for the
acts of his subordinates pursuant to Article 7(3) of the Tribunal Statute. Command
criminal responsibility is the responsibility of a superior officer for the
acts of his subordinate if he knew or had reason to know that his subordinate
was about to commit such acts or had done so and the superior failed to take
the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or to punish the
perpetrators thereof.
25. The general
allegations contained in paragraphs 18 through 24 are realleged and incorporated
into each of the charges set forth below.
CHARGES
26. On about 20
November 1991, JNA and Serb paramilitary soldiers under the command or supervision
of Mile MRKSIC, Miroslav RADIC and Veselin SLJIVANCANIN removed
approximately 260 men from Vukovar Hospital and then transported them to a farm
building in Ovcara, where they beat the men for several hours. Afterward, soldiers
under the command or supervision of Mile MRKSIC, Miroslav RADIC and
Veselin SLJIVANCANIN transported the men in groups of 10-20 to a site between
the Ovcara farm and Grabovo, where they shot and killed them. By their acts
and omissions Mile MRKSIC, Miroslav RADIC and Veselin SLJIVANCANIN,
are criminally responsible for:
Beatings:
Count 1:
GRAVE BREACHES of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 recognised by Article
2(c) (wilfully causing great suffering) of the Tribunal Statute;
Count 2: VIOLATIONS
OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR recognised by Article 3 (cruel treatment)
of the Tribunal Statute;
Count 3: CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY recognised by Article 5(i) (inhumane acts) of the Tribunal
Statute.
Killings:
Count 4: GRAVE
BREACHES of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 recognised by Article 2(a) (wilful
killing) of the Tribunal Statute;
Count 5: VIOLATIONS
OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR recognised by Article 3 (murder) of the Tribunal
Statute;
Count 6: CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY recognised by Article 5(a) (murder) of the Tribunal Statute.
________________________
Richard J. Goldstone
Prosecutor
26 October 1995
The Hague,
The Netherlands