Croatian Troops Allegedly Shelled Civilians

A Serb woman told a Zagreb court this week how Croatian soldiers shelled a column of fleeing civilians, narrowly missing her and killing her neighbour.



She said she lay hidden in a wood for two days after the soldiers attacked, and heard screams and heavy gunfire coming from the direction of her village.



She was speaking at the war crimes trial of Croatian Generals Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi who are accused of commanding the “Medak Pocket” operation against Serb rebels in 1993.



The woman, identified only as witness 12, gave her evidence via video link in closed session. She said the only body she had seen was her neighbour, Milka Bjelovic, but that her relatives had seen more.



“My sisters and husband went to Korenica when the dead bodies arrived. They told me that Croatian soldiers had captured 12 civilians who were massacred so badly they were unrecognisable,” she said, according to a transcript of her testimony read out by Judge Marin Mrcela.



According to the original indictment, at least 29 Serb civilians were killed and dozens more wounded in the operation, which sought to regain control of a part of Croatia that had been held by Serb rebels since 1991.



Many of the victims were women or elderly, and witness 12 said there were no Serbian soldiers in her village.



“Some civilians had hunting rifles and others… well I don’t know what kind they had,” she was quoted as saying.



Earlier this week, the trial also heard from United Nations Officer Joseph Holland, whose investigations into war crimes in Croatia in 1993 helped provide the impetus for the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY.



After Croatian troops took the Medak Pocket, where Serbia had based artillery positions for two years, it came under strong international pressure to withdraw. Eventually, they agreed to hand over control to the UN troops.



Holland said he had investigated around 70 bodies from the Medak Pocket but did not see enough evidence to decide that they had been systematically murdered.



“That is why I can’t conclude that there was command responsibility over those who committed it,” he said.



However, he did say that the Croatian troops deliberately destroyed 164 buildings. Explosives, he said, had been placed inside them “which is not possible during military operations”.



“Animals were taken away or killed and wells were poisoned with oil or animals’ bodies. Graffiti on a few houses mentioned the names of some formations and referred to ethnic cleansing,” said Holland, who produced 107 photographs of the killing and destruction.



Before his testimony, the court was read the contents of a statement from Thomas James Calvin, who commanded a Canadian battalion that was part of the UN troop contingent.



He said the Croatian soldiers had been reluctant to withdraw, since they wanted more time to destroy Serb-owned property. He accused General Ademi, as temporary commander, of being aware of this ethnic cleansing because “soldiers wouldn’t be able to conduct this scale of destruction on their own for which would have to be organised logistical support”.



Four other witnesses testified this week in closed session by video link from Belgrade. They were identified as Djuro Dimitrovic, Milka Radakovic, Bozidar Matic and witness number 33.



A last witness testified by video from Canada, and Judge Mrcela said his statement would be publicly read and accepted into the record.



The trial will resume on March 27.



Goran Jungvirth is an IWPR-trained journalist in Zagreb.