Uncovering the Truth: The Lake Perućac Exhumations in Eastern Bosnia

Abstract

The aggression and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from 1992 to 1995 left an estimated 30,000 missing persons mainly Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). These victims consisted of mostly male civilians, but also a significant number of women, elderly and children. Remains of victims are being uncovered in mass graves by expert teams since 1996. The mass graves included various sites spread across the territory that became known as Republika Srpska after the war ended. In many cases ravines, rivers and lakebeds were used as mass graves where the bodies were dumped and hidden. This article describes the largest operation to uncover human remains of victims in BiH and beyond, which took place in 2010, and was undertaken by the Missing Persons Institute of BiH on the dried up surface of the Perućac Lake on the Drina River in Eastern Bosnia. This article aims to record the important aspects of the operation and the personal stories of the victims found.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Richard Newell and Hariz Halilovich for their suggestions and insights in writing this article.

Notes

1. Noel Malcom, Bosnia: A Short History, London: Macmillian, 1994, pp. 230–231.

2. Marko Attila Hoare, How Bosnia Armed, London: Saqi, 2004, p. 70.

3. Hariz Halilovich, Places of Pain: Forced Displacement, Popular Memory and Trans-Local Identities in Bosnian War-Torn Communities, New York: Berghahn, 2013, p. 21.

4. Rachel Irwin and Edina Bećirević, “Visegrad in Denial Over Grisly Past”, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 29 February 2009, https://iwpr.net/global-voices/visegrad-denial-over-grisly-past (accessed 30 September 2015).

5. Ed Vulliamy, “The Warlord of Visegrad”, The Guardian, 11 August 2005, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/11/warcrimes.features11 (accessed 1 December 2015).

6. Robert Donia, Radovan Karadžić: Architect of the Bosnian Genocide, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, p. 45.

7. Edina Bećirević, Genocide on the River Drina, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.

8. See Halilovich, Places of Pain, op. cit., and Mustafa Sućeska, Na Drini krvava ćuprija, Sarajevo: DES, 2001.

9. Hikmet Karčić, “Blueprint for Genocide: The Destruction of Muslims in Eastern Bosnia”, Open Democracy, 11 May 2015, https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/hikmet-karcic/blueprint-for-genocide-destruction-of-muslims-in-eastern-bosnia (accessed 10 December 2015).

10. Krajisnik Trial Transcript, ICTY, 13 May 2006, http://www.icty.org/x/cases/krajisnik/trans/en/060516ED.htm (accessed 1 December 2015).

11. The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadzic, Prosecution’s submission pursuant to rule 65 ter (e)(i)–(iii), http://www.icty.org/x/cases/karadzic/custom3/en/090518.pdf.

12. Lukić Trial Transcript, ICTY, 17 September 2008, http://www.icty.org/x/cases/milan_lukic_sredoje_lukic/trans/en/080917ED.htm (accessed 14 December 2015).

13. “Amnesty International, Bosnia-Herzegovina: The ‘Disappeared’ Himzo Demir head-teacher: ‘disappeared’ from Višegrad”, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/EUR63/016/2001/en/, 3 December 2001 (accessed 23 November 2015).

14. See: Court of B&H, Boban Šimšić (X-KRŽ-05/04), http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/Docs/NLP/BiH/Simsic_first_instance_judgement%20_11-7-2006.pdfand ICTY, Milan and Sredoje Lukić (IT-98-32/1-T), http://www.icty.org/x/cases/milan_lukic_sredoje_lukic/tjug/en/090720_j.pdf (accessed 10 November 2015).

15. Dr Safet Zejnilović was apparently taken with several other prominent Bosniak men to Rogatica where they were tortured and then murdered. The fate of these men are still unknown and their remains are missing. For more see: Mustafa Sućeska, Krvavi ćuprija na Drini [“Bloody Bridge on the Drina”], Sarajevo: DES, 2001, and Mehmed Bradarić, Grihota je ubijanje tvica [“It Is Sinful to Kill Birds”], Tuzla: Bosanska riječ, 2004.

16. Branislav Matić, “Komadant bez dozvole za nošenje oružija” [“Commander Without License to Carry Arms”], Duga, November 1992, pp. 74–78.

17. ICTY, Milan and Sredoje Lukić, Trial Judgement, p. 30.

18. Ibid., p. 151.

19. Justice Report, “Lelek: Ubistva na Višegradskom mostu”, BIRN, 18 June 2007, http://www.justice-report.com/bh/sadr%C5%BEaj-%C4%8Dlanci/lelek-ubistva-na-vi%C5%A1egradskom-mostu (accessed 10 December 2015).

20. Chris Hedges, “From One Serbian Militia Chief, a Trail of Plunder and Slaughter”, New York Times, 25 March 1996, http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/25/world/from-one-serbian-militia-chief-a-trail-of-plunder-and-slaughter.html?pagewanted=all (accessed 23 November 2015).

21. There is evidence that some Russian volunteers took part in sexual abuses of Bosniak girls and women at Vilina Vlas spa motel. See “Commander Strelkov’s Bosnian Connection”, Open Democracy, 14 August 2014, https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/srdja-pavlovic/commander-strelkov%E2%80%99s-bosnian-connection (accessed 24 November 2015).

22. A.H., “Drina najveća masovna grobnica na Balkanu” [“Drina Is the Largest Mass Grave in the Balkans”], Oslobođenje, 24 July 2010, p. 5.

23. Fena/Reuters/S. Tanović, “Potom ih je Drina nosila nizvodno  … ”, Deutsche Welle, 10 August 2010 [“Then the Drina took them Downstream”], http://www.dw.de/potom-ih-je-drina-nosila-nizvodno/a-5887759 (accessed 30 September 2015).

24. Rotex is a textile firm located in Rogatice, a town near Višegrad.

25. Missing Persons Institute Press Release entitled “Otkriven djelić tajni rijeke Drine u jezeru Perućac” [“Small Part of the Truth of Drina River in Lake Perućac Uncovered”], published on 9 February 2012. The press release can be found on Visegrad Genocide Memories blog, https://genocideinvisegrad.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/otkriven-djelic-tajni-rijeke-drine-u-jezeru-perucac/ (accessed 30 September 2015).

26. After the fall of UN safe areas Srebrenica and Žepa in July 1995, many Bosniak men decided to head for safe territory either held by Bosnian Army or into Serbia proper. Many who surrendered to Serbian police and Army where sent to detention camps Šljivovica and Mitrovo Polje where they were subjected to investigation, torture and mistreatment. Smaller groups of Bosniaks from Žepa and Srebrenica who crossed over to Serbia were handed over to Republika Srpska authorities and they have been missing ever since.

27. Kinez (‘The Chinese’) is apparently surnamed Ristić and lives in Đurevići village in Višegrad. A former Serb soldier Radojica Ristić from Đurevići was arrested in December 2014 by state law enforcement officials for allegedly taking part in the Štrpci kidnapping in 1992. It is not known if the same person is in question.

28. Avdo Huseinović, “Sa bismillom ulazite u Drinu, to vam je, djeco, najveći mezar na svijetu” [“Say Bismillah Before Entering the Drina, Children, It Is the Biggest Grave on Earth”], Dnevni avaz, 25 February 2012, p. 6.

29. Milan and Sredoje Lukić case, Transcript of 8 November 2008, ICTY website, http://www.icty.org/x/cases/milan_lukic_sredoje_lukic/trans/en/081103ED.htm.

30. Izet Husović’s forced confessions have been cited by the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević defense team during his trial in front of the ICTY. See: Committee for Collecting Data on Crimes Committed against Humanity and International Law Belgrade 362/96, http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/documents/reports/8-a.htm (accessed 23 July 2013).

31. Missing Persons Institute Press Release.

32. For more on demographic changes in Višegrad see: Changes in the Ethnic Composition in the Municipality of Višegrad Between 1991 and 1997, Expert Report for the Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić Case (IT-98-32/1), Ewa Tabeau, Demographic Unit, Office of the Prosecutor, ICTY, 1 September 2008, ICTY website, http://www.icty.org/x/file/About/OTP/War_Demographics/en/lukic_et%20al_visegrad_080901.pdf (accessed 15 September 2015).

33. Muharem Omerdić, Imami šehidi [Imams Shahids], Sarajevo: Udruženje ilmije BiH, 2005, p. 57.

34. This information was given to me by Zijad’s comrades and family members.

35. Court of B&H, Željko Lelek, Appeals Verdict, p. 17.

36. Milan and Sredoje Lukić, ICTY Judgement, Case No. IT-98-32/1-T, p. 101, ICTY website, http://www.icty.org/x/cases/milan_lukic_sredoje_lukic/tjug/en/090720_j.pdf (accessed 30 July 2013).

37. Svjetlana Tadić, “Tajna jezera Perućac”, Glas Srpske, 14 September 2010, http://www.glassrpske.com/komentar/komentar_dana/Tajne-jezera-Perucac/lat/590.html (accessed 1 August 2013).

38. Ž. Dobrić and G. Maunaga, “Djeca iskopavaju leševe ubijenih sa dna jezera Perućac” [‘Children Digging Bodies from the Bottom of Lake Perućac”], Glas Srpske, 16 September 2010, http://www.glassrpske.com/novosti/vijesti_dana/I-djeca-iskopavaju-leseve-ubijenih/lat/45706.html (accessed 1 August 2013).

39. King Fahd’s mosque is a Saudi-government built mosque in Sarajevo where some Salafi-oriented Muslims gather.

40. “Mašović angažovao vehabije na ekshumaciji žrtava” [“Mašović hired Wahabbis to Exume Victims”], Glas Srpske, 19 August 2010, http://www.glassrpske.com/novosti/vijesti_dana/Masovic-angazovao-vehabije/lat/44335.html (accessed 1 August 2013).

41. Slavko Heleta, “Drina krije istinu” [“Drina Hides the Truth”], Fokus, 9 August 2011.

42. Ibid.

43. Zoran Tmušić, “U jezeru i kosti Srba” [“Bones of Serbs also in the Lake”], Vesti, 11 August 2011, http://www.vesti-online.com/Vesti/Srbija/156768/U-jezeru-i-kosti-Srba (accessed 30 September 2015).