Komić killings

The Komić killings refers to the mass murder of elderly Serb civilians from the village of Komić in August 1995 by members of the Croatian Army (HV), five days after Operation Storm.

Komić killings
LocationKomić, Croatia
DateAugust 1995
TargetElderly Croatian Serb villagers
Attack type
Mass killing
Deaths9[1]
PerpetratorsCroatian Army (HV)

Background
Main articles: Croatian War of Independence and Operation Storm

By March 1991, tensions between Croats and Serbs escalated into the Croatian War of Independence.[2] Following a referendum on independence that was largely boycotted by Croatian Serbs,[3] the Croatian parliament officially adopted independence on 25 June.[4] The Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) declared its intention to secede from Croatia and join the Republic of Serbia while the Government of the Republic of Croatia declared it a rebellion.[5] Between August 1991 and February 1992, the RSK initiated an ethnic cleansing campaign to drive out the Croat and non-Serb population from RSK-held territory,[6] eventually expelling as many as 250,000 people according to Human Rights Watch.[7] Croatian forces also engaged in ethnic cleansing against Serbs in Eastern and Western Slavonia and parts of the Krajina on a more limited scale.[8] On 4 August 1995, the Croatian Army (HV) launched Operation Storm to retake the Krajina region which was completed successfully by 7 August.[9] The Operation resulted in the exodus of approximately 200,000 Serbs from Krajina while those Serbs who were unable or unwilling to leave their homes, primarily the elderly, were subjected to various crimes.[10] The ICTY puts the number of Serb civilians killed at 324.[11]

Killings

Five days after Operation Storm, HV members entered the Lika village of Komic, killing civilians after burning houses and outbuildings.[12] There were nine victims.[1] According to a U.N. report, three of the victims were burned alive.[13]

Several of the murders in Komić were included in the ICTY's indictment of former Croatian general Ante Gotovina.[14] In the appeal of the trial of Gotovina et al which acquitted Gotovina and Mladen Markač, the ICTY ruled that there was insufficient evidence to conclude the existence of a joint criminal enterprise to remove Serb civilians by force.[15] The Appeals Chamber further stated that the Croatian Army and Special Police committed crimes after the artillery assault, but the state and military leadership had no role in their planning and creation.[15]

References
  1. Milekic, Sven (3 August 2017). "Tragic Search for Victims of Croatia's Operation Storm". BalkanInsight. BIRN.
  2. Lucien, Ellington (2005). Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 437. ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6.
  3. Chuck Sudetic (20 May 1991). "Croatia Votes for Sovereignty and Confederation". The New York Times.
  4. Raič, David (2002). Statehood and the Law of Self-Determination. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 350. ISBN 978-9-04111-890-5.
  5. Sudetic, Chuck (2 April 1991). "Rebel Serbs Complicate Rift on Yugoslav Unity". The New York Times.
  6. Bartrop, Paul R. (2012). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good. ABC-CLIO. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-31338-679-4.
  7. "Milosevic: Important New Charges on Croatia". Human Rights Watch. 21 October 2001. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010.
  8. Bassiouni, Mahmoud Cherif; Manikas, Peter (1996). The Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Transnational Publishers. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-57105-004-5.
  9. Blank, Laurie R.; Noone, Gregory P. (2018). International Law and Armed Conflict: Fundamental Principles and Contemporary Challenges in the Law of War. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. p. 517. ISBN 978-1-54380-122-4.
  10. Clark, Janine Natalya (2014). International Trials and Reconciliation: Assessing the Impact of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Routledge. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-31797-474-1.
  11. Razsa, Maple (2015). Bastards of Utopia: Living Radical Politics after Socialism. Indiana University Press. pp. 239–240. ISBN 978-0-25301-588-4.
  12. Bajto, Nikola; Opačić, Tamara; Jovanović, Nenad (15 October 2018). "Dossier: Zločini nad Srbima". Novosti.
  13. Fisk, Robert (10 September 1995). "Croats slaughter elderly by the dozen". The Independent.
  14. "Gotovina - Indictment". ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 21 May 2001.
  15. "Gotovina and Markac, IT-06-90-A" (PDF). ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 16 November 2012. pp. 30–34.
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