HU OSA 350-1-1:70/1

War Crimes

Item

Moving Image

English (Original)

Rape • Torture • Prison Camps • Destruction Civilian Property • Destruction Cultural Heritage • Ethnic Cleansing • Military/Para-Military • Refugee/Ex-Pow ID

Not Restricted

television program

This report documents two war crimes which have occurred in Croatia and which are being investigated by the IWCT. So far, 3,500 people have been killed in 20 separate atrocities, the report states. The analysis begins by detailing a mass execution of 24 Serbs from the Gospic area by Croat soldiers. After their snow-covered bodies were found near the frontlines, autopsies were performed by army pathologist Dr. Zoran Stankovic. Croatia's government acknowledged the killings, but claimed that they were carried out by renegade soldiers. The report shows pre-war pictures of several killed Serbs, focusing on Gospic deputy prosecutor Djordje Kalen and his wife Mirjana. Their two sons, Bosko and Drasko, are interviewed stating that they cannot comprehend that fellow town folk murdered their parents. Also shown is a pre-war picture of company lawyer Stank Smiljanic, whose wife Milica gives a statement. A statement is made by Dr. Zoran Stankovic. Footage of the burned bodies is included, as well as amateur footage of a Serb soldier who found the bodies near the frontline. The second part of the report details the war crime at Luvas, Croatia, where 50 Croat men were forced to walk over a minefield by Serb forces (what forces?). The bodies of the 18 men who were killed are presumed to be buried along with 122 other villagers, allegedly killed by the Serbs, in a mass grave near the Catholic cemetery. Two men, Stefan Peulic and Ivica Filic (sp), survived. Stefan Peulic was badly wounded after stepping on a mine. Ivica Filic logged the names of 67 friends and neighbors he helped bury. The report then explains that those names are all input into a UN database, where they will be used in the trials of war criminals. Ljubljana, Slovenia, has been chosen as the first choice for where the Tribunal trials can be conducted, but a definite date can not be set while the war is in progress.