Croat-Bosniak war

Infobox Military Conflict
partof= the Bosnian War


caption=A war ravaged street in Mostar caused by Bosniak-Croat fighting
conflict=Croat-Bosniak war
date=June 19, 1992 [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - II. PERSECUTION: THE HVO TAKE-OVERS B. Novi Travnik - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-4.htm#IIB] ] – February 23, 1994
place=Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in Central Bosnia and along the Neretva river
casus=The independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina
result= Washington Agreement and the creation of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
combatant1=flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina|1992
combatant2=
flag|Croatia


commander1=Alija Izetbegović (President of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Sefer Halilović (Army chief of staff 1992-1993)
Rasim Delić (Army chief of Staff 1993-1995)
Arif Pašalić (Commander of the 4th Corps of ARBIH

commander2=Franjo Tuđman (President of Croatia)
Mate Boban (President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia)
Milivoj Petković (HVO Chief of staff)
Dario Kordić (political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia)
Valentin Ćorić (commander of the military police in the HVO)
strength1=
strength2=

---

">map of Bosniak-Croats fronts from 30th November 1992.
thumb

The Croat-Bosniak war was a conflict between self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia supported by the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from June 19 1992 [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - II. PERSECUTION: THE HVO TAKE-OVERS B. Novi Travnik - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-4.htm#IIB] ] – February 23, 1994.The ICTY effectively determined the war's nature to be international between Croatia and Bosnian and Herzegovina in numerous verdicts against Croat political and military leaders. [cite web|year=|url=http://hrw.org/reports/2004/ij/icty/2.htm#_Toc62882594|title=ICTY: Conflict between Bosnia and Croatia] The Croat-Bosniak war is often referred to as the "war in a war" because it was part of the larger Bosnian War.

There are no precise statistics dealing with the casualties of the Croat-Bosniak conflict along ethnic lines. The Sarajevo-based Research and Documentation Center's (IDC) data on human losses in the regions caught in the Croat-Bosniak conflict as part of the wider Bosnian War, however, can serve as a rough approximation. According to this data, in Central Bosnia most of the 10,448 documented casualties (soldiers and civilians) were Bosniaks (62%), with Croats in second (24%) and Serbs (13%) in third place. It should be noted that the municipalities of Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje and Bugojno also geographically located in Central Bosnia (known as Gornje Povrbasje region), with the 1,337 documented casualties are not included in Central Bosnia statistics, but in Vrbas region. Anyway, around 80% of the casualties from Gornje Povrbasje were Bosniaks. In the region of Neretva river of 6,717 casualties, 54% were Bosniaks, 24% Serbs and 21% Croats. The casualties in those regions were mostly but not exclusively the consequence of Croat-Bosniak conflict. To a lesser extent the conflict with the Serbs also resulted in a number of casualties included in the statistics. [RDC - Research results (2007) - Human Losses in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1991-1995 [http://www.idc.org.ba/presentation/research_results.htm] ] For instance, a number of Serbs were massacred in June 1992 in the village of Čipuljić located in Bugojno municipality. [Vrbanja and Čipuljić massacres investigation [http://www.24sata.info/6206] ] [SIPA arrested Slavko Sakic suspected of war crimes in Bugojno on Bosniaks and Serbs - [http://sandzak24.net/News/print/sid=40.html] ]

Background

During the Yugoslav wars, the objectives of nationalists from Croatia were shared by Croat nationalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/blaskic/trialc1/judgement/bla-tj000303e-3.htm#IIIA|title=ICTY: Blaškić verdict - A. The Lasva Valley: May 1992 – January 1993t|] The ruling party in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), organized and controlled the branch of the party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the latter part of 1991, the more extreme elements of the party, under the leadership of Mate Boban, Dario Kordić, Jadranko Prlić, Ignac Koštroman and local leaders such as Anto Valentacite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/blaskic/trialc1/judgement/bla-tj000303e-3.htm#IIIA|title=ICTY: Blaškić verdict - A. The Lasva Valley: May 1992 – January 1993|] , and with the support of Franjo Tuđman and Gojko Šušak, had taken effective control of the party.

Following the declaration of independence, the Serbs attacked different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The state administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina effectively ceased to function having lost control over the entire territory. The Croats and their leader Franjo Tuđman also aimed at securing parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Croatian. Secret discussions between Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević on the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina were held as early as March 1991 known as Karađorđevo agreement or Karađorđevo meeting. The policies of the Republic of Croatia and its leader Franjo Tuđman towards Bosnia and Herzegovina were never totally transparent and always included Franjo Tuđman’s ultimate aim of expanding Croatia’s borders. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/naletilic/trialc/judgement/nal-tj030331-1.htm#IIA|title=ICTY: Naletilić and Martinović verdict - A. Historical background|]

On November 18, 1991, the party branch in Bosnia and Herzegovina, proclaimed the existence of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, as a separate "political, cultural, economic and territorial whole," on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić et al. (IT-04-74)|]

The ICTY illustrated this with the minutes of a meeting held on November 12, 1991 and signed by Mate Boban and Dario Kordić: "the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina must finally embrace a determined and active policy which will realise our eternal dream – a common Croatian state". On April 10, 1992, Mate Boban decreed that the Bosnian Territorial Defence (TO), which had been created the day before, was illegal on self-proclaimed Croat territory. On May 11, Tihomir Blaškić declared the TO illegal on the territory of the Kiseljak municipality.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/blaskic/trialc1/judgement/bla-tj000303e-3.htm#IIIA|title=ICTY: Blaškić verdict - A. The Lasva Valley: May 1992 – January 1993t|]

In June 1992 the focus switched to Novi Travnik and Gornji Vakuf where the Croat Defence Council (HVO) efforts to gain control were resisted. On June 18, 1992 the Bosnian Territorial Defence in Novi Travnik received an ultimatum from the HVO which included demands to abolish existing Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions, establish the authority of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and pledge allegiance to it, subordinate the Territorial Defense to the HVO and expel Muslim refugees, all within 24 hours. The attack was launched on June 19. The elementary school and the Post Office were attacked and damaged. [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - II. PERSECUTION: THE HVO TAKE-OVERS B. Novi Travnik - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-4.htm#IIB] ] Gornji Vakuf was initially attacked by Croats on June 20, 1992, but the attack failed. The Graz agreement caused deep division inside the Croat community and strengthened the separation group, which led to the conflict with Bosniaks. One of the primary pro-union Croat leaders, Blaž Kraljević (leader of the HOS armed group) was killed by HVO soldiers in August 1992, which severely weakened the moderate group who hoped to keep the Bosnian Croat alliance alive ["Sarajevo, i poslije", Erich Rathfelder, München 1998 [http://www.hsp1861.hr/vijesti/201129erra.htm] ] . The situation became more serious in October 1992 when Croat forces attacked Bosniak civilian population in Prozor burning their homes and killing civilians. According to "Jadranko Prlić indictment", HVO forces cleansed most of the Muslims from the town of Prozor and several surrounding villages.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić et al. (IT-04-74)|]

By December 1992, the situation in Central Bosnia was this: the Croat forces had taken control of the municipalities of the Lašva Valley and had only met significant opposition in Novi Travnik and Ahmići. Much of Central Bosnia therefore was in the hands of the Croats.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-4.htm#IIF
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - III. Events leading to the conflict|]

The ICTY Trial Chamber in the "Kordić and Čerkez case" decided that the weight of the evidence points clearly to the persecution of Bosniak civilians in the Central Bosnian municipalities taken over by the Croat forces: Busovača, Novi Travnik, Vareš, Kiseljak, Vitez, Kreševo and Žepče. The persecution followed a consistent pattern in each municipality and demonstrated that the HVO had launched a campaign against the Bosniaks in them cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-4.htm#IIF
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - II. Persecution: F. Trial Chamber Findings|] with the hope that the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia should secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina and with a view towards unification with Croatia. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-4.htm#IE
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - E. The Parties’ Cases and Trial Chamber Findings|]

Up till 1993 the HVO and the Bosnian Army (ARBiH) had been fighting side by side against the superior forces of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in some areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even though armed confrontation and events like the Totic kidnappings strained the relationship between the HVO and ARBiH the Croat-Bosniak alliance held in Bihać pocket (northwest Bosnia) and the Bosanska Posavina (north), where both were heavily outmatched by Serb forces.

War breaks out

Gornji Vakuf shelling

On January 1993 Croat forces attacked Gornji Vakuf again in order to connect Herzegovina with Central Bosnia.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić et al. (IT-04-74)|] Gornji Vakuf is a town to the south of the Lašva Valley and of strategic importance at a crossroads en route to Central Bosnia. It is 48 kilometres from Novi Travnik and about one hour’s drive from Vitez in an armoured vehicle. For Croats it was a very important connection between the Lašva Valley and Herzegovina, two territories included in the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia. The Croat forces shelling reduced much of the historical oriental center of the town of Gornji Vakuf to rubble. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVA2
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 2. The Conflict in Gornji Vakuf|] On January 10, 1993, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Gornji Vakuf, the Croat Defence Council (HVO) commander Luka Šekerija, sent a "Military – Top Secret" request to Colonel Tihomir Blaškić and Dario Kordić, (later convicted by ICTY of war crimes and crimes against humanity i.e. ethnic cleansing) for rounds of mortar shells available at the ammunition factory in Vitez. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVA4
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 4. Role of Dario Kordić|] Fighting then broke out in Gornji Vakuf on January 11, 1993, sparked by a bomb which had been placed by Croats in a Bosniak-owned hotel that had been used as a military headquarters. A general outbreak of fighting followed and there was heavy shelling of the town that night by Croat artillery. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVA2
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 2. The Conflict in Gornji Vakuf|]

During cease-fire negotiations at the Britbat HQ in Gornji Vakuf, colonel Andrić, representing the HVO, demanded that the Bosnian forces lay down their arms and accept HVO control of the town, threatening that if they did not agree he would flatten Gornji Vakuf to the ground. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVA2
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 2. The Conflict in Gornji Vakuf|] cite web|url=http://www.sense-agency.com/ba/stream.php?sta=3&pid=8670&kat=6
title=SENSE Tribunal: Poziv na predaju|] The HVO demands were not accepted by the Bosnian Army and the attack continued, followed by massacres on Bosnian Muslim civilians in the neighbouring villages of Bistrica, Uzričje, Duša, Ždrimci and Hrasnica.cite web|url=http://www.sense-agency.com/ba/stream.php?sta=3&pid=8652&kat=6
title=SENSE Tribunal: Ko je počeo rat u Gornjem Vakufu|] cite web|url=http://www.sense-agency.com/ba/stream.php?sta=3&pid=8662&kat=6
title=SENSE Tribunal: "James Dean" u Gornjem Vakufu|] During the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing it was surrounded by Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council for seven months and attacked with heavy artillery and other weapons (tanks and snipers). Although Croats often cited it as a major reason for the attack on Gornji Vakuf, the commander of the British Britbat company claimed that there were no Muslim "holy worriors" in Gornji Vakuf (commonly known as Mujahideen) and that his soldiers did not see any. The shelling campaign and the attackes during the war resulted in hundreds of injured and killed, mostly Bosnian Muslim civilians. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVA2
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - 2. The Conflict in Gornji Vakuf|]

On the morning of January 25, 1993, Croat forces attacked the Bosniak part of the town of Busovača called Kadića Strana following the January 20 ultimatum. The attack included shelling from the surrounding hills. A loudspeaker called on Bosniaks to surrender. A police report shows that 43 people were massacred in Busovača in January and February 1993. The remaining Bosniaks (around 90 in all) were rounded up in the town square. Women and children (around 20 in total) were allowed to return home and the men (70 in all), some as young as 14-16 years, were loaded onto buses and taken to Kaonik camp. The violence continued after the January attack. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVA3
title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - Busovača|]

Lasva Valley ethnic cleansing

The Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing campaign against Bosniak civilians planned by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military leadership from May 1992 to March 1993 and erupting the following April, was meant to implement objectives set forth by Croat nationalists in November 1991.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/blaskic/trialc1/judgement/bla-tj000303e-3.htm#IIIA|title=ICTY: Blaškić verdict - A. The Lasva Valley: May 1992 – January 1993|] The Lašva Valley's Bosniaks were subjected to persecution on political, racial and religious groundscite web|url=http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/indictments/Kordic2.html|title=ICTY (1995): Initial indictment for the ethnic cleansing of the Lasva Valley area - Part II|] , deliberately discriminated against in the context of a widespread attack on the region's civilian populationcite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/bralo/bra-sum051207-e.htm|title=ICTY: Summary of sentencing judgement for Miroslav Bralo|] and suffered mass murder, rape, imprisonment in camps, as well as the destruction of cultural sites and private property. This was often followed by anti-Bosniak propaganda, particularly in the municipalities of Vitez, Busovača, Novi Travnik and Kiseljak. Ahmići massacre in April 1993, was the culmination of the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing, resulting in mass killing of Bosnian Muslim civilians in just a few hours. An estimate puts the death toll at 120. The youngest was a three-month-old baby, who was machine-gunned to death in his crib, and the oldest was a 96-year-old woman. It is the biggest committed during the conflict between Croats and the Bosnian government (dominated by Bosniaks).

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has ruled that these crimes amounted to crimes against humanity in numerous verdicts against Croat political and military leaders and soldiers, most notably Dario Kordić. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/index.htm|title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict|] Based on the evidence of numerous HVO attacks at that time, the ICTY Trial Chamber concluded in the "Kordić and Čerkez case" that by April 1993 Croat leadership had a common design or plan conceived and executed to ethnically cleanse Bosniaks from the Lašva Valley. Dario Kordić, as the local political leader, was found to be the planner and of this plan. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVC3|title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict - IV. Attacks on towns and villages: killings - C. The April 1993 Conflagration in Vitez and the Lašva Valley - 3. The Attack on Ahmići (Paragraph 642)|] According to the Sarajevo-based Research and Documentation Center (IDC), around 2,000 Bosniaks from the Lašva Valley are missing or were killed during this period.cite web|url=http://www.idc.org.ba/aboutus/Overview_of_jobs_according_to_%20centers.htm|title=IDC: Victim statistics in Novi Travnik, Vitez, Kiseljak and Busovača|] The events inspired the British television drama serial "Warriors".

War in Herzegovina

The Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia took control of many municipal governments and services in Herzegovina as well, removing or marginalising local Bosniak leaders. Herzeg-Bosnia took control of the media and imposed Croatian ideas and propaganda. Croatian symbols and currency were introduced, and Croatian curricula and the Croatian language were introduced in schools. Many Bosniaks and Serbs were removed from positions in government and private business; humanitarian aid was managed and distributed to the Bosniaks' and Serbs' disadvantage; and Bosniaks in general were increasingly harassed. Many of them were deported into concentration camps: Heliodrom, Dretelj, Gabela, Vojno and Šunje.

According to ICTY judgment in "Naletilić-Martinović case" Croat forces attacked the villages of Sovici and Doljani, about 50 kilometers north of Mostar in the morning on April 17, 1993. The attack was part of a larger HVO offensive aimed at taking Jablanica, the main Bosnian Muslim dominated town in the area. The HVO commanders had calculated that they needed two days to take Jablanica. The location of Sovici was of strategic significance for the HVO as it was on the way to Jablanica. For the Bosnian Army it was a gateway to the plateau of Risovac, which could create conditions for further progression towards the Adriatic coast. The larger HVO offensive on Jablanica had already started on April 15, 1993. The artillery destroyed the upper part of Sovici. The Bosnian Army was fighting back, but at about five p.m. the Bosnian Army commander in Sovici, surrendered. Approximately 70 to 75 soldiers surrendered. In total, at least 400 Bosnian Muslim civilians were detained. The HVO advance towards Jablanica was halted after a cease-fire agreement had been negotiated. [ICTY (Naletilic-Matinovic): 1. Sovici and Doljani- the attack on 17 April 1993 and the following days [http://www.un.org/icty/naletilic/trialc/judgement/nal-tj030331-1.htm#IIB1] ]

iege of Mostar

Mostar was surrounded by the Croat forces for nine months, and much of its historic city was severely destroyed in shelling including the famous Stari Most bridge.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić "et al." (IT-04-74)|]

Mostar was divided into a Western part, which was dominated by the Croat forces and an Eastern part where the Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was largely concentrated. However, the Bosnian Army had its headquarters in West Mostar in the basement of a building complex referred to as Vranica. In the early hours of May 9, 1993, the Croatian Defence Council attacked Mostar using artillery, mortars, heavy weapons and small arms. The HVO controlled all roads leading into Mostar and international organisations were denied access. Radio Mostar announced that all Bosniaks should hang out a white flag from their windows. The HVO attack had been well prepared and planned.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/naletilic/trialc/judgement/nal-tj030331-1.htm#IIB2|title=ICTY: Naletilić and Martinović verdict - Mostar attack|]

The Croats took over the west side of the city and expelled thousandscite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić "et al." (IT-04-74)|] Bosniaks from the west side into the east side of the city. The HVO shelling reduced much of the east side of Mostar to rubble. The JNA (Yugoslav Army) demolished Carinski Bridge, Titov Bridge and Lucki Bridge over the river excluding the Stari Most. HVO forces (and its smaller divisions) engaged in a mass execution, ethnic cleansing and rape on the Bosniak people of the West Mostar and its surrounds and a fierce siege and shelling campaign on the Bosnian Government run East Mostar. HVO campaign resulted in thousands of injured and killed.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić "et al." (IT-04-74)|]

The June 1993 Offensives

In June 1993 further fighting broke out in Central Bosnia, some of it caused by the newly revitalised Bosnian Army. [Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. ATTACKS ON TOWNS AND VILLAGES: KILLINGS - D. The June and October Offensives - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD] ] Further complications were caused with the incident between Croats and UNPROFOR known as "The Convoy of Joy Incident". This convoy of aid supplies was made up of several hundred trucks, was seven kilometres in length and was bound for Tuzla. On June 7, 1993, two members of the delegation wrote to the European Community Monitor Mission (ECMM) at Zenica about their fears for the safety of the convoy when it reached the area of Travnik and Vitez in the light of threats made to it by Mate Boban (whom the delegation had met). As a result the ECMM decided to monitor the convoy. The convoy then made its way to Central Bosnia and the area of Novi Travnik. There it was stopped at a roadblock formed by a large crowd of Croat women at Rankovići, north of Novi Travnik. Eight of the drivers were shot and killed, vehicles were driven away and the convoy was looted by civilians and soldiers. Eventually the convoy was released. In defending the convoy Britbat shot and killed two HVO soldiers. The ICTY Trial Chamber conlcuded that the crowds which stopped the Convoy of Joy were under the control of Dario Kordić and colonel Blaškić. [Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. ATTACKS ON TOWNS AND VILLAGES: KILLINGS - D. The June and October Offensives - 1. The Convoy of Joy - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD1] ]

Bosnian Army attacked the HVO in the Travnik municipality in the first week of June. By June 13, the Bosnian Army had taken Travnik and the surrounding villages. [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - 2. The Conflict in Travnik and Zenica - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD2] ] Several witnesses testified that 20,000 Croat refugees had come from Travnik as a result of the Bosnian Army offensive. [Kordic and Cerkez verdict - IV. ATTACKS ON TOWNS AND VILLAGES: KILLINGS - D. The June and October Offensives - 1. The Convoy of Joy - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD1] ] However, according to an ECMM Report the first reports of ethnic cleansing and destruction were exaggerated. On June 8, there was fighting in Guča Gora with reports of atrocities and destruction, the Catholic church in flames and thousands fleeing. These reports were investigated by two ECMM monitors. They found the church still standing and the claims of destruction to be exaggerated. The movement of population was organised by the HVO. According to report dated June 9, 1993 it is the first time that the Bosnian Army have taken the military initiative against the HVO in Central Bosnia. On all other occasions the Bosnian Army have responded to HVO aggression (Gornji Vakuf, Vitez and Mostar). [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - 2. The Conflict in Travnik and Zenica - [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD2] ]

On June 9, 1993 HVO retaliated in Novi Travnik. [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - 3. The HVO Offensives in June 1993 - (a) Novi Travnik [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD3a] ] On June 12-13, 1993 the HVO attacked villages in the Kiseljak municipality, beginning with Tulica on June 12 resulting in the deaths of at least twelve men and women and the destruction of the village. The attack began with heavy shelling of the village followed by an infantry attack from several directions. The surviving men were loaded onto a truck and taken to Kiseljak barracks. Shortly after the attack on Tulica, the associated villages of Han Ploča and Grahovci were also subject to attack. The HVO issued an ultimatum to the Bosniaks to surrender their weapons. After the ultimatum expired, the village was shelled by the HVO and the Serb Army, and houses were set on fire. An HVO infantry attack followed. Having come into the village, HVO soldiers lined up three Bosniak men against a wall and shot them. In all 64 people were killed during the attack or after HVO capture. The ICTY Trial Chamber found that the attacks on Tulica and Han Ploca–Grahovci were part of a sustained HVO attack in which civilians were murdered and subjected to inhumane treatment. [ICTY - Kordic and Cerkez judgment - 3. The HVO Offensives in June 1993 - (b) Tulica and Han Ploca–Grahovci [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/kor-tj010226e-5.htm#IVD3b] ]

The Remaining Offensives

Bosnian Army launched an operation known as "Neretva 93" against the Croatian Defence Council and Croatian Army in September 1993 in order to end the siege of Mostar and to recapture areas of Herzegovina, which were included in self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. The operation was stopped by Bosnian authorities after it received the information about the massacre on Croat civilians in the village of Grabovica and very difficult fight for the village of Uzdol which resulted in losses on both sides.

The entire conflict caused the creation of more ethnic enclaves and further bloodshed in the already war-ruined Bosnia. The conflict was particularly devastating for Mostar and Gornji Vakuf.

War ends

The Croat-Bosniak war officially ended on February 23, 1994 when the Commander of HVO, general Ante Roso and commander of Bosnian Army, general Rasim Delić, signed a ceasefire agreement in Zagreb. In March 1994 a peace agreement mediated by the USA between the warring Croats (represented by Republic of Croatia) and Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed in Washington and Vienna which is known as the Washington Agreement. Under the agreement, the combined territory held by the Croat and Bosnian government forces was divided into ten autonomous cantons, establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Croat leadership (Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Ćorić and Berislav Pušić) is presently on trial at the ICTY on charges including crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the laws or customs of war. Dario Kordić, political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia was convicted of the crimes against humanity in Central Bosnia i.e. ethnic cleansing and sentenced to 25 years in prison. cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/index.htm|title=ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict|] Bosnian commander Sefer Halilović was charged with one count of violation of the laws and customs of war on the basis of superior criminal responsibility of the incidents during "Neretva 93" and found not guilty.

Gallery of maps

External links

* [http://www.pbase.com/zidar/rat&page=all James Mason, photographs: War in Central Bosnia] en icon
* [http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm ICTY: Prlić et al. Initial Indictment - The Joint Criminal Enterprise (Herzeg-Bosnia case)] en icon
* [http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/indictments/kordic1.html ICTY: Initial indictment for the ethnic cleansing of the Lasva Valley area - Part I] en icon
* [http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/indictments/Kordic2.html ICTY: Initial indictment for the ethnic cleansing of the Lasva Valley area - Part II] en icon
* [http://www.un.org/icty/kordic/trialc/judgement/index.htm ICTY: Kordić and Čerkez verdict] en icon
* [http://www.un.org/icty/blaskic/trialc1/judgement/index.htm ICTY: Blaškić verdict] en icon
* [http://www.un.org/icty/aleksovski/trialc/judgement/index.htm ICTY: Aleksovski verdict] en icon
* [http://www.un.org/icty/bralo/bra-sum051207-e.htm ICTY: Summary of Miroslav Bralo verdict] en icon
* [http://www.un.org/icty/naletilic/trialc/judgement/index.htm ICTY: Naletilic and Martinovic verdict] en icon
* [http://hrw.org/reports/2004/ij/icty/2.htm#_Toc62882594 HRW: Conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia] en icon
* [http://www.usip.org/library/pa/bosnia/washagree_03011994_toc.html United States Institute of Peace: Washington Agreement] en icon
* [http://www.hercegbosna.org/engleski/war2.html Herceg-Bosna.org - C.R.Shrader: Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia] en icon
* [http://www.iwpr.net/?apc_state=henitri2003&l=sr&s=f&o=163881 Institut za izvještavanje o ratu i miru - Dnevnik Tribunala - Chris Stephen, Podjela BiH] bs icon
* [http://www.sudbih.gov.ba/?opcija=predmeti&id=37&jezik=b The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Paško Ljubičić indictment] hr icon
* [http://www.sudbih.gov.ba/?opcija=predmeti&id=40&jezik=b The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Krešo Lučić indictment] hr icon

Related films

*
* - Part III. The Struggle for Bosnia

References