AGGRESSION AND GENOCIDE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 1992–1995

The regime in the communist Yugoslavia, which ruled with the iron fist from 1945, began to lose control and got into a crisis upon the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980. The Kosovo crisis and massive repression over political activists began in the early 1980s. Besides, the country was heavily hit by the economic crisis, exacerbated by international sanctions. This political and economic instability proved to be a catalyst of the rise of nationalism.

Communism, accompanied by suppression of memories after the Second World War, opened the way to the rise of nationalism in the late 1970s. Slobodan Milošević used the opportunity to problematize the status of Kosovo (at the time, an autonomous province of the Republic of Serbia) to mobilize masses for the support to the project of Great Serbia. The timing perfectly coincided with the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo (1389–1989), a medieval battle between Ottoman and Serbian army. 

Milošević was very skillful in exploiting the Battle of Kosovo for mobilizing public support and presenting himself as the savior of Serbia and Europe, addressing a large number of people gathered at the marking of the anniversary as follows:

“Sex centuries ago, Serbia defended itself here, on Kosovo. But it also defended Europe. At the time, it was at its bulwark, which defended European culture, religion, and European society as a whole.”

In 1991, Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia, which resulted in a short war. The following republic to declare independence was Croatia, thus provoking aggressive reactions of Yugoslav state. Upon independence of these two countries, most population of Bosnia and Herzegovina also voted for independence.

The first democratic elections were held in 1990, somewhat before the census of the early 1991. After the fall of communism in the Eastern Europe and the rise of nationalism while Slobodan Milošević was president of Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia decided to separate from Yugoslavia and declared independence. Belgrade, which controlled the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) responded to these referenda by initiating the war. After brief skirmishes, JNA left Slovenia and focused on Croatia, which had far more numerous Serbian population. The war lasted several months and ended by a peace accord with international mediation.  

Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), which was led by Radovan Karadžić, began to form parallel institutions in BiH as early as in 1991, when it realized that the country was following a similar road to independence. These parallel institutions would later play a big role in the political overtaking of BiH which was performed by Bosnian Serbs. Strategy of the SDS consisted of establishing parallel forms of government in municipalities (at the micro level). These ad hoc bodies named “crisis headquarters” were supposed to be temporary governments in municipalities after the SDS and JNA seized power. The crisis headquarters were composed only of members of the SDS and the local commander of the JNA.

By the fall of 1991, regional management bodies which made up a mezzo level were formed across the country. Serbian autonomous regions (SAO) consisted of several dozens of municipalities from one geographic region. SAOs were formed in the areas with a significant percentage of Serbian population to coordinate activities within the given geographic areas and more efficiently take the political control over these territories when it became necessary. In late October of 1991, several days after the Parliament of BiH voted separation from Yugoslavia, political establishment of Bosnian Serbs formed the Assembly of Serbian People, which was composed of Serbian members of the Parliament of BiH. In this way, an alternative parallel ethnicized assembly with elective legitimacy was formed. Finally, on 9 February 1992, the Srpska Republika Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed and the SAOs thus formally became part of the newly declared Republika. Bosnia and Herzegovina did not want to remain in Yugoslavia dominated by Serbs without Slovenia and Croatia; therefore, it followed their example and voted for independence on 1 March 1992. Serbian nationalistic parties rejected independence of BiH and pledged loyalty to Belgrade. Aided by Yugoslavia, the SDS decided to form Srpska Republika of its own in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was conceived as an ethnically homogenous territory which would ultimately merge with Serbia itself. After a month of skirmishes and conflicts across the country, on 6 April 1992, the Yugoslav People's Army openly declared a war in BiH. Two days earlier, on 4 April 1992, the police of Bosnian Serbs was formed, which was supposed to be the strike force in overtaking municipalities. Over the following several months, thousands of people were murder, and thousands of others banished from their homes and forced to look for the safe haven in areas controlled by Bosnian government or in neighboring countries. Dozens of thousands of civilians were imprisoned in concentration camps, where they were exposed to torture and killing. At least thirty thousand women and girls were raped and sexually abused.

In its fight against Serbian forces, BiH aligned itself with Croatia and its representatives in BiH (Croatian Defense Council – HVO). However, in 1993 Croatian political and military leadership joined Serbian forces against Bosnian government. This war, known as Bosniak-Croatian war, began in 1993 and lasted until the signing of the Washington Agreement, which was initiated by the USA in 1994. In July of 1994, in a week-long operation, the army and police of Bosnian Serbs committed genocide in the „protected zone of the United Nations in Srebrenica. Finally, after a successful joint Bosnian-Croatian offensive in the fall of 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the Dayton Peace Accord was signed in November under the auspices of the USA, which ended the war.

The intention to destroy Bosnian Muslims could be best shown through intercepted phone conversations between politicians of Bosnian Serbs. One of such examples is a phone conversation between the leader of Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadžić and hid Belgrade friend - poet Gojko Đogo, on 12 October 1991, when Karadžić said:

“...they do not understand that bloodshed will ensue and that Muslims will be exterminated. They will disappear, these people will disappear ... from the face of the Earth...ˮ

A few days later Karadžić publicly repeated his threat at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly:

“Do not think that you will not lead Bosnia and Herzegovina to hell, and Muslims perhaps into disappearance, since Muslim people cannot defend themselves if a war begins here.”

In the summer of 1992, reporters discovered the existence of concentration camps and rape camps, where Bosniaks and Croats were taken. Prijedor, a town in the northwest of BiH, became infamous by its camps where tens of thousands of people were imprisoned. Pictures from the camp aroused fury in the international community and initiated the formation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Reporter Ed Vulliamy told about his encounter with Nikola Koljević, a professor who was very familiar with all the activities of the managing structures of Bosnian Serbs, a day after Vulliamy revealed the existence of the Omarska camp:  

“'So you found the camps,' he snapped, smiling disagreeably. 'Congratulations!' And then, in a harsh voice which aped his favorite Shakespearean hero, he began double humiliation: 'Took a long time, didn't it? Three months! All that happening so near Venice! All you people could think about was poor multicultural Sarajevo. Ha-ha!' And then he asked in a cold voice: 'None of you have ever gone for vacation to Omarska, have you? No Olympic Games in Prijedor!'ˮ  

It is estimated that, over three and a half years of the aggression and genocide at least 100,000 people were killed, out of whom 30,000 were listed as missing. At the same time, at least 30,000 women and girls were raped in camps and detention facilities across BiH while about two million people were forced to leave the country.