Zagreb, 03 August 2012
Statement issued following the anniversary of the military operation "Storm" and in remembrance of suffering of Serb civilians
On the occasion of the anniversary of the celebration of liberation of the occupied territories of the Republic of Croatia and, at the same time, the remembrance of suffering of Serb civilians, we wish to remind about the facts which the Court Council of the Hague Tribunal established on the crimes which had been committed during and immediately after the military operation "Storm".
Following the military operation "Storm", the territory of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska Krajina was returned under the protection of the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of Croatia. Legitimacy of use of force during the operation derives from the fact that the representatives of the Republika Srpska Krajina, after the expulsion of non-Serb population in 1991 and after grave violations of human rights in the period until summer of 1995, rejected each and every possibility of peaceful solution. Military operations which followed resulted in a large number of victims on both sides - on the side of Croatian military/police forces as well as on the side of RSK forces which mounted strong resistance. Unfortunately, during those military operations, parallel with the military operations and immediately after them, Serb civilians were killed too; however, the Croatian public has been quite silent regarding the issue. Moreover, those sufferings, and many of them undoubtedly constitute serious crimes, are not only put behind a veil of secrecy, or are being belittled, but they are also explicitly denied. Therefore, it is necessary, simultaneously with marking the anniversary of the "Storm", to remind the general public about the suffering inflicted on Serb civilians, which by no means is to diminish the significance of the military operation itself.
Following the first-instance court verdict of the ICTY in the case against the accused Croatian Army generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak, Gotovina and Markač were found guilty of expulsion, deportation, killing and inhumane acts which constituted the crimes against humanity (Article 5 of the Statute) and also guilty of looting of public or private property, ruthless and extensive destruction, killings and cruel treatment which constituted a violation of law and custom of war (Article 3 of the Statute) and were convicted to joint sentences in duration of 24 years of imprisonment, i.e. 18 years of imprisonment, while Čermak was acquitted of all charges.
Regardless of legal dilemmas and controversies surrounding this verdict, especially in respect of individual form of criminal responsibility, introduced through the concept of the joint criminal enterprise, which will be decided upon by the Appeal Chamber at the end of 2012, the verdict is important because of its role in establishing factual context of the incriminated events and because of its contribution to the process of dealing with the past, especially in respect of the victorious party in the armed conflict.
The ICTY Court Chamber established that "... the members of Croatian armed forces and the Special Police had committed more than 40 killings of Serb civilians from Krajina. Considering the circumstances such as the ethnicity of victims, the time and place where the criminal acts were committed, the Court Chamber concluded that the killings had been a part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilian population. Following the hearings, the Court Chamber concluded that the members of Croatian armed forces and the Special Police had committed the deportation of more than 20,000 Serb civilians from Krajina which constituted a crime against humanity. The Court Chamber concluded that all the stated offences at the same time constituted the very offences having the persecution as their basis. Moreover, the Court Chamber concluded that the members of Croatian armed forces and the Special Police had committed an unlawful attack on civilians and civilian facilities in the towns of Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac and Gračac, which constituted the offence of persecution under the category of a crime against humanity. The Court Chamber concluded that the stated offences had been committed on the entire territory referred to by the Indictment during August 1995 and September 1995." (The first-instance verdict in the case No: IT-06-90-T, dated on 15 April 2011, page 902)
A cheering atmosphere of support for the "unjustly accused Croatian army generals, who are heroes and not criminals" has been created among the general public in Croatia, largely due to the biased statements issued by political officials and non-critical reporting by public (state-owned) media and the majority of other media. Consequently, instead of catharsis and the willingness of competent institutions to assume a part of responsibility for the still present non-prosecution of the committed crimes, as well as the willingness for recognition of suffering of victims, a shock and disbelief appeared after the announcement of the first-instance court verdict. There is a total lack of a serious analysis of the facts about crimes which had been established beyond reasonable doubt. Civilian victims of war have neither seen any apology nor did they realise their right to receive reparations. As the time was passing by, the attitude towards Serb civilian victims of the military operation "Storm" has began to change gradually as a result of public actions taken by civil society organisations, activists, humanistic-orientated intellectuals and a couple of politicians. Although we currently have a still prevailing state of a collective amnesia in our society in respect of the suffering of Serb civilian population, especially among the majority of members of Croatian army and the police, as well as among the top ranking political and military officials, there is some improvement.
We wish to remind about the fact that, to this day, there is not a single, conclusive (legally valid) verdict passed in the cases of war crimes committed during and immediately after the military operation "Storm". Therefore, we request a more efficient prosecution of the committed war crimes and the improvement of the status of all civilian victims of war.
Vesna Teršelič, Documenta - Centre for Dealing with the Past
Zoran Pusić, Civic Committee for Human Rights
Mladen Stojanović, Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights-Osijek
