Milovoje Ivanišević EXPULSION OF THE SERBS FROM

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 1992-1995

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PROLOGUE History has not yet found answer to the question: where is the global epicenter that emanates genocide and who and why is keeping it in existence? The only thing that is known is that the Serbian people have been experiencing the phenomenon as of 19th and during 20th century. Namely, throughout that period the people have been exposed to genocide for three times. Conflicts that take form of genocide are typical for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbs, Croats and Muslims found themselves in Bosnia and Herzegovina to live and exist together. Even though in their long history of living together they relied upon one another (in various practical aspects such as tilling, traffic, waters, trade, pastures, woods, etc), still there were forces out of their power that kept dividing them, burdening with prejudices of the past, disuniting. Such disunity, mistrust and the lack of consciousness concerning their joint interests originated from the medieval Bosnia in which diverse occupying forces and feudal separatism were so strong that after the fall of the Bosnian state in 1465 they left no lasting spiritual and state traditions that would unite and move the three nations into joint actions later on in history. Instead, the leading role over the three nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina was taken by three religions and their respective agencies: Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox religion. They, in turn, by means of their doctrines, existence and acts contributed and made their believers go into different directions, not only in their spiritual but in political and everyday lives as well. All the conquerors and administrators of Bosnia and Herzegovina counted on the strength of these three religions and their communities who purposely favored ones and inhibited the others. During the Turkish rule (1463-1878) it was Islam that was widely promulgated – it was then that large masses of the Serbian population were converted to Islam while during the Austria-Hungarian occupation and later, even up to 1918, it was Catholicism who did the same. The Orthodox religion had neither available strength nor time to express itself more permanently as it was again suppressed, first by Hitler and Ustashas, during the occupation of Yugoslavia (1941) and the anti-Serbian Independent State of Croatia. Finally it was communism that had not spared the effort to separate the Serbs from their Orthodox religion. Due to large geographical distances and different interests of the spiritual centers followed by the nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rome, Istanbul) no chance was left for even a germ of solidarity needed, not to speak of some permanent roots needed by a man or a nation in distress. It was with such heavy burden of the past in all important aspects of life that Bosnia and Herzegovina found itself in the World War I, 1914, then the World War II and finally in the civil war 1991-95. It is hard to identify the moment when the Serbs, Croats and even Muslims started using fighting words in their writings on whose Bosnia and Herzegovina was, this being followed by the disputes in regard to the same issue by the political movements and their members. In the core of all misunderstandings between the Serbs and the Croats is a doctrine of the Croatian ideologists, that slowly passed onto wider strata of people, that the Serbs “represented the factor of disorder”, as they prevented them from accomplishing their “Croatian state and Croatian historic rights”. Such rights were the

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grounds for Croatian politicians to pursue the idea of forming a great, ethnically cleansed and very Catholic Croatian state starting with dr. Ante Starčević, Eugen Kvaternik, Mihovil Pavlinović, Josip Frank, Frane Supilo, Stjepan Radić, Vlatko Maček, Ante Pavelić up to Josip Broz Tito and Franjo Tudjman. For instance, the first paragraph of the Program of the Party of Right says: “Croatian state and natural right have to come to life by coming into existence of the kingdom of Croatia by uniting Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Rijeka, Medjumurje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Istra, Kranjska, Corinthia and Styria within the Monarchy of Habsburgs”. As former history has paid its role, the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina lived conjointly with the Croats and the Muslims and were not ready to give up their religious and national distinctions. As a result they permanently found themselves liable to the attacks of the creators of a great Croatian state and as of recently to the attacks of the Muslim Bosnia, a Muslim creation of Eastern type whose forming was tested through different forms of autonomy. The idea of genocide over the Serbs was devised at a time when Bosnia was still within the borders of Austria-Hungary, when Franciscans and Clericals launched their joint and open demonstrations against the Serbs in 1895, 1899, 1900, 1908 and especially after the assassination in Sarajevo in 1914. Through various forms of satanisation of the Serbs, special local paramilitary troops were formed quickly, the co-called “Shuckors”, “Legions” and “Protective units” by which Vienna court only deepened the gap between the nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it turned such troops only against the Serbs, who were collectively accused of the assassination. The massacre committed by the Muslim volunteers in uniforms in October 1914 over 86 Serbian hostages in the village of Čelebići on the Drina, after the retreat of the Serbian Army from Bosnia to Serbia and Montenegro, is only one in a series of mass murders committed during the war along the border toward Serbia and Montenegro. With such heavy burden inherited from the past and only deepened by the developments during the World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the first common state of the Southern Slaves – the State of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. For those Serbs who lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who suffered the most till then, the union represented the embodiment of the their highest national and political efforts as well as those of their preceding generations. They accepted it sincerely and with great joy. The Croats treated the new state in a reserved and cool manner. Knowing that the Serbs cared about Yugoslavia, as they were able to be together in it, the Croats tried to take advantage of that fact. Lacking all limits and bounds they used their rich bargaining experience from the former times asking selfishly, every now and then, one type of concession or another – all with a purpose of acquiring more advantages in forming their independent state. Thus came the time when the Kingdom of Yugoslavia became a sort of an agency to serve the Croatian insatiable appetite. The Muslims were also aloof towards the new, common state, as the Muslim beys opposed strongly the agrarian reform, while huge number of simpleminded Muslim people were afraid of vengeance for the crimes committed against their Serbian neighbors. Those pro-Yugoslav oriented Muslims were

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not able to contribute to a stronger patriotic feeling for their common state. Even though dr. Mehmed Spaho had named his party – the Yugoslav Muslim Organization, it did a little in practice to contribute to the strengthening of Yugoslav unity. In joining their common state the King Alexander and Nikola Pašić had missed the opportunity of defining before hand the immediate Serbian interest and its extent in that state. What prevailed in their feelings was their idealistic concept of togetherness while it should have been the sense of historic reality. Numerous disputes and conflicts between the Croats and the Serbs, seasoned by the Muslim factor, did reach unimagined scope on the eve of the World War Two and fell down strongly and brutally on the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The creation of the Banate of Croatia and transfer of certain state competencies on it were not enough to please growing appetites of Croatian nationalists. Vehement arguments, as always, were focused on the issue of territories, that is, on how many territories should be covered by the Banate of Croatia. Maček was not hiding that he had cast his glance even on Boka Kotorska, Srem, a part of Bačka and some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Act on the Banate of Croatia proclaimed that the two former banates – Savska and Primorska, the towns of Dubrovnik, Šid, Ilok and thirteen districts located in Bosnia and Herzegovina were included in its territory. We have already said that certain Croatian parties and their members were not satisfied even with that. Instead, they requested the Croatian border to be on the river Drina, meaning that the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina should become a part of this independent Croatian state. In order to make the problem of Bosnia even more complex, another party appeared – the Yugoslav Muslim Organization headed by Mehmed Spaho, that is, Džafer Kulenović, asking for the autonomy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Muslim domination. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia, headed by J.B.Tito, interposed in this dispute concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina, using student organizations of Bosnia and Herzegovina as its instrument to demand the autonomy for Bosnia but “on a broader scale of national equality and democracy”. The Communist Party treated the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its peoples from its ideological point of view. What the Party did later, when it was in a position to do that, can be seen from the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina was made to be something that was neither a state, nor a religion nor a nation. The syntagm “Bosnia is neither Serbian, nor Croatian, nor Muslim” but “Bosnia is Serbian and Croatian and Muslim as well” was just a mere play on words. In short, from the moment the first common state of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) was founded in 1918, in 1941 and during World War II even more, Bosnia and Herzegovina was and remained a stumbling block between the Serbs, Croats and Muslims. That block got extremely warm during the April war in 1941, during the aggression against Yugoslavia, when Yugoslavia was destroyed not only military but as a state as well. Yugoslavia was crushed by German (24), Italian (22) and Hungarian (5) divisions backed by the German and Hungarian national minorities and Croatian Ustashas. The attack against Yugoslavia was soaked with Hitler’s Serbophobia, because of his rancor that the military coup in Beograd had disturbed his “Barbarosa” plan – the start of his offensive against the Soviet Union.

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It was in the complexity of German and Italian relations and their hidden and open plans that the Independent State of Croatia was formed. The territory of that state included Bosnia and Herzegovina as well. The news about the new state and the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina made its part was taken by the Serbs with mistrust and fear. The recollections of the World War I and the harm done by “Shuckors” during the war were still fresh in their memory. Ustasha reports produced during the first months of 1941 regularly indicated that the Serbs, especially those living in towns, “kept aside waiting for the fate that would befall them” and that they were all in a state of expectation believing “that the state as it is at the moment will change, hoping that England will finally win.” How did the Serbs fare during the World War II is seen from the fact that they lost about 5.800.000 people, as the investigations of dr. Djordje Pejanović indicate. The break down of the second Yugoslavia and the war that was imposed on the Serbian nation as a whole and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991-95) forced the Serbian people fight against their biological extinction. The following pages of the book by Milivoje Ivanišević “Expulsion of the Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992-95” tell us about the course of preparations and accomplishment of the third genocide over the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the way they had been expelled from that country. Zdravko Antonić Beograd, June 2000

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TO MY FRIEND, MOMČILO KRAJIŠNIK

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INTRODUCTION It was again that the Serbian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina were exposed to the suffering and expulsion. Tens of thousands of human lives lost, even larger number of those maltreated who, in spite of everything they had gone through, stayed alive (invalids, tortured in numerous Muslim and Croatian prisons and camps, mentally and physically ruined people, hundreds of thousands expelled from their homes, devastated villages and private property destroyed) do make a tragic outcome of what the Serbian people have experienced during last years. Hundreds of thousands of distressed Serbian people, the refugees who are now living in Yugoslavia and world wide are nothing but a consequence of ethnic cleansing which had been thoroughly performed during preceding war years in many former Yugoslav republics, and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such an exodus from one’s own land was not recorded in previous wars and under frequent enemy occupations that the Serbs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina had experienced and sustained. In this recently wedged war (is it for the last time?) the Muslims and the Croats have relinquished their common state, Yugoslavia, the peace in that country and what is more important they have degraded and sacrificed their fellow citizens of Serbian nationality for the sake of creating their autonomous, ethnically clean and independent states of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It is one of the reasons that during the war hundreds of thousands of Serbian citizens were forced to leave their homes and look for another place to live and survive. Such tragedy, and it goes for the civil war as well, would have never happened if it had not been for a strong external factor depicted in abusive and tyrannically arrogant attitude of some West-European countries, especially Germany, the United States of America and even Vatican. In order to achieve their goals they had irrevocably put an end to the then undesirable Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, supported the separatism of Bosnia and Herzegovina and recognized it as an independent state with all possible haste. By doing this they neglected the interests of the largest entity of the former state, then they inspired and staged everything that happened soon afterwards. It was the moment and the cause of everything occurring in this war. Throughout centuries numerous occupation forces such as the Ottoman Empire, Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, while ruling in the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo and Metohija, Dalmatia and even Macedonia, dislodged the Serbian population from the Serbian territories acting primarily from the reason of their own safety. The trend usually grew in strength during war times and was not difficult for the occupiers to accomplish as there were also others who grabbed for the same Serbian land, mostly Serbian neighbors, the Croats, Muslims, Albanians, Hungarians, Bulgarians and Macedonians... In order to accomplish their goals and grab some pieces of the Serbian land they always whole-heartedly supported the occupiers and assisted in expelling the Serbs. For that purpose even in those times the same diversity of means was put to use, the genocide being the worst. Compared to other misfortunes and troubles that the Serbs had to endure, both dislodging and dispossession of property were the mildest forms of suffering. In each war it is most important to save one’s life and especially the lives of children and parents.

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Evidently, the practice of ethnic cleansing has been known for a long time. As a rule, the victims, those evicted from their own land, were the Serbs since ancient times. There are numerous evidences. Actually, no war was waged on our territories and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which the Serbs were left alone, on their land and in their homes. No one can neglect harassment and displacement (which usually ended up in expulsion) suffered by the Serbs in the previous two world wars. In both wars the Serbs were active participants together with their neighbors, the Croats and the Muslims. To tell the truth, the Serbs were on the opposite side. In both wars they joined France, England, Russia. America ... Such polarization – the Serbs on one side and their neighbors, the Muslims and the Croats on the other (with Germany and its allies) – always resulted in serious consequences for the Serbs during war times. The word ethnic cleansing could have existed even then. It actually existed but was not used often or was not used at all to denote all such cases of expulsion of the Serbs from their own land and from their own territories. However, from the very onset of this civil war which, when applied to us, always turns into a war between nations and religions, almost the first and basic accusation aimed against the Serbs was the accusation of genocide or ethnic cleansing of non-Serbian population from the territories always inhabited by the Serbs who, of course, lived there even at the outburst of the war. The media of Serbian persecutors, their governmental, non-governmental and even some “humanitarian” institutions have manipulated such accusations. There is not practically a single indictment of the Hague tribunal which does not contain the guilt on account of ethnic cleansing. According to very documented assessments, so far a few hundred Serbs have been formally charged, either publicly or covertly. In the meantime, five of them have been executed, without being put to trial and sentenced. (Let us mention these dead Serbian patriots: Simo Drljača was killed by the British soldiers at a lake near Prijedor while fishing with his son and brother-in-law; Milan Kovačević, MD, also from Prijedor, kidnapped from hospital where he worked and died in prison due to the lack of timely medical help; Slavko Dokmanović from Vukovar, allegedly committed suicide in prison. None of them was aware of being formally charged by the Tribunal prior to the arrest or murder. Dragan Gagović from Srbinje was killed by the French soldiers in an automobile when five children were with him. Maybe no one should neglect a fact that in all these cases the people concerned were persons with high professional qualifications). Kidnapping Serbian high ranking officers and generals for being responsible only due to the chain of command for those acts which took place or probably have taken place irrespective of their knowledge on the territory under their command represents another special section of their gangster-lake and Mafia-like attacks. Thus the victims and prisoners of the Hague Tribunal became the generals Djordje Djukić, Radislav Krstić, Momir Talić, Stanisalv Gajić and colonel Aleksa Krsmanović who, after being maltreated in the Hague and in the Muslim prisons, was finally released. Similarly in today’s (mainly secret) indictments there are names of those Serbian fighters, politicians, patriots and leaders who prevented the genocide over the Serbian people and stopped the eviction of the Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. For the crimes committed over the Serbian people in the territories under the control and command of the Muslims and Croats, starting from Alija Izetbegović and his

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main headquarter headed by Sefer Halilović and Rasim Delić, followed by the corps, division and brigade commanders their is neither commanders’ liability nor any other, direct or indirect, responsibility. Such anti-Serbian attitude of the Tribunal culminated in a recent arrest of one of the national tribunes, Momčilo Krajišnik. The act of kidnapping itself and the gangster-like manner in which it was done caused enormous bitterness of the Serbs in Republika Srpska and Yugoslavia. If the president of the Assembly of the Republika Srpska is guilty of something, the Assembly delegates are guilty as well, guilty at the same extent if not even more. For it is them who took decisions and adopted laws which did not please the creators of the new world order. If the delegates are to be blamed, those who elected them are also guilty. That is the logic practiced in order to satanise the Serbian people to the maximum.

*** As we know, the Muslims have been relieved of any responsibility both for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

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Their guilt, if any, is reduced to the cruelty in prisoners∋ treatment and those least important individuals who exercised such atrocities. There is no commanders’ responsibility either. As an evidence one can take the example of the prisoners’ camp for the Serbs called Čelebići, located in the municipality of Konjic. Numerous monstrous deeds over several hundreds of Serbian prisoners in the Čelebići prisoners’ camp, such as lynch, rape, executions and massacres were not considered as grave crimes (as ethnic cleansing, perhaps, but then it was attributed to the Serbs). This was evident when the charges were brought and when, not long ago the sentences were pronounced, with a lot of difficulty, it seems, to the four Muslim criminals (Hazim Delić, Esad Landža, Zdravko Mucić and Zejnil Delalić). According to the criteria of the Hague Tribunal, the four of them are the only Muslim criminals from the Muslim-Croat Federation who happened to be charged and sentenced for the crimes they had committed against the Serbian population over a period of more than seven years from the founding and existence of this “judicial” institution. The ousting and cleansing done by the Muslims and the Croats along the Neretva valley were not even mentioned in the charges brought against the mentioned four. Thousands of killed Serbs and hundreds of burnt and destroyed Serbian villages in that part of presently devastated Herzegovina are of no concern to the prosecutors of the Hague Tribunal. For them that is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing. In other words, no crime over the Serbian people. On the contrary, one of the Muslim leaders, a renowned criminal Zejnil Delalić, the coordinator of such action at the very beginning of the war in spring and summer 1992 in the territory of Jablanica, was found not guilty and set free by the same Tribunal. The remaining three were indicted only on account of maltreatment of the prisoners. The guilt for ethnic cleansing (as well as for the crime of all crimes – genocide) is reserved only for those Serbs who prevented completion of genocidal plans of the Muslims and the Croats (as well as the plans of their American, German and other West-European mentors) and, where possible, organized more or less successful defense of the Serbian people. On several occasions and in different ways, this fact was brought to the public by the representatives of the Hague Tribunal. They are deaf and blind for the crimes committed against the Serbian people. They only bother because of the fact that the Serbian people opposed and defended themselves. That is their guilt. That is why charges are being brought against the Serbian leaders and patriots. That is why the Tribunal is being qualified, not only in Republika Srpska or in Yugoslavia, but worldwide as well, as a political instrument of those morally and politically – especially after the NATO attack against Yugoslavia – already largely defeated countries. The instruments and institutions of justice are only to be established and the Serbian nation will participate in the process. When directly subordinated is found not guilty, as we saw in the case of Zejnil Delalić, his superior, the president of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also acquitted of all charges. The same goes for all other military personnel and civilians who served under him and participated in mass genocide and expulsion of the Serbian people from this republic and destroying of their material and religious property.

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Tragic suffering of the Serbian people and the ousting of their patriots and leaders were accompanied by the tragedy of the Serbian houses of worship, Serbian material evidence of their permanent and undisputed presence in the same territories, Serbian monuments of culture and history, Serbian graveyards and individual graves from the times of peace or from former invasions of mainly the same enemy. In a vandalistic attack of unrestrained Muslim and Croatian combatants and extremists, numerous busts were broken, monuments of great Yugoslavs, European scientists, intellectuals and artists of the Serbian origin smashed as well as many monuments dedicated to those who fought against fascism during the World War II. In the territories occupied from the beginning of the armed attack against the Serbian people by the Muslim or Croat authorities almost all religious and cultural monuments and buildings were destroyed. Monasteries, Orthodox cathedrals and episcopal courts, memorial chapels dedicated to the martyrs from the previous wars, parochial churches and parish rectories, monuments of culture and memorial complexes were demolished. Even the dead Serbs were not left in peace. Many graveyards were demolished and bones of the deceased scattered.

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R E S I S T A N C E With the break-up of Yugoslavia the Serbian people residing in former republics (now Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia) were left at the mercy of the authorities of those new states, led by Alija Izetbegović and Franjo Tudjman. The national and religious intolerance, domineering political convictions of these leaders, was not in the least promising for Serbs. On the contrary. Once revived state symbols and emblems followed by the party armed paramilitary formations, especially the Ustashas, Green Cadre, Khanjar Division, Devil’s Division and similar did not only degrade all political, religious and cultural existence and rights of the Serbs but they also threatened with the new physical liquidations of the Serbs and their ethnical cleansing from the two states. The atrocities experienced by the Serbs during the World War II threatened to repeat. Not a single party among the old political parties or the new ones did try to protect the Serbian people and their existential needs. Further survival of Bosnian and Herzegovinin Serbs depended only on the individual, family and local ingenuity and inventiveness. To all political, religious, cultural and armed pressure Serbs opposed by the same political, religious, cultural means or arms. The only bright spot for the Serbs in that chaos and confusion in which they found themselves was the Serbian Democratic Party led by an academician Jovan Rašković in Croatia and dr. Radovan Karadžić, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Actually, or to be more specific, the party was more the movement of ever-growing resistance of the local Serbs to Croatian Ustasha ideology and Islamic fundamentalism than the true political and especially ideologically coherent party. Still, the movement and its leaders became the only mainstay for the Serbs – that one can overcome the new evil and find a way to survive.

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As the Serbian resistance grew in force and efficiency, the pressure exerted upon them grew stronger and stronger, too. From one day to another, from one month to another the pressure kept growing and the same happened with the resistance when it escalated with such a force that with the ardent support of their mentors, the initiators and activators of genocide and eviction of the Serbian nation, after suffering numerous defeats, started accusing Serbs for something they initiated themselves and tried to accomplish. Irrespective of all media tricks and manipulations, such defeats on the ground were hard to be born by NATO patrons and their prot⎡g⎡es. Politically deprived of their rights, the Serbian people could nothing else to do but to fight for its physical survival. UN representatives, representatives of the so-called international community, various humanitarian, or better to say supposedly humanitarian organizations, diplomats, newspaper men, numerous foreigners who flocked to the region were witnesses of such crimes over the Serbs. Most of them were aware of the prisoners’ camps, executions, expulsions and maltreatment of the Serbs in Sarajevo, Konjic, Mostar, Zenica, Tuzla... Some of them probably did report the facts to their governments and institutions they represented, but the world did nothing to protect the Serbs. The media were blocked for all the news telling about terrible suffering of the Serbian people. Such attitude reached the highest point at the end of summer 1995 when NATO forces joined Islamic fundamentalists in pursuing their jihad and Croatian nationalistic herds. The consequences of that joint armed campaign were numerous Serbian victims and hundreds of thousand of Serbs expelled from their homes. During all that time any Serbian reaction in arms, even when defending their own homes or villages, was qualified as an aggression while at the same time the attacks of the Muslim or Croatian armed forces were treated as a defense to which they were entitled. Accordingly, sufferings of the Serbs were never treated as a crime while those of the Muslim and the Croats were. The Hague Tribunal is applying the same rule.

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After a series of political, diplomatic and especially military failures, the media, economic blockade and sanctions were never a sufficient compensation in a campaign against the Serbian nation. In order to make the campaign successful, another, disguised, and probably the ultimate mean was activated. The already mentioned “judicial” institution was created. Soon after that, at first public and then even more secret indictments started pouring raised against more prominent Serbian leaders. Maltreatment of the Serbian people kept on going. The authority of the Tribunal in Republika Srpska is not exercised by the international law, the United Nations’ Charter or neutrality of the Tribunal but by tens of thousands of well armed and equipped NATO troops, actually occupation forces masked as UN peace-keeping forces. Their peace-keeping role is reduced to intimidation of the Serb, killings and kidnappings of respectable leaders and patriots. In Yugoslavia, as in other lawful and independent states of the world, this Tribunal means nothing at all.

However, the price that the Serbian nation has paid and still is paying for its defiance of new powers, successors of former imperialistic conquerors and subjugators is huge. The subject of this analysis is the final eviction, that is, ethnic cleansing performed over the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When talking about ethnic cleansing no one can avoid the ethnic cleansing in the Republic of Croatia (Western Slavonia, the region of Knin, Lika, Banija, Kordun, Baranja, Eastern Slavonia and Western Srem). As of recently, after the aggression of NATO criminals on Yugoslavia, we find Kosovo and Metohija in an almost identical situation. The most important contribution to all this was made by the United States of America, the UN Security Council, especially its five permanent members, the states ruled by the Islamic fundamentalists and a large number of West-European countries.

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DISLODGMENT The Muslim-Croat Federation, as one of the two entities of the post-Dayton newly created European state, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has completed its ethnic cleansing long ago. This statement is being verified by almost all available demographic indicators, irrespective of the fact who is hiding them or who is publishing them. Any differences, when we speak about these indicators, between Serbian, Muslim or Croatian figures and percentages are so small that they can be practically neglected. Judging by numerous direct testimonies of those who survived – today’s refugees in Republika Srpska, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and those Serbs who fled abroad – as well as available demographic indicators and analyses, radical dislodgment, eviction, or ethnic cleansing of the Serbs was performed in all parts of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina which, during the fighting, were under either military or civil control of the Muslim-Croat Federation and its rule or which were later on pushed by the Dayton dictate and diplomatic pressure, under the control of that Federation. Almost identical scenario was applied in the region of Tuzla, central Bosnia, in the region of Bosnian Krajina, the region of Lašva – Bugojno, the Neretva valley, in Western Herzegovina and in some major towns (Tuzla, Zenica, Travnik, Bihać, Mostar, Goražde, Sarajevo). The number of people dislodged from the territory of today’s Muslim-Croat Federation during the recent war could be best established by means of indicators to be quoted later in this analysis. It has to be stressed that the said dislodging was accomplished during a very short period, mostly during spring and summer 1992. To tell the truth, the exodus from some territories and especially from the city of Sarajevo lasted as long as the fighting continued and was finally completed on 20 March, 1996 when the Serbs had left the city. After the international peace conference held in Dayton in November, and the agreement signed the following month in Paris, the city of Sarajevo as a whole was handed over to the Muslim-Croat Federation. That document was disastrous not only for Sarajevo’s Serbian citizens but for the Serbian people in traditionally ethnically pure municipalities or municipalities with insignificant number of other ethnic groups of Bosnian Krajina: Bosanski Petrovac, Drvar, Bosansko Grahovo, Glamoč, Ključ and other municipalities.

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The Region of Tuzla

The region, naturally domineered by Tuzla, is a unique example because of the most perfidious way by which the Serbs were evicted. The mayor of this town is a certain Selim Bešlagić, a man from an old and well known family from Tuzla. At the multi-party elections he was elected from the list of candidates of the Socialist-Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was one of its main candidates. During the war he kept stressing and repeating that Tuzla was a multiethnic civilian community, such as were authorities under his control and management. In other words, according to him Tuzla had remained an “oasis of peace” throughout the war. The same was repeated by the UNPROFOR in its bulletins as well as many governmental and

nongovernmental institutions in the world. (As a praiseworthy Bosnian democrat he was awarded important international recognition by numerous anti-Serb world foundations and forums, and especially by the European social-democrats. One such recognition, known to us, is an award of the international bureau for peace, Sean McBride awarded for the multiethnic resolution of the Bosnian crisis.) In the meanwhile, from the so-called multiethnic Tuzla, whose mayor was so appreciated and praised, almost all Serbian inhabitants were expelled leaving the town under many and different pressures. “They left the town”, was the interpretation of local authorities, and it was their alibi for the world and a proof of their alleged allegiance to civil freedoms and human rights: because they wanted to join their families, attend schools, study, receive medical treatment, participate in some sports events and competitions, visit their relatives in Yugoslavia or abroad, etc. not to mention the so-called humanitarian problems which made the majority of them leave the town, such as: shortage of food, hard living conditions in the town, employment and other duties out of the town of Tuzla... Actually, the true reasons could be found in permanent media harassment of the Serbs, maltreatment of people in their homes and at work, molesting children at schools, tormenting people at night, dispossession of property (especially requisitions of various technical devices and vehicles for military needs), forced mobilization, searching flats and forced bringing in new, Muslim, tenants, forced labor, labeling Serbs as traitors, rapists, beating Serbs and even some murders. Local authorities went that far to adopt a decision on permanent prohibition of return to those citizens who left for Yugoslavia, irrespective of the reasons that made them leave. The decision did not apply to those citizens of Tuzla who went abroad or to any other former Yugoslav republic. Prisons and prisoner’s camp full with Serbs were not sufficient evidence for the representatives of foreign humanitarian and other institutions, the Red Cross or the representatives of the mass media and press of Serbian suffering in the town (secret or public private prisons, such as prisons of extremely bad reputation like Sapna, Mining Institute, Workers University, Husinska

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buna barracks, Municipal prison etc.). According to the census, in 1991 about 55,000 Muslims, 30,000 so-called Yugoslavs, 20,424 Serbs and similar but lower number of Croats lived in the town of Tuzla. Out of the total number of the so-called Yugoslavs at least one half, that is, 15,000 were the Serbs. In other words, at the beginning of the war more than 35,000 Serbs lived in Tuzla while today we find only about 3,000, mostly persons married to other nationals, the old and sick and a small number of people who did not find a way or did not want to leave the town. It has to be added that all Serbian villages within the municipality of Tuzla were plundered, demolished and burnt to ashes. Today the area is absolutely devastated. Something similar happened to Tuzla’s Croats. They were also dislodged but, to tell the truth, under different circumstances. (According to the testimony of Ž.Mladjenović in the Book about Tuzla, in the records kept by the Catholic church there were only 83 believers registered in the town in October 1994). Today’s Tuzla, one of the largest towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is mostly inhabited by the Muslims. (How far the process of Islamisation has progressed can be easily seen from the following example recorded at the hospital of Tuzla. At the beginning of 1994 the managers of the gynecological ward issued their warning and prohibition by which gynecologists and obstetricians of the Serbian origin were forbidden to examine and especially to deliver Muslim babies by the Muslim women with scarves on their heads).

It is the truth that no one reveals about the representative civil and multiethnic town of Tuzla, the municipality of Tuzla and their authorities. The truth about the “Oasis of peace” named so by its preposterous mayor.

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In other municipalities within this region the exodus of the Serbian population was completed in an even more energetic and radical way in 1992. We are talking about the following municipalities: Kladanj (3,833 Serbs) Živinice (3,499) Lukavac (12,281) Gradačac (11,184) Kalesija (7,669) Srebrenik (5,326) Gračanica (13,566) and Olovo (3,196). Even prior to signing of the Dayton dictate, in the parts belonging to the so-called Muslim-Croat Federation, only between 2,000 and 3,000 Serbs were left. Many of them were not expelled but killed mostly in prisoners∋ camps, in houses or while digging trenches and other fortifications for the Second (Tuzla) Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Anyhow, the final balance for the Serbs is disastrous. Along with the exodus of the Serbs their spiritual upholds were destroyed as well. Following churches were demolished: St.Elijah church at Gradačac (built in 1887) and St.Mark church at Krečane, the churches in the municipality of Kalesija, at Dubnica and Jegilov Lug, Kladanj (St.Demetrius’ church), Požarnica (called the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, built in 1896). Parochial houses and other church buildings at Požarnica (two of them), Gradačac, Kladanj, Živinice (two buildings). Apart from that, damaged, hit or demolished buildings are: Orthodox cathedral built in 1882 and Episcopal court in Tuzla, St.George church and parochial administrative building at Trnovac, parochial house at Olovo. Churches at Banovići and Lukavac were also damaged but the exact extent of damage has not been known to the author as yet. Actually, practically nothing that bore any connection with the Orthodox church did remain undestroyed or unsacriledged in the conquest of the Islamic and Vatican’s herds, both civilian and armed ones.

*** The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. Serbian(or Orthodox) population in the municipalities of the region of Tuzla 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Tuzla2 5302 20.7 9369 13.3 23195 23.1 17027 17.1 19698 22.7 Kladanj 1203 70.8 3480 31.0 4740 32.4 513339 35.4 3957 34,5 Živinice 2110 7.1 Banovići 4609 26.9

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Lukavac 10052 29.4 Gradačac 20491 35.9 15457 32,3 10589 25.1 8091 18.9 Kalesija 6771 25.2 Srebrenik 3156 11.2 Gračanica 6300 70.8 13079 41.0 21276 38.1 12251 26.4 8035 26.6 Olovo 2832 25.0

1 According to the Turkish census – only men 2 For 1865 – both Gornja (Upper) and Donja (Lower) Tuzla Sources:: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to the religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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Central Bosnia

Central Bosnia, that is the valley of the river Bosna, was the first region from which the Croats and the Muslims ousted the Serbian population almost instantly. The region then become the exquisite mujahedin territory for their training camps and actions launched at the beginning only against the Serbian population but as soon as the fighting with the Croats started, the orientation was broaden to include Catholics and other Christians in the region. That is why the region accommodated most of the Islam sacred warriors who were arriving, in large numbers, from numerous Muslim and especially Arabic countries (Jordan, Syria, Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sudan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran and others). The municipality of Visoko kept its mujahedin characters even after the Dayton document was signed and the Americans, who at all times and places are almost pathologically afraid of the Islamic warriors, were forced to intervene with their prot⎡g⎡e Alija Izetbegović repeatedly to relieve them of such pests. And he

did that, but in his own way. He married off most of them and thus legalized their stay in the country. Nowadays there are no more Serbian villages in Central Bosnia except symbolically in a small piece of territory belonging to Republika Srpska. Hundreds of Serbian villages were either burnt and devastated or are now inhabited by the sacred warriors of Islam and their families who also live in numerous secret and public camps. When we take into account the municipalities of Central Bosnia, the situation is almost identical everywhere. Smaller towns, or municipal centers, as well as rural areas were exposed to massive eviction of the Serbian population. In Visoko out of 7377 Serbs only a few dozens have remained. About 2289 Serbs lived in Žepče. They were expelled, contrary to other municipalities, where the Muslims performed the cleansing, by the Croats. In this way they created their pure Croatian municipality, isolated and surrounded by the Muslims. In Kakanj lived 4039 Serbs while today there are only a few hundred. The figure can make us believe that today Kakanj is the most Serbian of all towns of Central Bosnia. Here, like in other cases, we have many people coming from “mixed marriages” who sometimes declared themselves as the Serbs and sometimes Yugoslavs. There used to be more Serbs in Maglaj than the Muslims and the Croats due to the vicinity of the mountain of Ozren whose inhabitants always migrated toward this town.

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From the town and surrounding villages that are now belonging to the Muslim-Croat Federation most of formerly 13,297 registered Serbs were expelled. Their property, as well as the property of other Serbs, was robbed, burnt and devastated. Even those villages in the Ozren region, that once used to be pure Serbian are deserted. It is similar with the municipality of Zavidovići where 11,637 Serbs used to live. The last Serbs of this rural area left after the offensive launched by the joint forces of the NATO aviation and rapid-deployment artillery units, mujahedin armed herds and two Muslim corps (Tuzla and Zenica corps) against the Serbs and their army in the area of Vozuće in autumn 1995. Today, in Zavidovići, mainly in the town itself, one can still find about three hundred Serbs. Tešanj is a prevailing Muslim municipality with a little more than 3,078 Serbs. Here again the Serbs were expelled. Serbian residents of Vareš (more than 3,630 Serbs used to live there) were also expelled. A considerably lower number of the Serbs has been registered in the municipalities: Breza (2,118), Kiseljak (747) and Kreševo (33). Before the war the largest portion of Central Bosnia used to be considerably industrially developed region with very heterogeneous population, a huge number of married couples of different nationalities and consequently with a high percentage of those who declared themselves as Yugoslavs. There were about 30,000 Yugoslavs in the municipalities of central Bosnia, out of which more than 15,000 of them lived in Zenica. According to numerous estimations out of such demographic and statistic figure (still insufficiently defined, in our belief), at least one half were the Serbs, as was the case in Tuzla. However, such Yugoslavship was of practically no help to any of those Serbs-Yugoslavs during Muslim raids against Serbian population. It is a known fact that Zenica is the largest and in many ways the most influential town of Central Bosnia. In it, counting also a part of the above mentioned Yugoslavs, lived about 30,000 Serbs. Nevertheless, already in June 1992 Zenica was without its Serbian and a large part of Yugoslav residents. Prior to the exodus, most Serbs had experienced the prison regime of the notorious Zenica prison. There the former criminals, who turned into Alija’s prominent warriors, searched the people thoroughly depriving them skillfully of all money, foreign currency and jewelry, practically of everything that they managed to take with them. Robbed, physically and spiritually tortured and maltreated, they were then transported into prisoners’ camps or exchanged. Since then Zenica is one of the most important fortifications – a bastion of Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to verify the fact more convincingly, they established some sort of Islamic Academy of Pedagogy. To tell the truth, a number of Serbs were kept, just in case, about a thousand or two, as the estimates say, to serve as an ikebana – for the promotion, among other things, of a multiethnic entity with civil authority, like Tuzla. Actually, they are kept as hostages, as

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many of them had been found guilty and sentenced for various “crimes”, most often for rebellion against legal bodies of the Muslim authorities and state. And it was exactly in the municipality of Zenica, as far as we know, that not a single Serbian village nor the Serbian population in town was involved in the armed resistance against the Muslim and the Croat herds which attacked their lives and property. The exodus of the Serbs from central Bosnian municipalities, located mostly along the valley of the Bosna river, was accomplished by the Muslims and the Croats in due time, thoroughly, and what is also important, for those who had done it, without any undesirable consequences. No one in the so-called international community and its legal bodies has even had any objection in this regard.

Our historical monuments, ecclesiastical edifices and relics seems to have provoked special furry of the Muslim and the Croatian fanatics. Every little thing that belonged to the Serbian people and its Orthodox church was destroyed, devastated and desecrated. Not even the graveyards and graves from the earliest times were spared, the same graves that even the fascist Pavelić state had not managed and had no time to destroy and dig over during its rule. Our Orthodox places of worship in Kakanj, Maglaj, Skender Vakuf and in other places were destroyed. Damaged, partially burnt or shelled and desecrated were the houses of worship in Breza, Visoko, Kiseljak, Skender Vakuf and Zenica (Mošćanica, Mutnica and Osojnica). Devastated or damaged were parochial homes, chapels and cemeteries in Kakanj, Maglaj, Tešanj, Skender Vakuf... Church relics were broken, stolen or burnt.

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The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. Serbian(or Orthodox) population in the municipalities of Central Bosnia 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Zenica 2414 25.6 5276 18.3 6508 18.2 6172 17.4 13962 16.6 Visoko 2 9352 20.8 12075 21.9 12249 22.8 6457 21.9 Žepče 2597 14.6 7604 24.2 2010 14.4 Kakanj 4937 12.7 Maglaj 8014 68.5 15832 53.6 8853 43.9 10599 44.0 11988 36.4 Zavidovići 10611 29.3 Tešanj 24626 46.8 28474* 67.7 9536 27.6 3336 11.4 Vareš 2 3782 21.0 5025 20.5 Breza 2362 18.6 Kiseljak 994 6.4 Kreševo 129 2.0 1 According to the Turkish census – only men

Ž In 1865 in the municipalities of Visoko and Vareš there were 2016 men of Orthodox religion or 12.3% * Teslić and Tešanj together. Sources: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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The Krajina Region

The Krajina region is an area bordering mostly with Croatia. A part of this territory, Cazinska Krajina, was under rotating rule of Alija Izetbegović and his former vassal who later on turned into his political opponent, Fikret Abdić. Nevertheless, none of them did find place for the Serbian people. Dominant town and center of Cazinska Krajina is Bihać where more than 1,500 Serbs used to live while now we can see only some traces of their former stay and a few people who reluctantly, remained in the town. They saved their heads mainly due to the fact that their parents or spouses were of different religion and nation. Other pre-war and pre-Dayton municipalities existing within Cazinska Krajina are: Velika Kladuša (2,261 Serbs) Cazin (765)

As we can see, they had less Serbian population that Bihać. Still, is it a reason and excuse to have them expelled from their homes? The number of the Serbian people in a village, town, municipality is not that important. What is important is that they have to disappear from there. Namely, they should not exist in a newly composed state conceived and created by Clinton - the so-called Muslim-Croat Federation. After imposing Dayton dictate upon the Serbs, a larger portion of Bosnian Krajina was literally wrenched from the Serbs and handed over to the Muslim-Croat Federation. That happened with the municipalities of: Bosanska Krupa (13,765 Serbs) Sanski most (25,373) Bosanski Petrovac (11,695). The same happened to more than two hundred formerly predominant Serbian villages and four municipalities which historically and demographically used to be Serbian territories from the times immemorial: Drvar with 17,079 inhabitants, 16,613 of them being the Serbs (34 Croats, 33 Muslims, 357 Yugoslavs and 42 people of other nationalities and ethnic groups). Bosansko Grahovo, out of 8,303 inhabitants 7,929 were the Serbs.

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There is also Glamoč in which out of 12,543 inhabitants 9,969 were the Serbs. The Serbs from Ključ left the town as soon as the Dayton agreement was signed and the town and many villages subdued to the so-called Federation. That happened at the end of 1995/beginning of 1996. According to the census from 1991, 18,438 Serbs (2,500 Yugoslavs, 350 Croats and 17,700 Muslims) lived in this municipality. Today in these municipalities and towns we can find only some abandoned, plundered and devastated Serbian houses. All these municipalities and towns, at the will of the Americans and their West-European satellites, are in possession of those who have plundered and devastated them. The total number of evicted persons from the mentioned municipalities of Krajina, that is, its above defined territory, is over 100 000. The exodus was accomplished in two stages. The first stage (Cazin, Velika Kladuša, Bihać) followed immediately after the attack of the Muslim and the Croatian paramilitary formations on the Serbian settlements and Serbs living in those municipalities (1992). The second stage started soon after the Dayton ultimatum was made to the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (November-December 1995) and it was completed in early spring next year. By the will of the signatories to the Dayton documents all those Serbian municipalities were placed under the rule of the Muslim and Croatian authorities and their Federation. One thing the two stages have in common was that the Muslim and the Croats performed evicting of the Serbs thoroughly. In these municipalities of Cazinska Krajina Serbian religious and historical monuments were destroyed. Serbian cultural heritage was destroyed as well as many traces of the former Serbian presence in the territory. The following churches were destroyed: the one in Bihać (Gata), Velika Kladuša (as well as in the village Bosanska Bojna). Town church in Bosanska Krupa was damaged and the one in the village Osredak ravaged. Based on former experience, destruction of the Serbian Orthodox ecclesiastical building, desecration and theft of relics in those municipalities that were taken from Republika Srpska and fell under the management of the Muslim-Croat Federation is still to be expected. Now both Muslims and Croats have a plenty of time to accomplish that. The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. Serbian(or Orthodox) population in the municipalities of the Krajina region 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Bihać 8414 51.8 10864 38.9 17178 43.7 7026 28.5 10781 23.4 V.Kladuša 4193 19.2 3714 12.7 Cazin 6013 52.3 9323 20.1 11072 23.4 2016 6.1 2057 5.9 B.Krupa 4150 49.6 28636 64.8 31500 67.1 17271 47.6 20371 44.3 Sanski most 3180 42.6 23598 61.4 28285 60.5 24405 53.5 16.941 43.0 B.Petrovac 3104 24.6 32326 78.8 24647 75.7 16824 74.7 15060 75.7 Drvar 17702 98.5 15179 90.7 B.Grahovo 24647 94.4 11029 96.1 9783 95.6

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Glamoč 3506 81.4 15795 77.3 19924 80.1 12061 79.6 11972 75.6 Ključ 2436 51.0 20718 66.4 24814 66.6 23668 67.5 19370 61.5 1 According to the Turkish census – only men

Sources: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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Lašva- Bugojno Region

Prior to the outbreak of the recent war the Lašva-Bugojno region, like Cazinska Krajina, was among the territories scarcely inhabited by Serbs. It means that during the first years of the Muslim-Croat raids launched against the Serbs this region was subject to thorough ethnic cleansing. Here again the Croatian and the Muslim civil authorities, their police and armed forces acted united to a great extent. The results of such coordinated action were empty Serbian villages and the Serbs dislodged from towns. Their property, as in other cases, remained in possession of their executors. The biggest town of this region is

Travnik where about 10,000 Serbs used to live. After the exodus which took place at the very beginning of the conflict, the number of Serbs that remained in the town was exactly the number of a minority or ethnic group in any nationally uniform community. They are mostly the old, feeble people and persons with spouses of different nationality. Originally, we have to say, other residents of Travnik were the Muslims and the Croats, in almost equal numbers 32,000 and 26,000 respectively. It is similar with the municipality Pucarevo (now called Novi Travnik) where 4,087 Serbs lived and twice the number of the Croats and the Muslims. In Bugojno there were more than 8,845 Serbs. In Donji Vakuf – about 9,375. At Jajce – 8,384. It is estimated that today in all these municipalities one can hardly find 2,000 Serbs. These were municipalities with more significant number of the Serbs but proportionally less than the Croatian and the Muslim population. Kupres is, in a certain sense, somewhere in between this group of municipalities and the next one, in which presence of the Serbs was only symbolical. In the municipality of Kupres, the major nation was the Serbian (4,895 Serbs, 800 Muslims, 3,800 Croats) but their fate was identical to those of other municipalities of the region. The Serbs from Kupres were finally evicted by the Croats and their armed forces which came from

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Republic of Croatia as well as some units from the so-called Herzeg-Bosnia, at the beginning of November 1994. The following municipalities are those municipalities in which the Serbs lived only in minor numbers: Vitez (1,502) Busovača (634) Gornji Vakuf (106) Fojnica (154) and Prozor (49) According to the former territorial division of Bosnia and Herzegovina some municipalities that we dealt with here did not belong to this region (Jajce, Kupres, Donji Vakuf, Fojnica, Prozor) but under new circumstances and as it was the case with Cazinska Krajina we take them in a broader sense – as the area from which people gravitated to the region of Lašva-Bugojno. For this region, as well as for the region of Central Bosnia and also Herzegovina it is characteristic that the exodus of the Serbs was no guarantee for a peaceful life of the new lords and “co-tenants”, the Muslims and the Croats. Indeed, they soon started fighting so that the Muslims expelled the Croats and vice versa, depending on who was stronger at the municipality at that moment. Their latent fight still goes on even though their armed conflicts temporarily ceased due to the pressure and intervention of foreign forces, America and Germany in the first place. (Due to such pressure and concluded armistice it was possible to create at least a simulated common state, formerly and repeatedly called the so-called Muslim-Croat Federation, one of the two entities of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.) However, the wrangling which is not absolutely neglectable is still going on, followed by intermittent skirmishes on whose is what and who will rule specific municipalities and specific parts to which both sides are entitled. Not by their will, the Serbs were permanently eliminated and it only remains upon the Muslims and the Croats to make mutual agreements and clarifications and this never runs so smoothly. Due to their mutual disagreements on who is going to be in control, they have not yet managed to define all constitutional, legal and territorial aspects. Their mentors, representatives of the international community and creators of this new entity have been worried about that for a long time. The strongest and most frequent conflicts are inspired by possible division of unoccupied and conquered Serbian territories, villages and towns, former Serbian public and private property. (S L I K A – strana 50) In this region many Serbian spiritual and historical monuments were destroyed. The organizers and perpetrators of such misdeeds are mainly the Croats. In Travnik, the Orthodox church located in the center was leveled to the ground; the same was done with the Orthodox churches in Bugojno, Jajce, Donji Malovan (the municipality of Kupres), while the one at Turbet was heavily damaged. Church relics, as in majority of other cases,

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were of the same fate. The only exception are those stolen pieces made of gold or gold-plated which might be traced one day and bought. This is only a remote possibility as they may have already been taken and resold by the Catholic priests or their believers.

The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. Serbian(or Orthodox) population in the municipalities of the Lašva-Bugojno region 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Travnik 660 3.8 4140 11.1 5557 12.2 5850 10.9 7214 15.1 Pucarevo Bugojno 4900 25.9 15289 33.0 12567 29.3 14783 27.3 4346 18.0 D.Vakuf 5940 68.3 15599 79.6 Jajce 6700 37.7 15932 47.1 24176 49.8 18274 49.3 6910 20.0 Kupres 5299 44.9 Vitez 1427 8.8. Busovača 688 5.8 G.Vakuf 329 2.8 Fojnica Prozor 42 0.7 35 0.3 61 0.4 37 0.3 135 0.8

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1 According to the Turkish census – only men

Sources: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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The Valley of the Neretva River

A considerable part of the Neretva river valley was throughout the war and for quite a while after Dayton an area within the Croatian territory called Herceg-Bosnia. Even today this is still a slow burning and very turbulent center of the Muslim-Croat relations and possible misunderstandings. The valley of the Neretva, similarly to all other regions and municipalities from which the Serbs were expelled, is typical for the violent outburst of long hidden antagonisms between the Croatian and the Muslim political parties, their programs, ambitions and interests. Unfortunately, it seems that it was the Serbs who proved to be the only factor and their exodus the only mutual goal which until accomplished provided at least some cooperation and homogeneity of false friends and partners. When the expulsion was completed a lot of disputable issues have come to light between former fellow-soldiers.

Misunderstandings arose in regard to the problems which have not been observed earlier. A significant portion of these misunderstandings and disputes arose in connection with the issues of control and rule over stolen Serbian property, Serbian settlements and territories. The only peaceful spots in this part of Herzegovina, as well as in the Federation itself, one must say, were the old or, during the war, newly created settlements and municipalities inhabited by only one nationality. The best illustration of such misunderstandings not only in the territory of Herzegovina and the valley of the Neretva, but in the overall Muslim –Croat Federation is the town of Mostar. This, in the former Yugoslavia one of the most beautiful towns, favored not only by those who lived in it, but by the whole former Yugoslavia, suffered so much destruction that one can hardly recognize it today. In merciless fighting trying to get Mostar only for themselves neither Croats nor the Muslims paid any attention to victims and destruction of their town to the ground. In their revengeful furry the Croats smashed the symbol of Mostar, a beautiful medieval masterpiece made of stone, the Old Bridge over the Neretva river. But even before this act of vandalism the Serbian population was expelled from Mostar. After that not even the mediation of various international factors (soon after Dayton meeting) gave any significant results. Thus actually Mostar remains a divided town even today. Prior to any armed conflicts about 44,000 Muslims, 43,000 Croats and 23,909 Serbs and about 13,000 Yugoslavs lived in Mostar. The exodus of the Serbs commenced during April/beginning of May and was completed by mid September 1992. For more than four months a few hundred Serbs were killed and the number of 35,000 Serbs or Serbs-Yugoslavs was expelled. Soon after that, at the beginning of the next year, the Croats and the Muslims started fighting ruthlessly.

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Considering the overall population in the municipalities in the valley of the Neretva the Serbs were proportionally less represented, compared to the Muslims and especially the Croats. The similar course of action took place in Konjic, where 6,645 Serbs used to live. Other municipality had even less Serbian residents. Čapljina had 3,768 Serbs, Stolac 3,912. In Jablanica lived only 504 Serbs and at Neum the number was almost symbolical – 209. In terms of dislodging, the number of the Serbs in specific municipalities was neither essential nor even represented any decisive factor. It was the intention of the Croatian or the Muslim authorities and their armed and police forces to have the Serbs expelled that counted. This proved to be true in all municipalities irrespective of the fact whether there lived only a few hundred or a few thousand Serbs. The number itself was important only for the time required by the Croatian or the Muslim authorities to get hold of them, put them to prison, deport to various camps and then finally banish from the territory. Camps played an important role in such deportation of the Serbs. Even though there were a few hundred prisoners’ camps in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by the Muslims and the Croats, still, when taking into account the size of the territory and the number of Serbian population, Herzegovina was the one with the highest concentration of camps. In their practice the Croats have applied their fascist experience from the World War II. Even though all data have not yet been properly processed, and at some places even not collected and assorted, the estimates say that at lest 10,000 Serbs stayed in the camps. Their hardships inflicted by the regimes by which the camps were managed, various forms of torture and maltreatment, poor nourishment, lack of medicines and treatment by camp staff did not differ from the fate and position of prisoners in the concentration camps of Hitler’s Germany or Pavelić’ Independent State of Croatia. Lynch, all forms of humiliation and killing prisoners were ordinary every day routine. Let us remind that in the period 1992-1996 in this territory there were notorious prisoners’ camps: Dretelj, Rodoč, Musala and Čelebići and that apart from few hundred other criminals it was already mentioned Zejnil Delalić, with his assistants, who was at best in his criminal affinity. Zejnil Delalić was a coordinator of the Muslim actions and a trustee of Alija Izetbegović in charge of one part of this territory. The fate of our churches and monasteries in Herzegovina is a special deep-moving story. It represents despair and moral abyss of the civilization of our century and at the same time it is the triumph of blasphemy and satanism of Croatian and Muslim politics and ideology. In the municipality of Mostar it was the monastery of Žitomislić with the church (which was built in 1566) and graves of perfidiously killed monks that were destroyed. Everything that was Serbian and Orthodox in the town was burnt or

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devastated: Orthodox cathedral, Holy Mother of God’s church, Episcopal court and Episcopal quarters, the Old Eparchial edifice, the Treasury below the church of the Birth of Our Lady, desecrated building and destroyed church altar at Bijelo Polje while the eparchial court at the same place over Mostar was devastated. In most cases those were important pieces of architecture and cultural monuments from previous century. The following churches were demolished: at Blagaj – the church of St. Basil of Ostrog (also from the 19th century), at Bogodol – the church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, at Raška Gora – the chapel. In the municipality of Konjic the same happened to the churches at Bradina and Čelebići, while at Blace the chapel was ruined. In the town of Konjic the tower was demolished while the church of St. Basil the Great (from 19th century) was damaged. The house annexed to the church was also demolished and the chapel and cemetery were extensively ruined. At Stolac the church of Ascension of Christ (restored in 1872) was demolished and burnt as well as the Orthodox temples at Neum and Čapljina. The Monastery Zavala with its church (built in 1514) and lodging houses for priests were seriously damaged. Devastated or demolished were almost all rural Orthodox churches, chapels and cemeteries in this part of Herzegovina. In the town of Mostar the bust of a great Serbian and Yugoslav poet Aleksa Šantić was smashed and thrown into the Neretva. It was not only the Serbian people of Herzegovina who suffered because of Croatian destruction of the Memorial Chapel dedicated to the Serbian new martyrs from the previous war, built at Prebilovci.

The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Mostar* 10394 67.4 10443 15.7 12730 15.3 6637 14.6 21126 29.2 Konjic* 5683 67.9 3989 14.2 4739 14.7 5105 12.3 7123 18.6

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Čapljina 3572 14.0 Stolac* 7898 84.7 9101 26.3 10310 25.1 10377 40.1 4691 25.0 Jablanica 1132 11.5 Neum 1 According to theTurkish census – only men * According to the Turkish source for 1865 – the figures stand for all Christian population. Sources:: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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Western Herzegovina

Western Herzegovina is a relatively small area inhabited mostly by the Croats. A good part of Western Herzegovina also belonged to the Croatian Herzeg-Bosnia. In this region, as well as in the valley of the Neretva even prior to 6th April, being the date when Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognized as an independent state, that considerable armed forces of the neighboring Croatia were stationed and remained in the territory even after signing of the Dayton document. Most of the armed assaults, camps establishing and expulsion of the Serbian people were accomplished equally by these units and the armed formations of Herzeg-Bosnia.

Serbs lived mostly at Livno – 3,782, then at Duvno (Tomislavgrad) - 570 and a very few of them lived at Lištica – 147, Ljubuški – 64, Čitluk – 19, Posušje – 9, Grude – 8. The expulsion from the territory of above municipalities was already completed during spring months of 1992. In this territory numerous religious (Orthodox) buildings were destroyed. The churches at Livno, Duvno and Ljubuški were demolished, burnt or laid waste and desecrated. The memorial ossuary at Livno was mined, while parochial house was burnt. The churches at the villages Rujani and Rašćani were also laid waste. The chapel Dobrič, at the municipality of Lištica, was damaged. The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations.

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Serbian (or Orthodox) population in the municipalities of Western Herzegovina 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Livno 5013 30.8 15817 38.9 6296 18.9 4923 13.4 52789 13.1 Duvno* 12452 91.8 1143 5.1 1222 4.7 754 2.5 1124 3.4 Lištica 330 1.3 Ljubuški* 8527 58.4 179 0.4 92 0.2 178 0.7 Čitluk 74 0.5 Posušje 44 0.3 1 According to the Turkish census – only men * For 1865 – the figures indicate Christian population of Duvno and Ljubuški together Sources: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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Bosnian Posavina

At the onset of the war till the breaking through of the Serbian corridor from Banja Luka to Bijeljina, this territory was predominantly under the control of the Croatian-Muslim armed forces. After that, and upon the signing of the Dayton document, the municipalities of Orašje and Odžak have fallen under the control of the Federation, as well as some rural areas within the municipalities of Bosanski Šamac, Brčko, Modriča... From those municipalities, that is, from those

municipalities which had fallen under the Federation control, about 1,000 people of Serbian nationality was expelled. Preparations for the fight with the Serbs at Posavina lasted throughout the year 1991 and the final resolution took place in February and March 1992 at the time when Bosnia and Herzegovina was still within the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. In the meantime, by cunning maneuvering, the Republic of Croatia managed to infiltrate into the territory a large number of its combatants, establish illegally and supply with arms members of the Croatian and the Muslim political parties from the municipalities of Posavina and together with the Muslims prepare for the attack on Serbian settlements. In spring 1992 in a synchronized offensive conducted in Herzegovina and in the plateau of Kupres, they launched the armed actions in which they had isolated all larger Serbian settlements in the municipalities of Orašje and Odžak. At the same time numerous camps were established in which several thousand Serbs were kept. Soon afterwards they subjected the Serbs to various kinds of blackmail before releasing them. In most cases they insisted on the exchange according to the reciprocity. Such kind of blackmail was applied to the Serbian leaders of Šamac, the only municipality that successfully defended itself against the attacks of the Croatian-Muslim paramilitary formations. They were forced to find sufficient number of the Muslims and the Croats, either on their free will or using some administrative measures who could be exchanged for the Serbs imprisoned in the camps in Orašje and Odžak. The consequences of this act are known. The Serbian leaders of Šamac were accused of ethnic cleansing and the Hague Tribunal brought its action against them. The Croats and the Muslims, the creators and the first direct perpetrators who ethnically cleansed the huge territory of Posavina were and still are innocent both for the Tribunal and the whole world. Ethnic cleansing of the Serbs was thus again legalized by the so-called international community while the coerced Serbs and what they did under pressure and for the purpose of self-protection were declared criminals. In this case, as in many cases afterwards, the sequence of acts and sequence of responsibility were bartered away. At a territory presently in possession of the Croats and the Muslims that belongs to the so-called Federation, the churches at Orašje, Gnionica, Donja Dubica and Novi Grad were destroyed. At Novi Grad parochial house was shelled and quite damaged. In this

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case again, as before, we do not mention devastated religious and buildings of culture located in those municipalities that, according to the Dayton Agreement, are located in those municipalities that were denominated to belong to Republika Srpska. Throughout Posavina there are ruined houses of worship at almost all places that were under temporary Croat or Muslim control in 1992.

The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. Serbian (or Orthodox) population in the municipalities of Posavina 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Orašje 4421 20.4 Odžak 7901 30.9 5904 26.4 1 According to the Turkish census – only men Sources: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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Major Towns

Major towns that were under military or civil Muslim or Croat authorities had been, as pointed out on several occasion by the first president of Republika Srpska, dr. Radovan Karadžić, prisoners’ camps for the Serbs of a special kind as long as the war lasted. The UN Security Council contributed to such a state considerably, as many of those towns were treated as special zones (Goražde, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihać) under its protection. In that way the military and civil authorities of Alija

Izetbegović were free to do with the Serbs what they wanted. And they used that right extensively. In previous chapters dealing with the expulsion of the Serbs from specific territories we also mentioned all available information about their fate in most major towns of those regional communities (Tuzla, Zenica, Bihać, Travnik, Mostar). The only thing that has left is to tell something about the destiny of the Serbs in Goražde and Sarajevo. The municipality of Goražde was inhabited by over 10,000 Serbs, 26,000 Muslims and a little more than 700 Yugoslavs. In the town itself lived 9,600 Muslims, 5,600 Serbs and 650 Yugoslavs. The Serbs from the town and the largest part of that municipality were expelled only after being subject to torture at various camps or privately kept prisons while a few hundred Serbs were killed. Serbian population from the largest part of the country area that was robbed, burnt and devastated was also expelled and that territory is now under control of today’s so-called Muslim-Croat Federation. The only Serbs who remained on the ground are those living at Kopači (the seat of today’s Serbian municipality Goražde) and surrounding places located within the borders of Republika Srpska. At Goražde the following Serbian Orthodox buildings were demolished or burnt: the Church of St. George built in 1446 (a renowned monument of national culture at which the first Serbian printing press was located from 1529 to 1531), the chapel and parochial house were demolished and the graveyard at Kopači was devastated, it was actually excavated by a dredger. The city of Sarajevo is a story for itself, but no doubt it was the biggest grave of the Serbian people in the war. All estimates on the Serbian casualties are quite unreliable and different. However, even stated in the mildest form they are more than terrifying. Depending on the source from which they originated, the figures about the Serbs who were killed in Sarajevo most often range between 8,000 and 20,000 victims. To tell the truth there are some estimates that reach even the figure of 30,000 but there are even those, a smaller number of them, who believe that only 6,500 Serbs were killed. No one

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says the figure could be smaller, even when we speak about the multitude of the Muslim sources (always treated by the author as unreliable). We are stating the Serbian casualties in Sarajevo because the figure directly produces effect on the total number of the Serbs expelled from the city. Unfortunately for the whole Serbian nation, the dead were permanently left hidden at various secret places of execution known only to the executors. The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into ten suburban and city municipalities with only two suburban municipalities, Pale and Trnovo, belonging to Republika Srpska. According to the census from 1991 in those ten municipalities lived 158 000 Serbs (30.0%), 56,000 Yugoslavs (10.6%), 35,000 Croats (6.7%) and other nations 18,500 (3.5%). But these figures represented a little more than the half of the total number of residents of this city (526 000). The second half was composed of the Muslims. If, as most estimates says, at least one half of the Yugoslavs were of the Serbian origin, than the total number of the Serbs in Sarajevo could be estimated at more than 185 000. The expulsion of the Serbs from Sarajevo was accomplished in two stages: the first one, which commenced even prior to the declaration of independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and continued till the moment of signing of the Dayton act and realization of the fact that Sarajevo was absolutely taken from the Serbs and given away to the Muslims and their so-called Federation. At that first stage the Serbian civilians emigrated exclusively from those city municipalities that were under control of the Alija Izetbegović∋s armed forces and civil authorities. The second stage commenced as soon as the dictate of Dayton was signed (November – December 1995) and covered the whole territory of Sarajevo, meaning both those municipalities that already belonged to the BH federation and those newly annexed that used to be entirely or partially a part of Republika Srpska, inhabited mostly with the Serbian population (Ilijaš, Ilidža, Hadžići, Vogošća, etc). The only exception were the municipalities of Pale and Trnovo with the total number of 13,000 Serbian inhabitants. The expulsion of the Serbs from Sarajevo was completed on 20 March 1996, when the Serbs left a part of Grbavica. It is estimated that from spring 1992 until the above date in 1995 the total number of the expelled Serbs reached the figures of 150 000 – 155 000 while in the municipalities of Pale and Trnovo and in a rather small territory of Sarajevo suburbs that are inhabited by the Serbs and in the city itself (today under the rule of the Muslim-Croat Federation) remained between 30,000 and 35,000 Serbs, former Sarajevo residents, at the maximum. Certain differences in interpreting the above figures are the result of already mentioned unknown figure of the Serbian victims in the city. During the war operations in this city, in the period 1992-95, the following Serbian religious and cultural monuments and buildings were partially or completely destroyed: Orthodox cathedral (built in previous century), Metropolis, the church of St. Archangels, Gabriel and Michael, the Church of St. Lazarus, the church of the St. Sava of Serbia, the building of the Theological Seminary with the library, the church of Transfiguration of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, the church of the St.Great-Martyr George (built in 1886). These were not the religious buildings only but

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the important cultural and historical monuments of our nation, some of them being under special protection of the state for decades. The following table shows what were the percentages of the Serbian population out of the total number of citizens in the mentioned municipalities of the region, based on some earlier statistical investigations. Serbian (or Orthodox) population in Sarajevo and Goražde 18651 1910 1931 1948 1961 Municipality Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Sarajevo 9737 26.4 35081 35.3 55477 38.6 65789 38.5 Goražde 6316 79.1 10327 30.1 9194 29.4 1 According to Turkish census – only men Sources: - Djordje Pejanović “Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Serbian Academy of Science, Division of Social Sciences, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. - Final Results of the Census of 31 March, 1931, volume 2, registered population according to its religion, Central statistics of the state, Beograd, 1938 - Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina – their settlements and religions, 1991, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Beograd, 1992.

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EPILOGUE Summarizing what has been said so far one can confidently conclude that at least 555 000 Serbians were evicted from the territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina governed by the Muslim-Croat Federation. Today they can be all found in exile predominatly dislocated in the devastated communities at the territory of their state, Republika Srpska. Many of them live in Yugoslavia, mostly in Central Serbia and a significant number can be found in Vojvodina. There are only a few in Montenegro and in Kosovo and Metohija. However, some have tried to find solution for their lives abroad, even out of Europe, in Australia, in the United States, on the African continent. The uncertainty of taking back former ownership over the property that is now on the foreign territory or getting adequate compensation for it is an extremely difficult problem for all refugees and for Republika Srpska itself, since they mainly live in its territory. Namely, various agencies of the so-called Federation as well as some OSCE agencies have made this procedure very complicated and such problems are resolved very slowly. However, the return of property or equitable compensation is one of main conditions of at least any economic recovery of each expelled family. Otherwise, they will live lives with no future, dependant on mercy of various domestic and international humanitarian institutions. No matter how important such loss of material goods can be, still the greatest loss that is threatening us, is the one produced by difficulties in education. The population of refugees has several thousands of children and youth without true chances to acquire proper education, knowledge and qualifications. In this way the intellectual potential of the nation has been put into danger and not only the potentials of these thousands of youngsters. The care about refugees has been primarily focused on their mere survival: accommodation, food, clothing and medical protection. Everything else is of lesser importance. Save for the youngest, for whom elementary education have been provided, all other categories of youngsters are in jeopardy. Financial conditions and motives of the states and communities in which they found their refuge rarely coincide with intellectual potentials, ambitions and needs of a huge number of adolescent boys and girls. Their families are absolutely incapable of doing anything for them. And quite often they are desperate. The misery in which they found themselves, their everyday struggle for survival of individuals and families made many young people engage in various manual works instead of learning and studying. Instead of having doctors, economists, lawyers, engineers, artists and scientists we will have manual labor. Obviously this is the greatest loss, apart from the loss of a large number of precious human lives, that the Serbian nation has suffered during the war. However, the awareness of the loss has not yet been fully expressed, naturally. It will be reflected in all aspects of economic and social activities of the Serbian state and nation in the years and decades to come. It is noticeable that the vast majority of the Serbian refugees do not want to return to their homeland and their homes that are now governed by the Muslim or the Croatian authorities and the number of those who are expecting to do so is utterly insignificant.

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The feeling of inner repugnancy over possible return is equally detected at all social strata, starting with the least educated to the leading intellectuals, artists and scientists. The feeling of sadness and longing for the native place and patrimony have not been extinguished. On the contrary. Such feelings are still noticeable but it seems they have been silenced by the tragic experience from this war and, what is more noteworthy, by the concern for the future of new, young generations that would surely find themselves under the attack of their neighbors and fellow-citizens in the foreseeable future as it was the case with their parents and grand-parents. The feelings of disgust and bitterness have been brought about by the attitude of the Muslims and the Croats, who in many cases used to be their former neighbors, colleagues at work, associates in institutions, schools and universities, former fellow-workers at various scientific and cultural institutions, sports teammates, political like-minded persons, political party followers and even the Muslim and the Croatian poor people and beggars who, in most cases and more than the others, inflicted all the evils that the refugees have suffered. In order to get permanently away from their fellow-citizens, not only physically but emotionally as well, those who were always covert, perfidious and everlasting enemies, as proved permanently in the past, Serbia refugees took with them everything they considered sacred and precious, their religious relics, icons and icon lamps, mortal remains of dear departed and even relocated many graves. Those possessions that were accumulated for generations and generations were left to the Croats and the Muslims, their former neighbors, to acquiesce in, satisfy their robber’s greed and self-indulgence and feel triumphant…. Finally some old futile beliefs about shared living have dispersed. That delusion was costly paid by the Serbian nation in each war waged in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and who finally managed, even though very reluctantly, to discard the idea. Return again, forgive and forget, as their ancestors had already done twice after being expelled from their homes, would mean to disregard all horrible and tragic experiences and create conditions for the tragedy of future generations. That is the origin of the repugnance for return and earnest belief that the peace and safety can only be found within the borders of the Serbian state and among one’s own nationals. Such tragic experience, repeated several times, does not offer either some other or better solution to the Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Documentation of the Centre for Investigation of the Crimes Over Serbian People,

Beograd (1992-99). 2. Reports of the Committee for gathering information about crimes against humanity

and international law (1-10), Beograd. 3. Stanovništvo Bosne i Hercegovine po naseljima i nacionalnoj pripadnosti (Population

of Bosnia and Herzegovina in settlements and by nationality), 1991, Savezni zavod za statistiku, Beograd, 1992.

4. Slobodan Mileusnić: Duhovni genocid 1992-93, Muzej srpske pravoslavne crkve, Beograd, 1994.

5. Strahinja Živak: Sve-dok, IKP Nikola Pašić, Beograd, 1998. 6. Željko Mladjenović: Knjiga o Tuzli, Grafopublik, 1996, Beograd. 7. V.Hadživuković, M.Ivanišević, D.Tanasković: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chronicle of

an announced death, Boksit, DD Milići, 1993 8. Iskorenjivanje Srba u Bosni i Hercegovini 1992-93 by D.Jovanović, G.Bundalo,

N.Govedarica, Rad, Beograd, 1994. 9. Deseti krug by Vidoje Konator and Tihomir Burzanović, Perin, Podgorica, 1993. 10. Zločin je zločin prećutati by Andjelko Mislić, Beograd, 1994. 11. Milivoje Ivanišević: Hronika našeg groblja, Committee for gathering information

about crimes against humanity and international law, Beograd, 1994. 12. Stradanje Srba u Konjicu i Tarčinu, by Dušica Bojić, Commissariat for refugees of

the Republic of Serbia, Beograd, 1995. 13. Otrovi prećutanih istina, by Andjelko Maslić, Niš Sarajevo-srpski pres, Beograd,

1995. 14. Žarko Krstanović: Genocidom protiv Srba, Committee for gathering information

about crimes against humanity and international law, Beograd, 1995. 15. Tihomir Burzanović: Genocid sa neba, Association of the Serbs in Vojvodina and the

Fund for Aid for the Serbs Toma Maksimović, Novi Sad, 1995. 16. Zločin čeka kaznu by M.Janković, Z.Stanković, M.Jeftić and Dj.Mikić, Novi Sad,

1995. 17. Mladenko Kumović: Poreklo, migracija i stradanje Srba sa Kupresa, Novi Sad, 1996. 18. Stradanje Srba u Mostaru i dolini Neretve, by Dušica Bojić, Commissariat for

Refugees of the Republic of Serbia, Beograd, 1996. 19. Stradanje Srba u Sarajevu by D.Bojić, Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of

Serbia, Beograd, 1996. 20. Zatvori i logori za Srbe u Hrvatskoj i Bosni i Hercegovini 1992-93, statements of the

prisoners, NIU Vojska, Beograd, 1997. 21. Strahinja Živak: Živim da svedočim, Svet knjige, Beograd, 1997. 22. Nikola Heleta: Goražde 92-95, Centre for investigation of crimes over Serbian people

and NPK Nikola Pašić, Beograd, 1996. 23. Drago Damjanac: Od logora do logora – crna Lora, Center for investigation of

crimes over Serbian people and NPK Nikola Pašić, Beograd, 1997. 24. Damjan M.Jelić: Golgoda Srba - ponovo, Štit-M and Muzej žrtava genocida,

Beograd, 1999

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25. Ozren, Vozuća i Gostović by Milenko Djukanović and Novak Demonjić Ozrenski, Svet knjige, Beograd, 1998.

26. Simo Zarić: Na Haškom raspeću, Štit-M2, Beograd, 1999. 27. Kosta Čavoški: Hag protiv pravde, IKP Nikola Pašić, Beograd, 1998. 28. Simo Purgić: Priča o agresoru, Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1999. 29. Dabar, Bulletin of the Monastery of the Mother of God at Dobrun, No. 5-11. 30. Vidoslov, Bulletin of the diocese of Zahum-Hercegovina and Primorka, the monastery

of Tvrdoš - Trebinje. 31. Djordje Pejanović: Stanovništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, Srpska akademija nauka,

Odelenje društvenih nauka, volume 12, Beograd, 1955. 32. Final results of the census of 31 March, 1931. volume 2, population according to

confessions, Opšta državna statistika, Beograd, 1938. 33. Duško Jakšić: Republika Srpska, prostor, stanovništvo, resursi, Narodna i

univerzitetska biblioteka “Petar Kočić”, Banja Luka, 1995. 34. Zoran Petrović Piroćanac: Izbrisati srpski virus, mala antologija rasizma i šovinizma

na kraju milenijuma, Jugoistok, Beograd, 1999. 35. Milan Mitrović: Golgota Srba iz Srednje Bosne, Agency for exchange of property,

Banja Luka, 1995.

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First acts of the Islamic vandalism against the Serbian culture Ruined monument dedicated to Andrić in Višegrad.

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The monument dedicated to Ivo Andrić (detail)

New monument dedicated to Ivo Andrić in Višegrad made of the same material, identical to the original, by the same sculptor Antonić.

The unveiling of the monument was attended by Radovan Karadžić, President of

Republika Srpska.

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Elementary school at Hašani and the pedestal where the bust of Branko Ćopić used to be.

Ruins of the Church of St. George at Blagaj, Kupres. Demolished by Croats in 1995.

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Srebrenica, 13 July, 1995. Burnt Serbian Church (Photo: M.Ivanišević).

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C O N T E N T S PROLOGUE INTRODUCTION RESISTANCE EXPULSION The Region of Tuzla Central Bosnia The Region of Bosnian Krajina The Region of Lašva-Bugojno The valley of the Neretva River Western Herzegovina Bosnian Posavina Major Towns EPILOGUE Sources and Bibliography Photographs About the author: Milivoje Ivanišević is the manager of the Center for Investigation of the Crimes over the Serbian People which he established as non-governmental organization in 1992 when the first armed conflicts occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Center∋s seat is in Beograd. He is the Senator of Republika Srpska. So far he published a number of articles, especially about the events in Eastern Bosnia and Srebrenica. He is the author of the book about agony of the Serbian population in Bratunac, Milići, Skelani and Srebrenica: “The Chronicle of our Graveyard” (1994), co-author with Vesna Hadživuković and Darko Tanasković of the work “Bosnia-Herzegovina: CHRONICLE OF AN ANNOUNCED DEATH” (1993) and the publication (Boro Mišeljić) “The Great Deceptions” (1997). The institution of which he is in charge of since 1998 publishes, him being the editor, the results of the research done in regard to the Serbian victims and perpetrators of the crimes against the Serbian population in some municipalities in BH under the title “THE SERBIAN VICTIMS OF THE MUNICIPALITY……The previous results…..”

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Milovoje Ivanišević EXPULSION OF THE SERBS FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 1992-1995 Publishers Arda – promet, Banja Luka Centar za istraživanje zločina nad srpskim narodom For publisher Stevo Orlović Milivoje Ivanišević Graphic design Dušan Karadžić Translator Živka Novičić Proof reader Vesna Janković The photos from the book were taken by: Jovo Babić, Ranko Ćuković, Mile Rajić, Igor Dugina, Milenko Ivanović The photo on the cover: Ranko Ćuković Printed in 300 copies