1991 killings of Serbs in Vukovar
1991 killings of Serbs in Vukovar | |
---|---|
Part of the summary executions | |
Deaths | 43-120 |
Perpetrators | Croatian forces |
Motive | Anti-Serb sentiment, ethnic cleansing |
The 1991 killings of Serbs in Vukovar were a series of incidents in which
Background
Vukovar is a city in the eastern region of Slavonia, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube rivers.[1] According to the 1991 census, the city was ethnically mixed with Croats making up 47% of the population while Serbs made up 32.3%; 35% of marriages were mixed.[1][2]
In 1988-89, a series of street protests dubbed
In 1990, following the
After the election, the Serbs created a local branch of the
Prelude
The
In April 1991, the self-proclaimed
SKH-SDP controlled the media in the Vukovar region, including the Vukovar radio station and the Vukovarske novine newspaper, whereas the Croatian weekly Slobodni tjednik was used by the HDZ to promote nationalist causes, including the practice of publishing the names of Serbs in Vukovar who they claimed to have participated in illegal activities, which was often merely a ploy to get people in lucrative positions to be replaced.[23] In early May, Croatian police took over the Vukovar radio station and replaced Serb members of the station with Croats.[24] On 19 May, a Croatian nationwide referendum on sovereignty was held in which 94% voted in favor. Violence in and around Vukovar worsened after the independence referendum, with gun and bomb attacks reported in the town and surrounding villages in June 1991.[25]
Since early May 1991, the municipality government of Vukovar was largely dysfunctional. Dokmanović stopped coming to work in Vukovar citing personal safety reasons, and Marin Vidić Bili replaced him, while Stipo Lovrinčević retired from politics for health reasons. On 16 June, Merčep was named the Secretary of People's Defense, and effectively took power.[23] Serbs in Vukovar were subjected to harassment as the Croatian police conducted numerous random searches of their homes and arrested an increasing number of them for 'activities against the Croatian republic'.[26]
On 25 June, Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia.[27] The SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was proclaimed the same day.[28]
Crimes
Croatian paramilitaries led by Tomislav Merčep terrorized Serbs in and around Vukovar.[29][30] Merčep was at the time a leading official in the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in the Vukovar area, and for a time had the formal position of the Secretary of the People's Defense, which he used to organize Croatian paramilitaries.[30][31]
In mid-May 1991, a 25 year old Miodrag Nađ, a member of the Serbian Democratic Party, was killed near Vukovar in a drive-by shooting.[24] Three Serbs were killed in Bršadin and one in Sotin in the time after the Battle of Borovo Selo and June 29, when Jovan Jakovljević, an ethnic Serb who was known in the community, was shot and killed at his doorstep in Vukovar on 29 June 1991.[32] According to his son, Jakovljević's murder was meant to send a message to Serbs in Vukovar that the various threats received before that time would result in mass murder.[32] On 25 July 1991, members of the ZNG apprehended Savo Damjanović and he was never seen again. Similar kind of kidnappings and disappearances of Serbs occurred with Mladen Mrkić on 31 July and Željko Paić on 10 August.[33]
Serbs were subjected to arbitrary arrests and forced interrogations, while their homes and cafes were blown up. In one case, three Serbs were taken to the banks of the
Merčep's formal power lasted until 23 July when the Zagreb government intervened to reinstate Vidić as the Commissioner for the city of Vukovar.[23] The situation was so unbearable that in August 1991, Marin Vidić wrote a letter to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman complaining about Merčep's activities.[30] At the intervention of Josip Manolić, Merčep was then moved out of Vukovar, using a helicopter, to be made an advisor to the interior minister instead.[33] From where he would soon move to the Pakračka Poljana camp.[31]
Figures of victims range between 50 and 120, with the latter being provided as the highest estimate by the Serb National Council.
All of these crimes are believed to have occurred prior to the Battle of Vukovar in August 1991,[36] which is when the town officially became a war zone.[32]
Aftermath
In August 1991, the Croatian Serb forces, acting under the operational control of the JNA[37] clashed with the ZNG around Osijek, Vukovar and Vinkovci, and the fighting in eastern Slavonia led to ZNG blockades of JNA barracks in those cities and limited fighting against the garrisons there.[38]
Vukovar fell to the JNA on 18 November 1991. It is estimated that 1,800 defenders of Vukovar and civilians were killed, 800 went missing.
Together with
Investigations
Investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) collected evidence in 1996 and 1997 regarding crimes against Serbs in Vukovar.[30] Serbs have long voiced their concerns about the crimes committed against them in the months leading up to the fall of the Vukovar and the lack of accountability for the perpetrators.[30][36]
The topic of Vukovar is a sensitive issue for Croats who see the city as a symbol of their suffering during the war. In 2012, the journalist Drago Hedl opined that Merčep's crimes in Vukovar against Serbs might never be investigated in part, because of the significance of Vukovar for Croats.[31]
Merčep was only tried and sentenced for failing to prevent crimes against Serbs by his units in Zagreb and Pakračka Poljana. He was sentenced to seven years in 2017 by the Zagreb Supreme Court.[32] In March 2020, he was released on parole due to his worsening health; he died in November 2020.[47]
References
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- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 89.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 98.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 100-101.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 102.
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- ^ "The Prosecutor vs. Milan Martic – Judgement" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 12 June 2007.
- ^ a b c Filipović 2019, pp. 110.
- ^ Sudetic, Chuck (2 April 1991). "Rebel Serbs Complicate Rift on Yugoslav Unity". The New York Times.
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- ^ a b c Filipović 2019, p. 112.
- ^ a b Sremac 1999, p. 67.
- ^ Stankovic, Mirko (20 June 1991). "Tense situation in Vukovar". Summary of World Broadcasts. BBC.
- ^ Sremac 1999, p. 68.
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- ^ Bartrop 2012, p. 121.
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- ^ a b c d e f g h Hedl, Drago (29 April 2005). "Regional Report: Vukovar Serb Killings Investigated". Institute for War & Peace Reporting.
- ^ a b c d Hedl, Drago (7 May 2012). "Mercep and Vukovar". Balkan Insight.
- ^ a b c d e Patković, Nikola (27 October 2018). "Žrtve rata o kojima se ne govori - 'Moj je otac u Vukovaru ubijen u lipnju 1991. Samo zato što je Srbin'". Večernji list (in Croatian).
- ^ a b c d "Vukovar". snv.hr. Serb National Council. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ Simić, Jovanka (24 October 2004). "Likvidirani Srbi sahranjivani su u neobeleženim grobnicama, rekama i ribnjacima samo da bi im se zatrli tragovi. Haškim istražiteljima Merčepova "strategija" je bila poznata još 1996. godine". Novosti.
- ^ Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992). Report Submitted to the Commission of Experts Established Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992) (Report). United Nations.
- ^ a b c Polšak Palatinuš, Vlatka (30 October 2018). "Vukovarski Srbi pitaju: Što je s našim ubijenima? Evo odgovora iz DORH-a". tportal.hr.
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- ^ CIA 2002, p. 93.
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- ^ "Croatian Cityscape: Stray Dogs, Rows of Wounded, Piles of Dead - New York Times". web.archive.org. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
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- ^ "Vjesnik.hr - Naši silovatelji slobodno šeću Vukovarom, a mi smo zaboravljene". web.archive.org. 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ "Investigative Summary". www.icty.org. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
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- ^ "NAŠA DOMOVINA I Jovan je branio Hrvatsku > Slobodna Dalmacija > Spektar". web.archive.org. 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ^ Vladisavljevic, Anja (17 November 2020). "Croatian War Criminal Tomislav Mercep Dies". Balkan Insight.
Sources
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- Sremac, Danielle S. (1999). War of Words: Washington Tackles the Yugoslav Conflict. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-96609-6.
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- Bartrop, Paul Robert (2012). "Hadžić, Goran (b. 1958)". A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313386787.
- Filipović, Vladimir (2019). "Stranačka politika u Vukovaru 1990-1991" [Party Politics in the Vukovar in 1990-1991]. Annals of the Croatian Political Science Association (in Croatian). 16 (1). Croatian Political Science Association: 97–115. Hrčak.