Industry of Death
F.T. Feral Tribune, 10/16/95, Split, Croatia
Death Squads Go on a Rampage Through Krajina
It turns out that the cruel crime in Varivode was only a link in a bloody chain: seven elderly persons from the village of Gosic, hamlet of Borak, located four kilometers west from Devrsak, were murdered in the early afternoon hours on 8/27/95. Sava, Marija, Grozdana, Vasilj, Kosa, Dusan and Milan Borak were, on average, 70 years old.
There are no living creatures left in the hamlet of Borak . Only a strong, unpleasant stench of the decomposing bodies of dead animals and inside houses old traces serve as a "reminder" of a drama: blood stains on kitchen tiles, bullet holes in the walls, opened portion from the humanitarian assistance package on the table, two pairs of glasses, rotten tomatoes, Slobodna Dalmacija from August 26...
"On the day that happened I was taking food to the village," stated for Feral one of the indirect witnesses, who because of fear wanted to remain anonymous. "I went to finish some business in the neighboring village and upon my return, about half an hour later, I found that the elderly inhabitants of the village had been massacred. They had been shot through their heads. They lay on the thresholds of their houses, sometimes 2-3 of them together; body of one of the elderly women was in a chair... I was terrified and frightened... On my way out of the village I passed an all-terrain vehicle in which there were people in camouflage uniforms..."
Another witness said that the bodies of the victims had been transported to Knin in two police helicopters. Allegedly, minister [of internal affairs] Ivan Jarnjak and his deputy Josko Moric appeared on the spot. However, it is still not known how far the Croatian police investigation of these crimes has gone and whether the police has continued the investigation after all. The victims of the crime in Gosic received at least a bit of Christian respect: they were buried at the Knin cemetery; crosses with numbers 543 to 550 were placed on their graves.
F.T. Feral Tribune, 10/16/95, Split, Croatia
Death Squads Go on a Rampage Through Krajina
It turns out that the cruel crime in Varivode was only a link in a bloody chain: seven elderly persons from the village of Gosic, hamlet of Borak, located four kilometers west from Devrsak, were murdered in the early afternoon hours on 8/27/95. Sava, Marija, Grozdana, Vasilj, Kosa, Dusan and Milan Borak were, on average, 70 years old.
There are no living creatures left in the hamlet of Borak . Only a strong, unpleasant stench of the decomposing bodies of dead animals and inside houses old traces serve as a "reminder" of a drama: blood stains on kitchen tiles, bullet holes in the walls, opened portion from the humanitarian assistance package on the table, two pairs of glasses, rotten tomatoes, Slobodna Dalmacija from August 26...
"On the day that happened I was taking food to the village," stated for Feral one of the indirect witnesses, who because of fear wanted to remain anonymous. "I went to finish some business in the neighboring village and upon my return, about half an hour later, I found that the elderly inhabitants of the village had been massacred. They had been shot through their heads. They lay on the thresholds of their houses, sometimes 2-3 of them together; body of one of the elderly women was in a chair... I was terrified and frightened... On my way out of the village I passed an all-terrain vehicle in which there were people in camouflage uniforms..."
Another witness said that the bodies of the victims had been transported to Knin in two police helicopters. Allegedly, minister [of internal affairs] Ivan Jarnjak and his deputy Josko Moric appeared on the spot. However, it is still not known how far the Croatian police investigation of these crimes has gone and whether the police has continued the investigation after all. The victims of the crime in Gosic received at least a bit of Christian respect: they were buried at the Knin cemetery; crosses with numbers 543 to 550 were placed on their graves.
Feral's reporter was, on Friday, present when the corpse of 84-year-old Dusan Saric was found in Kakanj, a village 4 kilometers from Varivode. His corpse had been floating in a well located next to his house. Dusan Saric was seen alive for the last time when the activists from the International Red Cross delivered regular humanitarian assistance on 9/18/95.
Krajina stinks of crimes committed by death squads. In the village of Oton, near Knin, R.K. (initials arbitrary) is still in a state of shock. He described a tragedy to the Feral's reporter: Croatian soldiers demanded that he slaughter a calf for them. While he was doing that, he heard shots from an automatic rifle from a nearby meadow. They killed his mother. He buried her at the place of the crime. She was born in 1906.
"I was sitting in the kitchen and my son was asleep. Then a four of them barged into the house. They asked where our identification cards and domovnice [a document which proves Croatian citizenship] were. My son got up and they started to search through the house; they were pulling out drawers and smashing things. Then one of them picked up a gun, put the barrel on my son's neck and took him away." This is the testimony of an elderly woman from the village of Zrmanja Vrelo. Her 50-year-old son was killed in a nearby forest on 9/29/95 at 5 p.m.; four bullets were fired at his chest. The body was in the forest for two nights until the investigators arrived. "The locals covered the body and guarded it lest someone took it away; they also wanted to protect it from animals."
Commander of the former Sector South, Alain Forand has stated that the civilian UN police had found 128 corpses of the serb civilians who had been killed after the end of war operations in Krajina; they gave all the available data to Croatian authorities but haven't received any information from the authorities regarding the investigations. Croatian Helsinki Committee [HHO, Hrvatski Helsinski Odbor], after checking, branded as false " inaccurate reports that the Croatian authorities have arrested certain citizens of the Republic of Croatia because of the committed crimes."
In Croatia, the emphasis this Fall is on the new democratic elections.
"I was sitting in the kitchen and my son was asleep. Then a four of them barged into the house. They asked where our identification cards and domovnice [a document which proves Croatian citizenship] were. My son got up and they started to search through the house; they were pulling out drawers and smashing things. Then one of them picked up a gun, put the barrel on my son's neck and took him away." This is the testimony of an elderly woman from the village of Zrmanja Vrelo. Her 50-year-old son was killed in a nearby forest on 9/29/95 at 5 p.m.; four bullets were fired at his chest. The body was in the forest for two nights until the investigators arrived. "The locals covered the body and guarded it lest someone took it away; they also wanted to protect it from animals."
Commander of the former Sector South, Alain Forand has stated that the civilian UN police had found 128 corpses of the serb civilians who had been killed after the end of war operations in Krajina; they gave all the available data to Croatian authorities but haven't received any information from the authorities regarding the investigations. Croatian Helsinki Committee [HHO, Hrvatski Helsinski Odbor], after checking, branded as false " inaccurate reports that the Croatian authorities have arrested certain citizens of the Republic of Croatia because of the committed crimes."
In Croatia, the emphasis this Fall is on the new democratic elections.