Inhumane Conditions in “Bunker”

They said that indictee Branko Vlaco was a manager of the “Bunker” detention camp.

Witness Fikret Isceric, who used to live in Nahorevo neighbourhood, Sarajevo, said that he was taken, along with other able-bodied men, from Jagomir Hospital to “Bunker” detention camp in Vogosca in June 1992.

“I was not detained of my own free will. The conditions in the detention camp were inhumane. We used a barrel to urinate and defecate in it. We had to perform hard physical labour, like digging trenches and cutting wood,” Isceric said.

He mentioned that he had never been physically mistreated and that he was exchanged in September 1992.

Isceric told the Court that guards informed him that Branko Vlaco was the detention camp Manager, but he was not able to confirm whether the indictee was manager of the “Planjina kuca” and “Kod Sonje” facilities, to which he was taken later on.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Branko Vlaco with having committed crimes against humanity in his capacity as Manager of “Planjina kuca”, “Nakina garaza”, “Kod Sonje” and “Bunker” detention camps. He is charged with having participated, from May to November 1992, in a widespread and systematic attack by Serb forces against the civilian population and raped a female.

Mensur Pandzic too testified about the events in Vogosca. Detainees, who had been brought to “Bunker” detention camp before him, told him that Branko Vlaco was the detention camp Manager and that a man named Pedja was Commander of Guards.

“In October Vlaco was replaced by new Manager Nebojsa Spiric,” Pandzic recalled.

When asked whether any females were held in the detention camp, the witness said that he saw a woman over the course of a couple of days, but he did not know anything about her.

He said that he had never seen Branko Vlaco hitting someone.

“I heard that some men were beaten up, but everybody treated me in a correct manner,” said Isceric, who spent about seven months in the detention camp.

Pandzic and Isceric said that they heard about people being used as human shields, but they did not know who ordered or formed it. Some detainees were wounded.

Also, the two witnesses recalled an attack on Zuc, when they were taken to that location to dig water channels and trenches. As they said, five detainees were taken away and, as they heard, killed.

Indictee Branko Vlaco addressed the Trial Chamber, requesting it to allow him undergo a medical examination due to cardiovascular problems. The Trial Chamber Chairwoman told him that the Court President had rejected his request, and that he could submit a new request in writing.

The trial is due to continue on June 12.