Srebrenica – The Bratunac Brigade: Crying and Begging

Some of the men in Potocari, who were separated from women and children, were crying and begging members of UNPROFOR not to allow the soldiers to take them away, because they would kill them.

This is repeatedly confirmed in trials for war crimes by Joseph Kingori, former observer of the United Nations (UN), who was in Srebrenica in July 1995. He did not manage to write down the names of those men who were taken away, saying that he did not understood them well enough.

The men who were taken away from Potocari and those who were arrested in a nearby forest surrendered to members of the Serb army and were executed at different locations.

According to the facts that were determined by the courts, members of the Bratunac Brigade of the VRS were involved in taking away the Srebrenica men to execution sites, but also took part in sporadic killing and abuse.

The Bratunac Brigade was formed in November 1992, as a light infantry brigade within the Drina Corps. It consisted of three Infantry Battalions and one Military Police Platoon. In July 1995, the Brigade consisted of about 2,100 soldiers, and its commander was Vidoje Blagojevic, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison by The Hague Tribunal.

Among the highest ranking officers of the Brigade, Momir Nikolic, Assistant Commander for Security, was also convicted at The Hague Tribunal. He pleaded guilty to crimes committed in Srebrenica and was sentenced to 20 years.

“I am aware that I cannot return the dead and that I cannot appease the pain of families by my admission of guilt, but I wanted to contribute to finding out the truth about Srebrenica, and that the state authorities of the Republika Srpska (RS) and all individuals follow my path”, said Nikolic while pleading guilty before The Hague Tribunal.

Blocking Humanitarian Aid

The attack by Serb troops on Srebrenica started on July 6, 1995. Among those involved in the attack were also the members of the Bratunac Brigade. According to court verdicts, some of the members of the Brigade blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave, and also prevented the delivery of material and technical resources to the Dutch battalion, including ammunition, fuel and food.

Srebrenica was seized on July 11. The women, children and elderly went to the UN base in Potocari, while a column of around 10,000 to 15,000 men went through the forest towards Tuzla.

Momir Nikolic confirmed at The Hague that on July 11 and 12, he was present at Hotel Fontana in Bratunac together with Ratko Mladic (who is currently on trial at The Hague Tribunal) as well as representatives of the UN and Srebrenica Bosniaks, where they talked about “the fate of the men from Srebrenica”. Members of the Military Police of the Bratunac Brigade were responsible for safety at the Fontana Hotel.

It was decided at the meetings that women and children would be transferred to Tuzla, while the men will be “held to determine whether there are war criminals among them”.

“When I came to Potocari, I realised what it was all about and for the first time I began to have doubts, and it was clear to me that evil was being prepared for these isolated people”, said Nikolic.

According to Nikolic, members of the Military Police of the Bratunac Brigade participated in the separation of men from women and children.

Milan Janjic, former military policeman of the Bratunac Brigade, said before the Trial Chamber that on July 12, he “received a special task from Momir Nikolic to count the number of individuals in buses and trucks in Potocari”, with another civilian policeman.

“In the first hour or two we got on buses and counted, but that was impossible. People were standing, sitting, crouching … There were even ninety people on the bus. It was even harder to count those who were in trucks. In the end, we decided to do the assessments, according to which, on the first day 8,000 to 9,000 people left Potocari, and on second day, about 15,000 people”, said Janjic, pointing out that more t