Abuses in Musala

Testifying at the trial for crimes in Konjic, a protected State Prosecution witness says that indictee Ibro Macic forced him to have sexual intercourse with other detainees in “Musala” hall and that he physically mistreated him on several occasions.

A-2 said that he was captured on July 3, 1993 and taken from his hometown to “Musala” school in Konjic several days later. Upon his arrival, he saw several Serb and Croat detainees. Witness A-2 said that the mistreatment began immediately after his arrival, adding that indictee Ibro Macic was more active in mistreating them than the others.

During the first night in the school building, witness A-2 was taken out from the locker room for an examination. He was forced to admit having raped a girl from his town. A-2 said, crying, that he did not do it.

“They used my hand as an ashtray. At the end of the evening I signed a statement, thinking that the mistreatment would stop, but it got worse later on,” the witness, who was visibly upset, said.

He said that he would remember indictee Macic by the worst things he did, adding that Macic took him and three other detainees to a classroom, where Ramo Zilic, a man named Osmo and some other guards were. As he said, fire was burning on the room floor.

“They told us: ‘Take your clothes off, Ustashas’. We stripped naked. They hit us with wooden bars and then forced us to satisfy each other orally and have sex with each other,” witness A-2 said, adding that they beat them the whole time.
 
Witness A-2 told the Court that the indictee then hit him between his legs with a wooden bar. When he fainted, they urinated or poured water on his body.

“I am sure that it was Ibro Macic. To me, it seemed as if it lasted forever. I shall never forget the face, which caused so much pain to me,” the witness said, adding that he still suffered from physical and mental consequences and that he had medical documents dating from that time until today.

According to the charges, Ibro Macic and other members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, ordered the sexual abuse of four detainees in “Musala” sports hall. He is charged with other inhumane treatment and mistreatment of detainees in “Musala” in the period from April to October 1993.
Prosecutor Sanja Jukic presented the witness with a photo album, in which he recognised indictee Macic. He then identified him in the courtroom as well.

When asked by Prosecutor Jukic why he failed to mention Ibro Macic in a statement he gave to Hague investigators, where he described the torture, the witness said: “I gave a detailed description of the guards, but they were more interested in the event itself”.

In another statement the witness called his “torturer” by the nickname Maca. He explained in the courtroom that he referred to the indictee, whose nickname was Maca. He said that he found out that his name was Ibro Macic, while he was still held in “Musala”, adding that other guards told him that.

The Prosecution said that, in a statement given in 2004 the witness did not mention the event, when oral sex with other detainees took place.

“I gave that statement to a woman in my hometown, in a café. I was ashamed,” said witness A-2, crying.
He was 21 years old when he was captured. He spent 109 days in detention.

The trial is due to continue on January 10 next year.