Crime across the border

An example of where citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina were imprisoned and where they were tortured, beaten and sexually abused the most were the detention camps in Croatia, “Lora” in Split and Krstinje.
 
Former detainees have not yet received justice for what they have survived. They are willing to travel and testify, but they are waiting for more than 20 years to be called upon to give their testimonies.
 
“They plugged me into electricity, placed steel clamps on me, and examined me whether I did this or that… When they pressed the button, then I did not know anything until after that moment when I came to my senses. They asked me if I knew what I was talking about. Some fellow detainees were plugged to their genitals,” said Borislav Hamovic.
 
In May 1992, he was taken to “Lora” from the Trebinje battlefield to the detention camp “Lora”. It was established in the former port of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in Split. From 1992, the mainly Serb population was imprisoned there.
 
“On the first day when I was detained, the beating was hard to endure. I don’t even remember the second day… I was livid, worse than these pants. When the Red Cross came, I told them that I had fallen off the bed,” says Hamovic.
 
Dobrivoje Bojovic, a former member of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), was also taken away from Trebinje by the Croatian army. Until he was brought in Split, he was beaten in Dubrovnik and Metkovic.
 
“Three military police officers, whom I did not know, came from Dubrovnik’s Port. They took me by boat, maybe some 50 metres in the sea. I literally did not reach the ground. They kicked me from foot to foot until the sea. They broke my nose and hit me with the butt in the forehead. My head was broken, I was covered with blood,” recalls Bojovic.
 
He says that as beaten as that, they took him in the trunk of a car and drove to Metkovic, where he was repeatedly beaten for seven days, and he was subsequently taken to “Lora”.
 
“Allegedly, they took me to the headquarters to give a statement. Some military police officer, the commander, was unable to take a statement … Some five to six of them rushed inside and threw me on the floor. I was covered in blood. One of them brought a guitar. He was playing above me and shouting to me to lick my blood,” says Bojovic.
 
The detainees from “Lora” stated that during their stay in the detention camp they lost from between 30 to 40 kg in weight. According to Ismet Ovcina, who was detained on the battlefield in Bileca, his worst memories were hunger and hard labour.
 
“We were eager to bread during first days of detention …. They forced us to go to the minefield to collect the grass. We worked a lot,” says Ovcina.
 
Losing consciousness from the beating
 
At the other end of the country, in the area of Velika Kladusa,members of the National Defence of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (NO APZB) captured civilians and members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABiH) in 1994.
 
Emin Rahanovic, Rasim Gracanin and Zuhdija Alagic were in the detention camps under the control of National Defence, who later surrendered them to the forces of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, which was then on Croatian territory.
 
Zuhdija Alagic remembers how they were first detained at the hunting lodge near Petrova Gora in Croatia, where there was already about 80 detainees when he was brought.
 
“They dumped us off the truck. For about two hours we were outside, we had to put our hands in the air. You were not allowed to lean against a wall, you cannot stand anymore… Then, we all went upstairs and were ordered to strip naked. If you had some money, some important documents, watches, rings, necklaces – they took it all,” says Alagic.
 
Rasim Gracanin also describes how they were ordered to take off their clothes.
 
“There were several officers in the room there. They were checking out whether we are circumcised and made minutes – these are circumcised, these are not. Probably by that, they found out that we are Muslims and called us the Mujahedeens, Alia’s soldiers,” says Gracanin.
 
Detainees from Velika Kladusa emphasise that the worst moments were when they were imprisoned in Krstinje, where they were beaten, tortured, humiliated and sexually abused.
 
“They interrogated us. There was some fighting in the beginning. But, all of that was nothing. Then, suddenly the hank began to tangle, and it was getting worse and worse. I remember when they took Hazim Begic, who was a police officer and Dzil, I do not know his real name. They were given sticks in order to beat each other. But, not thinking of what might happen, they started to beat the police officers. Then, they were demolished. Pieces of skin were hanging from their faces, the blood was clotted, deep eyes, all swollen,” recalled Alagic.
 
Rahanovic says that there were some hundreds of them and they were taken to other premises, where they were beaten.
 
“One of them brought a gun to my forehead in order to kill me. That was the most difficult moment for me, I was scared the most then,” says Rahanovic.
Gacanin recalls how they were beaten so much that they lost consciousness.
 
“You are conscious in the beginning, and then you lost yourself. Then, it does not hurt you. While you are aware, you feel the pain. Then, they beat you with feet and hands. When you fall off the table, they beat you with their boots. I think that four of them were in charge for beating, to do what they want,” says Gacanin.
 
Slapping for starters
 
Detainees from “Lora” cannot forget the torture and physical violence that they somehow managed to survive.
 Dobrivoje Bojovic points out that the hair on his head was hurting him and that he was the happiest when they took him to execution.
 
“They were bored, they were on duty there all night, and what they will do but take you out and abuse you. They lined us up to one side and were slapping us. Slapping was your appetizer. But the worst was when they brought some females in the evening and gave them sticks. They were beating us all night. Not only that they were beating us, but you have to tell them; ‘Thank you lady, and come again’, recalls Bojovic.
 
Ismet Ovcina says that he does not remember clearly the beatings in “Lora” but emphasises that he would never go to Split anymore.
 
“If I would see the car passing by here and “Lora” is written on them, I would tremble. There is no way that I would go down now, in Split,” says Ovcina.
 
There is only a few bits of published information regarding crimes which were committed against detainees from Velika Kladusa and Krstinja. Judicial proceedings for these acts have not yet been initiated.
 
Several years ago, the trial for crimes committed in “Lora” was ended for one part of the abuses against civilians who were detained there until April in 1992.
 
Vukan Kovac, Chairman of the Detainees Section for Eastern Herzegovina, said that they are awaiting the trial for years in the so-called case of “Lora two”, where the indictment was filed in 2009.
 
“We asked for the help from state authorities reckoning that the state should find a way to support their citizens to protect their rights. The Dalmatian Committee helped us the most. We have had to hire a lawyer in Croatia, but this should be solved by bilateral agreements. We never get any satisfaction whatsoever,” says Kovac.
 
He emphasises that in order that anyone who was abused in the detention camps gets satisfaction, the persons who did something unlawful must be brought to justice.
 
“But, that’s politics. I’m afraid that we will have to wait for it,” said Kovac