Two Officers Jailed for Vukovar Massacre

By Brent Surgeoner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

AMSTERDAM, The Hague – Two of the three officers on trial for the Vukovar massacre of 264 people were convicted and sentenced today by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Mile Mrksic received the longest sentence from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).  He was convicted of murder and torture and sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Veselin Sljivancanin was convicted of torture and sentenced to 5 years in jail.  He was, however, cleared of the more serious extermination charge.

Miroslav Radic, the other defendant, was acquitted of all charges.

Vukovar, a town in eastern Croatia, close to the Serbia border, has been a symbol of the struggle for Croatian independence during the 1991-1995 Balkan wars.  It is also the site of one of the most horrific massacres of the wars.

In November 1991, after a 90-day siege, the town of Vukovar fell to Yugoslav forces.  At least 400 people, mostly Croats, took shelter in a Vukovar hospital hoping to be evacuated by international observers.

Soon after, local Serbian forces entered the hospital and started abusing the patients.  Then, according to prosecutors, 400 Croats were handed over to Serb forces by the Yugoslav army.  The Serb forces transported roughly 300 people by bus to a farm in Ovcara, about 2.5 miles outside of Vukovar.

The captives were beaten for hours, then shot and buried in mass graves.  At least 264 people were killed.

Mrksic, Sljivancanin, and Radic were accused of failing to prevent Serb forces from carrying out revenge attacks on Croats and covering up the events that happened.

All three managed to evade police for over seven years.  They were eventually arrested and processed by the ICTY between 2002-2003.

Prosecutors were seeking life sentences on charges of murder, torture, and persecution.  All defendants claimed they were innocent.

14 former Serb military members also received prison sentences in 2005 for their role in the Vukovar massacre.  Sentences, issued by a Serbian court, ranged from 5 to 20 years.

For more information, please see:

BBC - Two Jailed Over Croatia Massacre - 27 September 2007

Reuters - Ex Officer Sentenced to 20 Yrs for Vukovar Killings - 27 September 2007

Reuters - FACTBOX-Who are the "Vukovar Three"? - 27 September 2007

Yahoo (Reuters) - U.N. Tribunal to Rule in Vukovar Massacre Case - 25 September 2007

BBC - Vukovar Massacre: What Happened - 13 June 2003