UNITED NATIONS International Tribunal for the Case No. IT-98-33-T Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of Date: 02 August 2001 International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Former Yugoslavia since 1991 Original: English IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER Before: Judge Almiro Rodrigues, Presiding Judge Fouad Riad Judge Patricia Wald Registrar: Mr. Hans Holthuis PROSECUTOR v. RADISLAV KRSTIC JUDGEMENT The Office of the Prosecutor: Mr. Mark Harmon Mr. Peter McCloskey Mr. Andrew Cayley Ms. Magda Karagiannakis Counsel for the Accused: Mr. Nenad Petrušic Mr. Tomislav Višnji} Case No.: IT-98-33-T 2 August 2001 CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1 II. FINDINGS OF FACT..................................................................................................................3 A. THE TAKE-OVER OF SREBRENICA AND ITS AFTERMATH..............................................................3 1. 1991-92: The Break-Up of the Former Yugoslavia................................................................3 2. 1992-1993: Conflict in Srebrenica..........................................................................................4 3. April 1993: The Security Council Declares Srebrenica a “Safe Area”...................................6 4. Early 1995: The Situation in the Srebrenica “Safe Area” Deteriorates ..................................9 5. Spring 1995: The Bosnian Serbs Plan To Attack the Srebrenica “Safe Area”.....................10 6. 6-11 July 1995: The Take-Over of Srebrenica......................................................................11 7. The Bosnian Muslim Civilians of Srebrenica........................................................................12 (a) The Crowd at Poto~ari ....................................................................................................... 12 (i) The Humanitarian Crisis in Poto~ari: 11-13 July 1995 ................................................... 13 (ii) 12-13 July: Crimes Committed in Poto~ari.................................................................... 13 (iii) 12-13 July 1995: The Transport of the Bosnian Muslim Women Children and Elderly from Potocari................................................................................................................ 15 (iv) The Separation of the Bosnian Muslim Men in Poto~ari................................................ 16 (b) The Column of Bosnian Muslim Men ................................................................................ 18 8. The Execution of the Bosnian Muslim Men from Srebrenica ...............................................20 9. Forensic Evidence of the Executions.....................................................................................21 10. The Number of Men Executed by the Bosnian Serb Forces Following the Take-over of Srebrenica in July 1995.......................................................................................................25 11. A Plan to Execute the Bosnian Muslim Men of Srebrenica.................................................27 12. Widespread Knowledge of the Crimes.................................................................................28 13. The Impact of the Crimes on the Bosnian Muslim Community of Srebrenica....................29 14. Conclusions..........................................................................................................................31 B. THE ROLE OF THE DRINA CORPS IN THE SREBRENICA CRIMES...................................................32 1. Preliminary Matters................................................................................................................32 (a) Background to the Drina Corps .......................................................................................... 32 (b) Codes and Numbers Used by the Drina Corps in July 1995 ................................................ 33 (c) Reliability of Intercepted Communications ........................................................................ 34 2. Krivaja 95...............................................................................................................................39 (a) The Objective of Krivaja 95............................................................................................... 39 (b) The Shelling of Srebrenica: Terrorisation of the Civilian Population.................................. 40 3. Involvement of Drina Corps Personnel in the Events at Poto~ari: 11-13 July 1995.............42 (a) Transport of the Bosnian Muslim Civilians out of Poto~ari................................................. 42 (i) Meeting at Hotel Fontana on 11 July 1995 at 2000 Hours ............................................... 42 (ii) Meeting at the Hotel Fontana on 11 July 1995 at 2300 Hours......................................... 43 (iii) Meeting at the Hotel Fontana on 12 July 1995 at 1000 Hours ....................................... 44 (iv) Organisation of the Buses ............................................................................................. 45 (v) The Presence of Drina Corps Officers in Poto~ari on 12 and 13 July 1995 ..................... 47 (vi) A Forced or Voluntary Movement?............................................................................... 48 (b) The Crimes Committed in Poto~ari on 12-13 July 1995 ..................................................... 50 (c) The Separation of the Men in Poto~ari ............................................................................... 53 4. Involvement of the Drina Corps in Action against the Bosnian Muslim Column.................56 (a) Combat against the Column ............................................................................................... 57 (b) Capture of Bosnian Muslim Men from the Column............................................................ 59 (i) General Knowledge that Bosnian Muslim Men were Being Captured from the Column.. 59 (ii) 13 July 1995: Participation in the Capture of Prisoners along the Bratunac-Konjevi} Polje Road .................................................................................................................... 60 Case No.: IT-98-33-T 2 August 2001 (iii) 12-15 July 1995: Involvement with the Detention of Bosnian Muslim Prisoners in Bratunac ....................................................................................................................... 64 (iv) 13-16 July 1995: Zvornik Brigade Knowledge of Bosnian Muslim Prisoners detained in its Zone of Responsibility ......................................................................................... 67 (v) Capture of Prisoners during Drina Corps Sweep Operation in the Former Enclave ......... 68 5. Involvement of the Drina Corps in the Mass Executions.......................................................69 (a) The Morning of 13 July 1995: Jadar River Executions ...................................................... 69 (b) The Afternoon of 13 July 1995: Cerska Valley Executions................................................ 71 (c) Late Afternoon of 13 July 1995: Kravica Warehouse ........................................................ 72 (d) 13-14 July 1995: Tišca...................................................................................................... 76 (e) 14 July 1995: Grbavci School Detention Site and Orahovac Execution site ....................... 77 (f) 14 - 15 July 1995: Petkovci School Detention Site and Petkovci Dam Execution Site ......... 81 (g) 14 - 16 July 1995: Pilica School Detention Site and Branjevo Military Farm Execution Site ................................................................................................................................... 83 (h) 16 July 1995: Pilica Cultural Dom ..................................................................................... 87 (i) Kozluk................................................................................................................................ 89 (j) Smaller Scale Executions following the Mass Executions ................................................... 91 (k) The Reburials .................................................................................................................... 92 6. The Chain of Command in Operation for the Drina Corps: July 1995..................................93 (a) Parallel Chains of Command.............................................................................................. 93 (i) Did the VRS Main Staff exclude the Drina Corps Command from the Srebrenica Follow-up Operations? ................................................................................................. 94 (ii) Were the Security Organs Operating in Secret?.............................................................. 99 (iii) Conclusions................................................................................................................ 100 (b) Responsibility of the Drina Corps Command for the Actions of Non-Drina Corps Units Operating in the Drina Corps Area of Responsibility in July 1995................................... 101 (i) The 10th Sabotage Detachment...................................................................................... 101 (ii) The 65th Protection Regiment ...................................................................................... 103 (iii) The MUP...................................................................................................................