Dossier:Dosije: The JNA inu ratovima the Wars inu CroatiaHrvatskoj and i BiHBiH ISBN 978-86-7932-090-2 978-86-7932-091-9 Dossier: The JNA in the Wars 1 in Croatia and BiH Belgrade, Dossier: The JNA in the Wars in CroatiaJune and BiH2018 2 Dossier: The JNA in the Wars in Croatia and BiH Contents ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 SUMMARY....................................................................................................................................................................... 7 I. THE JNA WITHIN THE SFRY ARMED FORCES ............................................................................................. 8 II. SHIFT IN THE JNA’S OBJECTIVES AND TASKS IN THE COURSE OF THE CONFLICT IN CROATIA.......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 i. Political Crisis in the SFRY and the SFRY Presidency Crisis ................................................................. 10 ii. Political Situation in Croatia – Emergence of the Republic of Serbian Krajina ............................... 13 iii. First Phase of JNA Involvement in the Conflict in Croatia ................................................................. 14 iv. Second Phase of JNA Involvement in the Conflict in Croatia ............................................................. 15 v. Decision to Transform the JNA into the Army of the Serbs ................................................................. 19 III. SHELLING OF CROATIAN CITIES BY THE JNA ...................................................................................... 21 i. Dubrovnik ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 ii. Vukovar ............................................................................................................................................................ 27 iii. Other Croatian cities shelled by the JNA ................................................................................................ 31 3 IV. MURDERS AT OVČARA .....................................................................................................................................34 V. JNA ATTACKS ON CROATIAN VILLAGES ................................................................................................... 41 i. Attacks on villages in Lika and Banija ........................................................................................................42 ii. JNA attack on villages in northern Dalmatia ..........................................................................................45 iii. Attacks in eastern Slavonia ........................................................................................................................ 47 VI. DETENTION SITES ..............................................................................................................................................56 i. Detention sites in Serbia and Montenegro ................................................................................................57 VII. INVESTIGATIONS UNDERTAKEN BY THE JNA .................................................................................... 59 VIII. JNA’S TRANSFORMATION INTO THE SERBIAN ARMY OF KRAJINA (SVK) ........................... 61 IX. THE JNA IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA .............................................................................................. 62 i. The Ram (Frame) Plan ....................................................................................................................................65 ii. JNA’s withdrawal from Croatia to BiH ......................................................................................................66 iii. Changes in the ethnic composition of the JNA .....................................................................................67 X. THE JNA’S ROLE IN THE TAKE-OVER OF MUNICIPALITIES IN BIH ...............................................68 Dossier: The JNA in the Wars in Croatia and BiH i. Bijeljina ..............................................................................................................................................................72 ii. Zvornik ............................................................................................................................................................. 75 iii. Vlasenica ......................................................................................................................................................... 79 iv. Bosanski Šamac ..............................................................................................................................................83 v. Prijedor ..............................................................................................................................................................88 vi. Brčko ................................................................................................................................................................92 XI. JNA’S WITHDRAWAL FROM BIH AND ITS SUPPORT FOR THE CREATION OF VRS...............95 i. Transformation of JNA units into VRS units ...................................................................................................... 96 ii. VRS personnel ........................................................................................................................................................... 97 iii. Cooperation after May 1992 ................................................................................................................................. 98 iv. Military and logistical assistance ........................................................................................................................101 APPENDICES 4 Dossier: The JNA in the Wars in Croatia and BiH Abbreviations: BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina ECMM European Community Monitor Mission EC European Community FRY Federal Republic of Yugoslavia GŠ General Staff (and Main Staff of the VRS) GŠ OS SFRJ General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia HDZ Croatian Democratic Union HV Croatian Army ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia JNA Yugoslav People’s Army JOD Assault Detachment KC Personnel Centre KOG Counterintelligence Group KOS Military Counterintelligence MP Military Police MtGBr Motorised Guard Brigade MUP Ministry of the Interior OG Operational Group 5 OG North Operational Group North OG South perational Group South OS Armed Forces OWCP Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of Serbia PGMBr Proletarian Guards Mechanised Brigade PGMD Proletarian Guards Mechanised Division PSFRY Presidency of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia PU Police Administration PVO Air Defence RDB State Security Department RO Luka Luka Company RS Republika Srpska RSK Republic of Serbian Krajina RV Air Force SAO Serbian Autonomous District SDA Party of Democratic Action SDB State Security Service SDG Serbian Volunteer Guard (“Arkan’s Men”) SDS Serbian Democratic Party Dossier: The JNA in the Wars in Croatia and BiH SFRY Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia SIV Federal Executive Council SJB Public Security Station (Police Station) SNV Serbian National Council SRK Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the VRS SrR BiH Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina SRS Serbian Radical Party SSNO Federal Secretariat of National Defence SUP Secretariat of Internal Affairs SVK Serbian Army of Krajina TEF Electrode and Ferro-Alloys Factory TG Tactical Group TIZ Zadar Textile Industry TLM Boris Kidrič Light Metal Factory TO Territorial Defence Force UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force, formed in Croatia and mandated to secure demilitarisation of certain areas. Its mandate was later extended to Bosnia and Herzegovina UN SC United Nations Security Council 6 VJ Army of Yugoslavia VO/MD Military District VPO Naval Military District VRS Army of Republika Srpska ZNG Croatian National Guard Corps 17th TG 17th Tactical Group 180th MtBr 180th Motorised Brigade 221st MtBr 221st Motorised Brigade 252nd ArBr 252nd Armoured Brigade 343rd MtBr 343rd Motorised Brigade 395th MtBr 395th Motorised Brigade 405th PB 405th Logistic Base 453rd MBr 453rd Mechanised Brigade 46th PartD 46th Partisan Division 472nd MtBr 472nd Motorised Brigade 8th VPS 8th Naval Military Sector 80th MtBr 80th Motorised Brigade 813th EngP 813th Engineering Regiment 9th VPS 9th Naval Military Sector Dossier: The JNA in the Wars in Croatia and BiH Summary The role of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and its transformation from the Yugoslav into the Serbian army, is the subject of this, the tenth Dossier of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC). It is the most extensive of the HLC Dossiers so far, covering the period from the end of the 1980s up to May 1992. It explores how the JNA and political leadership of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and Serbia prepared for the wars, the JNA’s involvement in the conflicts, and its contribution to achieving the wartime goals of Serbia, the Republic of Serbian