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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
94ZAGREB945	1994-03-08 11:38	2011-08-30 01:44	UNCLASSIFIED	Embassy Zagreb

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLASSIFIED LIMITED OFFICIAL USE SECTION 01 OF 03 ZAGREB 00945 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 

USMISSION USVIENNA 
USMISSION USNATO 
AMEMBASSY BONN 
SECDEF WASHDC//ISA/ISP// 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
WHITEHOUSE WASHDC 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMEMBASSY MADRID 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 
AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 
 
 
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE SECTION 01 OF 03 ZAGREB 000945 
 
 
VIENNA ALSO FOR BOSNIA 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL MOPS HR BK PREL MOPS HR BK PREL MOPS HR BK
SUBJECT:  TFSROL: SEVERE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN B-H: 
          EYEWITNESS DETAILS MURDER, BEATINGS IN LUKA AND 
          BATKOVIC 
 
REF: (A) ZAGREB 827; (B) ZAGREB 872; (C) ZAGREB 919; 
(D) ZAGREB 930; (E) ZAGREB 941 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF REPORTS OF 
INTERVIEWS (REFTELS) WITH WAR CRIMES VICTIMS CONDUCTED IN 
LATE 1993 IN MAOCA, BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA, BY A DART/ZAGREB 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 03        ZAGREB  00945  01 OF 03  081147Z 
FIELD REP AND AN AMCIT IRC REP WHILE THEY WERE IN THE 
AREA ASSESSING HUMANITARIAN NEEDS.  THIS REPORT NAMES 
VICTIMS AND, IN SOME CASES, PERPETRATORS AND DETAILS OF 
SPECIFIC CRIMES.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------- 
THE WITNESS 
----------- 
 
¶2.  (LOU) AMIR DIDIC (STRICTLY PROTECT), HEREAFTER 
REFERRED TO AS THE WITNESS, IS A BOSNIAN MUSLIM FROM 
POLANKA, A VILLAGE SOUTHWEST OF BRCKO.  HE WAS BORN MAY 
1, 1967.  HE WAS A CIVILIAN AT THE TIME OF HIS ARREST BY 
BOSNIAN SERB FORCES ON MAY 19, 1992. 
 
--------------------- 
THE WITNESS'S ACCOUNT 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) AT THE TIME OF HIS ARREST, THE WITNESS WAS DRIVING 
WITH HIS AUNT AND A FRIEND.  HE AND HIS FRIEND WERE TAKEN 
TO THE POLICE STATION IN BRCKO, WHERE THEY WAITED ONE 
HOUR BEFORE BEING TAKEN WITH 15 OTHER MEN TO A WAREHOUSE 
COMPLEX KNOWN AS LUKA WHICH WAS BEING USED AS A PRISON 
CAMP.  WHEN THEY ARRIVED, THEY WERE PUT IN A WAREHOUSE 
WITH 100-150 OTHER PRISONERS WHO WERE SINGING "CETNIK" 
SONGS.  THEY WERE SEARCHED, AND THEIR VALUABLES WERE 
TAKEN.  THEY WERE TAKEN ONE BY ONE FOR INTERROGATION BY 
POLICE INSPECTORS.  THIS INITIAL INTERROGATION WAS 
RELATIVELY NORMAL.  BECAUSE WITNESS WAS FROM THE FREE 
TERRITORY, HE WAS ASKED ABOUT THE ARMY OF 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 04        ZAGREB  00945  01 OF 03  081147Z 
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA.  AFTERWARDS, HE WAS RETURNED TO THE 
WAREHOUSE. 
 
¶4.  (U) AFTER ALL 15 MEN HAD BEEN QUESTIONED, BOSNIAN 
SERBS CAME INTO THE WAREHOUSE AND BEGAN BEATING THEM. 
THESE (SERBS) INCLUDED GORAN JELISIC FROM BIJELJINA, 
MONIKA (LNU) FROM BRCKO, RANKO (LNU) FROM BRCKO, IVAN 
(LNU) FROM BIJELJINA, AND SEVERAL OTHERS FROM BIJELJINA. 
ACCORDING TO THE WITNESS, THE FOUR NAMED ABOVE DID MOST 
OF THE KILLING IN LUKA.  HE DESCRIBED RANKO AS TALL AND 
MUSCULAR, WITH BLACK HAIR; AND MONIKA AS 18 OR 19 YEARS 
OLD, SHORT, NICE-LOOKING, WITH BLACK SHOULDER-LENGTH 
HAIR.  (NOTE: THE BRCKO MUNICIPALITY WAR CRIMES 
COMMISSION IN MAOCA HAS PHOTOS OF MONIKA AND INFORMATION 
THAT SHE OPENED A BOUTIQUE CALLED "MONIKA" IN BIJELJINA 
AFTER MARRYING GORAN JELISIC.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶5.  (U) AFTER BEATING THE PRISONERS FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, 
THE SERBS LEFT THE WAREHOUSE.  BY THEN IT WAS GETTING 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NNNN 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 01        ZAGREB  00945  02 OF 03  081147Z 
ACTION SS-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   AID-01   AMAD-01  CIAE-00  C-01     OASY-00  DOEE-00 
      EB-01    EUR-01   HA-09    H-01     IMMC-01  TEDE-00  INR-00 
      IO-16    LAB-01   L-01     ADS-00   NSAE-00  OIC-02   OMB-01 
      PA-01    PM-01    PRS-01   P-01     RPCS-01  SB-00    SCT-03 
      SNP-00   SP-00    SR-00    SSO-00   STR-01   TRSE-00  T-00 
      RPE-01   SNIS-00  NISC-02  PMB-00     /049W 
                  ------------------2D402C  081155Z /38 
P 081138Z MAR 94 
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1120 
INFO USEC BRUSSELS 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS 
AMEMBASSY ANKARA 
USIA WASHDC 4323 
HQ JTF PP NAPLES IT//CA/POLAD// 
USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ3/ECJ4/ECJ5/ECPOLAD// 
CINCUSAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//DO/LG/XP/IN/POLAD// 
CINCUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE//J3/J4/J5/POLAD// 
CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK//N2/N22// 
COM SIXTHFLT//N2// 
JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-PMA/J2I// 
AMCONSUL MUNICH 
USMISSION GENEVA 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST 
AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 
AMEMBASSY VIENNA 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 02        ZAGREB  00945  02 OF 03  081147Z 
USMISSION USVIENNA 
USMISSION USNATO 
AMEMBASSY BONN 
SECDEF WASHDC//ISA/ISP// 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
WHITEHOUSE WASHDC 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMEMBASSY MADRID 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 
AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 
 
 
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE SECTION 02 OF 03 ZAGREB 000945 
 
 
VIENNA ALSO FOR BOSNIA 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL MOPS HR BK PREL MOPS HR BK PREL MOPS HR BK
SUBJECT:  TFSROL: SEVERE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN B-H: 
          EYEWITNESS DETAILS MURDER, BEATINGS IN LUKA AND 
          BATKOVIC 
 
DARK.  THEN PRISONERS WERE CALLED OUT OF THE WAREHOUSE 
ONE BY ONE AND BEATEN.  THE WITNESS AND ANOTHER PRISONER 
NAMED ANDRIJA TUFEKCIC WERE THE MOST BADLY BEATEN, BUT 
THE WITNESS DID NOT KNOW WHY.  THEY WERE BEATEN WITH 
BOTTLES AND A FIRE HOSE NOZZLE.  SUCH BEATINGS CONTINUED 
FOR 10 DAYS.  THE WITNESS SHOWED SCARS ON HIS HEAD HE 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 03        ZAGREB  00945  02 OF 03  081147Z 
SAID WERE CAUSED BY THESE BEATINGS. 
 
¶6.  (U) THE WITNESS SPENT TWO MONTHS AT LUKA, WHERE 
BEATINGS WERE A DAILY OCCURRENCE.  HE SAID THAT IF A 
PRISONER HAD TO GO TO THE TOILET, HE WOULD ALWAYS RET 
URN 
BLOODY.  MONIKA, IN ONE CASE, POURED HYDROCHLORIC ACID ON 
ANDRIJA TUFEKCIC.  MONIKA, HE SAID, WAS ALSO KNOWN TO 
CASTRATE PRISONERS, SOMETIMES WITH BROKEN BOTTLES.  SOME 
PRISONERS WERE KILLED EVERY NIGHT, OFTEN BY SOLDIERS 
RETURNING FROM THE FRONT.  ON JULY 8 OR 9, ALL THOSE HELD 
PRISONER IN THE WITNESS'S WAREHOUSE WERE TRANSFERRED ON 
10 BUSSES TO BATKOVIC PRISON CAMP. 
 
¶7.  (U) AT BATKOVIC, THE WITNESS SAID, GLIGOR (LNU) WAS 
ABSOLUTELY THE CRUELEST GUARD.  A FELLOW PRISONER CALLED 
SPAJZER ALSO ADMINISTERED SOME OF THE WORST BEATINGS. 
THE CAMP COMMANDER WAS NAMED VELJO. 
- 
¶8.  (U) WHEN THE WITNESS ARRIVED AT BATKOVIC THERE WERE 
ALREADY AT LEAST 600 PRISONERS THERE.  (NOTE:  THE 
WITNESS SAID THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF PRISONERS DURING HIS 
TIME AT BATKOVIC WAS ABOUT 1700.  END NOTE.)  UPON 
DISEMBARKING FROM THE BUSSES, THE PRISONERS HAD TO ENTER 
THE CAMP BETWEEN TWO ROWS OF "CETNIKS" WITH CLUBS, WHO 
BEAT THEM.  IN THE WAREHOUSE, THE EARLIER ARRIVALS WERE 
LYING FACE DOWN, THEIR HANDS BEHIND THEIR HEADS AND THEIR 
HEADS SHAVED.  ALL OF THEM WERE MEN EXCEPT FOR A WOMAN 
NAMED SENA FROM BRCKO, WHO HAD INSISTED ON ACCOMPANYING 
HER HUSBAND, A ONE-LEGGED MAN WHO HAD BEEN TORTURED. 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 04        ZAGREB  00945  02 OF 03  081147Z 
¶9.  (U) SOME PRISONERS DIED FROM THE DAILY BEATINGS IN 
THE CAMP.  OFTEN, SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM THE FRONT WOULD 
BE BROUGHT IN TO BEAT THE PRISONERS.  CERTAIN PEOPLE WERE 
SINGLED OUT FOR THE WORST BEATINGS, INCLUDING A SOLDIER 
NAMED NEDIM.  FOOD WAS VERY BAD, WITH ONLY ONE KILO OF 
BREAD FOR 15 PERSONS, AND A FEW SPOONSFUL OF THIN CABBAGE 
SOUP.  THERE WAS NO MEDICAL CARE, AND SOME OF THE OLD AND 
SICK DIED AS A RESULT.  THE OLDEST MAN THE WITNESS KNEW 
IN THE CAMP WAS BORN IN 1911.  ON THE HOTTEST DAYS, 
PRISONERS WERE LOCKED UP IN THE WAREHOUSES, WHERE THE 
HEAT WAS UNBEARABLE; TWO OR THREE PRISONERS WITH HEART 
PROBLEMS DIED AS A RESULT. 
 
¶10.  (U) EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN ICRC FIRST VISITED THE 
CAMP IN AUGUST 1992.  WHEN THE FIRST VISIT WAS ANNOUNCED, 
100-150 PRISONERS WERE HIDDEN.  THESE INCLUDED THE 13 
MOST BADLY BEATEN AND THE VERY YOUNG AND VERY OLD.  THREE 
OF THE BADLY BEATEN MEN WERE ANDRIJA TUFEKCIC AND DVEVAD 
KAMBERI, BOTH FROM BRCKO; AND ELJUB SMAJIC FROM 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NNNN 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 01        ZAGREB  00945  03 OF 03  081147Z 
ACTION SS-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   AID-01   AMAD-01  CIAE-00  C-01     OASY-00  DOEE-00 
      EB-01    EUR-01   HA-09    H-01     IMMC-01  TEDE-00  INR-00 
      IO-16    LAB-01   L-01     ADS-00   NSAE-00  OIC-02   OMB-01 
      PA-01    PM-01    PRS-01   P-01     RPCS-01  SB-00    SCT-03 
      SNP-00   SP-00    SR-00    SSO-00   STR-01   TRSE-00  T-00 
      RPE-01   SNIS-00  NISC-02  PMB-00     /049W 
                  ------------------2D402E  081155Z /38 
P 081138Z MAR 94 
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1121 
INFO USEC BRUSSELS 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS 
AMEMBASSY ANKARA 
USIA WASHDC 4324 
HQ JTF PP NAPLES IT//CA/POLAD// 
USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ3/ECJ4/ECJ5/ECPOLAD// 
CINCUSAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//DO/LG/XP/IN/POLAD// 
CINCUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE//J3/J4/J5/POLAD// 
CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK//N2/N22// 
COM SIXTHFLT//N2// 
JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-PMA/J2I// 
AMCONSUL MUNICH 
USMISSION GENEVA 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST 
AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 
AMEMBASSY VIENNA 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 02        ZAGREB  00945  03 OF 03  081147Z 
USMISSION USVIENNA 
USMISSION USNATO 
AMEMBASSY BONN 
SECDEF WASHDC//ISA/ISP// 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
WHITEHOUSE WASHDC 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMEMBASSY MADRID 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 
AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 
 
 
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE SECTION 03 OF 03 ZAGREB 000945 
 
 
VIENNA ALSO FOR BOSNIA 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL MOPS HR BK PREL MOPS HR BK PREL MOPS HR BK
SUBJECT:  TFSROL: SEVERE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN B-H: 
          EYEWITNESS DETAILS MURDER, BEATINGS IN LUKA AND 
          BATKOVIC 
 
BIJELJINA.  THE 13 WERE LATER TRANSFERRED, BUT HE DID NOT 
KNOW WHERE. 
 
¶11.  THE WITNESS WAS RELEASED IN A PRISONER EXCHANGE ON 
OCTOBER 5, 1992.  WHEN HE LEFT, THERE WERE STILL ABOUT 
300 PRISONERS AT BATKOVIC. 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
PAGE 03        ZAGREB  00945  03 OF 03  081147Z 
 
NEITZKE 
 
 
                   LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NNNN 
 
 

 1994ZAGREB00945 - Classification: LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 


 
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