ALL RELEVANT DATA COLLECTED

AIM, PODGORICA,

Who will be called to the Hague Process

SUMMARY: A UN Expert Commission headed by Sheriff Basiouni, expert on international criminal law, collected data on crimes in the war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia for two years in the field. The findings of the Commission show that 751 camps were set up in war theatres throughout the former Yugoslavia, 150 mass graves with 3,500 victims were discovered, testimonies disclosed the number of 1,600 raped women, as well as the existence of 45 different paramilitary formations. Of the total number of crimes, 80 percent were committed by members of Serb military formations and in 90 percent of the cases the victims were Moslems. The report states that B&H was attacked without warning, without the possibility to defend itself and that both the Serbs and the Croats wanted its territory. Greater - state national projects, observed the experts, were carried out through ethnic cleansing and mass rape. This report will be the basis for the further work of the International Tribunal, for the establishment of crimes and the identification of criminals - says Vladan Vasiljevic, a criminologist from Belgrade and one of the few experts from the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who agreed to cooperate with the Basiouni Commission.

TEXT:

When deciding to establish an International Tribunal for War Crimes last year, the United Nations also set up an Expert Commission headed by the eminent expert on international criminal law, Sheriff Basiouni. For almost two years this Commission collected data in the field on crimes and victims of genocide related to the war in the former Yugoslavia. The Commission started with the war in Slovenia and completed its work with the events in Bosnia known so far. The world public was informed of its finding during May. It is known with certainty that reports have been sent to the Governments of all the states from the territory of the former Yugoslavia, including the three Governments in FRY. However, until a few days ago no one spoke about the findings of the Basiouni Commission, while at the same time emissaries were sent everywhere where at least some pardon could be sought for the perpetrators, especially for those who caused this bloody war.

And the findings of the Commission, obtained so far, are as follows: 715 camps were discovered in the war theatres of the former Yugoslavia; 3500 victims were found in 150 mass graves; the number of raped women is 1,600 (on the basis of testimonies); 45 paramilitary formations and militias led this bloody game, primarily throughout Bosnia, and 80 percent of the crimes, states the Commission, were committed by the Serbs, while 90 percent of the victims were Moslems.

The UN Expert Commission prepared the report on crimes and victims of war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia for the needs of the UN and the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Hague. The Commission not only noted the consequences of the war, but also its causes. It sees them in the division of B&H between Serbian and Croatian nationalists, as stated by the French historian Michel Fousche. "The Bosnian Moslems were attacked suddenly, without the possibility of defending themselves and both the Serbs and the Croats wanted their territory" says Fousche. The Commission established that greater-state national plans were implemented in two ways: ethnic cleansing carried out through large-scale moving of the population, or through mass killings and mass rape which are, according to the experts of the Basiouni Commission, linked, so that everything indicates that they are a part of the plan.

We have gone back several centuries, to a time characterized by horrendous crimes and the ruthless settling of scores among differnt ethnic and religious groups, because the facts recorded by the expert commissions walking through those hapless Bosnian territories, confirm that the monstrous motives associated with this war have been forgotten long ago among that part of mankind which is called civilized.

"The Report of the Basiouni Commission of Experts will remain as a lasting document testifying to crimes, and on the basis of which in the future, experts on international and criminal law will have to engage in new research and interpretations of crimes, as much of what has happened in these areas does not fall under any article of the existing criminal legislation" - says an expert on international criminal law, one of the small number of experts from this region who put their professionalism and impartiality at the disposal of the world community and its experts, professor Vladan Vasiljevic, with whose assistance we learned the details from this Report.

"The Commission notes that this was the problem of state policy over a longer period of time, and that that policy had been implemented systematically. This primarily refers to ethnic cleansing, which the Commission links to corresponding categories of international criminal law, close to genocide or apartheid" observes Vasiljevic.

AIM: Does the Commission pinpoint special examples, because we know that in that chaos there exist regions which have actually been cleansed of primarily members of the Moslem people.

VASILJEVIC: An example of the "systematic nature" of that cleansing is the Prijedor region, which is an appalling document of the times and of what took place in this area. It has been established that in the region of Prijedor, including Kozarac, there has been an absolute change in the ethnic composition of the population, while the victims are almost exclusively Moslems. From 49 thousand in 1991, their number fell to 2 thousand, while the Serb population increased from 47 to 53 thousand. This of course, shows that Serbs from other regions were moved to Prijedor while the number of Croats has been halved and the number of other ethnic groups reduced from 8 thousand to 2 thousand. This is repeated in Brcko, Foca, Visegrad, Trebinje, and many other places, but perhaps nowhere in such drastic form as in Prijedor. Drawing attention to this crime against humanity, the crime of genocide committed by Serbs, the Commission states names so that even the President of the local Red Cross Organization is among the political and military top officials of Prijedor.

AIM: The Commission discovered a large number of mass graves also.

VASILJEVIC: Yes, the second more tragic form of large-scale ethnic cleansing are mass graves. The Commission has processed over 150 and determined that the majority of the victims were Moslems and Croats. That is yet another fact showing that the Serbs committed the largest number of crimes and that the Moslems suffered most. In the graves uncovered so far, about 3,500 mutilated bodies have been found.

AIM: A segment of the overall plan was implemented through another monstruous form - mass rape.

VASILJEVIC: Yes, the Commission treats rape separately, and directly met with about 250 victims. According to the way they were committed and the structure of the victims, all these crimes unequivocally point to a monstruous plan backed by official policy. This crime was not known in international criminal law so that the Commission refers to Article 46 of the Fourth Hague Convention concerning the protection of the family, private property and sexual freedom, especially the dignity of women. That is why the Hague Tribunal will try the perpetrators of this crime according to this Article of the Convention.

AIM: Will the Basiouni Report be the basis for the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Hague?

VASILJEVIC: This Report should actually be the basis for the further work of the International Tribunal, for the establishment of elements of acts suspected to have been committed and then for identifying suspects. The Commission has been set up to obtain evidence in a timely manner and present it to the Tribunal. This is practically its final report. Now comes the Investigating Service and the recently appointed Prosecutor of the International Tribunal in the Hague. It is certain that everything will be checked again, new details and persons included, but it is also certain that the Tribunal will take this Report as its basic document.

Dara Pejovic