USTASHA CRIMES AGAINST BOSNIAKS IN AHMICI, 16 APRIL 1993

 DON'T FORGET!  It seems that Croatian war crimes are fading in the minds of Bosniak people and it is important not to forget. Although the Ahmici Massacre (central Bosnia) had nothing to do with Srebrenica (eastern Bosnia), it is worth remembering that Ustasha forces -- in uniforms of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) -- were responsible for vicious massacres against thousands of Bosniak civilians (and defenders) during their assault on the "Lasva Valley" region of central Bosnia. Here is a photo of Sakib Ahmic's family killed by Ustashas:

Photo shows Bosniak victims of Ustasha war crimes in 1993. Ustasha war criminals, Mirjan Kupreskic and Zoran Kupreskic, killed Sakib Ahmic’s family in front of his eyes causing him severe burns by burning down his home while he was still in it. Photo courtesy: The International Criminal Tribunal.

On 16 April 1993, Ustasha soldiers attacked — for no reason — Bosniak village Ahmici and then proceeded massacring and in some cases burning alive 116 Bosniak women, children, babies, and sick and elderly men. All victims were civilians. Two of the most notorious war criminals — Zoran Kupreskic and Mirjan Kupreskic — were originally convicted, and then acquitted of the crime due to lack of evidence — or for the better word, they submitted (what was most likely) fake evidence to the Appeals Chamber and ultimately won their freedom.

In his summary of the Judgement read out in court, Judge Cassese stated that,

“The Trial Chamber is satisfied, on the evidence before it in this case, that this was not a combat operation. Rather, it was a well-planned and well-organised killing of civilian members of an ethnic group, the Muslims, by the military of another ethnic group, the Croats. The primary purpose of the massacre was to expel the Muslims from the village, by killing many of them, by burning their houses, slaughtering their livestock, and by illegally detaining and deporting the survivors to another area. The ultimate goal of these acts was to spread terror among the population so as to deter the members of that particular ethnic group from ever returning to their houses.”

Judge Cassese also commented that,

“Indisputably, what happened on 16 April in Ahmici has gone down in history as comprising one of the most vicious illustrations of man’s inhumanity to man. Today, the name of that small village must be added to the long list of previously unknown hamlets and towns that recall abhorrent misdeeds and make all of us shudder with horror and shame: Dachau, Oradour sur Glane, Katijn, Marzabotto, Soweto, My Lai, Sabra and Shatila, and so many others.”

The Presiding Judge pointed out that,

“At the end of the trial, we have come to the conclusion that, with the possible exception of one of the accused, this Trial Chamber has not tried the major culprits, those who are most responsible for the massacre of 16 April 1993, those who ordered and planned, and those who carried out the very worst of the atrocities – against innocent civilians…We thus had to confine ourselves to the six persons accused by the Prosecutor before our Trial Chamber, to determine whether and to what extent they participated in the crimes perpetrated in Ahmici.”

1. ZORAN KUPRESKIC

Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber.

Acquitted by the Appeals Chamber after submitting highly questionable evidence in his defense.

2. MIRJAN KUPRESKIC

Sentenced to 8 years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber.

Acquitted by the Appeals Chamber after submitting highly questionable evidence in his defense.

3. VLATKO KUPRESKIC

Sentenced to 6 years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber.

Acquitted by the Appeals Chamber after submitting highly questionable evidence in his defense.

4. DRAGAN PAPIC

Acquitted by the Trial Chamber.

5. DRAGAN JOSIPOVIC

Sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber.

Sentence reduced to 12 years by the Appeals Chamber.

6. VLADIMIR SANTIC

Sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber.

Sentenced reduced to 18 years by the Appeals Chamber.