THE HAGUE, July 26 (Hina) - Croatian General Ante Gotovina is accused of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war committed against Serbs during 1995's Operation Storm, UN's war crimes tribunal in The
Hague said on Thursday after a panel of judges granted the request of the Office of the Prosecutor to unseal the secret indictment.
THE HAGUE, July 26 (Hina) - Croatian General Ante Gotovina is
accused of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and
customs of war committed against Serbs during 1995's Operation
Storm, UN's war crimes tribunal in The Hague said on Thursday after
a panel of judges granted the request of the Office of the
Prosecutor to unseal the secret indictment.#L#
After disclosing the contents of the sealed indictment, the
Prosecutor's Office said it was expecting from the Croatian
authorities to arrest General Gotovina immediately.
According to his commanding and individual responsibility,
Gotovina is held by the Tribunal as accountable for the persecution
of the Serb population, the killing and harassment of ethnic Serbs
and for the destruction of Serb-populated villages and the plunder
of their property in the area under his command.
"Between 17 July 1995 and 15 November 1995, Ante Gotovina, acting
individually and/or in concert with others, including President
Franjo Tudjman, planned, instigated, ordered, committed or
otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or
execution of the crimes charged below in the course of, and after,
the "Oluja" (Storm) offensive" the indictment reads.
This liberating operation commenced on 4 August and was over on 7
August 1995.
"At all times relevant to this indictment, as Commander, Ante
GOTOVINA had reason to know that subordinates under his control
were committing serious violations of international humanitarian
law. Further, he was informed of such acts by representatives of
international organisations. By virtue of his de jure and de facto
position and authority, Ante GOTOVINA had the power, authority and
responsibility to prevent or punish serious violations of
international humanitarian law committed by Croatian forces during
and after the "Oluja" offensive. Ante GOTOVINA failed to take
necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such serious
violations of international humanitarian law or to punish the
perpetrators thereof," read the indictment.
Gotovina was commander of operations in the part of Storm taking
place in the United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) Sector South, and
commander of the Split Military District.
In this capacity, he was in overall charge and in command and
control of the Croatian forces which were involved in the Operation
between Aug. 4 and Nov. 15, 1999, it added.
Referring to the Croatian forces in the indictment, the Prosecution
says they include the Croatian Army (HV), the Croatian Air Force,
special police and military police.
According to the indictment, "between 4 August 1995 and 15 November
1995, large numbers of Krajina Serbs fled or were forced to flee to
Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia. Some who did not flee because of
sickness, infirmity or age were systematically harassed, and/or
unlawfully killed."
It alleged that "Ante GOTOVINA acting individually and/or in
concert with others, including President Franjo Tudjman, planned,
instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in
the planning, preparation or execution of persecutions of the
Krajina Serb population."
In this persecution at least 150 Serbs were killed and a few hundred
went missing, the prosecutors claimed.
According to the indictment, "those who remained in, or returned
to, their homes in the weeks after the offensive were ultimately
forced to flee the area as a result of continued killing, arson,
looting, harassment, terror and threats of physical harm to person
and property committed by Croatian forces. The cumulative effect of
these unlawful acts was a large-scale deportation and/or
displacement of an estimated 150,000 - 200,000 Krajina Serbs to
Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia."
"The persecutions of Krajina Serbs was on such a large scale that
the Serb population was drastically reduced in the Municipalities
of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Drnis, Gracac, Knin, Korenica, Obrovac,
Sibenik, Sinj and Zadar" it added.
According to this document, during a period covered by the
indictment, the armed conflict was conducted in the area of Krajina
in the Republic of Croatia in the territory of the former
Yugoslavia, and it read that "the Split Military District was part
of the Krajina region."
Croatian forces launched a military offensive known as "Oluja" or
"Storm", with the objective of re-taking the Krajina region, the
indictment read adding later that "Ante GOTOVINA established his
headquarters in Knin, which was the capital of the Krajina region,
following its capture."
The indictment's segment called "Additional Facts" reads "Croatia
declared its independence on 25 June 1991, by which time an armed
conflict had erupted between Croatian Serbs and Croatian forces. In
September 1991, the Croatian Government stated that the Croatian
Serbs and the Yugoslav People?s Army (JNA) controlled
approximately one-third of the territory of Croatia."
It reads also that "on 19 December 1991, the Assembly of the Serbian
Autonomous Region of Krajina, together with Serbs from other parts
of Croatia, officially declared independence from Croatia and
formed a new entity named the Republika Srpska Krajina, or the
Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). The RSK had its own military
force, the Srpska Vojska Krajine (the Serbian Army of Krajina or
SVK)."
According to ICTY prosecutors, "the Krajina region, comprising the
former United Nations Protected Areas Sector South and Sector North
was situated within the RSK and included, but was not limited to,
the municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Drnis, Gracac, Knin,
Korenica, Obrovac, Sibenik, Sinj, and Zadar"
In 1992 the Croatian army drew up plans to retake forcibly the
territory of the RSK, and in early August 1995, the Croatian forces
numbering about 150,000 troops launched the military offensive
codenamed "Oluja" or Storm to retake the Krajina region, which had
been held by Krajina Serbs since 1991, prosecutors claimed.
"On 4 and 5 August 1995, Croatian forces directed a massive
artillery assault on Knin," the indictment alleged.
The first appendix to the indictment cites names of a dozen victims,
their sex and age as well as the date and place of their killing. In
this segment, there are names of killed inhabitants of Varivode,
Grubor and Uzdolj.
The second appendix describes the scale of the destruction and
plunder, and it alleges that about 3,000 housing units were either
looted or damaged in the municipality of Knin, while 4,700 units
were looted or destroyed in the municipality of Korenica.
On 8 June, the indictment was confirmed by Justice Fouad Riad.
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