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Title	Croatia: Information on abuses carried out between April 1992 and September 1992 by Serbian military and paramilitary forces in Krajina generally and in particular in the places named in Response HRV16050.E
Publisher	Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Country	Croatia \| Serbia
Publication Date	1 February 1994
Citation / Document Symbol	HRV16339.E
Cite as	Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Croatia: Information on abuses carried out between April 1992 and September 1992 by Serbian military and paramilitary forces in Krajina generally and in particular in the places named in Response HRV16050.E, 1 February 1994, HRV16339.E, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6acfb9f.html [accessed 17 October 2012]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Croatia: Information on abuses carried out between April 1992 and September 1992 by Serbian military and paramilitary forces in Krajina generally and in particular in the places named in Response HRV16050.E

Helsinki Watch reports several incidents that occurred in the area of Krajina, in the municipalities of Gospic, Zadar, Benkovac and Obrovac, and in Knin (Jan. 1992). Helsinki Watch indicates that in the municipality of Gospic (in the village of Siroka Kula) thirteen people were killed following an attack on 13 October 1991, when Serbian paramilitary groups allegedly pillaged Croatian homes and set them on fire (ibid., 4-5). In the municipalities of Zadar (in the village of Skarbrnje) and of Benkovac (in the village of Nadin), Serbian paramilitaries and the National Yugoslav Army (JNA) in November 1991 reportedly killed 48 civilians, who, according to autopsy reports, were shot in the head at close range (ibid., 7-8). In the Serbian controlled municipality of Benkovac, 1,500 persons are reportedly missing, and one Croat was allegedly arrested and "beaten to death" by the Serbian paramilitary police in July 1991 (ibid., 14). In the Serbian controlled Obrovac municipality, 354 Croats, most of them elderly persons, were reportedly taken to Knin jail (ibid., 15).

A number of reports indicate that in order to evade the demilitarisation of the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) provided for in the Vance Plan, the Knin authorities have renamed their forces "special police." The forces are made up of members of the JNA, Territorial Defense Force (TDF), and Serbian paramilitaries (BBC Summary 5 Mar. 1992; The Daily Telegraph 23 May 1992; Moscow Human Dimension Mechanism to Croatia 1992, 13; and Xinhua 21 Jan. 1992).

A report by the Moscow Human Dimension Mechanism to Croatia indicates that members of the "'police force' are reported to bear responsibility for assaults, 'ethnic cleansing', robbery, murders and other criminal acts against the non-Serb population in the Serb-controlled areas of Croatia" (1992, 13).

The International Society for Human Rights in Frankfurt reports that in June 1992 Croats were expelled from Knin (1 July 1992). The organisation also indicates that refugees from Knin have reported on arbitrary arrests and detention, and inhumane treatment by the Krajina police (ibid.).

Amnesty International reports that many of the Croatian prisoners in the "district prison of Knin," which has been set up in an old hospital, have been beaten and ill-treated by prison guards (Mar. 1992, 14, 22-23). The same source reports similar incidents which occurred in June, July and August 1991 (1991, 12). Helsinki Watch also indicates that Serbian forces allegedly maintain a detention camp in Knin (Jan. 1992, 11).

The BBC Summary reported that in mid-August 1991 the village of Tepljuh was surrounded by Krajina armed forces, after which a JNA unit established a buffer zone (19 Aug. 1991).

The rapporteurs of the Moscow Human Dimension Mechanism to Croatia indicate their concern that Serbian forces in the Krajina region "might resort to terrorist acts on a large scale" (1992, 13). Serbian forces have reportedly mined the area near the Peruca High Dam, and there is concern that the Knin authorities could threaten to destroy the dam (1992, 15).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Amnesty International. March 1992. Yugoslavia: Further Reports of Torture and Deliberate and Arbitrary Killings in War Zones. (AI Index: EUR 48/13/92). London: Amnesty International.

. November 1991. Yugoslavia: Torture and Deliberate and Arbitrary Killings. (AI Index: EUR 48/26/91). London: Amnesty International.

BBC Summary of the World Broadcasts. 5 March 1992. "Babic Accuses Milosevic of Attempting Coup in KrajinaNo Referendum Necessary." (NEXIS)

. 19 August 1991. "Further Reports on Croatia in Brief." (NEXIS)

The Daily Telegraph [London]. 23 May 1992. "Peace Hopes Thwarted by Serb Terrorism in Slavonia." (NEXIS)

International Society for Human Rights, Frankfurt. 1 July 1992. "Human Rights and Serbia: New Information 29 May-1 July 1992."

Moscow Human Dimension Mechanism in Croatia. 7 October 1992. Report of rapporteurs I. Corell, H. Turk and G. Thune on visit to Croatia from 30 September-5 October 1992.

News from Helsinki Watch [New York]. 21 January 1992. Vol. 4, No. 3. Letter to Slobodan Milosevic and General Blagoje Adzic.

The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 8 September 1992. "U.N. Peace Plan for Croatia Said to Get Stuck." (NEXIS)

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