[CTRL] Fw: Croatia joins KFOR in Kosovo?:Kupres (part two)

[Mrs. Jela Jovanovic, Secretary General]

--

>PART TWO
>4
>
>Detained Kupres Serb civilians were exposed to horrifying tortures in
>several detention camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia until the
>exchange of May 15, 1992 at the village of Zitnik, near Knin.
>
>Their testimonies:
>
>4.1. Witness 453/96-5, born in 1972, resident of Kupres, testifies:
>
>...on April 6, 1992, soldiers with HVO insignia on their uniforms came into
>our house, arresting me and my father. They took us to the Borac factory
and
>placed us in a machine-room.
>
>Before that, for six hours, we were held next to the bodies of killed Stevo
>Lugonja and Drago Celebic.
>
>When taken to the machine-room, we were ordered to take off our clothes and
>footwear, and we were left in underwear only. They took our personal data
>and ordered us to go two by two towards Sujice.
>
>We were flanked by members of HVO, they were in front and at the end of our
>column. It was cold and snowing. Thus, naked and barefoot, we were on our
>way to Sujice, 22 km away from Kupres. On the way, they hit us with butts
of
>their rifles, particularly those among us who were not capable to move
>further.
>
>At a given moment, they singled out Zarko Zivanic from Kupres and, before
>our very eyes, fired several bullets. He was left dead by the road, and we
>were ordered to move further and finally entered Sujice.
>
>Once there, the Croatian soldiers tied our arms on our back with wire,
>cursing our Serb and chetnik mothers, threatening to kill us, that we would
>all end up in the same pits in which the remains of Serbs killed in 1941
had
>been found. They beat all the arrested tied in that fashion with butts of
>their rifles and kicked them with their booted feet.
>
>They then loaded us as if we were sacks onto a truck and took us to Duvno.
>
>We were detained in prison for civilians in Duvno, in the cells down in the
>cellar. Two or four of us were placed in each cell. I was together with my
>father, next to us were N.S. and P.S.
>
>We were kept there one day only. Throughout, Croat soldiers entered the
>cells and hit those in until we all fainted. They kicked us with their
>booted feet, his us with rifle butts, weapon barrels and batons. They would
>enter late at night and would beat us badly. They said that we would all be
>slaughtered and that for us, Serbs, there was no life together with Croats
>and Moslems.
>
>Apart from beating us and threatening that we would be slaughtered, the HVO
>soldiers took individuals out from their cells and forced them to have
>sexual intercourse. They wanted my father and N.S. to do it, but they
>refused it.
>
>After being exposed to most horrendous beating, we were ordered to leave
the
>prison where we were kept tied with wire, and the whole group was taken in
a
>truck to the village of Brisnik, where there was a pit into which Serbs had
>been thrown in 1941. By the pit, a group of Croatian soldiers awaited us
>with wooden sticks in their hands, about 80 cm long and 5-6 cm thick. As we
>were getting of the truck, tied with wire, they beat, one from the right
>handside and the other from the left handside, each one of us with these
>sticks until we fainted. When these soldiers got tired of beating us,
others
>took over and resumed the same job, until all the detainees left the truck.
>
>There, we were put in a garage in the basement, they shut the door and
>released some poisonous gas into it - tear gas or sneeze gas, probably. As
a
>result, we all started weeping, had difficulty breathing , and we were all
>sneezing terribly. I do not know how long it lasted, but I do know that, at
>a given moment, they opened the door, and took us close to the Brisnik pit.
>Once again, we were put on the truck, beaten again, and taken towards
Duvno,
>passing by it and continuing towards Livno - Borova Glava. There also was a
>pit where Serb population from the Kupres area had found their death in
>1941.
>
>We passed Livno and the whole group was placed in the detention camp "Lora"
>in Split.
>
>Upon our arrival, on both sides of the entrance gate, Croatian soldiers
with
>peaces of rubber cable, metal pipes 60-80 meters long or pieces of wood in
>their hands made a cordon and beat us mercilessly when we were passing.
>
>Close to me, Petar Spremo from Kupres had his head smashed, and he
succumbed
>after some time. Croatian soldiers then started searching and seized all
>valuables we had with us: golden rings, wedding rings, money, watches, etc.
>
>We were ordered to climb the truck that took us there, and the truck
started
>off in circles, in highest speed, braking suddenly, thus making us smash
>each other with our bodies, since we were very close one to the other. The
>truck was also making sudden U-turns to the left or to the right, which
>again made us smash each other terribly with our heads and bodies. All of
us
>were tied with wire, all barefoot and in underwear.
>
>We were then ordered to leave the truck, the wire was taken off our bodies
>and we were taken into cells. I was in a cell with 12 arrested, among them
>my father. That cell was of a size 2 x 3 sq.m. The Croatian soldiers then
>took us out individually into the corridor in front of the cell and
>horrifying cries and screams were heard. Even blows also. This lasted some
>30 minutes. My turn came and I was taken back all blood-stained, bruised
and
>swollen.
>
>I was detained in Lora with my father one day and one night, and beaten
>several times.
>
>After that, tied with wire, my father and me were taken to Duvno in a van
>and detained in police prison, in its cellar.
>
>My father was first taken for interrogation, and I was taken after him. I
>was asked what unit of the Serb army I served in and what armaments this
>unit had, although I had not served in any, nor did I know anything about
it
>all. I was given a piece of paper and ordered to give answers to some
>questions.
>
>Ever since our arrest, throughout the route I have indicated above, and
>during interrogation, we were ordered to look down, forbidden to look at
the
>person talking to us or beating us. This was the rule and if anyone
breached
>it, he was tortured and beaten terribly.
>
>When I was interrogated in Duvno, my father was taken along and asked if he
>was hungry, and the interrogator ordered the soldiers to take us back and
>give us some food. We were taken to our cell and a Croatian soldier started
>to beat us terribly. A Croat soldier kicked my father into his mouth with
>his booted foot and knocked out a few teeth in his upper jaw. His teeth
fell
>out onto the floor. Another soldier who was next to me hit me, and both my
>father and myself fainted afterwards. At the time, I already had my left
>forearm fractured after having been beaten at Brisnik.
>
>My father and I were detained in Duvno for seven days. It was on our sixth
>day there that we were given a slice of bread - the first time we were
given
>to eat anything at all.
>
>During our detention at the Duvno prison, Croatian soldiers came almost
>every two hours to beat me and my father. This was routine by day and by
>night. Every time when they beat us, they cursed our Serb mothers, called
us
>chetniks and threatened that we would be killed.
>
>While we were at Duvno, a Croat soldier from the Lora camp brought brothers
>C. and a priest Z. They were in other cells. I was not able to see what
>exactly they did to them, but I heard screams and moans. I suppose they
were
>beaten as we were.
>
>>From the Duvno prison, 13 of us from Kupres were taken to Split and, once
>again, to the Lora camp.
>
>Once again, at Lora, we were "welcomed" by a cordon of soldiers holding
>pieces of wood, pipes, pieces of electricity conductor in their hands, and
>mercilessly beaten. I saw that my father stepped down from the truck with
>his head up more than allowed, they made him fall on the ground, and beat
>him with a metal pipe until he fainted. I was also beaten, I staggered but
>did not fall down. We were then ordered to climb the truck, and the truck
>"promenade" in rounds with sudden stops and moves to the left and the right
>followed again.
>
>We were kept in Lora two to three hours, after which time the whole group
>was taken to Zadar, to a military barracks there.
>
>Again, there was a cordon of soldiers holding various objects in their
>hands, we were beaten first, and then placed into cells, five in each cell.
>The next day, we were ordered to take off the clothes we had on, and given
>the former Yugoslav Army uniforms to put on.
>
>There, in the prison, we found a group of previously arrested Serbs from
>Prebilovci and Duvno. I do not know how long we were detained in that
>prison, probably 10 to 15 days. Every day, on several occasions, soldiers
>came into our cells and beat us. They took us out from the cells and beat
us
>in the corridor. They forced us to sing Croat songs and to greet the Croat
>soldiers with the salute "ready for the homeland", while they were beating
>us terribly.
>
>There, we were lying on bare floor. In this detention camp they started
>giving us food. At first, once a day, and later, twice. The food was just a
>slice of bread - two to three bites, with some canned meat paste on it.
But,
>sometimes, we were not given any food for two to three days.
>
>Here again, we were beaten until we fainted. I still have scars of the
blows
>and the wire with which my hands were tied.
>
>In Zadar, Croatian soldiers let us go to relieve ourselves once in 24
hours,
>and it was very rare that we were given some water to drink.
>
>>From Zadar, we were transferred by truck to a village near Duvno. There,
we
>were locked up in a cellar with livestock. We had to lie down in that
manure
>and water with no rug or cover. We were kept there for five - six days,
>during which time Croatian soldiers would come in and beat us until we
>fainted.
>
>The cealing was too low, we could not stand in the upright position, there
>were some 30 of us.
>
>Throughout that time, we were once given a slice of bread and that was all
>we were given as food. We were terribly exhausted as a result of hunger and
>daily beatings.
>
>While we were detained there, some Croat doctors came and allegedly put
some
>vitamins in the drinking water, since we were all so exhausted that we were
>not able to move, nor to rise.
>
>Next, we were taken to Ljubuski and placed in prison there.
>
>While there, we were forced to hold our arms up for 5 - 6 hours, to beat
one
>another with our hands and fists, to make frog's leaps and do push-ups.
>
>We were kept there for about seven days, and then taken to Zitnic near
>Drnis, and exchanged.
>
>In the group taken for the exchange, apart from my father and me, there was
>Stojan Zubic from Kupres, a World War II veteran, who was so beaten up and
>weak that he died during the exchange.
>
>Upon the exchange, my father and I were taken to Kupres and Banja Luka,
>where we were given medical assistance.
>
>During that period, when detained in the same room, my father and me often
>said farewell to each other, since we were certain that one of us would
>never be released. I have forgotten many of the details of the terror
>experienced in those detention camps, and it would take very long to tell
>all about the acts and attitudes of the Croatian authorities.
>
>In a nutshell, it was horrifying and unbearable.
>
>4.2. Witness 426/96-51, currently a refugee residing in Banja Luka
>testifies:
>
>When we reached Sujice, they tied our hands up with wire. This was done by
>Croatian soldiers Bozo Saric, father's name Stanislav, from Begovo Selo,
>Ivica Slijepcevic, father's name Milan, from Sujica and others whom I had
>not met before.
>
>On the way to Split, Croat soldiers who were escorting us, beat us
>mercilessly with butts of their weapons, kicked us with their booted feet,
>they cursed our Serb and chetnik mothers, and threatened to exterminate us
>all in the cruellest of ways.
>
>The vehicle stopped near a pit called Cebare and there the soldiers,
>including Slijepcevic and Saric, started beating us mercilessly.
>
>Among those who beat us were also some civilians, who had wooden stakes,
>metal levers and other objects in their hands. We were kept there some 4 to
>5 hours, and they beat us without any break.
>
>We were driven to Lora and there, at the entrance, a cordon of Croatian
>soldiers was waiting for us. They beat us up so badly that we could not
even
>stand on our feet. As a result of this beating, my cousin, P.S., died soon
>after that.
>
>We were kept at LORA one day, and we were taken out to be beaten many
times.
>They beat us mostly with butts of their weapons, with pieces of insulated
>electrical conductors, rubber batons, metal pipes, booted feet and fists.
>
>We were then taken to a military barracks in Zadar. I do not know exactly
>how long we were detained there. On our arrival in Zadar, by the way, we
>were beaten again by the cordon of Croat soldiers who battered us so
>vehemently and cursed our Serb and chetnik mothers, shouting that we would
>all be exterminated. We all fainted after such beating. In that detention
>camp we lay on bare floor. We were given one meal a day - a small piece of
>bread and a chunk of canned meat. As a matter of fact, beaten, swollen,
>bruised and blood-stained as we were, we did not care so much about food as
>about water, which the Croatian soldiers did not want to give us.
>
>In Zadar, three groups of detainees were formed and after some time, my
>group was taken to Eminovo Selo at Duvno and placed in the cellar of a
>building.
>
>We were first to be taken for interrogation. Namely, first of all, we were
>taken to a garden and were told to "stand straight"; we were first told to
>kneel, then to put our heads on the ground and our hands on our backs.
Croat
>soldiers passed by each of us, beating us mercilessly on our backs with
>metal pipes some 80 cm long, of a diameter of 3-4 cm, and then took us to
be
>interrogated.
>
>During this detention, we lay on plain ground, were given one meal a day -
>i.e., a slice of bread and a chunk of meat paste. We were not given any
>water, though. It was in the same room that we had to relieve ourselves,
and
>the stench was unbearable. I don't know exactly how many days I was
detained
>there, but I know for sure that every day I was taken out to be
interrogated
>and was beaten most cruelly. Croat soldiers took some civilians into this
>building, pointing at us as imprisoned chetniks, and those civilians also
>beat us, spat on us and cursed us, humiliating us in various ways. I was
>present when a woman, probably a Croat, cut off a piece of detained M.S.'s
>thigh. M.S. was a resident of Begovo Selo. In Vrgorac, we were placed in a
>cellar, and then taken out for interrogation to the first floor. On every
>occasion, we were beaten with butts of weapons, pipes, feet, fists, pieces
>of insluated electrical cables and other similar devices. They kept
>threatening us that we would all be killed. They forced us to salute before
>the picture of Ante Pavelic in all the camps we were detained at, to sing
>ustashi song " Here comes Jure and Boban". Milo Spremo was taken for
>interrogation there and since he was beaten most vehemently, he died soon
>after he returned to the cellar.
>
>4.3. Witness 426/96-61 tells the investigating judge on the "welcome" to
>Lora:
>
>"At the entrance, a cordon of policemen, with pieces of electrical cable,
>metal pipes, weapons, pieces of wood etc., was there to "welcome" us. As we
>passed between them, tied up as we were, they beat us without mercy. As a
>result, most of us fell down, but they proceeded with the beating.
>
>At Lora, the ten of us were detained in one cell. The Croat policemen then
>begun to take us one by one into another room where we were beaten without
>mercy. I was taken in there, allegedly for interrogation, but I was ordered
>to lie down on a table, the policemen were on both sides of the table, one
>of them had a rubber baton in his hand, another one a wooden chunk some 60
>to 80 cm long, and they started beating me without interrogating me at all.
>I was beaten until I fainted, and when I came round, I was ordered to stand
>by the wall, one of them took my head and smashed it against the wall until
>blood gushed from it. I was then taken back to the cell, and others had
>their turn. I was blood- stained, swollen and bruised all over.
>
>Upon detention at Lora, a group of Kupres detainees was taken to Duvno, as
I
>learned later. I saw them again only before the exchange at Ljubusko.
>
>I was detained at Lora some seven days. Every day, we were taken from our
>cells and beaten. They threatened that they would kill us in the cruellest
>way.
>
>They took us out and ordered us to stand in a line by the wall and then
>fired above our heads.
>
>At night, they would take us out one by one, telling each one of us that
>they were taking him to be slaughtered, and would bring him back to another
>cell, so we did not know what had happened.
>
>We were forced to salute before the picture of Ante Pavelic and to sing
>ustashi songs.
>
>Some among us were subjected to electrical shocks. They connected them to
an
>electricity source, but it was not my case.
>
>It was only before we were taken to Zadar that we were given a slice of
>bread (50 grams) and a chunk of meat paste from a small can, divided among
>20 detainees.
>
>Throughout that time they did not give us any water...
>
>4.4 Witness 333/95-23 testifies:
>
>...In Split, we were driven to the maritime zone where the Croat military
>police HQs was.
>
>There, like at Gornji Brsnik, we went out of the truck one by one. Croatian
>soldiers, who awaited us, beat us. In front of me, 3 meters away, was Petar
>Spremo. A Croatian soldier hit him hard on the head with the butt of his
>gun. Spremo fell and hit his nave against the curbstone and did not move
>after that. I have not seen him since. The same soldier hit me badly on the
>head with the butt of his gun. As a result, I had a quadruple skull
fracture
>and was gored in blood.
>
>At LORA they placed us in cells, 20 inmates in each.
>
>I stayed at this cell for three days. During that time we were interrogated
>and beaten by the guards. They beat us and humiliated us in a variety of
>ways. They made us go into kennels and bark like dogs.
>
>They took me out to the compound and beat me there. They told me I looked
>like Radovan Karadzic. They beat me until I fainted. When I came round they
>said I looked like Momcilo Krajisnik and then beat me some more.
>
>One of the most humiliating events for us took place at LORA. They forced
>some of us there to carry out perverse acts. One of us had to place
somebody
>else's penis in his mouth or to engage in unnatural debauchery. This
>happened to the late Milo Spremo, priest P.Z., S.L., Z.B. and to others.
>
>They did not give us any food or drinking water during the three days of
our
>stay at LORA.
>
>The cruellest of them all at LORA were a certain RAMBO, Vlado alias
>Vukovarac, a man with a long hair in a pony tail whom they called Reponja
>(the Long-Tailed), a man called Makedonac (Macedonian), Zuco (the Yellow
>One) from the village of Ploce, municipality of Gornji Vakuf...
>
>4.5. Witness 34/96 stated:
>
>On our way, somewhere between Split and Zadar, we stopped and they singled
>out 20 detained Kupres Serbs from our truck. They did this without any
>roll-call. The rest of us resumed our trip to a barracks in Zadar where
they
>ordered us to get off and where we stayed for two days. They ordered us
>there to put on ex-YPA uniforms as they wanted to have soldiers instead of
>civilians for the purpose of their exchange.
>
>Then they allegedly took us to be exchanged and on our way, somewhere near
>the place were they ordered those 20 men to get off they roll called 5 men:
>Ljuba Milic, Ratko Milic, Jova Maric, Slavko Dragojlovic and Mirko Civcic,
>all civilians from Kupres.
>
>They then brought back the remaining 17 from the group which they had
>ordered to get off when they escorted us to Zadar, but three of them were
>missing: Pajo Kanlic, Dusan Nikic, MIlos Milisic, all civilians from
Kupres.
>
>As for the above mentioned five which I said were roll-called as well as
the
>mentioned three, I have never seen them alive again and according to my
>knowledge they are not alive...
>
>4.6. Witness 334/97-19 stated:
>
>...In Split they drove us to a military barracks and there within the
>barracks compound they would increase the speed at which the truck was
>moving and then suddenly apply the brakes so that we in the truck smashed
>our heads and bodies. After the truck would stop, they would order us all
to
>get off and then would beat us with all sorts of things until we fainted.
>After the beating they would order us to get on the truck again and then
>they took us to the camp LORA. At the entrance to the camp a cordon of
>Croatian soldiers awaited us and as we were passing through that cordon
they
>hit us with the objects they held in their hands, parts of plumbing pipes,
>70-80 cm long and around 3 cm thick, with rubber hoses, electric
conductors,
>pieces of wood and other things which I cannot even describe here. As most
>of us that were passing through that cordon fell, Croatian soldiers kicked
>us.
>
>After we entered the camp LORA, we were placed in rooms size 2 x 2 meters,
>12 or more of us in each. We could not even squat nor sit down, we only
>could stand and lean against one another. Croatian soldiers would take us
>out of that room into another and torture us in a variety of ways until we
>fainted. At first, they beat us up with all sorts of things and then they
>would "switch us on" by tying one end of the electric wire to the penis and
>another to an arm or an ear and then turn the current on. This caused
>excruciating pain.
>
>After that they gave us salt which we had to swallow. They gave us each
>about half a kilo of salt and not a drop of water. Life at LORA was
>unbearable. I stayed at LORA together with other arrested persons for three
>days. Every night Croatian soldiers with knives in their hands would enter
>our room, threaten to slaughter us all. Every night, upon their entry,
>Croatian soldiers would ask for a volunteer who wished to be executed and I
>saw people really stepping forward of their own free will and after they
>were taken out I heard shots... I also heard when they took out and
>slaughtered men, I heard the screams of those men and the death rattle
after
>they cut their throats.
>
>They took us out into the compound and made us move on our knees on gravel
>and then ordered us to enter the kennels and bark like dogs. They
>persistently threatened to kill us all.
>
>Throughout our stay at LORA they never gave us anything to eat nor any
water
>to drink and constantly subjected us to terrible torture. After our stay at
>LORA a group of some 70 arrested Serbs from Kupres was tied up and put on a
>truck in the evening and the truck took us all in the direction of Duvno.
>
>The truck departed and brought us to Emino Selo near Duvno where a group of
>Croatian soldiers awaited us including some uniformed women. They ordered
us
>to get off the truck. As we were getting off we were beaten by those
>present. Some of those present even had knives in their hands and they
>stabbed us in different parts of the body, cursing our Chetnik mothers and
>threatened to slaughter us all. They put gunpowder from bullets into the
>wounds and then lit it.
>
>They ordered us all to lie with our bellies on the ground and with our
hands
>tied behind our backs. Then Croatian soldiers kicked us with their boots in
>our heads and in other parts of the body and trampled upon us in their
>booted feet. We were kept at that place all night long. The following
>morning, some 8 or 9 arrested Serbs were singled out from the group and
>taken in an unknown direction and their fate has remained unknown to this
>day. I know that there were several people I knew, namely: Dragan Masic,
>Ratko Masic, Mimo Masic from Kupres, Rade Lugonja and another man from
>Malovan. I think Rade was from Ravno and another two were from Malovan.
>
>The rest of the group, including myself, were put on a truck and taken to
>Vrgorac. They placed us in a cellar. After they placed us there, Croatian
>soldiers entered the cellar and beat us so badly that almost all of us
>fainted. Mile Spremo from Begovo Selo near Kupres died as a result of the
>wounds he had sustained. They kept us in that cellar for some 12 days and
>throughout that time we were subjected to torture and beatings. They would
>take us in front of that house, order us to kneel, make us move on our
naked
>knees, pressed their knives against our throats and made incisions across
>our bodies threatening to slaughter us.
>
>We were not given anything to eat during the first four or five days nor
any
>water so we were forced to drink our own urine to survive. After that they
>would give us a slice of bread and a small meat paste which we divided up
>between 5 arrested persons.
>
>After having spent 12 days at Vrgorac, they took us to Ljubuski and locked
>us up in some rooms in the cellar of an old prison. They continued
torturing
>us at Ljubuski which was no different from other places.
>
>They beat us, threatened us, made us kneel, to gaze at the sun for several
>hours, placed knives against our throats and placed gun barrels in our
>mouths threatening to kill us...
>
>4.7. Witness 547/96-40, who had been arrested at Kupres and following
>serious ill-treatment by Croatian soldiers transferred by van to Duvno
>together with his daughter-in-law M, M.B., Z.K. and S.S., testifies:
>
>... They took us to Duvno and locked us up in a room at the Police Station.
>While I was there I could hear persistent screams and moans from the cellar
>where the arrested Serbs were.
>
>We were held in that room for three days and then a Croatian soldier took
me
>from the Police building to a van whereby they drove me to Split. There
were
>3 arrested Serbs from Kupres in the van which I got into namely N.D.,
>father's name Boza born in 1952; N.D. father's name Sava, born, I think, in
>1957 and D.V. father's name Svetko, born I think in 1968 all of them are
>from Kupres and my neighbours. All were bruised, swollen and blood-
stained.
>
>I wish to point out that when we were arrested our group included some 65
>Serbs from Kupres and the neighbouring villages. I was brought to Split and
>placed in the camp LORA cell No. 1. They placed the three of us which had
>been brought from Duvno in that cell but singled out D.V. and locked him up
>in another cell.
>
>We found a group of arrested Serbs from Kupres within the LORA compound.
The
>group of arrested Serbs from Kupres was ordered to stand in a circle.
Priest
>Z.P. was placed in the centre of the circle. A Croatian soldier plucked his
>beard. Priest Z.P. moaned in pain and other Croatian soldiers present
>laughed. Before we were showed back to our cell Croatian soldiers ordered
us
>to stand against the wall, raise our hands and then they frisked us and
took
>away all valuables: wallets, rings, watches, etc. They were cursing our
Serb
>mothers and claimed that not a single one of us would get out of the camp
>alive. Then they kicked us with their booted feet, beat us with their
fists,
>butts and barrels, with metal pipes, batons, pieces of wood i.e. wooden
>handles of axes and shovels, laths and everything else that they could take
>into their hands. They hit us on all body parts, and especially in the
areas
>of our kidneys, backs, spines and loins.
>
>After they placed us in the cells, the Croatian soldiers took out one
>arrested person from each of the cells.
>
>They took out N.D. from my cell. After a while N. was returned to the cell.
>He was bruised all over, blood-stained and beaten up and it then dawned on
>me that he had been taken to be interrogated and as they did this they beat
>him up mercilessly.
>
>They took me out and into a room where a man lay on the floor covered by a
>blanket with only his feet showing. A Croatian soldier told me just as I
>went into the room pointing at the one lying on the floor and probably dead
>"this will be your fate too unless you tell me all I ask you." He asked me
>who was the leader of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) in Kupres, who
were
>the SDS leaders at Donji and Gornji Malovan and in other villages, to tell
>the names of SDS members.
>
>The same soldier told me to lie on the floor on my back. He approached me,
>kneeled on my breast and took out a knife and placed it against my throat.
>He kept the knife pressed against my throat but I do not know how long it
>all lasted. I foamed at the mouth and the soldier stood up and ordered me
to
>stand up too. He ordered me to kneel, took a handle some 80 cm long and 5-6
>cm in diameter and started beating me on the back. After the first blow I
>fainted and fell down and when I came round I was all wet and the Croatian
>soldier was holding me by the lapels. He had probably splashed water on me
>and then taken me up from the floor. He brought me, holding me by the
>jacket, to the cell where I had been placed, then kicked me in the back and
>I fell down on the concrete floor.
>
>I spent 5 - 6 days in the same cell at LORA. All those in the cell were so
>beaten up that they could not stand up. We tried to raise one another. We
>stayed there 5-6 days and then were tied up and taken to Zadar at night. It
>is noteworthy that prior to our departure for Zadar Petar Spremo, father's
>name Slavko, resident of Begovo Selo, date of birth unknown to me, died at
>LORA. Petar was a young man. I know that he worked as a repairman at the
>elementary school. Petar had died at LORA because he had been beaten
>ruthlessly there.
>
>On our way to Zadar, I do not know how many kilometers away from Zadar, the
>truck was stopped and the following were taken out: Spasoje Kanlic from
>Donji Malovan; Ljubo Milic from the village of Brdo; Ratko Milic from the
>village of Brdo; Slavko Dragoljevic from the village of Ravno, who was a
>teacher at the elementary school at the same village; Dusan Nikic; a Civcic
>from the village of Ravno (I do not know his first name) he had a hearing
>device because his hearing was impaired; a Milisic who lived in Bugojno and
>another one whose name and surname I cannot recall. Nothing has been learnt
>about these persons since.
>
>As we stepped out of the truck we passed through a cordon of Croatian
>soldiers who beat us mercilessly. They beat us with pieces of wood, kicked
>us with their feet, hit us with their fists, with their rifle butts and
>barrels and with their batons. After that they placed us in a large room on
>the ground floor all 65 of us, i.e. 57 because 8 had been taken away during
>our trip. We lay on the bare floor in that room and stayed there 6 - 7
days.
>We were not given any water and were tormented by terrible thirst.
>
>When somebody asked for water the Croatian soldiers would retort: "No water
>for you, Ceda, so you will die on your feet." I learnt that the room used
to
>belong to a former YPA barracks. One day they took us out of that room and
>ordered us to get off all our clothes, took our clothes away, gave us
former
>YPA uniforms and ordered us to put them on.
>
>Once a day we were given a slice of bread and a little tea and that was
all.
>On the last day of our stay in that barracks the Croatian soldiers first
>tied us up then beat us up until we fainted and then put us all on a truck
>which took us to Duvno. During the ride, the truck very often, probably on
>purpose, suddenly braked so that we smashed our heads against one another
>inside and were all blood-stained as a result.
>
>We were driven to Eminovo Selo near Duvno and placed in a stable. We lay in
>that stable on bare soil and at night Croatian soldiers would take us out
>and beat us there until we fainted. They made us kneel and brought some
>women who beat us with various objects they had in their hands. A woman had
>a pitchfork and stabbed with it M.S. in his thigh of his right or left leg.
>
>I don't know exactly how long we stayed in that stable but I think it was
>5 - 6 days. During that time, many times, and particularly late at night, I
>was taken out to be beaten like other arrested persons and would return to
>the room on all fours for I could not walk after the beating. Once or twice
>we were given a little slice of bread and a little meat paste from a can or
>a little salami.
>
>They took us to Vrgorac from Eminovo Selo. When we departed for Vrgorac we
>left behind 8 arrested Serbs in the stable at Eminovo Selo whose fate has
>remained unknown. These are: Dragan Masic from Begovo Selo; Miodrag Masic
>from the same village; the Masic brothers Ratko and the second one whose
>name I cannot recall; Rade Lugonja from the village of Ravno; Djoko Maric
>from the village Donji Malovan; Niko Duvnjak from Donji Malovan; Dusan
>Duvnjak from Donji Malovan All the villages are within the municipality of
>Kupres.
>
>They placed us in a garage at Vrgorac and we stayed there several days.
>During that time we lay on the muddy concrete floor. We were given food
>every second or third day and only once a small slice of bread each. In
>early May 1992, I do not know the exact date, Croatian soldiers entered the
>room where we were locked up at Vrgorac and beat us all up but Mile Spremo,
>father's name Vojko, resident of Begovo Selo, born around 1945 was beaten
>the most. They beat him until he died.
>
>>From that garage in Vrgorac we were transferred to Ljubuski and placed in
>the notorious Austrian prison where there was a detention camp in 1941 as
>well.
>
>They made us sing songs like "Here comes the dawn here comes the day", to
>greet Croatian soldiers with the salute "Ready for the Homeland", to move
on
>our bare knees over gravel- covered camp yard.
>
>They kept cursing our Serbian mothers and our Chetnik mothers and said that
>we would never be released. I don't know how long we were kept at Ljubuski,
>but remember that a day prior to the exchange they washed us all with
>hose-pipes. They cropped our hair and shaved us and this was our first
bath,
>shaving and haircut. We were taken to Zitnic near Knin and exchanged there.
>
>I wish to point out as well that at Ljubuski I saw Croatian soldiers carve
>the four S's on the breasts of the captured former YPA soldiers with their
>knives. I remember that the young man I saw undergoing this was from Ruma
>but I do not know either his name or his surname.
>
>I know that at LORA Croatian soldiers tortured their victims by tying
>electric wires to various body parts which caused excruciating pain.
>
>They beat up the arrested persons with chains, pieces of underground
>electric conductors, etc.
>
>4.8. Witness 382/96 testifies:
>
>... My husband was the first to be ordered to get off the truck upon their
>arrival at LORA. As it was wintertime he had a furcap on and therefore was
>conspicuous and caught the eye of the Croatian soldiers who started beating
>him savagely and hit his head against the truck persistently telling him he
>should confess to being a Chetnik. After a short while, as he was beaten up
>all over my husband stated that he was a Chetnik,however, despite it all,
>Croatian soldiers continued to beat him even more fiercely. My husband lost
>consciousness as a result of the blows to his head and according to other
>captives who were watching all this bloody foam appeared at his mouth. Then
>two Croatian soldiers put him on his feet between themselves and allegedly
>took him to hospital.
>
>Later on I learnt from priest Z.P., who was also detained at LORA and who
>was exchanged later on, that he saw my husband several days later that he
>was unconscious and was talking nonsense. He told me that a day or two
later
>they allegedly took him to hospital again and they did this twice but did
>not bring him back after the second time and nobody has seen him since.
>
>After this incident I vainly sought together with my daughter to find my
>husband and find out what happened but I was not successful until 16
>December 1992 when the representatives of the International Red Cross came
>to my house and told me that my husband had died at the hospital in Firule,
>Split and brought some medical documents...
>
>4.9. Witness 333/96-6, a driver from Kupres, testifies about the
>ill-treatment and torture of arrested Serbs in Croatian camps:
>
>... We stayed at LORA for several days. Almost every hour they would take
>one of us out of the cell and beat us mostly on the soles of our feet and
>palms of our hands. They only beat me up, but I heard others say that they
>had been tortured and ill- treated in various ways.
>
>I saw them beat up other younger men and I saw this being done by the man
>who had interrogated me. This guy that interrogated us, I recall, was a
>large and fat man, aged around 40, but I have no other information about
>him. I remember vividly and I saw him beat Petar Zubic who was killed later
>on.
>
>They took me out of the cell once and I heard them say that they would slap
>me on the face ten times. So they did. They slapped me so hard I fell down
>after the seventh blow. They then took me to a fountain and washed me and
>then returned me to my cell. As a result of these blows, I was unable to
>open my eyes....
>
>4.10. Witness 420/95, priest from Kupres, testifies about the torment of
the
>arrested Serbs during their torture in Croatian camps.
>
>... They drove us to a concrete garage and kicked us out of the truck one
by
>one. Croatian soldiers would wait for us to get off and then beat us with
>wooden stakes. They then put us all in a concrete garage 3 times 4 meters
>large. We could hardly all get inside. Then they locked the door up and
>threw tear gas so that we started suffocating. We were locked up in this
>garage for 2 - 3 days and from there we were transported by trucks to
Split,
>i.e. the detention camp LORA.
>
>On our way through the town of Split they took us out of the truck several
>times and beat us up every single time. On one occasion they shaved my
beard
>without a drop of water and carved my face with a knife.
>
>Upon our arrival at LORA, we got off the truck one by one and went through
a
>cordon of guards who beat us with their batons mercilessly.
>
>The guards and Croatian soldiers and the Blackshirts entered the cell every
>day and beat us non-stop with their batons. I was beaten and ill-treated in
>particular, I received hundreds of blows and whenever I fainted they would
>drag me in that state along the camp corridors.
>
>At LORA we were daily exposed to beatings and torture,humiliation and
>various other forms of inhumane treatment. On one occasion, they brought me
>in a room tied up my eyes and put me on a chair, then attached some wires
to
>my temples and splashed water on me and simultaneously turned on the
>electricity. After such torture they would take me back to the cell where I
>was beaten and then one day they tied me against the cell bars as if
>crucified and kept me that way for three days.
>
>After such torture they ill-treated me some more by means of electric
>current; they would attach the wires of a field telephone to my fingers and
>then dial the phone activating the current. They also tortured other
inmates
>in this way; they even put those wires around the testicles of a Serb from
>Capljina D.F.
>
>The guards also took it out on us by forcing us to fight each other, to
>commit unnatural debauchery and they forced me to have sexual intercourse
>with a Serb woman from Kupres. Her name is Z. I could not do this and
>received some more beating as a result. After that the Croatian guards told
>Z. to pretend she was a horse and then told me to mount her.
>
>The guards cut off the ears of a military officer called Montenegrin and
>forced him to eat them. I further noticed that several former YPA pilots
and
>the president of the SDS from Capljina were also incarcerated in that camp.
>They were subjected to untold torture...
>
>Witnesses 333/95-4, 333/95-10, 333/95-20, 426/96- 50, 426/96-53, 426/96-63,
>547/96-29 and 547/96-39 also testify about inhumane treatment, grave pain,
>torture and cruel liquidations during arrest, transportation, lock-up and
>stay at Croatian detention camps in the territory of B/H and Croatia.
>

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