Witnesses Report JNA Involvement in Croatian War

Some of the most powerful testimony in the Milosevic case passes quickly through the chamber, most of it in writing, while the public hears only a summary and responses to a few questions and cross examination. The evidence is called “crime base evidence.” It does not directly relate to the acts or conduct of the Accused or the crimes for which he is on trial. Yet it is the heart of what has brought Milosevic to the Tribunal to answer for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Prosecutor uses an abbreviated procedure (under ICTY Rule 92bis) to establish the majority of crime base evidence. It includes assault, murder, rape, looting, torture, forced labor, and forced deportation. Those individual crimes and massacres were the subject or the necessary result of the joint criminal enterprise, alleged by the prosecution. The crime base is not the main focus of the Milosevic trial, which seeks to prove his command responsibility and participation in the joint criminal enterprise. But it is the foundation on which his responsibility stands.

The prosecution has selected a number of crime sites to illustrate the widespread and horrific nature of the crimes. On July 14, 2003, the prosecutor returned to Croatia with the testimony of three “crime base witnesses.” Because the majority of these crimes cannot be addressed fully in the trial, it is important to keep them before the eyes of the public, the Trial Chamber and the Accused.

Witness C-1149 was one of 1700 Croatian men and boys near Vukovar who were rounded up and bussed to a prison in Serbia, as part of the Serb operation to cleanse the area of non-Serbs. The round up was not selective. About 10% of those taken were Serbs or other minorities. Any Serb who remained in the area was considered a traitor.

The witness and the other men and boys were beaten as they boarded the buses and again once they were inside. Their captors were members of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), who worked together with local Serb paramilitary units. The civilians were eventually taken to the Staricevo Farm in Serbia, where they were made to run a gauntlet between two lines of Serbian police and JNA soldiers. Witness C-1149 testified that the beating continued all night. When seven severely wounded prisoners needed medical assistance, they were driven to a hospital in Zrenjanin where they were refused treatment because they were considered “Ustasha.” The prisoners were also subjected to horrible conditions at the so-called prison, where they were quartered in a cattle shed without water or toilet facilities. Food and medical care were inadequate.

On cross examination, Milosevic tried to make a point that only one prisoner died of the 1700 men and boys. C-1149 replied, “Only one was killed but we all suffered beatings. I have injuries on my spine and in my neck area.” The Accused also asked whether the Serbian forces considered the detainees “prisoners of war.” When the witness pointed out that even POW’s should not be beaten, Milosevic agreed.

In addition to helping to establish the crime base, Witness C-1149 also implicated the JNA and Serbian police in war crimes. His testimony was also important to show that the JNA, Serbian police and paramilitaries worked together in carrying out the forced displacement, beatings, maltreatment and imprisonment of 1700 mostly Croatian civilians. Evidence of JNA and Serbian police involvement, as well as the prison farm in Serbia, ultimately implicates Milosevic.

Marko Miljanic had been a JNA Marine until he left to join the Croatian police to help organize civilian defense in Skabrnje. He divided 240 male villagers into squads and directed the building of barricades and trenches. The men were civilians, armed mostly with hunting rifles. They were wholly inadequate to defend against an attack by organized forces.

The JNA first shelled the area at the end of September 1991. Using incendiary bombs, they set the forest on fire. On October 1, Mr. Miljanic evacuated the civilian population, all but his inadequately armed and trained cadre. As the other civilians were fleeing, the JNA Air Force attacked, killing one of the refugees.

The witness and his forces succeeded in capturing two JNA officers. One told him, “I’m surprised. What are you waiting for? Mladic will certainly destroy you. You don’t stand a chance. I know for certain. He won’t allow you to stay. Look around. Above you are Serb populated areas.” Mr. Miljanic naively told him no one would attack. The officer was later returned to Knin after lengthy negotiations on behalf of Mladic, who held the man’s wife and child.

In November, the population made the tragic mistake of returning to Skabrnje. On the 18th, the JNA attacked the village with a force of 1000 soldiers and 28 tanks. People took shelter in basements. Mr. Miljanic was on a small hill when he heard a loud explosion and saw the smoke from what appeared to be an ammunition truck. Shortly, he was in a basement with a police radio over which he -- and 60 others – heard a conversation between Mladic and Tripko Cecovic, Commander of the 62 Motorized Brigade from Benkovac. Cecovic said the ammunition reserves had exploded making it impossible to continue. According to the witness, Mladic replied, “Cecovic, continue the attack. You will get ammunition reserves. If you retreat, I will execute you.”

During the attack, Mr. Miljanic observed three or four JNA helicopters landing and unloading goods. He saw men in dark uniforms, who he thought might be special forces, take up combat positions. Though he didn’t see it first hand, he was later told that the JNA dragged civilians out of basements, killed some and used some as human shields. With binoculars, he was able to see people being used as human shields. The civilians fled and the JNA abruptly stopped its assault.

Forty-two villagers lost their lives during the attack, among them Mr. Miljanic’s father. He first heard from a 13 year old boy, then from his mother who witnessed it, how his father was dragged from a basement and shot along with other men. Eighty percent of the village’s 500 houses were totally destroyed.

As with Witness C-1149, Mr. Miljanic testified that the JNA attacked and, in this case, killed civilians in Croatia.

The final and most compelling witness of the day was Mrs. Barbara Nadj. The Prosecutor began by summarizing Mrs. Nadj’s written testimony. Her husband, Steven, a metalworker, was arrested for the first time in November 1991, by local authorities in Brestovac in the Baranja region of Croatia. After being held overnight, he returned badly bruised over his entire body. He was ordered to report twice daily, mostly to a JNA captain. He was told he could no longer work at his job. Mrs. Nadj testified, “No one dared come see us and we weren’t supposed to have contacts with anyone.”

On May 9, 1992, a white mini-van pulled up in front of their home. Three men got out and came into their courtyard. An older man wore camouflage, while the two younger ones were dressed in civilian clothes. All were armed with automatic rifles. They said they were taking Mr. Nadj for interrogation. The older man asked him if he had been beaten during his earlier interrogation. When Mr. Nadj said yes, he assured him that he had nothing to fear. No one would beat him now.

When Mr. Nadj did not return, his wife searched for him. When some women suggested he might be held at the prison at Beli Manastir, she gathered a change of clothes and went to find him. The authorities told her he was not there. Despite her efforts and those of others, he was never found alive. Six years later, his body was discovered in a grave with others who had been taken away that night.

The Prosecutor asked the witness if his body showed evidence of beating. Crying softly, she stumbled over the words. His ribs were broken. His skull was broken. And he had sustained gun shot wounds. “I am supposed to speak louder,” she told the Court, “but I cannot.” Judge May gently reassured her, “Don’t worry. You don’t have to.”

Milosevic began his cross examination by observing, “Obviously the witness is under stress and I do not wish to hurt her in any way.” But he had questions he had to ask. Most of them she could not answer, as they concerned people she did not know and events she knew nothing about. She was firm that she had observed JNA walking about in her village, though she conceded the man in camouflage who took her husband away might not have been JNA. Still, she was certain he was a Serb. Eleven years later, five years after his body was found, Mrs. Nadj still does not know how exactly her husband died or who killed him.

Milosevic asked about her Serbian neighbors. Did anyone talk to them, he asked. They “had to have known who took your husband.” In her quiet voice, Mrs. Nadj replied, “We were on good terms until the war. Then they thought of us as Ustasha. To this day, we are not on speaking terms. I assume he would have to know who took my husband. He was at the entrance, letting vehicles enter and leave.” [Though unclear from the oral testimony, it appears she was referring to the detention facility at Beli Manastir.] When Milosevic tried to follow up, Mrs. Nadj tried to answer – and then she simply could not, as her grief over flowed. There were no more questions. Judge May gave her time to compose herself, before she was helped out of the courtroom.