Bikavac fire
Encyclopedia
The Bikavac fire was an atrocity perpetrated in Bikavac, near Višegrad
, eastern Bosnia, on 27 June 1992 in which at least 60 Bosniak civilians, mostly women and children, were killed after the house in which they were confined was set on fire.
on 14 June 1992, locking them into one room of a house and setting the house on fire.
It was found that on 27 June 1992 during the campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian Serb ethnic cleansing of the Drina Valley Bosnian under the command of Milan Lukić
forced approximately 70 Bosniak civilians into one room of in a house in the settlement of Bikavac, near Višegrad. After the captives were robbed, the house was set on fire and the occupants were left to burn alive. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Trial Chamber found that at least 60 Bosniak civilians were killed in the fire.
According to the testimony of Zehra Turjačanin, there were many children in the house, the youngest less than one year old. Most of the victims were young women with children, along with some elderly men and women. The Serb soldiers broke the windows, threw hand grenades into the house and fired shots at the people inside, then set the house on fire. She and one of her sisters managed to get to the door, but a heavy iron garage door had been placed against it from the outside. She managed to squeeze through a small gap in the door; her sister remained inside. Outside Serb soldiers were lying on the grass, drinking
When Judge Patrick Robinson, presiding, summed up the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
's findings following the trial of Milan Lukić and Lukić's cousin Sredoje Lukić
, he observed that "In the all too long, sad and wretched history of man’s inhumanity to man, the Pionirska street and Bikavac fires must rank high. At the close of the twentieth century, a century marked by war and bloodshed on a colossal scale, these horrific events stand out for the viciousness of the incendiary attack, for the obvious premeditation and calculation that defined it, for the sheer callousness and brutality of herding, trapping and locking the victims in the two houses, thereby rendering them helpless in the ensuing inferno, and for the degree of pain and suffering inflicted on the victims as they were burnt alive."
Višegrad
Višegrad is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Republika Srpska entity. It is on the river Drina, located on the road from Goražde and Ustiprača towards Užice, Serbia.-History:...
, eastern Bosnia, on 27 June 1992 in which at least 60 Bosniak civilians, mostly women and children, were killed after the house in which they were confined was set on fire.
Trial
On 20 July 2009 Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were sentenced to life and 30 years’ imprisonment respectively, for crimes that include the Bikavac fire and the murder of 59 Bosniak civilians in the Pionirska Street firePionirska Street fire
The Pionirska Street fire was an atrocity perpetrated in Višegrad, eastern Bosnia, on 14 June 1992 in which 59 Bosniak women, children and elderly people were murdered by being locked into one room of a house which was then set on fire.-Trial:...
on 14 June 1992, locking them into one room of a house and setting the house on fire.
It was found that on 27 June 1992 during the campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian Serb ethnic cleansing of the Drina Valley Bosnian under the command of Milan Lukić
Milan Lukic
Milan Lukić is a former head of the paramilitary group known as White Eagles who was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in July 2009 of crimes against humanity and violations of war customs committed in the Višegrad municipality of Bosnia and...
forced approximately 70 Bosniak civilians into one room of in a house in the settlement of Bikavac, near Višegrad. After the captives were robbed, the house was set on fire and the occupants were left to burn alive. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Trial Chamber found that at least 60 Bosniak civilians were killed in the fire.
According to the testimony of Zehra Turjačanin, there were many children in the house, the youngest less than one year old. Most of the victims were young women with children, along with some elderly men and women. The Serb soldiers broke the windows, threw hand grenades into the house and fired shots at the people inside, then set the house on fire. She and one of her sisters managed to get to the door, but a heavy iron garage door had been placed against it from the outside. She managed to squeeze through a small gap in the door; her sister remained inside. Outside Serb soldiers were lying on the grass, drinking
When Judge Patrick Robinson, presiding, summed up the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
's findings following the trial of Milan Lukić and Lukić's cousin Sredoje Lukić
Sredoje Lukić
Sredoje Lukić is a Bosnian Serb war criminal, the cousin and associate of Milan Lukić....
, he observed that "In the all too long, sad and wretched history of man’s inhumanity to man, the Pionirska street and Bikavac fires must rank high. At the close of the twentieth century, a century marked by war and bloodshed on a colossal scale, these horrific events stand out for the viciousness of the incendiary attack, for the obvious premeditation and calculation that defined it, for the sheer callousness and brutality of herding, trapping and locking the victims in the two houses, thereby rendering them helpless in the ensuing inferno, and for the degree of pain and suffering inflicted on the victims as they were burnt alive."