Manjaca camp
Encyclopedia
Manjača camp was a concentration camp on mountain Manjača
near the city of Banja Luka
in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina
during the Croatian War and Bosnian War
from 1991 to 1995. The camp was founded by the Yugoslav National Army
(JNA) and authorities of Republika Srpska
(RS) and was used to collect and confine thousands of male prisoners of Croat and Bosniak
nationalities.
The camp was shut down under international pressure in late 1993 but was reopened in October 1995. At that time it was estimated that total of between 4,500 and 6,000 non-Serbs primarily from Sanski Most
and Banja Luka
areas have passed through the camp. When the camp was captured in 1995 by the Bosnian authorities some 85 corpses were found associated with killings at the camp. Some 1,000 people are still missing from the Sanski Most that were deported to Manjača camp.
Manjaca was never captured during the war and remains today in RS. In early 1996 both the former concentration camp and the neighbouring army camp were opened to IFOR personnel for inspection following the Dayton Agreement
.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross
there were 3,737 prisoners held at Manjača camp. Exact number of people held at this camp is somewhat of an uncertainty since detainees were continually transferred between other camps including Omarska camp
, Trnopolje camp
and Keraterm camp
. The camp was the site of human rights abuses, namely the regular and systematic beatings and killings
of detainees, resulting in indictment
s and convictions by the ICTY United Nations
tribunal
for former Yugoslavia
. Most reports indicate that the camp contained male prisoners of all ages but mostly between the ages of 18 and 60. However, there are allegations that in the early spring of 1992, a small number of women were held at the camp and raped.
According to a report of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
, the administrators of this facility who were officials of the army of the RS, maintained that the prisoners were prisoners of war. However, other observers consider that most of them probably never bore arms, and were detained simply because their age and Bosniak ethnic origin made them potential combatants in the eyes of the Serbian authorities.
In the detention facilities, many prisoners were killed, tortured, and subjected to other inhumane treatment by RS forces especially targeting prominent individuals, such as intellectual, professional, business, political and religious leaders. At a minimum, during the period from late May 1992 to early August 1992, hundreds of detainees, identities of many of whom are known, died. Almost all of the survivors were eventually forcibly transferred or deported from the area.
, crimes against humanity and war crime
s including Milomir Stakic
and Stojan Zupljanin
. Some have been convicted while others are still awaiting trials at the ICTY.
Manjaca
Manjača is a name of a mountain located 25 km south of the city Banja Luka, in northern part of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mountain held a significant military base of the Yugoslav Peoples Army in second part of 20th century and was one of the military strongholds of the...
near the city of Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...
in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
during the Croatian War and Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
from 1991 to 1995. The camp was founded by the Yugoslav National Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
(JNA) and authorities of Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
(RS) and was used to collect and confine thousands of male prisoners of Croat and Bosniak
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
nationalities.
The camp was shut down under international pressure in late 1993 but was reopened in October 1995. At that time it was estimated that total of between 4,500 and 6,000 non-Serbs primarily from Sanski Most
Sanski Most
Sanski Most is a town and municipality in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the Sana River in Bosanska Krajina, between Prijedor and Ključ. Administratively it is part of the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
and Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...
areas have passed through the camp. When the camp was captured in 1995 by the Bosnian authorities some 85 corpses were found associated with killings at the camp. Some 1,000 people are still missing from the Sanski Most that were deported to Manjača camp.
Manjaca was never captured during the war and remains today in RS. In early 1996 both the former concentration camp and the neighbouring army camp were opened to IFOR personnel for inspection following the Dayton Agreement
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, Dayton Accords, Paris Protocol or Dayton-Paris Agreement, is the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and formally signed in Paris on...
.
Background
The Manjača camp began its operation during the 1991 Croatian War between JNA and Croatian forces. At that time numerous Croatian prisoners of war were held at the camp. With the start of Bosnian War in early 1992 the camp began to admit civilian predominantly Bosniak detainees.According to the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
there were 3,737 prisoners held at Manjača camp. Exact number of people held at this camp is somewhat of an uncertainty since detainees were continually transferred between other camps including Omarska camp
Omarska camp
Omarska camp was a concentration camp run by Bosnian Serb forces, in Omarska, a mining town near Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, set up during the Prijedor massacre for Bosniak and Croat men and women. Functioning in the first months of the Bosnian War in 1992, it was one of 677...
, Trnopolje camp
Trnopolje camp
Trnopolje camp was a concentration camp established in the village of Trnopolje near the city of Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first months of the Bosnian War.-History:...
and Keraterm camp
Keraterm camp
Keraterm camp was a concentration camp near the town of Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War and genocide from 1992 to 1995. The camp was founded by the authorities of Republika Srpska and was used to collect and confine civilians of Bosniak and Bosnian Croat...
. The camp was the site of human rights abuses, namely the regular and systematic beatings and killings
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of detainees, resulting in indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
s and convictions by the ICTY United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
tribunal
Tribunal
A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....
for former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. Most reports indicate that the camp contained male prisoners of all ages but mostly between the ages of 18 and 60. However, there are allegations that in the early spring of 1992, a small number of women were held at the camp and raped.
According to a report of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006...
, the administrators of this facility who were officials of the army of the RS, maintained that the prisoners were prisoners of war. However, other observers consider that most of them probably never bore arms, and were detained simply because their age and Bosniak ethnic origin made them potential combatants in the eyes of the Serbian authorities.
In the detention facilities, many prisoners were killed, tortured, and subjected to other inhumane treatment by RS forces especially targeting prominent individuals, such as intellectual, professional, business, political and religious leaders. At a minimum, during the period from late May 1992 to early August 1992, hundreds of detainees, identities of many of whom are known, died. Almost all of the survivors were eventually forcibly transferred or deported from the area.
The Judgment of the ICJ
The ICJ presented its judgment in Bosnian Genocide Case on 26 February 2007, in which it had examined atrocities committed in detention camps, including Manjača, in relation to Article II (b) of the Genocide Convention. The Court stated in its judgment:Recent developments
Some of the RS officials responsible for running the camp have since been indicted for genocideGenocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, crimes against humanity and war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s including Milomir Stakic
Milomir Stakic
Milomir Stakić is a Bosnian Serb who was charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, violations of the customs of war and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his actions in the Prijedor region during the Bosnian War.In the 1991 elections...
and Stojan Zupljanin
Stojan Župljanin
Stojan Župljanin is a former Bosnian Serb police commander.Župljanin was born in Maslovare, a village in the Kotor Varoš municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina...
. Some have been convicted while others are still awaiting trials at the ICTY.
See also
- Serbian war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars
- Bosnian GenocideBosnian GenocideThe term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
- Persecution of MuslimsPersecution of MuslimsPersecution of Muslims is the religious persecution of Muslims as a consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era.-Anatolia:...
- Dretelj campDretelj campDretelj camp was a concentration camp run by the Croatian Defence Forces and later by the Croatian Defence Council during the Bosnian War.-The camp:The camp was located near Čapljina and Medjugorje in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina...
- Čelebići prison camp
- Gabela campGabela campGabela camp was a concentration camp run by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council in Gabela, the camp was located several kilometres south of Čapljina.-The camp:...
- Heliodrom campHeliodrom CampHeliodrom camp was a concentration camp operated between September 1992 and April 1994 by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council to detain Bosniaks and other non-Croats during the Bosnian War, it was located in Rodoc, just south of Mostar town, in Mostar...
- Keraterm campKeraterm campKeraterm camp was a concentration camp near the town of Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War and genocide from 1992 to 1995. The camp was founded by the authorities of Republika Srpska and was used to collect and confine civilians of Bosniak and Bosnian Croat...
- Omarska campOmarska campOmarska camp was a concentration camp run by Bosnian Serb forces, in Omarska, a mining town near Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, set up during the Prijedor massacre for Bosniak and Croat men and women. Functioning in the first months of the Bosnian War in 1992, it was one of 677...
- Trnopolje campTrnopolje campTrnopolje camp was a concentration camp established in the village of Trnopolje near the city of Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first months of the Bosnian War.-History:...
- Uzamnica campUzamnica campUzamnica camp was a concentration camp established in 1992 by JNA forces for the Bosniak civilian prisoners during the Bosnian war.Many of the Bosniaks who were not immediately killed in the Višegrad massacre were detained at various locations in the town, including the former JNA military...
- Vilina VlasVilina VlasVilina Vlas is a health spa that served as one of the main detention facilities where Bosniak prisoners were beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted during the Bosnian War, it is located about seven kilometers south-east of Višegrad, on the way to Gorazde....
- Vojno campVojno campVojno camp was a detention camp set up by the Croatian Defence Council from June 1993 to March 1994, to detain tens of thousands of Bosniaks in the Mostar municipality...
External links
- Prison camps - part 1/10
- US District court indictment
- Stakic indictment
- Radovan Karadzic $5 million Reward - The U.S. Government is offering $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Radovan Karadzic
- Ratko Mladic $5 million Reward - The U.S. Government is offering $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Ratko Mladic