Western Balkans Coalition for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Crimes Prevention

War Crimes in Central Bosnia Through Legal Judgements

The majority of the territory in Central Bosnia belongs to the Central Bosnia Canton, one of the ten cantons, or administrative units, of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Central Bosnia Canton consists of 12 municipalities. It borders the Republika Srpska (RS) in the north and northwest, Zenica-Doboj in the east, Sarajevo in the southeast, Herzegovina-Neretva Canton in the south, and Canton 10 in the west. The area of the Central Bosnia Canton is 3,189 square meters. According to the 2013 census, it has 254,686 inhabitants.

In the period 1992-1995 in the territory of Central Bosnia, the conflict was conducted with varying intensity, but the most intense period was 1993, when the bloodiest conflicts between former allies – the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AR BiH). Each of the municipalities in Central Bosnia Canton was a separate battlefield until the end of 1993, when the area became unitary because the AR BiH was on one side and the HVO and Serb forces on the other trying to achieve separatist goals using all available means and military forces. Crimes against civilians were regularly committed before the eyes of peacekeepers, the international media and the world.

The bloodiest crimes committed in Central Bosnia were reported by peacekeepers and then investigated by international investigators, resulting in indictments in the first years after the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Given the scale of the violence, some of the crimes are still under investigation by the domestic judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Court of BiH) have sentenced 21 people to a total of 291 years in prison for crimes in Central Bosnia. This includes sentences for high-level military and political leadership of the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herceg Bosna. The ICTY sentenced 15 people to a total of 230 years in prison, and the Court of BiH sentenced six people to 61 years in prison.

War Crimes in Central Bosnia

Through Legal Judgments