- The Trial Chamber has assessed the evidence in this case in accordance
with the Tribunal’s Statute and its Rules of Procedure and Evidence and, where
no guidance is given by those sources, in such a way as will best favour a
fair determination of the case and which is consonant with the spirit of the
Statute and the general principles of law.1361
- The Trial Chamber has applied to the accused the presumption of innocence
stated in Article 21(3) of the Statute, which embodies a general principle
of law, so that the Prosecution bears the onus of establishing the guilt of
the accused, and – in accordance with Rule 87(A), which also embodies a general
principle of law – the Prosecution must do so beyond reasonable doubt.
- As Article 21(4)(g) of the Statute provides that no accused may be compelled
to testify against himself, no unfavourable inference has been drawn from
the fact that the accused Radomir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic did not testify.
The Trial Chamber has taken the evidence given by Dragoljub Kunarac into account
in determining whether or not the Prosecution case should be accepted. His
election to give evidence does not mean that Dragoljub Kunarac accepted any
onus to prove his innocence. The approach taken by the Trial Chamber has been
to determine whether the evidence of the Prosecution witnesses should be accepted
as establishing beyond reasonable doubt the facts alleged , notwithstanding
the evidence which Dragoljub Kunarac and the Defence witnesses gave.
- The Trial Chamber has made a careful evaluation of the evidence of identification
adduced during the trial, exercising particular caution in relation to it.
The Trial Chamber accepts that identification evidence involves inherent uncertainties
. This is because of the many difficulties inherent in the identification
process , resulting from the vagaries of human perception and recollection.1362
It is insufficient that the evidence of identification given by the witnesses
has been honestly given; the true issue in relation to identification evidence
is not whether it has been honestly given but rather whether it is reliable.
In the turbulent and often traumatising circumstances in which these witnesses
found themselves, the Trial Chamber is acutely aware of the possibility of
error in making an identification later of a person previously unknown to
the witness. The Trial Chamber also recognises the possibility that men other
than the accused may falsely have used the name of the accused, or that what
they said to the witnesses may have been misunderstood .
- The Trial Chamber has accordingly placed considerable weight upon the descriptions
which the witnesses gave of the men who they said had raped them, and it has
considered carefully whether the evidence from the other witnesses supports
the descriptions given. Each of these witnesses was asked whether she could
identify any of the persons in the courtroom as the man who raped her. Because
all of the circumstances of a trial necessarily lead such a witness to identify
the person on trial (or, where more than one person is on trial, the particular
person on trial who most closely resembles the man who committed the offence
charged), no positive probative weight has been given by the Trial Chamber
to these “in court” identifications.1363
- There are other considerations which the Trial Chamber has taken into account
in relation to the evidence of these witnesses.
- By their very nature, the experiences which the witnesses underwent were
traumatic for them at the time, and they cannot reasonably be expected to
recall the minutiae of the particular incidents charged, such as the precise
sequence, or the exact dates and times, of the events they have described.1364
The fact that these witnesses were detained over weeks and months without
knowledge of dates or access to clocks, and without the opportunity to record
their experiences , only exacerbated their difficulties in recalling the detail
of those incidents later. In general, the Trial Chamber has not treated minor
discrepancies between the evidence of various witnesses, or between the evidence
of a particular witness and a statement previously made by that witness, as
discrediting their evidence where that witness has nevertheless recounted
the essence of the incident charged in acceptable detail. Such an approach
varied according to the circumstances of each witness, and in particular according
to the quality of that witness’s evidence in relation to the essence of the
particular incident charged. The Trial Chamber has also taken into account
the fact that these events took place some eight years before the witnesses
gave evidence in determining whether any minor discrepancies should be treated
as discrediting their evidence as a whole.
- Many of these witnesses were minors at the time of the events which they
described , some of them as young as fifteen years. The level of detail which
such witnesses could be expected to recall is different to that expected of
witnesses who were more mature at the relevant time. That is not to suggest
that the Trial Chamber has required any lower level of satisfaction before
accepting the evidence of these young witnesses. At all times, the Trial Chamber
has applied the test of proof beyond reasonable doubt. Although the absence
of a detailed memory on the part of these witnesses did make the task of the
Prosecution in providing proof to that degree of satisfaction more difficult,
its absence in relation to peripheral details was in general not regarded
as discrediting their evidence.
- In some cases, only one witness has given evidence of an incident with
which one or other of the accused has been charged. Rule 96 specifically overrules
the requirement which exists or which used to exist in some domestic systems
of law that the evidence of a complainant who alleges rape must be corroborated
– a requirement which has indeed been removed in most of those domestic systems.1365
Nevertheless, the fact remains that only one witness has given evidence of
that incident, usually because she has been the only person present other
than the particular accused when the incident charged is alleged to have taken
place. In such a situation , the Trial Chamber has scrutinised the evidence
of the Prosecution witness with great care before accepting it as sufficient
to make a finding of guilt against any of the accused. The Trial Chamber has
considerd the evidence upon the issue of rape given by the three professional
witnesses called by the Defence, but has rejected their opinions upon the
basis that they assumed either legal requirements which do not exist in international
law or the need for factual consequences which the Trial Chamber does not
accept.1366
B. The existence of an armed conflict and related
requirements
- On 8 April 1992, an armed conflict between the Serb and Muslim forces broke
out in Foca. It took about a week for the Serb forces to secure Foca town
and about ten more days for them to be in complete control of Foca municipality.
The fighting went on around Foca. The Trial Chamber notes that the parties
agreed that, from April 1992 until at least February 1993, there was an armed
conflict in the area of Foca. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the armed
conflict has been established beyond reasonable doubt with respect to all
three municipalities mentioned above .
- The Trial Chamber is also satisfied that the underlying crimes with which
the Indictments were concerned were closely related to the armed conflict.
Not only were the many underlying crimes made possible by the armed conflict,
but they were very much a part of it. Muslim civilians were killed, raped
or otherwise abused as a direct result of the armed conflict and because the
armed conflict apparently offered blanket impunity to the perpetrators. It
is irrelevant that the actual fighting had shifted from Foca town once it
was safely in Serb hands to the surrounding areas by the time the events charged
occurred, because the criterion of a nexus with the armed conflict under Article 3
of the Statute does not require that the offences be directly committed whilst
fighting is actually taking place, or at the scene of combat. Humanitarian
law continues to apply in the whole of the territory under the control of
one of the parties, whether or not actual combat continues at the place where
the events in question took place. It is therefore sufficient that the crimes
were closely related to the hostilities occurring in other parts of the territories
controlled by the parties to the conflict. The requirement that the act be
closely related to the armed conflict is satisfied if, as in the present case,
the crimes are committed in the aftermath of the fighting, and until the cessation
of combat activities in a certain region, and are committed in furtherance
or take advantage of the situation created by the fighting. These requirements
are squarely met by the offences under both Indictments, insofar as the Trial
Chamber finds the evidence to be sufficient to establish those offences.
- The Trial Chamber also notes that the three accused, in their capacity
as soldiers , took an active part in carrying out military tasks during the
conflict, fighting on behalf of one of the parties to the armed conflict,1367
namely the Serb side and that they therefore knew that an armed conflict was
taking place. The evidence also shows that none of their victims took any
part in the hostilities.
C. The attack against the civilian population and
related requirements
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that there was an
extensive attack by the Serb forces targeting the Muslim civilian population
in the area and for the period covered by Indictments IT-96-23 and IT-96-23/1.
The attack encompassed the municipalities of Foca, Gacko and Kalinovik.
- Before the armed conflict had started, Muslim civilians were removed from
their social and professional lives, their salaries remained unpaid or they
were told that their services were no longer needed. Most Muslim men were
disarmed. Complete ostracism soon followed with their freedom to move about
and to gather critically curtailed.
- The SDS political propaganda grew more aggressive, and the outbursts of
violence and house-burning more frequent. Many Muslim villagers from the area
around Foca were so scared that they decided to sleep in the woods rather
than risk being burned alive in their houses, or otherwise being caught in
the attack on their towns.
- Once towns and villages were securely in their hands, the Serb forces -
the military, the police, the paramilitaries and, sometimes, even Serb villagers
– applied the same pattern: Muslim houses and apartments were systematically
ransacked or burnt down, Muslim villagers were rounded up or captured, and
sometimes beaten or killed in the process. Men and women were separated, with
many of the men detained in the former KP Dom prison.
- The women were kept in various detention centres where they had to live
in intolerably unhygienic conditions, where they were mistreated in many ways
including , for many of them, being raped repeatedly. Serb soldiers or policemen
would come to these detention centres, select one or more women, take them
out and rape them . Many women and girls, including 16 of the Prosecution
witnesses, were raped in that way. Some of these women were taken out of these
detention centres to privately owned apartments and houses where they had
to cook, clean and serve the residents , who were Serb soldiers. They were
also subjected to sexual assaults.
- In particular, the Trial Chamber finds that the Muslim civilians held at
Kalinovik School, Foca High School and Partizan Sports Hall were kept in unhygienic
conditions and without hot water. They were provided with insufficient food.
Their freedom of movement was curtailed; they were not allowed to go to any
other territory or to go back to their houses. Most of their houses were burnt
down or ransacked. They were guarded and lived in an atmosphere of intimidation.
The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Kalinovik School, Foca High School and
Partizan Sports Hall served as detention centres at the relevant time.
- All this was done in full view, in complete knowledge and sometimes with
the direct involvement of the local authorities, particularly the police forces.
The head of Foca police forces, Dragan Gagovic, was personally identified
as one of the men who came to these detention centres to take women out and
rape them.
- After months of captivity, many women were expelled or exchanged. Some
men spent as much as two years and a half in detention for no reason other
than their being Muslims. All traces of Muslim presence and culture were wiped
out of the area. Almost no Muslims remained in Foca. All the mosques of Foca
were destroyed . In January 1994, the Serb authorities crowned their complete
victory - their “gaining supremacy” over the Muslims as was candidly stated
by the Defence1368 - by renaming Foca
“Srbinje”, literally “the town of the Serbs”.1369
Almost all the remaining Muslim men and women from all three municipalities
were arrested, rounded up, separated and imprisoned or detained at several
detention centres like Buk Bijela, Kalinovik High School, Partizan and Foca
High School, as well as the KP Dom in Foca, in accordance with a recurring
pattern. Some of them were killed, raped or severely beaten. The sole reason
for this treatment of the civilians was their Muslim ethnicity.
- In view of these facts, the Trial Chamber is satisfied that there was a
systematic attack by the Bosnian Serb Army and paramilitary groups on the
Muslim civilian population of the municipalities of Foca, Gacko and Kalinovik.
- The Defence submitted that the aim of the Serb aggression was to gain supremacy
over the Muslims in the region.1370
It is irrelevant that the Serb aggression also pursued military goals and
the objective of territorial gain, because the criteria of “armed conflict”
and “attack upon a civilian population” are not synonymous. If one is of the
opinion that such an element does form part of the general requirements of
crimes against humanity, the policy behind the Serb attack was to gain total
supremacy over the Muslims in the area and finally a homogenous Serb region.
To this end, that policy also encompassed expulsion through terror, ie inducing
other Muslims to leave the area for fear of being mistreated, imprisoned or
even killed by the Serbs, should they fall into the latter’s hands.
- As the Defence was reminded many times during the trial, the fact that
the Muslim side may have committed similar atrocities against Serb civilians,
an argument brought up mutatis mutandis by almost every Serb accused
and Defence counsel before the Tribunal, is irrelevant in the context of this
case.
- The Trial Chamber is also satisfied that it has been ptoved beyond reasonable
doubt that the three accused knew that an attack against the Muslim civilian
population was taking place and that they knew that their criminal acts fitted
in with or were part of this attack.
- Dragoljub Kunarac was, in his own words, responsible for collecting information
about the enemy. He was a well-informed soldier with access to the highest
military command in the area. Considering his role and position, Dragoljub
Kunarac obviously knew of the authorities’ intention to overcome the Muslims
in any possible ways, including through criminal means. He himself volunteered
and took important responsibilities in the carrying out of this plan, taking
part in many military operations in the area of Foca. He was therefore aware
of the way in which these villages were attacked and their Muslim inhabitants
treated.
- Dragoljub Kunarac also knew that Muslim women were specifically targeted,
as he himself took several of them to his men and raped some of them himself.
In the course of one of these rapes, he expressed with verbal and physical
aggression his view that the rapes against the Muslim women were one of the
many ways in which the Serbs could assert their superiority and victory over
the Muslims. While raping FWS-183, the accused Dragoljub Kunarac told her
that she should enjoy being “fucked by a Serb”. After he and another soldier
had finished, Dragoljub Kunarac laughed at her and added that she would now
carry a Serb baby and would not know who the father would be. In addition,
the accused Dragoljub Kunarac removed many Muslim girls from various detention
centres and kept some of them for various periods of time for him or his soldiers
to rape.
- The Trial Chamber also notes that the consistency of these occurrences
and the predictability of the women’s fate were particularly evident with
respect to the accused Dragoljub Kunarac and his group of soldiers. The girls
and women, who were selected by Dragoljub Kunarac or by his men, were systematically
taken to the soldiers’ base, a house located in Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16.
There, the girls and women, whom he knew were civilians,1371
were raped by Dragoljub Kunarac’s men or by the accused himself.
- Through these acts, the accused Dragoljub Kunarac not only showed that
he knew of the attack and knew that his crimes fitted in with or were part
of the attack , but he also clearly showed that he intended them to be so.
He demonstrated a total disregard for Muslims in general, and Muslim women
in particular. The accused Dragoljub Kunarac used his bravery in combat to
gain the respect of his men, and he maintained it by providing them with women.
- The accused Radomir Kovac, too, was fully aware of the attack against the
Muslim villagers and aware of the fact that his acts were part of the attack.
According to several Defence witnesses, Kovac himself said that Muslims, in
particular Muslim women, were in danger or at risk in Foca. Kovac personally
took part in the violent take-over of Trosanj on 3 July 1992, an undefended
village whose inhabitants had taken to the woods in fear. During the attack,
several villagers were killed or beaten up and the women were rounded up.
The Trial Chamber notes that two of the women who were later kept in Kovac’s
apartment, FWS-87 and FWS-75, had actually been captured in this village that
very day. Kovac knew and conceded that the four women were civilians.1372
- While four girls, FWS-75, FWS-87, A.B. and A.S., were kept in his apartment
, the accused Radomir Kovac abused them and raped three of them many times,
thereby perpetuating the attack upon the Muslim civilian population. Kovac
would also invite his friends to his apartment, and he sometimes allowed them
to rape one of the girls . Kovac also sold three of the girls, A.S., A.B.
and FWS-87. Prior to their being sold, Kovac had given two of these girls,
FWS-75 and A.B., to other Serb soldiers who abused them for more than three
weeks before taking them back to Kovac, who proceeded to sell one and give
the other away to acquaintances of his.
- The accused Radomir Kovac knew of the attack against the Muslim civilian
population , and he also perpetuated it by prolonging the ordeal of these
girls by selling or giving them to men whom he knew would rape them and abuse
them.
- The accused Zoran Vukovic also knew about the attack and willingly took
part in it. Vukovic was present at Buk Bijela on 3 July 1992 when the villagers
from the area, mainly women and children, were brought to this settlement.
He knew of the beatings which took place there, as he was seen leading away
FWS-75’s uncle who was covered in blood. Vukovic also knew of the rapes which
were being perpetrated , as he himself raped FWS-50 that very day in Buk Bijela.
Although this rape is not charged in Indictment IT-96-23/1 and will not be
considered for conviction or sentencing purposes, it shows Vukovic’s knowledge
of and willing participation in the attack upon the Muslim civilians.
- The accused Zoran Vukovic was aware of the dangers facing Muslims in Foca,
because, during the armed conflict, he actually helped some Muslim citizens
whom he knew to be in danger.
- Zoran Vukovic also perpetuated the attack by personally raping at least
two Muslim girls, FWS-75 and FWS-50. While raping FWS-50, a girl whom he knew
was of the same age as his own daughter, Zoran Vukovic boasted that he could
have done much worse to her and that she was lucky about this coincidence.
Although the rape of FWS-75 is not charged in Indictment IT-96-23/1, and will
therefore not be taken into consideration with respect to Vukovic’s conviction
and sentencing, it remains an important indicator of the accused’s state of
mind and knowledge of the circumstances existing during this period of time.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the crimes committed by all three accused
were part of the attack against the Muslim civilian population and that all
three accused had the mens rea required under Article 5 of the Statute.
The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the three accused knew about the attack,
and that they committed the offences charged by directly taking advantage
of the situation created . It is inconceivable that the situation could have
been otherwise. Likewise, judging by their individual conduct as charged and
proved on the evidence before the Trial Chamber, they were aware that there
was an attack on the Muslim civilian population going on, and they willingly
took an active part in it. Dragoljub Kunarac , Radomir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic
mistreated Muslim girls and women, and only Muslim girls and women, because
they were Muslims. They therefore fully embraced the ethnicity-based aggression
of the Serbs against the Muslim civilians, and all their criminal actions
were clearly part of and had the effect of perpetuating the attack against
the Muslim civilian population.
D. Charges against the accused
1. Dragoljub Kunarac (Indictment IT-96-23)
(a) Dragoljub Kunarac’s alibi defence
- The accused Dragoljub Kunarac relied upon a “defence” of alibi for the
following periods: from 7 July 1992 until 21 July 1992; from 23 July 1992
until 26 July 1992 ; for 2 August 1992; and from 3 August 1992 from 5 pm until
8 August 1992.
- When assessing the evidence, the Trial Chamber is aware of the difficulty
for the Defence where an alibi is put forward for a period as long as one
month. The Trial Chamber notes, however, the many gaps and contradictions
which exist in the alibi presented by the accused.
- The Trial Chamber notes that the allegations against the accused Dragoljub
Kunarac contained in the Indictment cover a period running from about 13 July
1992 until sometime in October 1992. The Prosecution must prove each element
of the offence charged, but the date of the events is in general not a material
element of the crime, and its proof is not material to the charge unless the
discrepancies between indictment and evidence become too wide, or, in the
particular case, it is an essential part of the offence.
- The Trial Chamber notes that the alibi advanced by the Defence only partly
covers the time relevant to the Indictment. First, the alibi ends on 8 August
1992 and does therefore not cover some of the acts charged under Counts 18
to 21 of the Indictment.
- Secondly, the Trial Chamber notes that, with respect to 22 July, 27 to
31 July and 1 August, no witness other than the accused Dragoljub Kunarac
gave evidence as to his whereabouts during those periods.
- Thirdly, even for the periods for which other witnesses have given evidence
, the alibi provided by these other witnesses generally covered limited periods:
hours, sometimes even a few minutes. In particular with respect to the evenings
- apart from one Defence witness, witness Vaso Blagojevic, who claimed that
he knew , at all times, where Dragoljub Kunarac was from 23 July to 26 July
- no other witness claimed that he could ascertain where Dragoljub Kunarac
was during the other nights covered by the alibi advanced.
- Fourthly, even with respect to daytime, Dragoljub Kunarac’s whereabouts
and occupation remain unclear and the alibi sketchy. Although several witnesses
testified that they saw the accused at some point during the relevant time
in a given area , none - apart again from witness Blagojevic with respect
to the period from 23 July until 27 July, and to a certain extent witness
Gordan Mastilo for the same period - stated that they followed Kunarac all
day or knew where he went from the place where they had seen him. The Trial
Chamber notes, in that respect, the flexibility of Dragoljub Kunarac’s assignments,
his ability to move about and change locations easily and the availability
of a motor vehicle most of the time.
- According to the accused Dragoljub Kunarac, he spent the period from 7
July 1992 until 21 July 1992 in and around Cerova Ravan, which Serb forces
were trying to control. According to the accused Kunarac and witness Osman
Šubasic, nothing happened there until 21 July when the Serb attack was launched
and Cerova Ravan was taken by the Serb forces. The Trial Chamber accepts that
Kunarac and his men might have been involved in some aspects of the operations
leading to the re-taking of Cerova Ravan. The Trial Chamber notes, however,
the improbability that one of the most highly specialised units, unique in
the area, stayed for two weeks in an area where there was almost no military
activity taking place. Kunarac himself conceded that they were aware that
they could not take the area without the backing of a self-propelled howitzer
vehicle which only arrived on 21 July. The Trial Chamber also observes that
Kunarac made no mention of the events in and around Cerova Ravan or of his
participation therein in his first statement given to the investigators of
the Prosecutor, dated 13 March 1998, Ex P67. Yet, the Indictment served on
him already covered this period.
- The accused Dragoljub Kunarac also claimed that there was a landslide which
cut off the road near Odrina towards Gabelic Cosa which allegedly made it
impossible for him to go to Foca during that period.
- The Trial Chamber first notes that, from maps which have been entered into
evidence,1373 there exist not one road,
but three roads, going from Cerova Ravan to Foca, and that it would take at
most two hours with a car to go from Cerova Ravan to Foca by any of these
roads. Witness Osman Šubasic stated that none of them was blocked to traffic.
At most, the traffic might have been slowed down on one of these roads by
a bulldozer which was enlarging the road for the howitzer self-propelled vehicle
to be able to pass and reach Cerova Ravan. The distance between Cerova Ravan
and Foca is about 20 kilometres as the crow flies.
- Secondly, the Trial Chamber notes that it is highly improbable that a crucial
assertion such as the alleged physical impossibility of going to Foca should,
if true, have been omitted in his first statement dated 13 March 1998, Ex
P67, given by the accused to the Prosecutor’s investigators, because it forms
a large part of the accused’s alibi.
- Dragoljub Kunarac claimed that during this period he took care of the food
supplies for his men. He claimed that he would drive down to the landslide
and that a supply truck would come on the other side of this 7-metre landslide.
They would carry the food over the landslide and he would then drive back
towards Cerova Ravan. Even if the Trial Chamber accepted that there was a
landslide on the road , nothing would have stopped Kunarac, if he so wished,
from passing the landslide on foot, as he acknowledged he did to transport
food and to go back to Foca with the supply truck.
- Witness Vaso Blagojevic testified that he saw the accused Dragoljub Kunarac
in and around Cerova Ravan from 7 July to 21 July. He conceded, however, that
he did not spend all his time with Kunarac, as the latter would sometimes
go towards the Muslim position to reconnoitre. He conceded too that, once
in his tent, he might not have noticed if Kunarac had left.
- Dragoljub Kunarac claimed that he went back to Foca on 21 July for the
first time since the start of the Cerova Ravan operation on 7 July. He testified
that , on that day, he took a soldier named Miletic who had been wounded during
the fighting to the hospital in Foca. The Trial Chamber notes the discrepancies
between the name of the wounded soldier given by the accused Dragoljub Kunarac
(“Miletic”), the name of the wounded soldier given by witness Vaso Blagojevic
(“Goran Ilincic ”) and the name appearing on Ex D781374
(“Goran Mirjacic”) which the Defence adduced as evidence of Kunarac’s claim
that he indeed took this soldier to the hospital on 21 July. The Trial Chamber
also notes that Ex D78 refers to the nature of the injury sustained by the
soldier and the date at which he was hospitalised, but it does not mention
the location where he had been injured, the circumstances in which the injury
was incurred or the name of the person who took him to the hospital.
- Dragoljub Kunarac stated that he spent the nights between 21 July and 22
July and the night between 22 July and 23 July at his parents’ house in Foca.
There is nothing in the Defence evidence to support that statement. The Trial
Chamber notes that the house of Dragoljub Kunarac’s parents is located about
one kilometre away from Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16.1375
- Dragoljub Kunarac claimed that, on 23 July, he went with some of his men
to the region of Jabuka where he stayed until 26 July and searched for the
dead bodies of Serb civilians. The Trial Chamber notes once again the improbability
of a highly specialised group of soldiers spending four days searching for
bodies while fighting was going on in other areas. The Trial Chamber also
notes that the area of Jabuka is about 20 kilometres from Foca, and that Dragoljub
Kunarac had a car at his disposal at all times so that he could easily reach
Foca.
- Witness Gordan Mastilo said that he was in the field with Dragoljub Kunarac
from 23 until 26 July and that, apart from the night from 24 July to 25 July,
he slept on the same locations as Kunarac. Witness DJ stated that he spent
every day and every night of those four same days with Dragoljub Kunarac.
- Witness DJ said that he was in a state of shock during that period to the
point of sleeplessness. He was worried for his brother who had disappeared
and, as such , was able to know of Dragoljub Kunarac’s presence during the
night. Witness DJ claimed that, despite his distress, he was still able to
see at all times and, eight years later, remember every act and whereabouts
of a man he did not know before and whom he had never seen before. This claim
is highly incredible.
- Witness DJ claimed that he and Dragoljub Kunarac were never more than 500 meters
apart on the terrain, and that, when Kunarac went to check bodies for booby
traps , he would accompany him - although he had no expertise in explosive
devices and no reason to go with him. Witness DJ went as far as saying that
he also knew of Kunarac’s movement at night, as he would be on the same location
and, unable to sleep as he was, he would have seen him leave if he had done
so. Gordan Mastilo added that Kunarac was in charge of the food supply, which
implies that he had to leave the area to get some food and come back. This
was not mentioned by witness DJ during his testimony, where he claimed to
have remained with or in the vicinity of Kunarac at all times.
- The Trial Chamber finally notes that all the locations where Dragoljub
Kunarac allegedly slept during that period were within a 20 kilometre radius
of Foca.
- Dragoljub Kunarac claimed that the search for bodies ended in the evening
hours of 26 July. He testified that he then went to Previla where he spent
the night at the schoolhouse.1376 On
27 July , he was ordered to go towards Dragocevo, where he stayed from 27
July until 31 July, reconnoitring. These localities are all within 12-20 kilometres
from Foca . The fighting in these localities was actually over on 29 July,
but Kunarac claimed that he remained there searching for two missing soldiers.
The Trial Chamber notes once again the improbability of a unit specialised
in collecting intelligence spending two full days in search of two missing
men. Kunarac testified that he then headed for the Rogoj pass where he reconnoitred
until 2 August. No other witness supported Kunarac’s allegations with respect
to this period of six and a half days from 27 July until 2 August late afternoon,
in particular with respect to the evenings and nights of this period.
- The Indictment alleges that, on 2 August 1992, the accused Dragoljub Kunarac
took FWS-75, FWS-87, FWS-50 and D.B. from Partizan Sports Hall to Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16. The Indictment also alleges that the accused Kunarac, together
with his deputy “Gaga”, took three other women (namely, FWS-186, FWS-191 and
J.G., who were already at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16) to a house in Trnovace.
- The Trial Chamber accepts that, during the night between 1 and 2 August
1992 or early in the morning of 2 August, Serb forces started attacking the
Rogoj pass . Sometime in early afternoon of 2 August 1992, the Rogoj pass
was re-taken by the Serb forces and most fighting was over by then. The accused
Dragoljub Kunarac probably took part in the preparation of the attack and,
possibly, in the re-taking of the pass itself.
- Dragoljub Kunarac did not dispute that he went back to Foca later that
day. Nor did he deny passing in the Aladža neighbourhood near the mosque and
Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16. He actually conceded that he saw the damage done
to the houses around the Aladža mosque following its destruction.1377
The Trial Chamber notes that the house located in Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16
is actually on the road allegedly taken by Dragoljub Kunarac towards Velecevo
next to the mosque . Dragoljub Kunarac claimed, however, that he did not check
whether his men whom he knew lived there, had been hurt by the explosion of
the mosque.1378
- Instead, Dragoljub Kunarac stated that he went straight back to the Velecevo
barracks in order to report and hand the car back to the commander, in case
the latter needed it to go to the Aladža neighbourhood to investigate the
blowing-up of the mosque. The Trial Chamber observes that at least three Defence
witnesses stated that there were several cars at the disposal of the command.
There was therefore no need at all for Dragoljub Kunarac to bring back this
particular car.1379 In addition, Kunarac
could have called his commander on the radio to tell him what had happened
and could have asked him whether he needed the car.
- The Trial Chamber also notes that it would only have taken between half
an hour to one hour to go from the Rogoj pass to Foca. The Trial Chamber observes
that the roads between Rogoj and Foca, Trnovace and Kalinovik were securely
in Serb hands. Kalinovik and Miljevina are both about half an hour to one
hour away from Rogoj. Miljevina is about twenty minutes away from Foca. The
accused Dragoljub Kunarac could thus have gone from the Rogoj Pass to Miljevina
via Kalinovik in about an hour and a half at most. He could then have returned
to Velecevo, which is about one and a half kilometres from Foca, in less than
half an hour. The Trial Chamber takes note of the fact that the accused Dragoljub
Kunarac conceded that he had “ free access to Kalinovik School”.1380
- The Trial Chamber also notes that Dragoljub Kunarac did not dispute that
he took FWS-87, D.B., FWS-50 and another girl from Partizan Sports Hall, but
that he stated that it happened on 3 August, not on 2 August as alleged in
the Indictment
- During his testimony, the accused Dragoljub Kunarac conceded that, on 3
August 1992, he took two, possibly three, women, including D.B. and FWS-75,
from Partizan Sports Hall to Miljevina and that he left them with DP 3’s soldiers.
The Trial Chamber notes that, in his earlier statement, Ex P67, the accused
Kunarac admitted that he took four women to Miljevina on that occasion,1381
not two or three.
- Dragoljub Kunarac testified that he wanted to confront the girls with a
journalist , Gordana Draskovic, who had told Kunarac that these girls were
spreading rumours to the effect that he and his men were taking women out
and raping them. Kunarac testified that he was hurt and offended by such claims.
- The Trial Chamber notes that FWS-75 had already told Dragoljub Kunarac
that she had talked to the journalist. There was therefore no need for Kunarac
to confront her with the journalist.
- Dragoljub Kunarac conceded that he left the girls with DP 3 and his men.
He also conceded that these men were dangerous people.1382
He claimed, however, that he heard on DP 3’s radio that Rogoj pass had been
re-taken and that he had to report to the command in Kalinovik. Dragoljub
Kunarac claimed that Commandant Marko Kovac and his driver, witness Radijove
Pavlovic, came from Velecevo with a jeep-type vehicle, picked up three of
Dragoljub Kunarac’s men on the way at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 and picked
Kunarac up in Miljevina. According to the Defence evidence, they all got in
the car and headed off towards Kalinovik .
- The Trial Chamber notes that Dragoljub Kunarac had his own car and that
he therefore did not need to be picked up. Radijove Pavlovic, Marko Kovac’s
driver , admitted that with three men already in the back, that is even prior
to the alleged picking up of Kunarac, his car would have been crowded, “one
too many”.1383 In addition, Radijove
Pavlovic also stated that another man who was not picked up in Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16 got in the car together with Kunarac in Miljevina.1384
- The Prosecution bore the onus of establishing the facts alleged in the
Indictment . Having raised the issue of alibi, the accused bore no onus of
establishing that alibi. It was for the Prosecution to establish that, despite
the evidence of the alibi, the facts alleged in the Indictment were nevertheless
true. The Trial Chamber does not accept that there is any reasonable possibility
that Dragoljub Kunarac was away from the places where and when the rapes took
place. In particular, it does not accept Kunarac’s evidence with respect to
3 August. The Trial Chamber rejects the alibi raised by Kunarac, and it holds
that, on 3 August, Kunarac went back from Trnovace to the house in Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16 where he took four women, FWS-87, FWS-75, FWS-190 and D.B. and
that, possibly in the company of DP 3, he drove them to Miljevina. There,
the women were handed over to DP 3’s men and brought to “Karaman’s house”.
While kept in this house, the girls were constantly raped.
(b) Dragoljub Kunarac’s position
as a commander
- Concerning Dragoljub Kunarac’s alleged role as a commander, the Trial Chamber
takes note of the accused’s admission that he was the leader of a group of
soldiers .1385 Paragraph 5 of the Matters
agreed to by the accused Kunarac states that: “This was a permanent group
consisting of approximately 15 soldiers, but the actual members were subject
to change. For each specific task, the accused Kunarac would take four or
five soldiers.”
- The evidence has shown that the composition of the unit would indeed change
, depending on the mission to which Dragoljub Kunarac was assigned. Kunarac
would request the men he would need on an ad hoc basis and, once the
mission was completed, they would return to their respective units.
- Some soldiers operated with Dragoljub Kunarac on several occasions and
sometimes over a prolonged period of time including overnight. The Trial Chamber
is satisfied that these soldiers went back to their respective brigades or
detachments when the specific task for which they had been assigned to the
accused had been carried out . During those periods where the operations
continued overnight, these soldiers may have been under the effective control
of the accused. The Prosecutor has failed however to show that the soldiers
who committed the offences charged in the Indictment were under the effective
control of Kunarac at the time they committed the offences .
- The Trial Chamber is therefore not satisfied that Dragoljub Kunarac is
responsible as a superior under Article 7(3) of the Statute.
(c) Counts 1 to 4
(i) The rapes of FWS-871386
- Paragraph 5.2 of the Indictment charges the accused Dragoljub Kunarac with
having taken FWS-87 to the house at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 on at least
two occasions between 13 July and 1 August 1992. On both occasions, FWS-87
was allegedly raped by two Montenegrin soldiers who were commanded by the
accused.
- The Trial Chamber finds that the incidents described under paragraph 5.2
of the Indictment have not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the testimony of FWS-87 when she recounted having
been taken out of Partizan Sports Hall by Dragoljub Kunarac several times.
The Trial Chamber further accepts the testimony of FWS-87 that she was taken
by Dragoljub Kunarac to the place which she described as “having something
do to with sewing”, ie the former tailor’s house in Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16.
FWS-87 said that there were always Montenegrin soldiers in the house, most
of them from Niksic, and that she herself and other girls brought to this
house would subsequently be raped by these soldiers.
- The Trial Chamber notes, however, that FWS-87 was able to testify with
clarity in relation to only one occasion on which she was taken out to the
house in Alad ‘a. This incident took place around 2 August 1992, and it is
described in paragraph 5.4 of the Indictment. She was, however, able to testify
in relation to another incident there which took place prior to this incident
on 2 August 1992. The Trial Chamber therefore is satisfied that this other
incident which the witness was able to recall falls within the temporal limits
of the charges under paragraph 5.2 of the Indictment. The Trial Chamber notes,
however, that FWS-87 was incapable of recounting any details as to what had
happened to her during this other incident . In particular, FWS-87 was not
able to recount if and by whom she was raped during this incident. Nor is
there any supporting evidence that could fill in the gaps of FWS-87’s testimony
with regard to this event.
- The Trial Chamber therefore finds that the two incidents mentioned in paragraph
5.2 of the Indictment have not been proved. The other incident mentioned by
FWS -87 during her testimony is the one charged under paragraph 5.4 of the
Indictment , and it will be dealt with later. As to the second incident, FWS-87
could not even say whether she had been raped on this occasion at all.
- On the evidence before it, the Trial Chamber is not satisfied that the
acts as described in paragraph 5.2 of the Indictment have been established
beyond reasonable doubt.
(ii) The rapes of FWS-75 and
D.B.1387
- Paragraph 5.3 of the Indictment alleges that Dragoljub Kunarac took FWS-75
and D.B. to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 together with “Gaga”, and raped D.B.
there , while FWS-75 was gang-raped by at least 15 soldiers. Paragraph 5.3
further alleges that FWS-75 was raped on the other occasions in Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16 by up to three soldiers.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the rapes of FWS-75 and D.B. as described
in paragraph 5.3 have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The testimonies
of both FWS-75 and D.B. place the incident at the end of July rather than
on or around 16 July 1992. FWS-75 said that it took place “a few days before
2 August 1992”, and D.B. placed it about 10 days after her arrival in Partizan,
which, according to her memories of the sequence of events, was around the
13th to 15th July. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that this incident is the
one charged under paragraph 5.3 of the Indictment.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the testimonies of both FWS-75 and D.B. as to
being taken out of Partizan by Dragoljub Kunarac and “Gaga”, and to being
brought to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 where a group of soldiers was already
waiting. The Trial Chamber notes that both D.B. and FWS-75 clearly recognised
and identified the house from the Prosecution photographs.
- Both witnesses further identified the accused Dragoljub Kunarac to the
Trial Chamber’s satisfaction as being the man who took them out of Partizan,
drove them to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 and who later took D.B. to a room.
- D.B. heard him being addressed by other soldiers by his accepted nickname
“ Zaga”, and she later learnt his real name when he introduced himself to
her. He was wearing a camouflage uniform, and he was armed the first time
she saw him. D.B. saw Dragoljub Kunarac again at the house in Miljevina at
a later stage when he came to visit the girls. She saw him there with his
arm bandaged, and a soldier told her that Kunarac had been involved in a car
accident. This re-identification of Kunarac by D.B. at the house in Miljevina
is particularly reliable, since she recounted having seen him sit in the living
room of the house with her own sister , FWS-87.
- Dragoljub Kunarac entered the room while FWS-75 was being raped by “Bane”,
a soldier who sometimes went on mission with him, and Kunarac told her to
get dressed and he took her back to Partizan. She learnt his name upon their
return to Partizan after that night. FWS-75 heard his soldiers refer to Kunarac
as “Zaga”. She described him as being “tall, quite slim, ugly with a sort
of curly hair, looking frightening ”.
- The accused Dragoljub Kunarac himself had admitted in his interview with
the Prosecution, conducted in March 1998, Ex P67, that he took FWS-75 and
D.B. out of Partizan to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16, and that he spent two and
half to three hours with D.B. behind closed doors there.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that, upon D.B.’s arrival at Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16, she was separated from FWS-75, taken to a room and raped first
by Jure, then by “Gaga” and next by a young boy of 15 or 16 years of age.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that it has been proven beyond reasonable
doubt that D.B. subsequently also had sexual intercourse with Dragoljub Kunarac
in which she took an active part by taking of the trousers of the accused
and kissing him all over the body before having vaginal intercourse with him.
The accused Kunarac admitted having had intercourse with D.B. in Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16 on this occasion , during his interview with the Prosecution
in March 1998, Ex P67. In this same interview, Kunarac had put forward that
he was not aware of the fact that D.B. did not have sex with him on her own
free will but that she had only complied out of fear.
- The Trial Chamber, however, accepts the testimony of D.B. who testified
that , prior to the intercourse, she had been threatened by “Gaga” that he
would kill her if she did not satisfy the desires of his commander, the accused
Dragoljub Kunarac . The Trial Chamber accepts D.B.’s evidence that she only
initiated sexual intercourse with Kunarac because she was afraid of being
killed by “Gaga” if she did not do so.
- The Trial Chamber rejects the evidence of the accused Dragoljub Kunarac
that he was not aware of the fact that D.B. only initiated sexual intercourse
with him for reasons of fear for her life. The Trial Chamber regards it as
highly improbable that the accused Kunarac could realistically have been “confused”
by the behaviour of D.B., given the general context of the existing war-time
situation and the specifically delicate situation of the Muslim girls detained
in Partizan or elsewhere in the Foca region during that time. As to whether
or not he was aware of the threat by “Gaga” against D.B., the Trial Chambers
finds it irrelevant as to whether or not Kunarac heard “Gaga” repeat this
threat against D.B. when he walked into the room , as D.B. testified. The
Trial Chamber is satisfied that D.B. did not freely consent to any sexual
intercourse with Kunarac. She was in captivity and in fear for her life after
the threats uttered by “Gaga”.
- On the evidence accepted, the Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution
has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused Dragoljub Kunarac took
D.B. out of Partizan and drove her to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 together with
“Gaga”. The Trial Chamber accepts that D.B. was raped there first by “Gaga”
and two other men and then forced to have sexual intercourse with Dragoljub
Kunarac because she had been threatened with death by “Gaga”. The Trial Chamber
is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Dragoljub Kunarac had sexual intercourse
with D.B. in the full knowledge that she did not freely consent. The Trial
Chamber also accepts that the accused Kunarac was fully aware of the rapes
inflicted upon D.B. by the other soldiers.
- The Trial Chamber further accepts the testimony of FWS-75 as to having
been gang-raped in the same house, while D.B. was being raped by the three
soldiers and Dragoljub Kunarac. FWS-75 was taken to a separate room by “Gaga”
who ordered her to have sex with a 16-year-old boy nicknamed “Zuca”.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that FWS-75 was
subsequently gang-raped by a group of soldiers, vaginally and orally. She
identified most of the rapists as Montenegrins, and she also identified several
individuals amongst them, eg Jure Radovic, DP 7 and DP 8.
- Whereas the Trial Chamber finds that the testimony of FWS-75 already proves
the gang-rape of herself charged under paragraph 5.3 to their satisfaction,
D.B. stated that, upon their return to Partizan, FWS-75 appeared to be terrified
and that she was barely able to walk.
- The Trial Chamber is also satisfied that Dragoljub Kunarac was aware of
the gang-rape of FWS-75 during her stay in the house. Firstly, the Trial Chamber
accepts the evidence provided by FWS-75 as to Kunarac entering the room while
she was still being raped by “Bane” and telling her to get dressed because
they had to go. Secondly , the witnesses as well as Kunarac in his statement
of March 1998, Ex P67, said that the sexual intercourse of D.B. and Kunarac
and the gang-rape of FWS-75 by a group of soldiers took place in adjacent
rooms. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Kunarac must have heard sounds
caused by this incident. Thirdly, the fact that the accused Kunarac and “Gaga”
took the girls to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 in concert makes it highly unlikely,
and therefore incredible, that Dragoljub Kunarac would not have known that
FWS-75 was brought to the house for the purposes of rape , as was D.B.
- Finally, the Trial Chamber further accepts as proved that FWS-75 was taken
to the house in Ulica Osmana Dikica by Dragoljub Kunarac and raped there by
soldiers at least one other time, as was testified by FWS-75. The Trial Chamber
is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Dragoljub Kunarac was aware that
FWS-75 would be subject to rapes and sexual assaults by soldiers at the house
in Ulica Osmana Dikica when he took her there.
- The Trial Chamber is therefore satisfied that the allegations made in paragraph
5.3 of the Indictment have been proved beyond reasonable doubt, namely that
Dragoljub Kunarac took FWS-75 and D.B. to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 for them
to be raped. On this occasion, Kunarac personally had sexual intercourse with
D.B. in the knowledge that she did not consent and aided and abetted the gang-rape
of FWS-75 at the hands of several of his soldiers by taking her to the house
in the knowledge that she would be raped there and that she did not consent
to the sexual intercourse.
- The accused acted intentionally and with the aim of discriminating between
the members of his ethnic group and the Muslims, in particular its women and
girls . The treatment reserved by Dragoljub Kunarac for his victims was motivated
by their being Muslims, as is evidenced by the occasions when the accused
told women , that they would give birth to Serb babies, or that they should
“enjoy being fucked by a Serb”. The law does not require that the purpose
of discrimination be the only purpose pursued by the offender; it is enough
that it forms a substantial part of his mens rea. Such was the case
with the accused Kunarac.
- The acts of the accused caused his victims severe mental and physical pain
and suffering. Rape is one of the worst sufferings a human being can inflict
upon another. This was abundantly clear to the accused Dragoljub Kunarac,
as he stated during his testimony concerning the rape of D.B., when he admitted
the fact that he had done something terrible, even though he maintained that
it had happened with the consent of D.B.
- By raping D.B. himself and bringing her and FWS-75 to Ulica Osmana Dikica
no 16, the latter at least twice, to be raped by other men, the accused Dragoljub
Kunarac thus committed the crimes of torture and rape as a principal perpetrator,
and he aided and abetted the other soldiers in their role as principal perpetrators
by bringing the two women to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16.
(iii) The rapes of FWS-87,
FWS-75 and FWS-501388
- Paragraph 5.4 alleges that on 2 August 1992, Dragoljub Kunarac took FWS-75,
FWS-87, FWS-50 and D.B. to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 where he and three other
soldiers raped FWS-87, while FWS-75 and FWS-50 were raped by other soldiers.
- For the reasons set out in detail above, the Trial Chamber does not accept
that Dragoljub Kunarac’s evidence of his whereabouts and timing of the events
on 2 August could reasonably have been true.
- As to the identification of the accused by the witnesses, reference is
made to the findings under paragraph 5.3 above as far as witnesses FWS-75
and D.B. are concerned. There, the Trial Chamber found that both witnesses
sufficiently identified Dragoljub Kunarac.
- FWS-50’s first encounter with the accused took place at Ulica Osmana Dikica
no 16 on the very day the events occurred. At that time, she did not know
his name . FWS-50 saw him again at Partizan when he went there to pick up
girls.
- The Trial Chamber finds that the accused Dragoljub Kunarac has been identified
beyond reasonable doubt with regard to the incidents charged under paragraph
5.4 .
- The Trial Chamber notes that at least two witnesses, FWS-186 and FWS-191,
testified that they saw Dragoljub Kunarac at the Kalinovik School that day
when he came to take women out. The accused Kunarac, together with his deputy
“Gaga”, drove these women whom he had taken out of Kalinovik School and stopped
after 10-15 minutes, transferring them in a refrigerator truck driven by other
men.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Dragoljub Kunarac then went to Partizan
Sports Hall where he took four women out, FWS-87, FWS-75, FWS-50 and D.B.
FWS-75 and FWS-87 were taken out by Kunarac that day and driven to Ulica Osmana
Dikica no 16, together with FWS-50 and D.B. FWS-50 and D.B. could not recall
whether Kunarac personally took them to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16, but FWS-50
as well as D.B. saw him at the house that day. FWS-96 and FWS-48 saw Kunarac
take these four women out on that day. FWS-190, who in the meantime had been
brought to the house with the other women from the Kalinovik School, saw the
arrival of the girls at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the evidence of FWS-87, that she was raped by
Dragoljub Kunarac that night in a room next to the kitchen of the house. She
was also raped during the night by an older man, whose name she could not
recall, and by a certain Toljic. FWS-87 described the accused Kunarac as “not
very tall, not too skinny or too fat and having dark brown hair”. She saw
him come to Partizan every third night with other soldiers. She also noticed
that he had a cast on his body when he came to “Karaman’s house” and raped
her. Apart from the credible identification by FWS-87, the Trial Chamber further
notes that the accused admitted having met FWS-87 at Partizan on 3 August
and having seen her again at “Karaman’s house”.
- The Trial Chamber further accepts the evidence of FWS-50, FWS-75 and D.B.
who testified that, in the meantime and during the rest of the night, they
were raped by Dragoljub Kunarac’s men.
- Upon their arrival at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16, Dragoljub Kunarac and
“Gaga ” abandoned FWS-75 and the other women to the soldiers present there.
FWS-75 was first raped by three Montenegrin soldiers, whom she was able to
identify as Kontic (nicknamed “Konta”), DP 7 and DP 8, and she was then locked
in a room by DP 8 where he continued to rape her for the rest of the night
vaginally, anally and orally. “Gaga” raped her the next morning. The Trial
Chamber does not, however, make a finding with regard to FWS-75’s testimony
that she was also raped by Kunarac himself the next morning, since that specific
rape has not been charged under paragraph 5.4, nor is it the subject of any
other charge in the Indictment.
- The Trial Chamber further accepts FWS-50’s testimony about her being raped
“in a beast-like manner” by an old Montenegrin soldier that night who wielded
a knife and threatened to draw a cross on her back and to baptise her. However,
the Trial Chamber does not make a finding which could be the subject of a
conviction with regard to FWS-50’s testimony that she was also raped by Dragoljub
Kunarac personally on a sofa in the house. Again, this particular incident
has neither been charged under paragraph 5.4 or elsewhere in the Indictment.
- Whereas D.B. recounted to the Trial Chamber’s persuasion that she was raped
during this incident by a certain “Jure” with whom she had to stay for the
rest of the night, the Trial Chamber notes that paragraph 5.4 does not allege
any rapes against D.B. The Trial Chamber therefore does not find it appropriate
to make any finding on this event which could lead to a conviction.
- The rapes resulted in severe mental and physical pain and suffering for
the victims. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the victims were taken to
Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 by Dragoljub Kunarac for the very purpose of rape
and that they were chosen for this purpose on the basis only of their Muslim
ethnicity.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that, on 2 August 1992, Dragoljub Kunarac
went to Partizan Sports Hall where he took out FWS-75, FWS-87, FWS-50 and
D.B. and drove them to the house in Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16, where some
women who had been taken out of the Kalinovik school had already arrived.
The Trial Chamber is also satisfied that Kunarac took these women to this
house in the knowledge that they would be raped by soldiers during the night.
The Trial Chamber finds that Kunarac took FWS -87 to one of the rooms of the
house and forced her to have sexual intercourse in the knowledge that she
did not consent. The Trial Chamber also finds that, on that occasion, FWS-75
and FWS-50 were repeatedly raped by other soldiers while Kunarac raped FWS-87.
The Trial Chamber further finds that FWS-87 was also raped by other soldiers
that same night. The fact that Kunarac took the girls to the house and left
them to his men in the knowledge that they would rape them constituted an
act of assistance which had a substantial effect on the acts of torture and
rape later committed by his men. He therefore aided and abetted in that torture
and rape.
(iv) The rapes of FWS-951389
- Paragraph 5.5 of the Indictment charges the accused Dragoljub Kunarac with
having taken FWS-95 out of Partizan to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 on at least
two occasions and that, on the first occasion, she was personally raped by
Kunarac and three other soldiers. During the second incident, she was allegedly
raped by two or three soldiers but not by the accused himself.
- The Trial Chamber finds that it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt
that , during the first incident described under paragraph 5.5, the accused
Dragoljub Kunarac raped FWS-95 at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16. The second incident
has not been proved.
- FWS-95 was taken from Partizan to the house in the Alad‘a area on two occasions
. She did not remember who took her there. She was taken out together with
FWS -105 and FWS-90 on the first occasion. Whereas neither FWS-95 nor FWS-105
were able to put a certain date to the incident in question, FWS-95 in her
previous statement dated 9-11 February 1996, Ex P75, had stated that she was
taken there before the mosque was blown up, ie before 2 August 1992. FWS-95
further testified in court that she was taken from Foca High School to Partizan
15 to 20 days after her arrival in Foca High School to which she had been
transferred from Buk Bijela on 5 July 1992.
- The Trial Chamber is therefore satisfied that the event in question took
place between 20 July and 2 August 1992, and it regards this time frame as
falling within the temporal limits established by the charges related to paragraph
5.5 of the Indictment .
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Dragoljub Kunarac has been positively
identified as the perpetrator of this specific rape by FWS-95 herself, as
well as by the supporting testimony of FWS-105.
- FWS-95 did not know Dragoljub Kunarac before the war, but FWS-90, who had
relatives who knew Dragoljub Kunarac and who was taken out together with her
to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16, told her who he was. FWS-95 recounted the first
name of the accused as being “Dragan” and that he had the nickname “Zaga”.
Confronted with her inability to identify the accused on a photograph shown
to her by the Prosecution prior to the trial, the witness plausibly explained
that this was the result of the poor quality of the photos shown to her. The
Trial Chamber accepts the explanation of FWS-95 that “it’s easier to recognise
someone when you see them live than on a photograph .” FWS-95 was able to
identify Kunarac in the courtroom, and she stated that Kunarac is the same
as he was then.1390 In her first statement
to the Prosecution of 9-11 February 1996, Ex P75, FWS-95 had described Kunarac
as tall, with brown hair, thin, with long hair and a beard and moustache.
In court, FWS-95 explained that, at the time the incident occurred , the soldiers
were not shaven. Kunarac himself had stated in his interview that he would
not shave for days when he was out on missions. The Trial Chamber therefore
does not regard the previous description of FWS-95 in her first statement
as having had a beard and moustache as contradicting her identification of
Kunarac.
- The identification of Dragoljub Kunarac by FWS-95 is supported by evidence
provided by FWS-105. Whereas this witness could not remember having been taken
out by him, she recounted having seen Kunarac at the house in the Alad‘a neighbourhood
and that there she heard the other men addressing him as “Zaga”. She had already
heard his nickname while she was at Foca High School from the other girls.
FWS- 105 never saw Dragoljub Kunarac at Foca High School, but she heard from
FWS-75, FWS-50, FWS-87 and D.B. that “Zaga” came to Foca High School. FWS-105
said that Kunarac had no Montenegrin accent, but that it had been said that
he was from Montenegro .
- Upon their arrival at Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16, FWS-95 was separated from
FWS-105 and FWS-90, taken to a room and raped there by the accused Dragoljub
Kunarac . FWS-105 testified that she and FWS-95 were taken to different rooms
during the incident.
- The Trial Chamber does not regard the various discrepancies between the
pre -trial statements dated 25-26 April 1998, Ex D40, of FWS-95 and her testimony
in court, to which attention was drawn, as grave enough to discredit the evidence
that she was raped by Dragoljub Kunarac during the incident in question. The
Trial Chamber notes that FWS-95 could not remember in court having been subsequently
raped by three other soldiers as is indicted under paragraph 5.5. However,
in the light of the afore-mentioned principles with regard to the reliability
of testimony, the Trial Chamber regards this lapse of memory as being an insignificant
inconsistency as far as the act of rape committed by the accused Kunarac is
concerned. In particular , the Trial Chamber is satisfied of the truthfulness
and completeness of the testimony of FWS-95 as to the rape by Kunarac because,
apart from all noted minor inconsistencies , FWS-95 always testified clearly
and without any hesitation that she had been raped by the accused Kunarac
during the first incident described under paragraph 5.5. As already elaborated
above, the Trial Chamber recognises the difficulties which survivors of such
traumatic events have in remembering every particular detail and precise minutiae
of these events and does not regard their existence as necessarily destroying
the credibility of other evidence as to the essence of the events themselves
.
- The testimony of FWS-95 as to the specific role of Dragoljub Kunarac in
the first incident in Ulika Osmana Dikica no 16, charged in paragraph 5.5
of the Indictment , is sufficient to enable the Trial Chamber to reach a conviction
on this particular rape.
- The Trial Chamber is not satisfied, however, that the second incident described
in paragraph 5.5 of the Indictment has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
With regard to this incident, Dragoljub Kunarac has been charged only with
taking FWS -95 to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 where she was allegedly raped
by two or three soldiers .
- FWS-95, however, gave evidence that she was raped by Dragoljub Kunarac
himself during this second event, an incident which has not been pleaded in
the Indictment . She testified that she was taken to the house with other
women, but she could not recall with whom. She was not able to say who took
her out of Partizan on this occasion. Neither did she mention any other assailants
apart from Dragoljub Kunarac with regard to this event, notwithstanding that,
in her second statement to the Prosecution dated 25-26 April 1998, Ex D40,
she had mentioned that she was raped by two or three soldiers both times she
was taken to Ulica Osmana Dikica, ie, also during the second event.
- The Trial Chamber is not satisfied on the evidence adduced that FWS-95
was taken out by Dragoljub Kunarac and then raped by three soldiers as alleged
in the Indictment. The second rape by Dragoljub Kunarac of which FWS-95 gave
evidence has not been charged by the Prosecution. On the contrary, the Indictment
explicitly alleges under paragraph 5.5 with regard to the second incident
that FWS-95 was not raped by the accused himself. The Trial Chamber cannot
therefore find the accused guilty of that second rape under this paragraph
of the Indictment.
- The allegations made under paragraph 5.5 of the Indictment have therefore
only been partially proved. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Dragoljub
Kunarac himself had sexual intercourse with FWS-95 without her consent on
the first incident described under paragraph 5.5 of the Indictment while he
knew that FWS-95 did not consent. However, the Trial Chamber is not satisfied
that she was also raped by three other men, as pleaded in the Indictment.
- In conclusion, the Trial Chamber finds as follows:
(i) The allegations made under paragraph 5.2 of Indictment IT-96-23
have not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
(ii) The allegations made under paragraph 5.3 of Indictment IT-96-23
have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. Dragoljub Kunarac took FWS-75
and D.B. to Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 where they were raped by several soldiers.
Dragoljub Kunarac personally raped D.B. on that occasion.
(iii) The allegations made under paragraph 5.4 of Indictment IT-96-23
have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. On 2 August 1992, Dragoljub Kunarac
took four girls , FWS-87, FWS-75, FWS-50 and D.B., to Ulica Osmana Dikica
no 16. FWS-75 and FWS -50 were raped by several soldiers. Dragoljub Kunarac
and three other soldiers raped FWS-87.
(iv) The allegations made under paragraph 5.5 of Indictment IT-96-23
have been partly proved. It has been established beyond reasonable doubt
that Dragoljub Kunarac personally raped FWS-95 on one occasion, but it was
not established that FWS-95 was raped by any other men during the second
incident as was alleged in the Indictment .
- As far as the girls were raped and tortured by other men, Dragoljub Kunarac
was aiding and abetting the latter by taking the girls to them in the knowledge
that they would rape them and by encouraging them to do so.
- The Trial Chamber therefore finds the accused Dragoljub Kunarac GUILTY
of torture under Counts 1 and 3 and GUILTY of rape under Counts 2 and 4.
(d) Counts 5 to 8
- Counts 5 to 8 charge Dragoljub Kunarac with two rapes inflicted upon witness
FWS-48 in the middle of July 1992.
- Concerning the rape charged under paragraph 6.1 of Indictment IT-96-23,
which Dragoljub Kunarac is alleged to have committed together with the co-accused
Zoran Vukovic, the Trial Chamber held earlier that the accused Zoran Vukovic
had no case to answer with regard to the allegations made by FWS-48, since
the totality of the evidence could not, as a matter of law, prove beyond reasonable
doubt his identification concerning those allegations.
- As to the rape of FWS-48 by Dragoljub Kunarac and Zoran Vukovic in Hotel
Zelengora , the Trial Chamber finds that the testimony of FWS-48 was not sufficiently
credible to establish what is alleged. Not only could FWS-48 no longer remember
the subsequent rape allegedly committed by Zoran Vukovic in court, but her
testimony as to her identification of Kunarac and her description of the particular
event also shows substantial discrepancies.
- FWS-48 identified Dragoljub Kunarac in the courtroom. She confirmed, however
, that prior to her testimony she had seen his picture on TV when he was arrested
, and that she had been shown his picture by investigators of the Prosecution.
Under cross-examination, she described the man she believed being “Zaga” as
being 45-46 years old at the time the event occurred. She also thought that
he was about 1.77 meters tall but could not say whether he was taller or shorter
than herself . FWS-48 could not remember clearly in court whether she was
taken to a house in Donje Polje or to the Zelengora Hotel. In a previous interview,
FWS-48 had stated that Kunarac spoke with a Montenegrin accent, but she did
not remember in court having said so. Furthermore, during the examination-in-chief,
FWS-48 testified that at Hotel Zelengora Kunarac had told her that she looked
like a Montenegrin woman and that she would give birth to Serb babies. Under
cross-examination, however , FWS-48 testified that she did not speak with
Kunarac at all. She further denied in court having heard about him being “Zaga”
at Zelengora, but in the primary school , which appears to be in conflict
with the interview she gave on 24 September 1998 , Ex D47,1391
to the investigators of the Prosecution. There is no supporting evidence which
could remove the effect of these substantial inconsistencies. Whereas FWS-48
testified that FWS-95 and FWS-75 were also present in Hotel Zelengora with
her during the incident, neither of these witnesses could recall this specific
incident. FWS-95 testified that she was never taken to Hotel Zelengora at
any time.
- In evaluating the credibility of the witness’s testimony, the Trial Chamber
also has to take into account the substantial inconsistencies in FWS-48’s
testimony with regard to the allegations against the accused Zoran Vukovic,
which raised general concerns with regard to the credibility of the testimony
of the witness generally . There was no supporting evidence to dispel the
Trial Chamber’s doubts.
- The Trial Chamber further holds that the rapes described in paragraphs
6.1 and 6.2 of the Indictment, which charged Dragoljub Kunarac with having
committed them against FWS-48, have not been proved during trial beyond reasonable
doubt.
- In a statement dated September 1995, Ex P78, prior to the trial, FWS-48
had stated that she was taken by DP 6 together with FWS-95 and FWS-105 to
a house near the station, from where she then was taken by Dragoljub Kunarac
to another house in the Donje Polje neighbourhood, where he raped her.
- During her testimony in court, however, the witness was unable to recount
the incident with any precision. In contrast to her earlier allegations, she
testified that Dragoljub Kunarac did not take her away to rape her, on the
night when she and the other girls were taken out of Partizan by DP 6. FWS-48
said that Kunarac had once taken her to a burnt-out house in Donje Polje for
the purpose of rape, but this incident does not constitute the rape which
is charged under paragraph 6.2. FWS-48 testified that, on that occasion, it
was the accused Kunarac himself who took her out of Partizan, not DP 6.
- FWS-95 testified that she was once taken to a burnt-out house together
with FWS-48 for the purpose of rape. This specific incident, where the women
were taken by Dragoljub Kunarac himself directly to the burnt-out house has,
however, not been charged in the Indictment, and the Trial Chamber therefore
does not need to make any findings with regard to it. As to the incident charged
under 6.2, FWS-48 clearly stated in court that, on the night she was taken
away from Partizan by DP 6, the accused Kunarac did not rape her.
- On the basis of the evidence before it, the Trial Chamber is not satisfied
beyond reasonable doubt that the events as charged under Counts 5 to 8, based
upon paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 of Indictment IT-96-23, have been proved. The
Trial Chamber also notes that the Prosecutor conceded in her Final Trial Brief
that these incidents described in paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 of the Indictment
had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
- The Trial Chamber therefore finds the accused Dragoljub Kunarac NOT GUILTY
under Counts 5, 6, 7 and 8.
(e) Counts 9 and 10
- Paragraph 7.1 of Indictment IT-96-23 alleges that, on or about 2 August
1992 , Dragoljub Kunarac transferred four women, including FWS-75 and FWS-87,
from Partizan Sports Hall to “Karaman’s house” in Miljevina. Counts 9 and
10 charge the accused Dragoljub Kunarac with raping FWS-87 on one occasion
while she was kept at “Karaman’s house”, as described in paragraph 7.2 of
the Indictment.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the allegations contained in paragraph
7.1 of the Indictment have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The Trial
Chamber finds that, on or about 2 August 1992, FWS-87, together with FWS-75,
D.B. and FWS -50 were taken by the accused Dragoljub Kunarac from the house
in Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 in Foca to Miljevina, where they were handed
over to DP 3 and his men who, in turn, transferred them to “Karaman’s house”.1392
- The Trial Chamber is also satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that, sometime
in either September or October 1992, Dragoljub Kunarac went to “Karaman’s
house” and took FWS-87 to a room on the upper floor of the house where he
forced her to have sexual intercourse in the knowledge that she did not consent.
The accused Kunarac did not dispute that he went to this house at the end
of September, nor that he took FWS-87 to a room upstairs.1393
Kunarac claimed, however, that he did not have sexual intercouse with her.
- The Trial Chamber is of the view that Dragoljub Kunarac’s assertion that
he simply talked to her is highly improbable, in the light of his total disregard
for Muslim women in general, those he raped in particular, and FWS-87 most
specifically , whom he had raped on at least one occasion prior to those events
while in Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the evidence of FWS-87. It does not accept that
Dragoljub Kunarac’s version of events could reasonably have been true, and
it holds that the allegations made in paragraph 7.2 of the Indictment have
been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
- The Trial Chamber therefore finds Dragoljub Kunarac GUILTY of rape under
Counts 9 and 10.
(f) Counts 11 and 12
- Counts 11 and 12 charge Dragoljub Kunarac with the rape of FWS-183 as described
in paragraph 8.1 of Indictment IT-96-23.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused
Dragoljub Kunarac raped FWS-183 as described under paragraph 8.1 of the Indictment.
- As already explained above, the Trial Chamber rejects the alibi of Dragoljub
Kunarac for the time period related to this charge.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the accused Dragoljub Kunarac has been
positively identified by FWS-183 and FWS-61 beyond reasonable doubt in relation
to this incident. The soldier who put FWS-183 in the car introduced himself
as the son of Lekso Kunarac. FWS-183 knew Kunarac’s father because he had
done some woodwork in her cottage. She had once gone to his house in Cohodor
Mahala.
- FWS-61 testified that, upon return to her apartment after FWS-183 had been
taken away by the soldiers, a Serb soldier named Tadic told her that the man
who had taken away FWS-183 was called “Zaga”.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the testimony of FWS-183 that, in the second
half of July 1992, while she was in FWS-61’s apartment, three Serb soldiers
came and accused her of transmitting radio messages. The Trial Chamber accepts
that a soldier she later realised to be “Zaga” put her in a red Lada, where
she had to wait with him for the two other soldiers to return, and who had
in the meantime looted her apartment.
- The three soldiers then took her to the banks of the Cehotina river in
Foca near Velecevo, where the accused tried to obtain information or a confession
from FWS-183 concerning her alleged sending of messages to the Muslim forces
and information about the whereabouts of her valuables while he threatened
to kill her and her son . By his attempt to intimidate her, Dragoljub Kunarac
also showed his hatred for Muslims, his intention to intimidate her, and his
intention to discriminate against Muslims in general, and FWS-183 in particular.
All three soldiers raped FWS-183 . In the course of the rapes, Kunarac forced
her to touch his penis and to look at him. He cursed her. The other two soldiers
watched from the car, laughing. While she was raped by Dragoljub Kunarac,
FWS-183 heard him tell the other soldiers to wait for their turn. Subsequently,
she was raped vaginally and orally by the other soldiers. The rapes resulted
in severe mental and physical pain for FWS-183 .
- The description of the events by FWS-183 is supported by the testimony
of FWS -61, who was present when the soldiers stormed into her apartment.
This is so despite the fact that FWS-61 recounted the incident as having taken
place towards the end of July instead of around 15 July. As set out above,
the Trial Chamber does not require proof of the exact time of the incident
as long as there is evidence to establish the essence of the incident pleaded.
- FWS-61 testified that FWS-183 was taken out from the apartment and that
both her apartment and FWS-183’s apartment were looted by the soldiers. She
saw FWS- 183 returned by the same three soldiers who had taken her away. She
said that FWS -183 looked confused upon her arrival, as if she had been crying.
She further testified that FWS-183 told her that she had to give all her valuables
to the soldiers, and that she had been forced to touch them at their “shameful
places” and do “impossible things”.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the incident described in paragraph
8.1 of the Indictment has been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The accused
Dragoljub Kunarac and the other two soldiers acted as principal co-perpetrators.
- For these acts, the Trial Chamber finds the accused Dragoljub Kunarac GUILTY
of torture under Count 11. Likewise, the Trial Chamber finds the accused Dragoljub
Kunarac GUILTY of rape under Count 12.
(g) Counts 18 to 21
- Counts 18 to 21 charge the accused Dragoljub Kunarac with the rape, enslavement
and outrages upon personal dignity of FWS-186, FWS-191 and J.G.
(i) The rape of FWS-191, FWS-186
and J.G.1394
- Paragraph 10.2 of Indictment IT-96-23 charges the accused Dragoljub Kunarac
with having taken FWS-186, FWS-191 and J.G. out of Ulica Osmana Dikica no
16, and that, together with “Gaga” and DP6, of having taken them to an abandoned
house in Trnovace, where Dragoljub Kunarac raped FWS-191 while the other girls
were raped by the other two men.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied, on the evidence of FWS-191 and FWS-186,
that Dragoljub Kunarac, together with “Gaga” and DP 6, took FWS-186, FWS-191
and J.G. from the house Ulica Osmana Dikica no 16 on 2 August 1992 to an abandoned
house in Trnovace, where FWS-186 was raped by DP 6 and FWS-191 was raped by
Dragoljub Kunarac. As to the alleged rape of J.G., the Trial Chamber finds
that it has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that she was raped by
“Gaga” during this incident .
- As already stated, the Trial Chamber does not accept the alibi of the accused
Dragoljub Kunarac with regard to all incidents on 2 August 1992.
- The Trial Chamber finds that Dragoljub Kunarac has been reliably identified
by both FWS-191 and FWS-186. FWS-191 testified that Kunarac introduced himself
to her before he raped her in the room in the Trnovace house. Not only did
he tell her his name but he also showed her his tag with the name on it. Furthermore,
he boasted to the witness about his eventful past in France and elsewhere.
- FWS-186 testified that she did not know Dragoljub Kunarac before the war
but that she saw him for the first time when he came to take the girls away
from Kalinovik Primary School. She had learnt his name at the house in Trnovace.
She saw his photo in the press when he surrendered to the Tribunal and she
recognised him immediately . In court, FWS-186 plausibly explained why she
had not mentioned Kunarac in her first statement (dated 9 May 1998, Ex P90,
given to the Prosecution in November 1993) as an attempt to protect J.G. who,
according to FWS-186’s testimony, had also been raped by him.
- Both FWS-191 and FWS-186 described obvious characteristic features of Dragoljub
Kunarac’s appearance. FWS-191 described “Zaga” as being tall, thin, brown
hair, with a rough face and big eyes. FWS-186 recounted “Zaga” being tall,
dark, skinny , with big eyes.
- The Trial Chamber notes that there is additional supporting evidence for
the identification. FWS-192, the mother of FWS-191, testified that, on 2 August
1992 , her daughter was taken away from Kalinovik school by a soldier whose
nickname she later came to learn was “Zaga”.
- FWS-191 and FWS-186 were taken out of Kalinovik School together by Dragoljub
Kunarac and “Gaga” on 2 August 1992, driven by them to a house in the Alad‘a
area and, from there, to the house in Trnovace. Upon arrival, the girls were
told where to sleep. FWS-191 was assigned to Kunarac, he ordered her to undress
and he tried to rape her while his bayonet was placed on the table. Kunarac
did not entirely succeed penetrating FWS-191 because, as FWS-191 was still
a virgin, she was rigid with fear. He succeeded in taking away her virginity
the next day. Kunarac knew that she did not consent, and he rejoiced at the
idea of being her “first”, thereby degrading her more. The Trial Chamber notes
that the testimony of FWS-191 was also supported by the testimony of FWS-186,
who said that FWS-191 had told her that she was raped by Kunarac during that
night.
- FWS-186 was raped during this night by DP 6 on the second floor of the
Trnovace house. FWS-186 identified the house in Trnovace and recounted her
impression that it was owned by DP 6. FWS-186 was sent to a room on the second
floor. DP 6 then came, locked the door from the inside and raped her. The
evidence provided by FWS -186 is supported by FWS-191, who testified that,
while she was assigned to Dragoljub Kunarac, FWS-186 had to go to the second
floor of the house with DP 6.
- Whereas both FWS-191 and FWS-186 testified that J.G. was assigned to “Gaga”
and taken by him to the first floor of the Trnovace house, their memories
differ as to whether “Gaga” actually raped J.G. during the night of 2 August
1992. While FWS-191 said that fourteen-year old J.G. told her that she had
not been raped by “Gaga” because she had her period, FWS-186 testified that
J.G. later told her that she had been raped by “Gaga”. Since J.G. herself
has not testified in court, the Trial Chamber finds that there remain reasonable
doubts as to the alleged rape of J.G. by “Gaga” during the incident described
under paragraph 10.1. The Trial Chamber therefore finds that this specific
rape has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt .
- The Trial Chamber finds that the incident described under paragraph 10.1
of the Indictment, apart from the alleged rape of J.G., has been proved beyond
reasonable doubt. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Dragoljub Kunarac was
fully aware that the other girls, whom he took out of Ulica Osmana Dikica
together with “Gaga” and DP 6, ie FWS-191, FWS-186 and J.G., were taken to
the abandoned house also for the purpose of rape.
(ii) The rape, enslavement and
outrages upon personal dignity of FWS-191 and FWS-186 1395
- Paragraph 10.2 of Indictment IT-96-23 alleges that FWS-186 and FWS-191
were kept in the abandoned house in Trnovace for approximately 6 months starting
on 2 August 1992. It further alleges that, during the time of their detention,
FWS-191 was constantly raped by the accused Dragoljub Kunarac while FWS-186
was constantly raped by DP 6. Dragoljub Kunarac reserved FWS-191 for himself.
According to paragraph 10.3, the girls were treated as personal property of
the accused Kunarac and DP 6, they had to do household chores and they had
to obey all demands.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the incidents charged under paragraphs
10.2 and 10.3 have been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
- As to the alibi of Dragoljub Kunarac, the Trial Chamber refers to its findings
above on the grounds of which it rejects the Defence arguments also with regard
to the incidents described in paragraphs 10.2 and 10.3. The Trial Chamber
notes that, in any case, Kunarac did not provide any alibi for the period
after 8 August 1992.
- As set out above with regard to the incident charged under paragraph 10.1,
both FWS-191 and FWS-186 reliably identified the accused Dragoljub Kunarac.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that FWS-191 and FWS-186 were kept in the
Trnovace house for five to six months, a period that the Trial Chamber accepts
as falling under the time frame set out in the Indictment as “approximately
6 months”.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the testimony of FWS-191 that she was kept in
the Trnovace house for about five to six months. As already discussed, the
Trial Chamber reiterates that specific dates and exact time periods do not
require to be proved beyond reasonable doubt due to the specific war context
wherein the crimes concerned occurred. The Trial Chamber therefore accepts
the testimony of FWS-186 that she stayed in the house in Trnovace for about
five months as supporting evidence of FWS-191. The Trial Chamber further finds
that J.G. stayed only for a few days in the house in Trnovace, as alleged
in the Indictment and as was stated by FWS-186 .
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Dragoljub Kunarac constantly raped
FWS- 191 for about two months while she was kept in the house. Kunarac came
to the Trnovace house until the end of September, and that each time he came
he would rape FWS-191 . Although Kunarac broke his arm in an accident sometime
in September 1992, he nevertheless continued to rape her. The testimony of
FWS-191 is supported by that of FWS-186, who said that FWS-191 was raped by
Kunarac for about one and a half to two months while the girls stayed at the
house. She further remembered having seen Dragoljub Kunarac at some point
with a plaster cast on his arm.
- FWS-186 was raped by DP 6 continuously during her five-month stay at the
Trnovace house. She was obliged to have sexual intercourse with DP 6 whenever
he returned to the house from Montenegro or from the frontlines. The Trial
Chamber regards the testimony of FWS-186 as sufficient to prove the rapes
by DP 6 in the Trnovace house beyond reasonable doubt. Her testimony is supported
by the testimony of FWS -191, who testified that FWS-186 was forced to have
intercourse with DP 6 at the Trnovace house whenever he was at the house until
the summer of 1993.
- The evidence provided by both witnesses is reliable and supported by the
testimonies of other witnesses. FWS-175 who, as FWS-191 confirmed in her testimony,
was also brought to the Trnovace house, testified that FWS-186 was already
there when she arrived and that she, FWS-175, noticed that FWS-186 was with
DP 6.
- FWS-192, the mother of FWS-191, testified that “Zaga” told her that her
daughter was with him and that he would not bring her back. In addition to
the testimony of FWS-191, who recounted having been allowed to write a letter
to her mother at some point, FWS-192 testified that she received this letter
from “Zaga” and DP 6 . With regard to FWS-186, FWS-192 further recounted that
she was present when DP 6 admitted to FWS-185, the mother of FWS-186, that
her daughter was with him. She recounted DP 6 having ordered FWS-185 to give
him clothes for her daughter.
- The Trial Chamber accepts the evidence of FWS-191 and FWS-186, and finds
that both witnesses were treated as the personal property of Dragoljub Kunarac
and DP 6 during their stay in the Trnovace house as described in paragraph
10.3 of the Indictment.
- The Trial Chamber accepts from FWS-191 that the girls at Trnovace did anything
they were ordered to do by the soldiers while being kept there. The testimonies
of both FWS-191 and FWS-186 substantiated convincingly that the girls were
kept in the house to be used by Dragoljub Kunarac and DP 6 for sexual services
whenever the soldiers returned to the house.
- The Trial Chamber further accepts that the witnesses were not free to go
where they wanted to, even if, as FWS-191 admitted, they were given the keys
to the house at some point. Referring to the factual findings with regard
to the general background , the Trial Chamber accepts that the girls, as described
by FWS-191, had nowhere to go, and had no place to hide from Dragoljub Kunarac
and DP 6, even if they had attempted to leave the house. The Trial Chamber
is satisfied that Kunarac and DP 6, both being Serb soldiers in the Foca
area, were fully aware of this fact. The Trial Chamber accepts the evidence
of FWS-191 and FWS-186 that the girls performed household chores for the soldiers
whilst under captivity.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that it has been proven beyond reasonable
doubt that FWS-191 was raped by Dragoljub Kunarac and that FWS-186 was raped
by DP 6, continuously and constantly whilst they were kept in the house in
Trnovace. Kunarac in fact asserted his exclusivity over FWS-191 by forbidding
any other soldier to rape her. The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Kunarac
was aware of the fact that DP 6 constantly and continuously raped FWS-186
during this period, as he himself did to FWS-191. It has not been established
however that Kunarac provided DP 6 with any form of assistance, encouragement
or moral support which had a substantial effect on the perpetration of the
individual rapes. Kunarac continued to come to the house for about two months,
but it has not been established, apart from the incident charged and described
in paragraph 10.1, that he was present while DP 6 raped FWS-186. It has not
been shown either how Kunarac’s presence or actions would have assisted DP 6
in his raping FWS-186; so loose is the connection between the events at the
house and his sporadic presence there, it would stretch the concept of aiding
and abetting beyond its limits with respect to the actual rapes by DP 6.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that FWS-191 and FWS-186 were denied any
control over their lives by Dragoljub Kunarac and DP 6 during their stay there.
They had to obey all orders, they had to do household chores and they had
no realistic option whatsoever to flee the house in Trnovace or to escape
their assailants. They were subjected to other mistreatments, such as Kunarac
inviting a soldier into the house so that he could rape FWS-191 for 100 Deutschmark
if he so wished. On another occasion , Kunarac tried to rape FWS-191 while
in his hospital bed, in front of other soldiers . The two women were treated
as the personal property of Kunarac and DP 6. The Trial Chamber is satisfied
that Kunarac established these living conditions for the victims in concert
with DP 6. Both men personally committed the act of enslavement . By assisting
in setting up the conditions at the house, Kunarac also aided and abetted
DP 6 with respect to his enslavement of FWS-186.
- There is no evidence upon which it would be appropriate to convict the
accused for outrages upon personal dignity that is not already covered by
other convictions .
- In summary, the Trial Chamber finds that:
(i) The allegations made in paragraph 10.1 of Indictment IT-96-23
have partly been proved beyond reasonable doubt. On 2 August, Dragoljub
Kunarac personally raped FWS-191 and aided and abetted the rape of FWS-186
by DP 6.
(ii) The allegations made in paragraph 10.2 of Indictment IT-96-23
have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. For a period of about 6 months,
FWS-186 and FWS-191 were kept in the house in Trnovace. For a period of
about 2 months, Dragoljub Kunarac sporadically visited the house and raped
FWS-191 on those occasions.
(iii) The allegations made in paragraph 10.3 of Indictment IT-96-23
have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. While they were kept in the house
in Trnovace, FWS-191 and FWS-186 were treated as the property of Dragoljub
Kunarac and DP 6.
- The Trial Chamber consequently finds the accused Dragoljub Kunarac GUILTY
of rape under Counts 19 and 20, GUILTY of enslavement under Count 18 and NOT
GUILTY of outrages upon personal dignity under Count 21.
2. Radomir Kovac (Indictment IT-96-23)
- Counts 22 to 25 of Indictment IT-96-23 charge the accused Radomir Kovac
with the rape, enslavement and outrages upon personal dignity of FWS-75, FWS-87,
A.B. and A.S., as described in paragraphs 11.1 to 11.6 of the Indictment.
(a) The arrival of the girls at
Radomir Kovac’s apartment
- Paragraph 11.1 of the Indictment alleges that, on or about 30 October 1992,
FWS-75, FWS-87, A.S. and A.B. were taken from “Karaman’s house” in Miljevina
to Foca by Dragan Zelenovic, DP 1 and DP 6, and that they were subsequently
handed over to the accused Radomir Kovac. Paragraph 11.2 alleges that Radomir
Kovac detained FWS-75 and A.B. - between about 31 October 1992 until December
1992 - and FWS-87 and A.S. - from the same date until February 1993 - in a
apartment over which he had control. The Indictment alleges that, while being
so kept, the girls had to perform household chores, that they were frequently
sexually assaulted and that they were beaten, threatened, psychologically
oppressed and kept in constant fear .
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that it has been proven beyond reasonable
doubt that, on or about 30 October 1992, FWS-75, FWS-87, A.S. and A.B. were
taken from “Karaman’s house” and brought by Dragan Zelenovic, DP 6 and DP 1
to the Lepa Brena building block in Foca. There, they were handed over to
the accused Radomir Kovac . Another man named Jagos Kostic lived in Radomir
Kovac’s apartment.
- The Trial Chamber is also satisfied that, while kept in Radomir Kovac’s
apartment , these girls were constantly raped, humiliated and degraded. They
were sometimes beaten, slapped or threatened by one of the occupants of the
apartment. The accused Kovac once slapped FWS-75 because she refused to sleep
with a soldier whom he had brought in. Twelve-year old A.B. was sent in her
place. Kovac also beat FWS-75 up on other occasions.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the girls could not and did not leave
the apartment without one of the men accompanying them. When the men were
away, they would be locked inside the apartment with no way to get out. Only
when the men were there would the door of the apartment be left open. Notwithstanding
the fact that the door may have been open while the men were there, the Trial
Chamber is satisfied that the girls were also psychologically unable to leave,
as they would have had nowhere to go had they attempted to flee. They were
also aware of the risks involved if they were re-captured.
- While they were detained in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, the girls were required
to take care of the household chores, the cooking and the cleaning.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the girls’ diet and hygiene was completely
neglected by Radomir Kovac. When the men were in the apartment, the girls
would get their left-over food. But Kovac sometimes left the girls behind
without making sure that they would have sufficient food while he was away.
On some occasions, witness DK, a cousin of the accused Radomir Kovac who lived
on the floor below the accused’s apartment, passed some food to the girls
through the window. Considering that people were organising parties where
food and drinks were served, that cafés and shops were open, that supply would
be available from Montenegro, and that Kovac received food from the army,
the Trial Chamber does not accept that the hunger of the girls while detained
in Kovac’s apartment was due to general shortage of food in Foca.
(b) FWS-75 and A.B.
- Paragraph 11.3 of the Indictment alleges that FWS-75 and A.B. were detained
in Radomir Kovac’s apartment from about 31 October 1992 until about 20 November
1992, during which time they had to do household chores and sexually please
soldiers , including Radomir Kovac. The Indictment alleges that Radomir Kovac
and Jagos Kostic frequently raped them. In addition, on an unknown date during
this period , Kovac is alleged to have brought a soldier named Slavo Ivanovic
to the apartment and ordered FWS-75 to have sexual intercourse with him; when
she refused, Kovac beat her. Paragraph 11.3 further alleges that, around 20
November 1992, Kovac took FWS-75 and A.B. from his apartment to a house near
Hotel Zelengora where he handed them to other Serb soldiers. The two girls
were kept in this house, which Kovac visited for about two weeks. Thereafter,
they were taken to an apartment in Pod Masala, where they remained for about
fifteen days before being eventually taken back to Kovac’s apartment on or
about 25 December 1992. The Indictment states that , during the whole period,
the two girls were raped. Finally, paragraph 11.3 alleges that, on or about
25 December, when FWS-75 and A.B. were brought back to Kovac’s apartment,
Kovac sold A.B. to an unidentified soldier for 200 Deutschmark and that ,
on about 26 December, FWS-75 was handed over to DP 1.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that it has been proven beyond reasonable
doubt that FWS-75 and A.B. stayed for a few days in Radomir Kovac’s apartment
before being taken away by a Serb soldier named Vojkan Jadzic to another apartment
in the vicinity of Hotel Zelengora. The two girls stayed at that apartment
for about 15 days, during which they were constantly raped by at least ten
or fifteen Serb soldiers. Kovac would come to this apartment from time to
time, asking the girls how they were doing and if they had been abused, despite
being was aware that they were being raped. The two girls were then taken
to another apartment near Pod Masala by Serb soldiers , including Vojkan Jadzic.
They stayed in that other apartment for about 7-10 days , during which time
they continued to be raped.
- One evening, Vojkan Jadzic took the girls back to Radomir Kovac’s apartment
where FWS-87 and A.S. were still being kept. The exact date of their being
brought back to Kovac’s apartment has not been established with precision.
On the basis of the evidence, the Trial Chamber finds that FWS-75 and A.B.
were taken back sometime between the first and the second week of December
1992. The Trial Chamber notes once again, for the reasons given above, that
a discrepancy in the evidence given as to the exact date would not in itself
be sufficient to discredit the evidence . The Trial Chamber also notes that
as there has been no attempt to provide an alibi for this period, the precise
date is of no importance.
- The day after they had returned, A.B. and FWS-75 were taken from Radomir
Kovac’s apartment. A.B. was taken by a man called “Dragec”, who gave Kovac
200 Deutschmarks in the process, while FWS-75 was handed over to DP 1 and
Dragan “Zelja” Zelenovic . The Trial Chamber finds that this sexual exploitation
of A.B. and FWS-75, in particular their sale, constitutes a particularly degrading
attack on their dignity .
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that it has been proven beyond reasonable
doubt that, while she was in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, FWS-75 was raped by
both Kovac and Jagos Kostic. She was once raped together with FWS-87 by Kovac
while “Swan Lake” was playing in the background. In addition, she was raped
by several other soldiers who would come to Kovac’s apartment, including Vojkan
Jadzic and the accused Zoran Vukovic. It should be noted, however, that this
latter rape was not charged against the accused Zoran Vukovic, and that the
Trial Chamber will therefore not take it into consideration with respect to
the accused Zoran Vukovic’s conviction and sentencing, but will do so for
purposes of identification and as circumstantial evidence for the required
mens rea necessary to commit the other crimes against humanity with
which he is charged.
- While in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, twelve-year old A.B. was raped by,
among others, the accused Kovac, Slavo Ivanovic and “Zeljko”.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that the allegations made in paragraphs
11.3 of the Indictment have all been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The Trial
Chamber finds that FWS-75 and A.B. were detained in Radomir Kovac’s apartment
for about a week, starting sometime at the end of October or early November
1992. The Trial Chamber finds that the accused Radomir Kovac had sexual intercourse
with the two women in the knowledge that they did not consent, and that he
substantially assisted other soldiers in raping the two women. He did this
by allowing other soldiers to visit his apartment and to rape the women or
by encouraging the soldiers to do so, and by handing the girls over to other
men in the knowledge that they would rape them and that the girls did not
consent to the sexual intercourse. Finally , the Trial Chamber is satisfied
that it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that, after about a week,
Kovac handed the two women over to other soldiers whom he knew would most
likely continue to rape and abuse them. Kovac eventually sold A.B. to an unidentified
soldier, and handed over FWS-75 to DP 1, in the almost certain knowledge that
they would be raped again.
(c) FWS-87 and A.S.
- Paragraph 11.4 of the Indictment alleges that FWS-87 and A.S. were taken
to Radomir Kovac’s apartment together with FWS-75 and A.B., on or around 31
October 1992, and that they were kept in this apartment for a period of approximately
four months. Paragraph 11.4 of the Indictment alleges that, during the entire
period , both girls were raped by Radomir Kovac and Jagos Kostic.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that it has been proven beyond reasonable
doubt that, while in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, FWS-87 was raped by both Kovac
and Jagos Kostic. Kovac reserved FWS-87 for himself and raped her almost every
night he spent in the apartment. Jagos Kostic constantly raped A.S., and he
took advantage of Kovac’s absence to rape FWS-87 too. He threatened her that
if she reported this to Radomir Kovac he would kill her. Kovac knew at all
times that the girls did not consent to the sexual intercourse. Jagos Kostic
could rape A.S. because she was held by Kovac in his apartment. Kovac therefore
also substantially assisted Jagos Kostic in raping A.S., by allowing Jagos
Kostic to stay in his apartment and to rape A.S. there. The Trial Chamber
notes that it has not been established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused
Kovac aided and abetted the rape of FWS-87 by Jagos Kostic. The evidence indicates
that the fact that Jagos Kostic raped FWS- 87 was hidden from Kovac. Considering
the two men’s relationship and Jagos Kostic’s threats to FWS-87, it seems
very unlikely that Kovac could have envisaged the possibility that Jagos Kostic
would rape FWS-87.
- FWS-87 consistently denied any emotional relationship with the accused
Radomir Kovac. The Trial Chamber notes that several Defence witnesses mentioned
a letter with a heart drawn on the envelope which was allegedly sent by FWS-87
to Kovac. The Trial Chamber accepts, however, that FWS-87 did not send such
a letter, and it notes the fact that, even by their own account, none of the
Defence witnesses actually read the content of the letter, but only heard
about it from Kovac. The relationship between FWS-87 and Kovac was not one
of love as the Defence suggested , but rather one of cruel opportunism on
Kovac’s part, of constant abuses and domination over a girl who, at the relevant
time, was only about 15 years old.
- Radomir Kovac forced FWS-87 to go to cafés with him, at least once forcing
her to wear an insignia of the VRS.
- The Trial Chamber is also satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that, while
in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, A.S. was constantly raped by Jagos Kostic.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that FWS-87 and A.S. were held in Radomir
Kovac’s apartment for a period of about 4 months. Apart from the exact date
of their departure , the allegations in paragraph 11.4 of the Indictment have
been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
(d) The naked dancing
- Paragraph 11.5 of the Indictment alleges that, on an unknown date between
about 31 October 1992 and about 7 November 1992, while they were kept in Radomir
Kovac’s apartment, FWS-75, FWS-87, A.S. and A.B. were forced to take off their
clothes and to dance naked on a table while Kovac watched them.
- The witnesses have described three instances when they, together or individually
, were forced to dance or to stand naked on a table while Radomir Kovac would
watch them. Only one of them was expressly charged in the indictment. The
Trial Chamber is satisfied that this one instance has been proved beyond reasonable
doubt.
- FWS-87 testified, and the Trial Chamber accepts, that, on one of these
occasions , the four girls, FWS-75, A.S., A.B. and herself, were there and
that they were made to dance on a table while Radomir Kovac and Jagos Kostic
were watching and pointing weapons at them.
- A.S. testified, and the Trial Chamber accepts, that she, together with
A.B. and FWS-87, were once made to strip and dance. Radomir Kovac, Jagos Kostic
and possibly a third soldier watched them. Although she did not recall FWS-75
being present, A.S.’s testimony fully supports FWS-87’s evidence of these
events.
- FWS-87 mentioned that the four girls, FWS-75, A.S., A.B. and herself were
present on that occasion. The Trial Chamber notes that FWS-75 did not seem
to recall this event, testifying instead about another incident when she,
together with FWS-87 and A.B. were forced to stand naked on a table and then
marched naked by Radomir Kovac in the streets of Foca.
- Although FWS-75 may have been present on the first occasion too, as FWS-87’s
testimony suggests, the Trial Chamber is not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt
that this was the case.
- The Trial Chamber therefore holds that the events described in paragraph
11 .5 of the Indictment have been proved beyond reasonable doubt with respect
to FWS -87, A.S. and A.B., but not with respect to FWS-75. The Trial Chamber
therefore finds that, sometime between about 31 October 1992 and about 7 November
1992, while in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, FWS-87, A.S. and A.B. were forced
to strip and dance naked on a table while Kovac watched them from the sofa,
pointing weapons at them .
- The accused Radomir Kovac certainly knew that, having to stand naked on
a table , while the accused watched them, was a painful and humiliating experience
for the three women involved, even more so because of their young age. The
Trial Chamber is satisfied that Kovac must have been aware of that fact, but
he nevertheless ordered them to gratify him by dancing naked for him.
- The Statute does not require that the perpetrator must intend to humiliate
his victim, that is that he perpetrated the act for that very reason. It is
sufficient that he knew that his act or omission could have that effect. This
was certainly the case here.
(e) The selling of FWS-87 and A.S.
- Paragraph 11. 6 of the Indictment alleges that, on or about 25 February
1993 , FWS-87 and A.S. were sold by Radomir Kovac for 500 Deutschmarks each
to two unidentified Montenegrin soldiers.
- The Trial Chamber first notes that the Defence did not deny that a financial
transaction took place between the accused Radomir Kovac and two Montenegrins
shortly before the girls were taken away by these two Montenegrins. They submitted
that the transaction was of a different sort, and claimed that it was Kovac
who actually paid for the girls to be taken away to Montenegro.
- In view of the treatment reserved by the accused Radomir Kovac for FWS-87
and A.S., which included an almost daily regime of rapes and other abuses,
it is not credible to suggest that, after four months of constant intimidation
and mistreatment , the accused suddenly decided to shield these two girls
from the risks involved for a Muslim girl to live in Foca at the time and
so to pay for them to be taken away. The Trial Chamber does not accept the
accused’s account.
- The Trial Chamber is aware of one specific discrepancy in the accounts
of the witnesses. FWS-87 said that 500 Deutschmarks was paid for each girl,
whereas A. S. referred to 500 Deutschmarks for each girl plus a truckload
of washing powder . But both agreed that they had been sold to two Montenegrins
by Radomir Kovac. The Trial Chamber does not regard this discrepancy as destroying
the credibility of the two witnesses.
- The Trial Chamber finds that, sometime in February 1993, two Montenegrins
came to Radomir Kovac’s apartment. They went together with the accused to
the living room while FWS-87 and A.S. were told to go to the kitchen. The
two girls crept out of the kitchen into the corridor from where they listened
to the conversation before rushing back to the kitchen when they heard the
men moving. FWS-87 heard that the two girls were being sold for 500 Deutschmarks
each, but A.S. did not hear the exact words of the conversation. Not long
after the transaction, possibly the next day, the two Montenegrins came back
to take the girls away. While they were in the car with the two Montenegrins,
these two men laughed at their being sold for such a small amount of money
and, as A.S. recounted, also for a truck-load of washing powder.
- Apart from this minor discrepancy concerning the precise amount for which
the girls were sold, the Trial Chamber is satisfied that the events described
in paragraph 11.6 of the Indictment have been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Radomir Kovac detained FWS-75 and A.B. for about a week, and FWS-87 and A.S.
for about four months in his apartment, by locking them up and by psychologically
imprisoning them, and thereby depriving them of their freedom of movement.
During that time, he had complete control over their movements, privacy and
labour. He made them cook for him, serve him and do the household chores for
him. He subjected them to degrading treatments , including beatings and other
humiliating treatments.
- The Trial Chamber finds that Radomir Kovac’s conduct towards the two women
was wanton in abusing and humiliating the four women and in exercising his
de facto power of ownership as it pleased him. Kovac disposed of them
in the same manner. For all practical purposes, he possessed them, owned them
and had complete control over their fate, and he treated them as his property.
The Trial Chamber is also satisfied that Kovac exercised the above powers
over the girls intentionally . The Trial Chamber is satisfied that many of
the acts caused serious humiliation , of which the accused was aware.
- For these acts, the Trial Chamber finds the accused Radomir Kovac GUILTY
of enslavement under Count 22; GUILTY of rape under Counts 23 and 24; and,
finally, GUILTY of outrages upon personal dignity under Count 25.
3. Zoran Vukovic (Indictment IT-96-23/1)
- The Trial Chamber first notes that the Defence of the accused Zoran Vukovic
seemed to suggest that he had not pleaded to the amended Indictment.1396
Vukovic had already pleaded to the original Indictment in which he was joined
with other defendants not currently before the Tribunal. The amended Indictment
was no more than an extract from that Indictment, done in order that Vukovic
could be tried, at his own request, with Dragoljub Kunarac and Radomir Kovac.
The Trial Chamber notes that, during its closing argument, the Defence clearly
stated that it did not intend to raise this issue of pleading as an objection
to the procedure in relation to the accused Vukovic and his entering of a
plea.1397
(a) Counts 21 to 24
- Counts 21 to 24 charge the accused Zoran Vukovic with the rape of FWS-87
and of FWS-75 in Foca High School.
(i) The rape of FWS-871398
- Paragraph 6.6 of the Indictment charges the accused Zoran Vukovic with
having selected FWS-50, FWS-75, FWS-87 and FWS-95 out of a group of detainees
at Foca High School, in concert with DP 1 and Dragan Zelenovic, and with having
personally raped FWS-87 while the other women were raped by the other men.
- Several witnesses have testified with regard to the incident described
in paragraph 6.6 of the Indictment. Taking into consideration the reliable
testimonies of FWS -87 herself, FWS-75, FWS-50 and FWS-95, the Trial Chamber
is satisfied that a group of women, including the afore-mentioned and FWS-88,
were called out to be subsequently raped in another classroom during one of
their first nights in Foca High School. With respect to the exact date of
this incident, the Trial Chamber underlines that the exact time and day during
which an incident occurred is immaterial, unless it is an element of the crime.
- The Trial Chamber is satisfied that FWS-87 was raped in the course of this
particular incident. The Trial Chamber, however, is not convinced that this
rape was committed by the accused Zoran Vukovic as alleged in paragraph 6.6
of the Indictment . FWS-87 herself testified that she was assigned to Vukovic
after being called out , that he ordered her to lie down, took off her clothes
and raped her. The Trial Chamber has no doubt with regard to the credibility
of the witness, but it has doubts as to the reliability of the identification
of the accused Vukovic as the perpetrator of this particular rape.
- In court, FWS-87 identified Zoran Vukovic, but with hesitation. In her
testimony , she stated that she did not know Vukovic from before the war,
and that she got to know his name from some other women in Foca High School
who knew him. Similarly , she had stated in her statement to the Prosecution
dated 4-5 May 1998, Ex P62, that she did not know Vukovic personally prior
to the war. This contradicts, however , her statement to the Prosecution,
dated 19-20 January 1996, Ex D32, when she recounted having known him and
his wife by sight. When asked in court about the discrepancies , FWS-87 explained
that she might have seen Vukovic prior to the war.
- These doubts as to the identification of Zoran Vukovic by FWS-87 are considerably
aggravated when the testimonies of other witnesses are taken into account.
In particular , the testimony of FWS-75 contradicts the assumption that FWS-87
was indeed raped by the accused Vukovic. FWS-75 recounted having seen Vukovic
for the first time at Buk Bijela when he led away her uncle, who apparently
had just been beaten up . FWS-75 further testified that she saw Vukovic again
in Radomir Kovac’s apartment , where Zoran Vukovic admitted having killed
her uncle and where he subsequently raped her. Although this rape has not
been charged in the Indictment, and will therefore not be the subject of a
conviction, the Trial Chamber accepts the testimony of FWS-75 that this rape
was committed by Vukovic as being credible and reliable . The Trial Chamber
has taken this incident into account as far as it supports the identification
of Vukovic by FWS-75. FWS-75 further described Vukovic as “short , a small
man, blond, [...] fair-haired”. The Trial Chamber attaches much weight to
the identification of Vukovic by FWS-75 because of the traumatic context during
which the witness was confronted with Vukovic in Buk Bijela as well as in
Radomir Kovac’s apartment. The Trial Chamber is therefore satisfied that the
identification of Vukovic by FWS-75 was a reliable one.
- FWS-75 testified that FWS-87 was raped at Foca High School that night by
a man whom FWS-75 did not know. The Trial Chamber notes that FWS-75 did know
Zoran Vukovic at that time as being the soldier who, very few days before
the rape in Foca High School occurred, had led her uncle away at Buk Bijela,
but she did not mention him with respect to the incident at the school. At
a later time, she got to know Zoran Vukovic as being the murderer of her uncle,
since he expressly admitted the killing to her in Radomir Kovac’s apartment.
- In the context of all the evidence of the other witnesses who would have
recognised him had he been there, FWS-87’s evidence of the accused Zoran Vukovic
as raping her on that occasion is not reliable. The Trial Chamber finds that
these uncertainties as to the proper identification of Vukovic caused by the
inconsistency of FWS-87’s testimony and, in particular, the contradicting
testimony of FWS-75, are not removed by the testimony of other witnesses who
were present when the rape of FWS-87 occurred . FWS-50 was not raped in the
same room as FWS-87, nor did she testify about any names of the men who called
the women out and raped them. FWS-95 testified that she herself was raped
by DP 1, but she did not mention Vukovic. FWS-51 testified that she probably
had seen Vukovic at Foca High School, but she could not identify him as perpetrator
of any specific crime committed there.
- The Trial Chamber finds that there remains reasonable doubt as to the identification
of Zoran Vukovic as the perpetrator of the rape of FWS-87 in Foca High School
as charged in paragraph 6.6. The Trial Chamber further finds that it has not
been proved beyond reasonable doubt that Zoran Vukovic participated in the
specific incident charged under paragraph 6.6 at all or that he was present
at Foca High School while it occurred.
(ii) The rape of FWS-75 and
FWS-871399
- Paragraph 6.7 of the Indictment alleges the rape of FWS-75 and FWS-87 committed
by Zoran Vukovic and Dragan Zelenovic in a classroom of Foca High School between
or about 8 July and about 13 July 1992.
- The Trial Chamber finds that there was no evidence adduced during trial
that would establish the incident. Neither of the alleged victims could remember
the particular event.
- FWS-87 recounted having seen Zoran Vukovic only twice. The first time,
she recounted having seen him during the incident charged under paragraph
6.6 of the Indictment where Vukovic, according to her, had raped her. The
second time, she recounted having seen Vukovic at Radomir Kovac’s apartment.
FWS-87 testified that she did not remember Vukovic being involved in any other
rapes apart from the one charged under paragraph 6.6 of the Indictment. The
testimony of FWS-87 therefore does not establish the alleged rape of her by
Vukovic as charged in paragraph 6. 7.
- Moreover, FWS-75 did not mention Zoran Vukovic in connection with the incidents
at Foca High School at all. According to her testimony, the only incident
during which she recounted being raped by the accused Vukovic appeared to
have been behind the locked kitchen door in Radomir Kovac’s apartment, where
FWS-75 said that she had to sexually arouse Vukovic and that she subsequently
was raped orally by him . This rape, however, is not charged in the Indictment.
Since this particular rape of FWS-75 in Radomir Kovac’s kitchen was not charged
by the Prosecution, it cannot be the subject of a conviction by the Trial
Chamber. In conclusion, the testimony of FWS-75 does not provide any evidence
upon which the Trial Chamber could find that the incident charged under paragraph
6.7 of the Indictment took place.
- The Trial Chamber notes that the Prosecutor conceded that the incident
described in paragraph 6.7 of the Indictment had not been proved beyond reasonable
doubt.
- The Trial Chamber concludes that none of the acts alleged to have been
committed by the accused Zoran Vukovic in paragraphs 6.6 and 6.7 have been
proved beyond reasonable doubt. It therefore finds the accused Zoran Vukovic
NOT GUILTY under Counts 21, 22, 23 and 24.
(b) Counts 33 to 36
- Counts 33 to 36 charge Zoran Vukovic with several incidents of rape of
FWS- 48 (as described in paragraphs 7.9, 7.10, 7.15, 7.18 and 7.21 of the
Indictment),1400 of FWS-50 (as described
in paragraph 7.11) and of FWS-87 (as described in paragraph 7.13).
(i) The defence of the accused
- The Defence suggested that an injury which Zoran Vukovic allegedly sustained
on 15 June 1992 led to temporary impotence which made it impossible for him
to have sexual intercourse.
- The Defence added in its Final Trial Brief that such an accident could
have led to a temporary impotence of up to three weeks.1401
Even if such a proposition were to be accepted by the Trial Chamber, this
would mean that the accused Zoran Vukovic was temporarily impotent from 15
June 1992 onwards until 5 or 6 July 1992 at the latest. The Trial Chamber
notes that the first allegation of rape raised against the accused mentions
the 6 or 7 July 1992 as the date of the event, a time at which, even if the
proposition of the Defence were to be accepted , the accused would have recovered
from his injury.
- However, the Trial Chamber finds that the Defence adduced no credible evidence
concerning the seriousness or even the exact nature of the injury sustained
by the accused on that occasion. Witness DV said that Zoran Vukovic injured
his testicle in June 1992, and that she had to bandage him as a result. The
same witness added that Vukovic might have exaggerated the gravity of the
injury in order not to be sent back to the frontline. The witness referred
to a logbook which contained the list of medical injuries sustained by soldiers
of the unit of which Vukovic was a member. It said that Vukovic was injured
on 15 June 1992 in Okoliste, but it did not refer to the nature or the gravity
of the injury, or to the part of the body which was injured. Witness DP, who
was a confidant of Vukovic and had known him for more than 20 years, said
that Vukovic was injured on 15 or 16 June 1992 and that Vukovic showed him
his injury. The witness said that he took Vukovic to the hospital for treatment
on 4 or 5 occasions, but he said nothing about the nature , the gravity or
the consequences of the injury.
- Professor Dusan Dunjic testified that a temporary impotence could result
as a consequence of an accident of the type described by the accused and that
such an injury would make it very painful for a man to have sexual intercourse.
He was unable, however, to conclude that such impotence actually occurred.
He also noted a cyst on Zoran Vukovic’s scrotum and the increased sensitivity
of his right testicle . Professor Dunjic concluded that the trauma described
by Vukovic during his examination of the accused could not be ruled out as
the cause of the cyst.
- Doctor Ivan de Grave testified that a cyst could be caused by a traumatic
accident . He said that temporary impotence could occur as a result, but that
it would not last longer than 3 days. He noted that Zoran Vukovic’s cyst was
a fairly common feature found in about a third of the male population. He
added that he did not find the signs or marks on Vukovic’s body which he should
have found if the kind of accident described by the accused had indeed happened.
He said that the case history and the conclusions he drew from the examination
of Vukovic did not match , and he concluded that nothing had been shown to
support Vukovic’s description of the accident and its consequences.
- The Trial Chamber does not accept that there is any reasonable possibility
that any damage to the accused’s testis or scrotum led to the consequence
that he was rendered impotent during the time material to the charges against
him. The Trial Chamber rejects any suggestion that Vukovic was unable to have
sexual intercourse at the relevant time.
(ii) Rape of FWS-48, FWS-87
and Z.G.
- Paragraph 7.9 of the Indictment alleges that, on or around 13 July 1992,
Dragoljub Kunarac took three women including FWS-48 to the Hotel Zelengora.
At Hotel Zelengora , the Indictment alleges, FWS-48 was raped by both Dragoljub
Kunarac and the accused Zoran Vukovic. Paragraph 7.10 alleges that, on or
around 14 July 1992, DP 1 took FWS-87, Z.G. and FWS-48 to the Brena apartment
block where Zoran Vukovic and another soldier were waiting. According to paragraph
7.10 of the Indictment, Zoran Vukovic took FWS-48 and raped her while the
unidentified soldier raped FWS-87 and DP 1 raped Z.G.
- The Trial Chamber held, in its Decision on Motion for Acquittal, that the
accused Zoran Vukovic had no case to answer in relation to the allegations
made by witness FWS-48 in support of Counts 33 to 36.1402
This referred to the allegations made in paragraphs 7.9, 7.10, 7.15, 7.18
and 7. 21 of the Indictment in respect of FWS-48.
- That decision therefore also covers the allegations contained in paragraphs
7.9 and 7.10 of the Indictment with respect to FWS-48.
- In respect of paragraph 7.10 of the Indictment, the Trial Chamber notes
that FWS-87, who is mentioned as one of the victims, did not recall these
events. The third woman mentioned in paragraph 7.10, namely, Z.G., did not
testify at all.
- The Trial Chamber therefore finds that it has not been proved beyond reasonable
doubt that the accused Zoran Vukovic committed the acts described in paragraph 7
.10 of the Indictment also with respect to FWS-87 and Z.G.
(iii) Rape of FWS-50
- Paragraph 7.11 of the Indictment alleges that, on or around 14 July 1992,
Zoran Vukovic came to Partizan Sports Hall to remove FWS-50 and FWS-87, and
that he took them to an apartment near Partizan. There, it is alleged, Zoran
Vukovic raped FWS -50 while an unidentified soldier raped FWS-87.
- FWS-50 testified, and the Trial Chamber accepts, that a day or two after
she arrived at Partizan Sports Hall she was taken out of Partizan Sports Hall
together with FWS-87 by the accused Zoran Vukovic and another soldier, and
that they were taken to an abandoned apartment. Her mother came to look for
her in the toilet of Partizan where she was hiding. FWS-50 testified that
the accused Vukovic took her to one room of the apartment and raped her.
- The Trial Chamber notes that FWS-87 said that she was taken out of Partizan
on many occasions but she did not say that she was taken out of Partizan by
Zoran Vukovic.
- FWS-50 gave evidence that she saw the accused Zoran Vukovic at Buk Bijela
where he had raped her for the first time. This event in Buk Bijela was not
charged in the Indictment, and the Trial Chamber will therefore not take it
into account for convicting and sentencing, but it does take that event into
account for matters of identification. FWS-50 also stated that, when he raped
her, Vukovic told her that she was lucky in that she was the same age as his
daughter, otherwise he would have done much worse things to her. The Trial
Chamber notes that Vukovic’s daughter was approximately of the same age as
FWS-50 at the relevant time.1403
- The Trial Chamber notes that this incident was the second time that Zoran
Vukovic raped FWS-50 within a fortnight. He knew of her situation as a Muslim
refugee since he had seen her at Buk Bijela, and he knew that she was about
16 years old at the time, as he told her that she was about the same age as
his daughter. The rape led to serious mental and physical pain for the victim.
- In the Final Trial Brief of the Defence, the accused Zoran Vukovic argued
that , even if it were proved that he had raped a woman, the accused would
have done so out of a sexual urge, not out of hatred. However, all that matters
in this context is his awareness of an attack against the Muslim civilian
population of which his victim was a member and, for the purpose of torture,
that he intended to discriminate between the group of which he is a member
and the group of his victim. There is no requirement under international customary
law that the conduct must be solely perpetrated for one of the prohibited
purposes of torture, such as discrimination . The prohibited purpose need
only be part of the motivation behind the conduct and need not be the predominant
or sole purpose. The Trial Chamber has no doubt that it was at least a predominant
purpose, as the accused obviously intended to discriminate against the group
of which his victim was a member, ie the Muslims, and against his victim in
particular.
- The Trial Chamber is therefore satisfied on the basis of the testimony
of FWS -50 that the allegations contained in paragraph 7.11 of the Indictment
have been proved beyond reasonable doubt as far as FWS-50 is concerned. The
Trial Chamber finds that, sometime in mid-July 1992, the accused Zoran Vukovic
and another soldier came to Partizan Sports Hall looking for FWS-50. She was
taken out of Partizan Sports Hall to an apartment and taken to a room by Vukovic
where he forced her to have sexual intercourse with full knowledge that she
did not consent. The Trial Chamber is not satisfied, however, that FWS-87
was taken out by Vukovic and was also raped by an unknown soldiers during
this same incident.
(iv) Rape of FWS-87
- Paragraph 7.13 of the Indictment alleges that, in July 1992, FWS-87 was
frequently taken out of Partizan and that, on one of these occasions, she
was gang-raped by 4 men including the accused Zoran Vukovic.
- The Trial Chamber notes that the Prosecution conceded that the allegations
made in paragraph 7.13 of the Indictment had not been proved beyond reasonable
doubt .1404 The Trial Chamber concurs
in this conclusion. Although FWS-87 could recall being taken out of Partizan
Sports Hall and being raped on many occasions, she did not recall being taken
out of Partizan Sports Hall by Zoran Vukovic or being raped by him other than
on the occasion referred to in paragraph 6.6 of the Indictment.
- The Trial Chamber finds that the allegations made in paragraph 7.13 have
not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
(v) Rapes of FWS-48
- Paragraphs 7.15, 7.18 and 7.21 allege that Zoran Vukovic raped or aided
and abetted in raping FWS-48. As stated above, the Trial Chamber held in the
earlier Decision on Motion for Acquittal that the accused Zoran Vukovic had
no case to answer in relation to the allegations made by witness FWS-48 in
support of Counts 33 to 36.1405
- On the evidence adduced, the Trial Chamber therefore finds the accused
Zoran Vukovic GUILTY of torture under Counts 33 and 35 and GUILTY of rape
under Counts 34 and 36.