Case No. IT-05-86-I

THE PROSECUTOR OF THE TRIBUNAL

AGAINST

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, pursuant to her authority under Article 18 of the Statute of the Tribunal, charges:

with GENOCIDE, CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT GENOCIDE, Murder, Persecutions, Forcible Transfer and Inhumane Acts as, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY; and Murder as a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, as set forth below; and

With Murder, as a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, as set forth below;

1. After armed conflict erupted in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the spring of 1992, Bosnian Serb military and paramilitary forces occupied cities, towns and villages in the eastern part of the country and participated in an ethnic cleansing campaign which resulted in an exodus of Bosnian Muslim civilians to enclaves in Srebrenica, Gorazde and Zepa.

2. On 16 April 1993, the Security Council of the United Nations, acting pursuant to Chapter VII of its Charter, adopted Resolution 819, in which it demanded that all parties to the conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina treat Srebrenica and its surroundings as a "safe area" which was to be free from any armed attack or any other hostile act.

3. On or about 6 July 1995, units of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) shelled Srebrenica and attacked Dutch-manned United Nations observation posts which were located in the "safe area". The Drina Corps attack on the Srebrenica "safe area" continued through 11 July 1995, when forces from the Drina Wolves, the Bratunac Brigade and other units of the VRS entered Srebrenica.

4. The Bosnian Muslim men, women and children who were in Srebrenica after the beginning of the VRS attack took two courses of action. Several thousand women, children and some mostly elderly men fled to the UN compound in Potocari, located within the "safe area" of Srebrenica, where they sought the protection of the Dutch battalion. The Bosnian Muslim civilians remained in and around Potocari from 11 July until 13 July 1995, during which time they were terrorised by members of the VRS. Thereafter, they were transported by buses and trucks under the control of the VRS to areas outside the enclave.

5. A second group of approximately 15,000 Bosnian Muslim men, with some women and children, gathered at Susnjari village near Srebrenica during the evening of 11 July 1995 and fled, in a huge column, through the woods towards Tuzla. Approximately one-third of this group consisted of armed Bosnian Muslim military personnel. The rest were unarmed military personnel and civilians.

6. On or about 12 July 1995, Ratko Mladic and Radislav Krstic, as well as other VRS and Bosnian Serb civilian representatives, met in the Hotel Fontana in Bratunac with Dutch military officers and representatives of the Bosnian Muslim refugees from Potocari. At this meeting, Ratko Mladic explained to the group that he would supervise the "evacuation" of refugees from Potocari and wanted to see all the Bosnian Muslim men between approximately the ages of 16 and 60 to screen for possible war criminals.

7. On or about 12 July 1995, in the presence of Ratko Mladic and Radislav Krstic, approximately 50 to 60 buses and trucks arrived near the UN military compound in Potocari. Shortly after the arrival of these vehicles, the deportation process of Bosnian Muslim refugees started. As Bosnian Muslim women, children and men started to board the buses and trucks, Bosnian Serb military personnel separated the men from the women and children and detained the men in and around Potocari.

8. Between the evening of 11 July 1995 and the morning of 12 July 1995, the Bosnian Muslims who had gathered in Susnjari formed a huge column and began their trek through the woods towards Tuzla.

9. Bosnian Serb forces assigned to the Bratunac, Zvornik and Milici Brigades, as well as elements of the 5th Engineer Battalion, the 65th Protection Regiment and MUP Special Police forces, supported by armoured personnel carriers, tanks, anti-aircraft guns and artillery, positioned themselves along the Bratunac-Milici road in an attempt to intercept the column. Some of the armed members of the retreating column of Bosnian Muslims engaged in combat with the Bosnian Serb forces. Thousands of Bosnian Muslims from the retreating column were captured by, or surrendered to, Bosnian Serb military forces under the command and control of Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC.

10. Between 11 July 1995 and 18 July 1995, VRS forces, under the command and control of Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, participated in numerous incidents of opportunistic killings of Bosnian Muslim men shortly after they had been captured, as well as systematic summary executions of Bosnian Muslim men who were detained and killed in the area of their detention and others, who were transported to various execution sites throughout the territory under the control of the VRS Drina Corps. The VRS forces, under the command and control of Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, executed thousands of Bosnian Muslim men. MILORAD TRBIC, a security officer in the Zvornik Brigade, under the command of VINKO PANDUREVIC, took part in organising the receipt, detention and murder of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men transported to the zone of responsibility of the Zvornik Brigade from 13 through 17 July 1995, and personally executed in Orahovac Muslim men from Srebrenica during this time period.

11. Between 11 July 1995 and the 18 July 1995, the VRS forces, under the command and control of Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, either expelled or killed most of the members of the Bosnian Muslim population of the Srebrenica enclave. As a result of these actions, the VRS forces virtually eliminated the presence of any Bosnian Muslims in the Srebrenica enclave area, thus continuing an ethnic cleansing campaign which had begun in the spring of 1992.

12. VINKO PANDUREVIC was born in 1959 in the Bosnian Serb town of Sokolac. He rose to the rank of Captain First Class (Infantry Branch) in the JNA. When the armed conflict began in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was appointed the Commander of the VRS forces in Visegrad, later to be named the 1st Visegrad Light Infantry Brigade. From 12 December 1992 through November 1996, he was the Commander of the 1st Zvornik Light Infantry Brigade (Zvornik Brigade). Units from his brigade were involved in the actual capture of the Srebrenica "safe area". His brigade later participated in heavy fighting with the Bosnian Muslim column retreating from the "safe area" towards Tuzla. He was promoted to General-Major in June 1997 and was a member of the VRS General Staff until he was relieved in April 1998.

13. During the VRS attack on the Srebrenica "safe area" and the subsequent killings and executions of Bosnian Muslim men, VINKO PANDUREVIC was a Lt. Colonel in command of the Zvornik Brigade. As a brigade commander, he was responsible for planning and directing the activities of all the subordinate formations of his brigade, in accordance with the directives received from his higher command at the Corps level.

14. MILORAD TRBIC was born on 22 February 1958 in the village of Ponijevo, in Zenica. He performed regular service with the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) between 1977 and 1978. With the outbreak of war in Bosnia, he joined the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). In 1993, he was appointed to the position of Deputy Commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Zvornik Brigade. He was later transferred to the security organ of the Zvornik Brigade. In July of 1995, he held the rank of reserve Captain. He held this position for the remainder of the period relevant to this Indictment.

15. During the events described in this Indictment, MILORAD TRBIC was an assistant to and directly reported to Lieutenant Drago Nikolic, the Chief of Security of the Zvornik Brigade. MILORAD TRBIC held the official rank of reserve Captain.

16. As an assistant to Lieutenant Drago Nikolic, MILORAD TRBIC was responsible for helping Drago Nikolic conduct the affairs of the Zvornik Brigade Security organ. These responsibilities included assisting Drago Nikolic in monitoring enemy activities; drafting proposals to the Brigade Commander in response to security threats posed by the enemy and for the best use of the Military Police Company; and overseeing the activities of the Zvornik Brigade Military Police Company.

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

18. At all relevant times, VINKO PANDUREVIC and MILORAD TRBIC were required to abide by the laws and customs governing the conduct of war.

19. All acts and omissions charged as crimes against humanity were part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the Bosnian Muslim civilian population of Srebrenica and its surroundings.

INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

20. VINKO PANDUREVIC and MILORAD TRBIC are individually responsible for the crimes alleged against them in this indictment, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Tribunal Statute. Individual criminal responsibility includes committing, planning, instigating, ordering or otherwise aiding and abetting in the planning, preparation or execution of any crimes referred to in Articles 2 to 5 of the Tribunal Statute.

21. VINKO PANDUREVIC is also, or alternatively, criminally responsible as a commander for the acts of his subordinates pursuant to Article 7(3) of the Tribunal Statute. Such criminal responsibility is the responsibility of a superior for the acts of his subordinate if he knew or had reason to know that his subordinate was about to commit such acts or had done so and the superior failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or to punish the perpetrators thereof.

22. These allegations concerning individual criminal responsibility are realleged and incorporated into each of the charges set forth below.

23. Between about 11 July 1995 and 1 November 1995, VINKO PANDUREVIC, intending to destroy a part of the Bosnian Muslim people as a national, ethnical, or religious group:

(a) killed members of the group, and
(b) caused serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.

24. Between about 11 July 1995 and 1 November 1995, VINKO PANDUREVIC, planned, instigated, ordered or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of the opportunistic killings of captured Bosnian Muslim men from the Srebrenica "safe area" by VRS military personnel.

25. Between about 11 July 1995 and 1 November 1995, VINKO PANDUREVIC, MILORAD TRBIC, and others, planned, instigated, ordered or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of a planned and organised mass execution of thousands of captured Bosnian Muslim men from the Srebrenica "safe area".

26. The wide-scale and organised killing of Bosnian Muslim men, which occurred in several different locations in and around the Srebrenica enclave, from 11 July 1995 until 18 July 1995, included:

26.1 Potocari: Between 12 July 1995 and 13 July 1995, VRS military personnel from the Bratunac Brigade, under the command of Radislav Krstic, summarily executed Bosnian Muslim men at diverse locations around the UN compound at Potocari, where the Bosnian Muslim men had taken refuge.

26.2 Kravica: On or about 13 July 1995, VRS soldiers, under the command of Radislav Krstic, summarily executed hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men who had been imprisoned in a large warehouse in the village of Kravica. The VRS soldiers used automatic weapons, hand grenades and other weaponry to kill the Bosnian Muslims inside the warehouse.

26.3 Bratunac: Between 12 July 1995 and 14 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported many of the Bosnian Muslims who had been detained in Potocari or captured along the Bratunac-Milici road to locations in and around Bratunac, where they were held in schools, buildings and vehicles parked along the road. Between 12 July 1995 and 15 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, participated in numerous opportunistic killings of the detained Bosnian Muslim men at various locations throughout Bratunac.

26.4 Tisca: On or about 12 July 1995 and 13 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported the Bosnian Muslim women and children, who had been separated from male members of their families in Potocari, to an area near Tisca village. Most of the Bosnian Muslim women and children driven to Tisca were permitted to cross into Bosnian Muslim territory. However, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, identified and separated Bosnian Muslim men and some Bosnian Muslim women. On or about 12 July 1995 and 13 July 1995, the VRS military personnel forced selected Bosnian Muslim men and women to walk to a nearby school, where they were taunted and assaulted by VRS soldiers. On or about 13 July 1995 and 14 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, loaded 25 Bosnian Muslim men onto a truck, drove them to an isolated pasture, and summarily executed them.

26.5 Orahovac (near Lazete): In the late evening hours of 13 July and during the day of 14 July 1995, working together with other individuals and units, personnel from the Military Police Company of the Bratunac Brigade transported from in and around Bratunac to the Grbavci School in the village of Orahovac hundreds of Bosnian Muslim males who had surrendered or been captured from the column of men retreating from the Srebrenica enclave or who had been separated in Potocari. On 14 July 1995, VRS personnel, including members of the Military Police Company of the Zvornik Brigade, guarded and blindfolded the Bosnian Muslim males detained at the Grbavci School. During the day of 14 July, MILORAD TRBIC, along with Zvornik Brigade Military Police, participated in the killing of 20 people in front of the gymnasium. In the early afternoon of 14 July 1995, VRS personnel from the Zvornik Brigade transported these Bosnian Muslim males from the school at Grbavci to a nearby field, where personnel, including members of the 4th Battalion of the Zvornik Brigade, ordered the prisoners off the trucks and summarily executed them with automatic weapons. MILORAD TRBIC assisted in loading the Muslim men onto the trucks to the execution sites and assisted in the executions by shooting Muslim men with his rifle. Approximately 1000 Bosnian Muslim males were killed. On 14 and 15 July 1995, members of the Zvornik Brigade Engineering Company used heavy equipment to bury the victims in mass graves at the execution site, while the executions continued. On the evening of 14 July 1995, lights from the engineering machinery illuminated the execution and burial sites during the executions. All the units and personnel of the Zvornik Brigade that participated in the events at Orahovac were under the command of VINKO PANDUREVIC.

26.6 The "Dam" near Petkovci: On or about 14 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men from detention sites in Bratunac to the school at Petkovci. On 14 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of VINKO PANDUREVIC, summarily executed Bosnian Muslims in and around this school. On or about the evening of 14 July 1995 and the early morning hours of 15 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, transported several hundred Bosnian Muslim men from the school at Petkovci to an area below the "Dam" near Petkovci. These people were unloaded from vehicles, led in small groups to an open area, and summarily executed by VRS military personnel. MILORAD TRBIC was present at the Petkovic School and assisted in organising and supervising the detention and transportation of Muslim men to the execution site at the Petkovci Dam.

26.7 Cerska Valley: From on or about 14 July 1995 until about 21 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported over 100 Bosnian Muslim men to an area along a dirt road in the Cerska Valley, summarily executed them, and covered them with dirt.

26.8 Pilica School: Between 14 and 16 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men from detention sites in Bratunac to the school at Pilica. VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, summarily executed many of the Bosnian Muslim men who were being detained at the Pilica school.

26.9 Branjevo Military Farm: On or about 16 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men from the Pilicia school to the Branjevo Military Farm. The Bosnian Muslim men were unloaded from buses, led in small groups to an open area, and summarily executed with automatic weapons by VRS soldiers from the 10th Sabotage Detachment and other units. On or about 16 and 17 July 1995, the VRS military personnel from the Engineering Unit of the Zvornik Brigade, under the command of VINKO PANDUREVIC and Radislav Krstic, using brigade heavy equipment, buried hundreds of victims in a nearby mass grave.

26.10 Pilica Cultural Centre: On or about 16 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, after participating in the Branjevo Military Farm executions, travelled a short distance to the village of Pilica. There, using automatic weapons and hand grenades, VRS military personnel summarily executed approximately 500 Bosnian Muslim men inside the Pilica Cultural Centre.

26.11 Kozluk: On or about 15 July 1995, VRS military personnel, under the command of Radislav Krstic, transported hundreds of Bosnian Muslim men to an isolated place near Kozluk and summarily executed them. On or about 16 July 1995, VRS military personnel from the Engineer Company of the Zvornik Brigade, under the command of Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC using brigade heavy equipment, buried the victims in a mass grave nearby. MILORAD TRBIC was present at the Kozluk execution site on 15 July 1995.

27. During and after the opportunistic killings and mass executions which occurred from 11 July until 1 November 1995, Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC failed to investigate or punish any of their VRS subordinates who were responsible for the killings and executions. To the contrary, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, and units under their command, participated in an organised and comprehensive effort to conceal and cover up the killings and executions by burying the bodies of the victims in isolated sites scattered throughout a wide area.

28. When it became apparent that the international community had learned of the killings and executions arising from the attack on the Srebrenica "safe area", Ratko Mladic, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, and units under their command, participated in a second attempt to conceal the killings and executions by digging up the bodies from the initial mass graves and transferring them to secondary graves. VRS military personnel or their agents, under the command of Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC, dug up the following graves listed below in subparagraphs 28.1 through 28.5, and transferred the bodies to secondary sites:

28.1 The Dam near Petkovci.

28.2 Orahovac.

28.3 Branjevo Military Farm.

28.4 Kozluk.

28.5 Glogova.

29. MILORAD TRBIC assisted in organising, supervising and carrying out the operation to re-bury the bodies of Muslim victims murdered in the Zvornik Brigade zone of responsibility as described above.

By his respective acts and omissions described in paragraphs 23 through 28, VINKO PANDUREVIC committed:

Count 1: Genocide, punishable under Articles 4(3)(a), and 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal; and

By his respective acts and omissions described in paragraphs 23 through 28, VINKO PANDUREVIC committed:

COUNT 2: Conspiracy to commit genocide, punishable under Articles 4(3)(b) and 7(1) of the Statute of the Tribunal.

30. VINKO PANDUREVIC entered an agreement with several others, including General Ratko Mladic, the Commander of the VRS, General Milenko Zivanovic, Commander of the Drina Corps through about 2000 hours on 13 July 1995; General Radislav Krstic, Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander through about 2000 hours on 13 July 1995 and, thereafter, Commander of the Drina Corps; Colonel Ljubisa Beara, Colonel Vujadin Popovic, Assistant Commander for Security of the Drina Corps, Lieutenant Drago Nikolic, the Zvornik Brigade Security Officer, Colonel Vidoje Blagojevic, Commander of the Bratunac Brigade and others, to kill the Muslim men from Srebrenica separated at Potocari or captured or having surrendered from the column and others and to cause serious bodily or mental harm to the Muslims of Srebrenica.

30.1. VINKO PANDUREVIC entered this agreement with the intent to kill the Muslim men of Srebrenica and to cause serious bodily or mental harm to the Muslims of Srebrenica, and in furtherance of the intent to destroy, in part, that national, ethnical, racial, or religious group of the Bosnian Muslims, as such.

30.2. The conduct of VINKO PANDUREVIC met the requisite elements of Conspiracy to Commit Genocide, namely that:

a) The accused entered into an agreement between two or more persons to commit the crime of genocide;

b) The accused intended to commit genocide.

In addition, the accused himself committed acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, including but not limited to the following:

a) On 15 July, in an interim daily combat report to the Command of the Drina Corps, the accused told his superiors that his units were involved in securing and burying hundreds of prisoners held in the Zvornik Brigade zone of responsibility and that if he did not received assistance in this operation he would release the remaining prisoners held in schools around Zvornik.

And,

By his respective acts and omissions described in paragraphs 23 through 28, VINKO PANDUREVIC committed:

COUNT 3: Extermination, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Articles 5(b), and 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal.

By their respective acts and omissions described in paragraphs 23 through 29, VINKO PANDUREVIC and MILORAD TRBIC committed:

COUNT 4: Murder, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Articles 5(a), and 7(1) and for VINKO PANDUREVIC 7(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal.

By his respective acts and omissions described in paragraphs 21 through 26, VINKO PANDUREVIC committed:

COUNT 5: Murder, a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR, punishable under Articles 3, and 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal, as recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva Convention.

31. Beginning on 11 July 1995 and continuing through 1 November 1995, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC committed, planned, instigated, ordered, or otherwise aided and abetted the planning, preparation, or execution of a crime against humanity, that is, the persecutions of Bosnian Muslim civilians on political, racial, or religious grounds, in Srebrenica and its surroundings.

32. The crime of persecutions was perpetrated, executed, and carried out by or through the following means:

32.1 the murder of thousands of Bosnian Muslim civilians, including men, women, children, and elderly persons;

32.2 the cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosnian Muslim civilians, including severe beatings;

32.3 the terrorising of Bosnian Muslim civilians;

32.4 the destruction of personal property of Bosnian Muslims; and,

32.5 the deportation or forcible transfer of Bosnian Muslims from the Srebrenica enclave.

By these acts or omissions, and the acts and omissions described in paragraphs 4, 6, 7, 11, and 23 through 29, VINKO PANDUREVIC committed:

COUNT 6: Persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Articles 5(h), and 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal.

33. Beginning on 11 July 1995 and continuing through 13 July 1995, Radislav Krstic and VINKO PANDUREVIC committed, planned, instigated, ordered, or otherwise aided and abetted the planning, preparation, or execution of a crime against humanity, that is, the forcible transfer of Bosnian Muslims from the Srebrenica enclave.

By his respective acts and omissions described in paragraphs 4, 6, 7, 11, 26.1, 26.3, 26.4, 26.5, 26.6, 26.8, 26.9, and 26.11, VINKO PANDUREVIC committed:

COUNT 7: Inhumane acts (forcible transfer), a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, punishable under Article 5(i), and 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal.

__________
Carla Del Ponte
Prosecutor

Dated this 10^th day of February 2005
The Hague,
The Netherlands