BUGOJNO

According to the official results of the 1991 census, the Bugojno district had 46,843 residents:

15,963 Croats (34,1%)
19,724 Moslems (42,1%)
8,854 Serbs (18,9%)
1,302 others (4,9%)

During the Serbian aggression on Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992) the district area was daily shelled from the direction of the neighbouring districts of Kupres and Donji Vakuf. Many residential and farm buildings were destroyed, as well as the sacral and cultural heritage. The Serbian army occupied a northwest section of the district area. Throughout 1992 and in the beginning of 1993, several thousand displaced Moslems from the Serb occupied parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina were accommodated in the district area. This brought about the change in the demographic structure of the district and triggered off the first conflicts between Croats and Moslems. In January 1993, Moslems took over the rule in the local district authorities and on January 17th 1993 they abandoned their positions towards Serb checkpoints. The tension between the HVO and B-H Army soldiers escalated into unsolved murders of Croats, hold-ups and larcenies.

On July 18th 1993, B-H Army soldiers launched a general attack on Croats and on July 26th 1993, HVO soldiers were pushed back, whereupon B-H Army took control over the Bugojno district. Over 10,000 Croats were evicted from the district area. Many Croats were imprisoned, while 200 of them were killed in various ways. The imprisoned Croats were daily mentally and physically maltreated, forced to hard labour, wounded and/or killed.

22 members of a district HVO military headquarters were killed in a single incident in October 1993.

On November 8th 1993, B-H Army soldiers executed seven Croat civilians.

The fate of approximately 2,500 Croats who remained in Bugojno has been unknown. Many residential and farm buildings were destroyed during the Moslem aggression, while the local Catholic churches were severely damaged.

002 B-H - BUGOJNO - July 26 to November 26, 1993

DESCRIPTION OF REPORTED CRIME: Killing of civilians.

TIME AND LOCATION: July 26 to November 26, 1993; Bugojno.

SUMMARY OF REPORTED CRIME: "... After an armed attack on members of HVO (the Croatian Defense Council) on July 26, 1993, members of B-H Army occupied the entire Bugojno district. The Croatian residents of the Bugojno district have undergone various maltreatment by Muslim soldiers. The following Croatian residents were killed in Bugojno:

Josipa Viskovic (killed by a sniper),
Marija Cokljat (killed by repeated blows of a hoe on the head),
Tadija Vujevic (killed in Mackovac while trying to leave the occupied Bugojno in the direction of the village of Vesela),
Branko Juricic (taken from his apartment to the Bugojno police station, physically maltreated during the interrogation, and killed on the staircase of the police building in Ulica Djure Pucara 8b (Djura Pucar Street 8b).

Muslim soldiers shot the following Croatian civilians in a shelter (basement) in Bugojno:

Slavko Mrso, Vojna Mrso (Slavko's wife), Jela Mrso (nee Turajlija, Slavko's mother), and Nino Grlic (Mico's son). The bodies of those four civilians were taken from the shelter, and has not been found yet. A Croatian civilian Niko Grabovac was taken out from the same shelter alive and then killed in a nearby park, in front of the building of the B-H Bank. His body was left unburied for several days, and it was subsequently transferred to a section of Bugojno called Ciglane. Pavka Maros nee Menjak from Jakalici was killed on the threshold of her house by her Muslim neighbours.

Franjo Kirn was killed in front his family house.
Ilija Brecic was killed at the entrance door of his house.
Ivo Viskovic (born 1906) was burnt alive in his family house.
Tomo Blatancic was killed in a part of Bugojno called Donjici.
Blago Milicevic was killed July 22, 1993, his face was slashed with a knife (or some other sharp object).
Mladen Petrovic and Drago Alvir were shot. Stipo Udovicic was also killed.

PERPETRATORS: Members of B-H Army; members of Bugojno police.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION: Report of the head of the Department for Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions at the Office of the President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, from November 26, 1993. The report was published in November 27, 1993 issue of "Vjesnik" daily, p. 10. Title: "Teror u Bugojnu" ("The Terror in Bugojno"). Document currently kept in the archives of the Centre.

007 B-H - BUGOJNO - October 1993

DESCRIPTION OF REPORTED CRIME: Killing of POWs.

TIME AND LOCATION: October 1993; Bugojno.

SUMMARY OF REPORTED CRIME: "... In spite of numerous appeals submitted until November 25, 1993, there has been no detailed information on the whereabouts of 21 prisoners (HVO members) who were taken in an unknown direction from the Bugojno prison by B-H Army members. On November 1, 1993, the UN spokesperson in Sarajevo, Mr Bill Aikman, stated that the Muslim oriented B-H Army in central Bosnia reported to the UN of the killing of 19 Croat POWs during the attempted escape. Among the POWs that have been reported missing is the entire HVO military staff from Bugojno. According to the available evidence, there is a reasonable doubt that they have been brutally murdered. The detailed list of 21 imprisoned HVO members (POWs), who have been reported missing from the Bugojno prison, is as follows:

1. Niko Dzaja (commander of the 1st Combat Brigade of HVO in Bugojno)
2. Dragan Erkapic (commander of the 2nd Combat Brigade of HVO in Bugojno)
3. Mico Dilber (commander of the 3rd Combat Brigade of HVO in Bugojno)
4. Franjo Jezidzic (head of the HVO Information Dept. in Bugojno)
5. Stipica Zelic (commander of HVO military police in Bugojno)
6. Mario Subasic
7. Mihovil Strujic
8. Zdravko Juricic
9. Jadranko Gvozden
10. Marko Bartulovic
11. Mladen Brkic
12. Branko Crnjak
13. Perica Crnjak
14. Pero Kovacevic
15. Vinko Ivkovic
16. Nikica Milos
17. Niko Milos
18. Ivo Milos
19. Ante Markulj
20. Stjepan Pasalic
21. Dragan Zaltunic

PERPETRATORS: B-H Army members (Muslim Army) in the Bugojno district.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION: Report of the head of the Department for Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions at the Office of the President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, from November 26, 1993. The report was published in November 27, 1993 issue of "Vjesnik" daily, p. 10. Title: "Teror u Bugojnu" ("The Terror in Bugojno"). Document currently kept in the archives of the Centre.

006 B-H - BUGOJNO - November 11, 1993

DESCRIPTION OF REPORTED CRIME: Killing of civilians.

TIME AND LOCATION: November 8, 1993; the town of Vesela (cca 3 kilometres southeast of Bugojno).

SUMMARY OF REPORTED CRIME: Members of the B-H (Bosnian Muslim Army) committed a new crime against Croatian civilians in the Bugojno district. On November 8, 1993, a group of seven Croatian civilians from Bugojno tried to leave the occupied town of Bugojno and reach Kupres. They were intercepted and killed by the Muslim Army in the town of Vesela. The victims are as follows: Jure Duspara, Blaz Ivic, Josip Markic, Dominko Lucic, Marijan Bekavac, Marijan Nosic i Frane Lebl. Their bodies were buried somewhere in the Bugojno area.

PERPETRATORS: Members of the B-H Army from Bugojno.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION: November 10, 1993 issue of "Vecernji List" daily, p. 9. Title: "Novi muslimanski zlocin u Bugojnu" ("Muslims Committed A New Crime in Bugojno"). November 11, 1993 issue of "Vecernji List" daily, p. 8. Title: "Okrutnost bez granica" ("Cruelty Without Limits"). Documents currently kept in the archives of the Centre.