Snagovo massacre

Snagovo massacre
The woods in Snagovo where the victims were first captured.
Location	Snagovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date	29 April 1992
Target	Bosnian Muslims
Attack type	Mass killing and ethnic cleansing
Deaths	36
Perpetrators	Serb paramilitary groups including the White Eagles

The Snagovo massacre refers to the mass killing of 36 Bosnian Muslim civilians by Serbs on 29 April 1992 in the village Snagovo, located in the municipality of Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The massacre occurred at the start of the Bosnian War.

Background

Snagovo was among the hardest hit villages at the start of the Bosnian War in 1992.^[1] Between April and June 1992, Serbs ethnically cleansed the village of its Bosnian Muslim residents.

Overview

On 29 April 1992, Serbs captured a group of 36 Bosnian Muslim civilians who were hiding in the woods in Snagovo and took them to a school building in Rašidov Han within Snagovo.^[2] In total 36 Bosnian Muslim civilians were killed, including children and pregnant women. The corpses were burned in an effort to conceal the crime.^[3][4] On 2 May 1992, fellow residents of Snagovo found the burned remains and buried them nearby. One of the residents said "We came to this site and dug a grave. However, during the burial, our Serb neighbors shot at us. We later buried them (the victims) in the dark."

Exhumation and reburial

The remains of the victims were exhumed from the original place of burial on 16 March 2006.^[5] On 27 July 2011, twenty-one of the victims were given a proper burial in a joint grave at a local cemetery in Snagovo including the youngest victim, six-month old Meliha Dogić who was killed in the arms of her mother by a Serb.^[6] The girls mother and father were also killed. Most of the victims were not identifiable because their bodies had burnt so badly.^[7]

Trials

Serbian Major Zoran Janković was arrested 9 May 2006.^[8] The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed his indictment on 8 November 2006. Janković plead not guilty on 24 November 2006.^[9] His trial began on 26 March 2007.^[10] Survivors described being taken to Rašidov Han and shot at by Janković and other Serbs.^[11] Witnesses said that Janković introduced himself as a White Eagle and showed off a knife with which he claimed to have killed in the Vukovar massacre in Croatia.^[12][13] Janković was on trial for the killing of 36 people and wounding of three others in Snagovo, as well as for the forced removal of captured civilians in the nearby villages of Šeher and Like in May 1992.^[14] He was acquitted of crimes against humanity on 19 June 2007 due to lack of evidence and released.^[15]

Related events

Seven mass graves, containing the skeletal remains of 156 individuals, victims of the July 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, were uncovered in Snagovo.^[16] The 156 victims were moved to the seven "secondary graves" in Snagovo from the original burial sites around Srebrenica to hide the traces of the atrocity.

Among other massacres, six more people were killed in the village on 22 July 1995.^[17]

References

1. "Genocide on the Drina River". Google Books. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
2. "Sutra na Snagovu dženaza za 35 žrtava: Među ubijenim trudnice i djeca". Oslobodjenje. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
3. "Death in Snagovo". Justice Report. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
4. "Verdict Due on 19 June". Justice Report. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
5. "Snagovo, Zvornik: Kolektivna dženaza i ukop 35 žrtava stravičnog zločina iz aprila 1992. godine". 24 sata. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
6. "Snagovo: Sahranjena i beba ubijena u naručju majke". Klix. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
7. "Burial of 35 Victims in Zvornik". Justice Report. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
8. "COURT of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA INDICTMENT" (PDF). Genderjurisprudence. 30 October 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
9. "Zoran Jankovic Pleaded Not Guilty". Justice Report. 24 November 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
10. "Trial to Begin on March 26". Justice Report. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
11. "Witnesses Who Survived Execution". Justice Report. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
12. "Jankovic Released". Justice Report. 19 June 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
13. "Witnesses Recall Execution". Justice Report. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
14. "Multiple Alibis". Justice Report. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
15. "Zoran Janković acquitted of crimes against humanity". Hague Justice Portal. 19 June 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
16. "Bosnia mass grave yields 156 Srebrenica victims". One Indira. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
17. "Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection". Google Books. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.