Crimes in Brisevo, Prijedor Municipality
Andras Riedlmayer
22 December 2004
The village of Brisevo, in the municipality of Prijedor in northwestern
Bosnia, was home to 405 people at the time of the last pre-war census
(in 1991). The majority of Brisevo's residents, 370 people, identified
themselves as (Catholic) Bosnian Croats; 7 identified as Bosnian Serbs,
one as a Bosnian Muslim, and 27 as "Yugoslav" or "other."
Brisevo was
surrounded by productive farmland, pastures and woods and many of the
villagers found employment in the nearby iron mining complex at Ljubija.
A Roman Catholic church dedicated to the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul
was the most prominent landmark in this small settlement of ca. 130 homes
with red tile roofs scattered amidst fields and woods. A gravel road
winding through the hills linked the village to Ljubija in the north
and to the parish center of Stara Rijeka, in a valley a few kilometers
to the southwest.
(See attached files) Two photos, both taken from a ridge overlooking the
village, show the Catholic church in Brisevo. On the first photo, taken
in the early 1980s, < Brisevo-1980s.jpg > one can see that the cornfields
and pastures are well tended and the church is intact; in the distance,
one can see some of the village houses.
In the second photo, which I took from the same vantage point in July 2002
< Brisevo-AR-2002.jpg -- detail at Brisevo-AR-2002.jpg >, Brisevo's
Catholic church is completely gutted by fire, its tile roof has collapsed,
the top of the steeple shot away, soot marks and bullet holes deface
the interior and exterior walls. The burnt-out church is an empty shell
open to the sky, its floor covered with a carpet of blackened rooftiles
and the charred remains of the roofbeams. On the inside walls, from which
crucifixes and saints' statues have been ripped off, those responsible
have left their mark in the form of Serbian cyrillic graffiti:
SESELJ
(head of the Serbian Radical Party and of
its notorious parmilitary militia; now awaiting trial in The Hague),
OVO JE SRBIJA ("This is Serbia"),
and in the form of Serbian crosses:
C | C
_____
C | C
But what's perhaps most shocking about the two photos is not the sight of
the ruined church, but the fact that between 1992 and 2002 Brisevo itself
has been slowly disappearing. The fields and the ruins are abandoned and
overgrown; the trees and other vegetation are slowly effacing all signs
of what just a decade ago was a thriving rural community. Not a single
family from among Brisevo's original residents has returned to this
devastated hamlet on the edge of "Republika Srpska" and no Serb settlers
have come to take their place in this village, which the Bosnian Serb Army
and Seselj's paramilitaries "cleansed" at such enormous human cost.
It's
not that the "cleansers" coveted the houses and land of Brisevo --
they
just wanted the "others" dead or gone, for no reason other than the
fact
that they were of the "wrong" religious background ...
(See the other attached photos -- one shows Bishop Franjo Komarica and
two other Catholic priests inspecting the burned-out church after the war
in 1996 < Brisevo3.tif > ).
I spoke with Fra Iljo Arlovic, the Roman Catholic priest at Stara Rijeka,
who counted the residents of Brisevo among his parishioners and who was at
this parish when the war started in 1992. He recounted how Bosnian Serb
Army troops of the 6th Krajina Brigade and the 5th Kozara Brigade and Serb
nationalist paramilitaries, had surrounded the Brisevo in the early hours
of July 24, 1992 and began shelling it. The attackers overran the village,
looted and burned down the Catholic church and stole the churchbell from
the steeple. They also killed 78 Bosnian Croat parishioners, among them
women and children, and burned down all the houses in the village. Many
of the bodies of those killed were reportedly dumped into pits at the
Ljubija coalmine.
http://www.bluatschink.at/_bilder2/bosnien_prijedor_grube.jpg
Surviving villagers from Brisevo were among the hundreds of non-Serb
-- i.e. Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Muslim -- residents of this region
who were imprisoned in a detention camp set up by the Serb nationalist
authorities in an abandoned factory (the Krings Factory), on the outskirts
of the town of Sanski Most, where they were starved, beaten and abused.
The Final Report of the UN Commission of Experts (Bassiouni Commission)
http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VIII-07.htm
has some chilling details about what awaited survivors from Brisevo
at the Krings factory camp:
_________
Krings Factory: (The existence of this detention facility has been
corroborated by multiple sources, including the ICRC.) The Krings
factory building is located 2.5 to five kilometres west of Sanski Most.
This factory is described as both a former fabric hall and an iron works
factory and is in the industrial zone of Sanski Most on the road to
Bosanska Krupa. An auto factory called Famos is to the west of it,
and a factory that use to make elevators is to the east. [*3609]
Apparently, the building was previously used by military forces. [*3610]
The ICRC reported visiting the detention facility at the Krings factory.
[*3611]
The facility is surrounded by a one metre high wire fence, its
perimeter comprised of an area about 160 by 100 metres. [*3612] There are
two structures in the compound: a small office and the detention facility
itself. The single story office building is approximately eight by
six metres and is in the north-west corner of the compound. It has
five small rooms which were used for interrogations. [*3613]
The detention facility is 50 by 100 metres and is 10 metres high.
It is built of brick with glass-paned windows and has two entrances.
The one on the north-western front consists of two large doors which
open outward. These doors are large enough to let cars in. A second
entrance on the west end of the building is smaller and permits only
individual access. Its doors open inward. There is a third entrance
which also has auto access on the south side, but its doors were
kept locked at all times. Finally, there is a dog pen attached to
the north-eastern corner of the building. [*3614]
Muslim and Croatian prisoners from Brisevo, Sanski Most, Hrustovo,
Vrhpolje, and Stari Majdan as well as those transferred from the Kamengrad
and Sportski Centar camps were held at this factory. There is one report
that claims that wealthy, intellectual, and professional individuals were
singled out to be brought to Krings. [*3615]
Two thousand of the prisoners from Sanski Most came in summer 1992.
They had been ordered to gather at the marketplace in front of Sanski Most
town hall sometime in June. At that point, military buses took them
to Krings. [*3616] When they arrived, prisoners from Hrustovo and Vrhpolje
were already at the factory.
There are two reports of prisoners coming from Stari Majdan.
One states that 150 prisoners arrived on 7 June 1992. [*3617] Another
claims that men from Stari Majdan also arrived on 30 July or 1 August
with prisoners from Brisevo. [*3618] It is not clear when prisoners
from the other camps were transferred to the factory, but it is certain
that they were detained at the factory during this same time. All in all,
approximately 1,000 people are said to have been held at the camp [*3619],
and an additional 3,000 to 5,000 passed through it during the period
from May to September 1992. [*3620]
At the factory, men were separated from the women, children, and
elderly. The men were put in the large detention building, lined up,
and registered by name. [*3621]
They received no food or water. [*3622] They slept on the floor and
there were no toilets. [*3623] People were beaten with clubs, canes, thick
knotted ropes, chains, army boots, and rifles. Apparently, many people
choked from internal bleeding as a result of the beatings. [*3624] Also,
the prisoners were forced to sing Serbian nationalist songs. Those from
the villages of Hrustovo and Vrhpolje were beaten particularly severely
while singing. [*3625] Furthermore, they were told that their daughters
had been raped in order to humiliate them in front of the other men.
[*3626] Well over 100 people are reported to have been killed at the
factory. [*3627]
Prisoners were interrogated throughout their detention. Apparently,
there were always at least five guards and five interrogators at the
factory. The interrogator squad consisted of three military personnel
and two policemen. [*3628] During questioning, prisoners were asked
about their private lives, political views, places of work, ownership of
weapons, and positions of Muslim units and arms. [*3629] Two individuals
were named in connection with the interrogations. [*3630]
The camp was guarded by men wearing JNA uniforms, presumed to be
members of the reserve army. The leader of the camp was identified by one
name. [*3631] Later on, in July the army soldiers were replaced by men in
dark blue police uniforms. The police force was led by an identified man
from Sanski Most. [*3632] Five other policemen were named. [*3633]
In addition to these individuals, there were other unidentified
military personnel who were present at the camp. One such figure came
at night to inspect the camp. He wore a plain green uniform, with an
"unusually tall hat similar to that of the cossacks." [*3634] On the
hat
was pinned a "Cetnik" symbol unknown to the witness and other prisoners.
The man carried a machine-gun with him. [*3635] Another individual
identified only as "Martic" came to the camp in early August dressed
in an army uniform and started kicking all of the prisoners. [*3636]
It appears that Krings closed down sometime near September 1992.
Men were either released or transferred to Manjaca. [*3637] One witness
relates that he was released on 20 August with 250 other prisoners. The
men were let go two at a time and were allowed to move freely around
Sanski Most. They were issued written permission by the 6th Krajiska
Brigade. This permission was signed by an identified man. [*3638]
The mayor of Sanski Most and founder of the SDS and the chairman of
SDP, are named as having full knowledge of the activities at the factory
during its operation. [*3639]
________________________________________________________________________
The killings at Brisevo were cited in the ICTY Judgement convicting
Radoslav Brdjanin
http://2002.xs4all.nl/www.un.org/icty/brdjanin/trialc/judgement/brd%2Dtj040901e2.htm
IX. CHARGES AND FINDINGS
A. Extermination (count 4) and Wilful Killing (count 5)
[...]
2. The facts and findings
g. The killing of a number of people in the village of Brisevo
411. Brisevo is a village belonging to the local commune of Ljubija.
Prior to the conflict, it was inhabited mainly by Bosnian Croats.[1008]
On 27 May 1992, the village was shelled with mortars coming from the
direction of Rasavci and Ostra Luka, two predominantly Bosnian Serb
villages east of Brisevo.[1009] Before the shelling, Bosnian Serb
authorities in the area had requested that all weapons in the village be
surrendered. Weapons were handed over to the Bosnian Serbs in Rasavci,
despite there only being legally owned hunting rifles and pistols.[1010]
412. In the early morning hours of 24 July 1992, Bosnian Serb military
launched an attack on Brisevo.[1011] Mortar shells landed on the houses,
and the residents hid in cellars.[1012] The shelling continued throughout
the day and, on the next day, infantry fire joined the artillery. On the
evening of 25 July 1992, Bosnian Serb infantry entered Brisevo.[1013] The
soldiers wore JNA uniforms with red ribbons around their arms or helmets.
Some had 'Cetnik' insignia such as 'Subara' hats.[1014] Pero Dimac,
an elderly Bosnian Croat, was forced to take off his clothes, was
hit with a Bible, and was eventually shot in the head by Bosnian Serb
soldiers.[1015] The Trial Chamber is satisfied that during the attack on
Brisevo, at least 68 persons were killed, 14 of whom being women.[1016]
