Križančevo Selo killings
Križančevo Selo killings occurred in Križančevo Selo, a hamlet in the Lašva valley in central Bosnia, where a disputed number, possibly as many as 74, Croat soldiers and civilians were killed during an attack by the Bosnian Army on the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) positions on 22–23 December 1993.[1]
The attack occurred when the region was embroiled in the Croat-Bosniak war, and eight months after the Ahmići massacre in the nearby village of Ahmići. Križančevo Selo is a hamlet situated near the town of Vitez, near the larger villages of Dubravica and Šantići. It was a Croatian Defence Council (HVO) military base according to a witness.[2]
As of April 2010[update], publicly available details about the exact circumstances of these events are scarce. As there hasn't been any judicial validation yet in either ICTY or the local courts, the full course of the case is still unknown. The authorities of the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia stated that a massacre happened in the aftermath of the military attack, with prisoners of war executed, with some tortured and/or massacred, along with several civilians, and listed names of 52 persons whose bodies they allegedly identified.[3]
The incident did not undergo a judicial investigation at the time. The site was inspected by local UNPROFOR forces on 6 January 1994. This was mentioned in one ICTY case, The Prosecutor vs. Kordić and Čerkez, when one witness, Colonel Peter Gage Williams of the UK, who was part of UNPROFOR forces on the ground at the time, was asked by the Prosecution about "deaths of 60 or 70 Croats at Križančevo selo". He explained that their January 1994 investigation, during which they found 27 bodies and exhumed nine, suggested that there was "no evidence to support the theory of a massacre".[4][5][6]
The attack was given official recognition from both relevant sides in the conflict in 2010, when the Croatian president Ivo Josipović, Bosnian Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop Vinko Puljić, and Bosniak imam Mustafa Cerić made a joint visit at the sites of Ahmići massacre and this case, and paid respect to the victims.[7] Ivo Josipović made an official visit to Bosnia during which he expressed a "deep regret" for Croatia's involvement in efforts to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, resulting in the Croat-Bosniak war and suffering for many people on both sides.[8]
According to the public-service broadcasting organization of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RTVFBIH) report about Josipović's visit, thirty four Croatian Defence Council (HVO) soldiers (including a few civilians) were killed during Bosnian Army attack and thirty other soldiers were captured.[9] However, the Rijeka-based daily Novi list and some other Croatian web sites in their reports about Josipović's visit included information about seventy four soldiers and civilians killed in the attack.[7]
See also
References
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