武科瓦尔屠杀

Background

In 1990, ethnic tensions between Serbs and Croats worsened after the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia by the Croatian Democratic Union (Croatian: Hrvatska demokratska zajednica – HDZ). The Yugoslav People's Army (Serbo-Croatian: Jugoslovenska narodna armija – JNA) confiscated Croatia's Territorial Defence (Croatian: Teritorijalna obrana – TO) weapons to minimize resistance. On 17 August, the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs. The rebellion was centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin, approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) north-east of Split, as well as parts of Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Slavonia.……

Prelude

After Croatia launched the Battle of the Barracks on 14–15 September to capture the JNA's facilities in Croatia, the JNA launched a small-scale operation against Vukovar to relieve the city garrison. At the same time, it began large-scale mobilisation of men in preparation for its campaign in Croatia. It was met with widespread refusal of mobilised personnel to report to their designated units, desertions and an overall lack of enthusiasm for the campaign. The response rate was particularly poor in Central Serbia, where only 26 percent of those called up reported for service. This resulted in low troop availability, forcing the JNA to deploy fewer infantry units.

The JNA's offensive operations, directly associated with the campaign in the east Croatian region of Slavonia, were launched on 20 September.……

Timeline

Evacuation arrangements

On 17 November, Major General Andrija Rašeta, the commander of the JNA 5th (Zagreb) Military District, notified the European Community Monitor Mission (ECMM) that the JNA accepted in principle the quick evacuation of vulnerable persons from Vukovar. At the time, it was estimated that there were about 400 people trapped in the city's hospital, but the actual number was later discovered to be about 450. This included about 40 patients receiving treatment for severe injuries sustained over the preceding few days and about 360 patients recovering from wounds suffered earlier on. In addition to these individuals, some civilians had taken shelter in the hospital in the final days of the battle. They moved there expecting to be evacuated from the city, even though the hospital itself was subjected to daily artillery attack.……

Takeover of the hospital

On the morning of 19 November, the ECMM became aware that organised resistance had ceased in Vukovar, but it did not receive any information on the fate of the hospital patients.……

Aftermath

Croatian Serb forces turned Ovčara into a prison camp in early October 1991. Aside from the massacre, 3,000–4,000 male prisoners were temporarily held in the Ovčara camp at some point during autumn of 1991 before being transported to the prison in Sremska Mitrovica or to the local JNA barracks, which was the transit point for Serbian detention camps such as Stajićevo and Begejci. Following a series of political agreements concluded in 1991 and a ceasefire between the JNA and Croatia in early 1992, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed for peacekeeping in certain parts of Croatia, including Vukovar and its surroundings. It began its deployment in March 1992.

Discovery of the mass grave

Forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow learned of the massacre during his visit to Zagreb in October 1992.……