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"one rope" to allah

pulls links that are not cheerful, I used a simple general search at google, this is too long to print it all.

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FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Committee for Collecting Data on

Crimes Committed Against Humanity

and International Law

B e l g r a d e

January 1998.

MUJAHEDDIN PRISONER CAMPS

IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ZAVIDOVI?I

The 465 prisoner camps for Serbs in the territory of
Bosnia-Herzegovina (for which the Committee has thus far collected
evidence of existence) included two camps in the territory of the
municipality of Zavidovi?i owned by mujaheddins. They were located
in the villages of Kamenica and Gostovi?i.

The individuals who fortunately survived the atrocities testify on what
the captured soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska and civilians
went through during the imprisonment.

1

THE MUJAHEDDIN CAMP IN KAMENICA

1.1. Witness 249/97-4, born in 1957, who was kept in this camp
for 13 days, states:

... On 17 or 18 September, 1995, I was captured and taken to the
mujaheddin camp located in the village of Kamenica near Zavidovi?i.
P.M. from Kotor Varoš, R.R from Banja Luka, G.G. from Banja Luka,
P.N. from Banja Luka, S. from Lijev?e Polje, G. from Laktaši, and N.
from Budžak, were taken there together with me.

We were brought to their camp, where we saw big, circular tents, in
which the mujaheddins stayed. I counted 29 tents, assessing that each
could hold 40-60 men.

I was taken to a room on the upper floor of a house, where I saw
three mujaheddins, their heads wrapped up so that only their eyes
could be seen. They ordered me to sit on a slab. One of them took a
full-steel rod, diameter cca 2 cm, and started hitting me on my back
and neck, until the rod banded. Then the other flattened the rod with a
hammer. He then took the second, and then the third rod.

When the rods bent by the beating, they tied a wire around my neck,
tying its other end around my leg. They had taken our boots, so I was
barefoot. The end of the wire around my neck and leg was not
insulated, while the remaining part of the wire was not. I saw
something like a transformer in the room. One of the men took
another wire connected to the transformer and connected it with the
wire that was tied around my neck and leg. As soon as he did it, the
electric shock made me faint. When I came around, they would turn
on electricity again. This was repeated several times and I lost
consciousness each time. The kept the electricity on for different
durations. The electric shock made me feel as if my tongue had
become shorter, and I started to choke.

When they were done with the electricity, they started hitting me with
their legs, and then one of them took me back to the ground floor,
where my friends were kept. After returning me downstairs, they took
another prisoner upstairs, so we all underwent the same torture.

According to my assessment, the mujaheddins were Pakistanis, Turks,
Arabs from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, but among them were also
Arabs from Germany and England.

I would also add that apart from these mujaheddins, there were also
Bosnian Muslim in the Kamenica prisoner camp. I remember a Guni?
form the Novoselije settlement in Banja Luka ...

1. 2. Witness 284/97-2, worker, born in 1961, states:

... I lived in Vozu?a, the place where I was born. On 10 September,
1995, early in the morning, soldiers of the Army of
Bosnia-Herzegovina attacked Vozu?a and the civilian population,
including me and other women, had to flee. The next day, we were in
the village of Kesten, where I was captured at about 16.30 hrs., with a
group of 60 people. The group consisted of civilians, women and
children, and some soldiers. We were taken prisoner by mujaheddins
and Bosnian Muslims.

After they captured us, they started beating us with their fists, legs,
rifle-butts and sticks. A mujaheddin hit me hard on the back with his
rifle, and then spit on me scolding my "chetnick mother".

I saw a captured Serb fall on his knees, after which the Muslim killed
him with a shot from automatic rifle.

About thirty of us from the village of Kesten, including me and two
more women (J.M. and G.B.), were taken from the village of Kesten to
a mujaheddin camp in the village of Kamenica near Zavidovi?i. The
others were taken to Tuzla.

They tied our legs and arms, and put some wrapping around our
eyes.

The three of us were imprisoned in a wooden shed in Kamenica, while
men were locked up in a nearby barrack. I could not see anything
because I was blindfolded, but I concluded that it was a mujaheddin
camp because they spoke in a very bad Serbian language.

Throughout the night, mujaheddins and Bosnian Muslim were coming
to the shed in which we were kept, to beat us with rifles, sticks, legs
and fists. I heard them talking about cutting our throats.

During the night, a mujaheddin came and put a non- insulated wire
end on my face. He connected the rest of the wire, which was
insulated, to some source of electricity, and I felt a terrible pain
caused by the electric shock. This was repeated several times. Then
he moved the wire from my cheek to my spine. Sometimes he held the
wire on me longer, sometimes shorter.

The same electricity-torture procedure was applied on the other two
women who were imprisoned with me.

During the night, we heard screams and moans and captured Serbs
from the nearby barrack, pleading the mujaheddins not to torture
them.

The next day, they interrogated us several times, beating us at the
same time.

I heard them mentioning the names of my father, Miloš Jovi?, my
uncle Mitar Jovi?, Drago Markovi?, Ranko Djuri?, Mirko Mati?i? and his
son Miodrag and a ?eda, who were captured with us, but now I do not
know anything about their further fate. It has been assumed that they
were killed on the way to Kamenica.

We were not given any food in Kamenica.

The second day, in the evening, the mujaheddins took the three of us,
women, to their base in the territory of Zenica, by a small bus. We
were kept there for about twenty days, before they took us to KPD in
Zenica.

1. 3. Witness 260/97-7, housewife from Vozu?a, states:

... After they brought us to Kamenica, they put us in a small wooden
shed where they kept us tied for two days and two nights. All the time
they beat us with their fists and some objects. Mujaheddins beat us at
night, and Muslim soldiers during the day. We were not given any
food, except that they spilled water from a bottle on our heads,
offering us to drink it that way.

Across from the shed in which we were kept was a wooden barrack in
which captured soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska were locked
up, from which cries and screams were heard, especially at night. S.
recognized cries and screams of her uncle Mitar Jovi?.

The following day, a Muslim soldier came into the shed, asking if some
of us had a father among their captives. S. responded, saying that her
father Jovan Miloš was among the prisoners, and the soldier replied:
"Unfortunately, you don’t have a father any more. You will now hear
his name mentioned on the loud speaker". Soon afterwards, the
names of allegedly captured soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska
were read through the public address system installed in that part of
the camp. The names read in addition to Miloš Jovi? were: Mitar Jovi?,
Nenad Gligori? and Mirko Mati?i?, all from Vozu?a, plus some other
names which I cannot remember. I do not know what happened to
these people, but since nothing is known about them, it is likely that
they have been killed.

In the evening on 13 September, 1995, we were transferred by some
vehicle, blindfolded, with arms and legs tied, into the community of
Podbrežje near Zenica...

2

THE CAMP IN THE VILLAGE OF GOSTOVI?I

2. 1. Witness 260/97/10, technician, captured as soldier of the
Army of Republika Srpska on 21 July, 1995 on the Vozu?a
battlefield in the region of the village of Lozna, to be kept in the
Livade prisoner camp for two days and then transferred to the
mujaheddin camp in Gostovi?i, where he was kept for 24 days,
testifies:

... I was captured by a group of 12 mujaheddins including a Bosnia
Muslim who served as interpreter. Immediately after the capture,
they started beating me. One of the mujaheddins ordered me to
kneel down, took out his butcher knife with semi- circular blade
and small handle which he held hanging around his neck, on his
chest. He wanted to cut my had off, but the Muslim interpreter
intervened, telling him something in Arabic.

They brought me to the village of Livade, where their medical
corps was. They beat me, taking out an axe and a knife and
threatening to cut off my head. One of them ordered me to lie
down on the ground and stroke the axe near my head.

They further took me to their warehouse where I found captured
soldiers of Republika Srpska Š.B. and T.B. After a short while, they
took out the three of us and tied us, having written on a piece of
paper "this is the end of chetnicks", which they glued to Š.B.’s
back. Later, they ordered us to take off our clothes, took us to a
room and said: "you will now see how chetnicks’ throats are cut".
They tied us by raising our arms above our heads and tying them
to our legs over our backs. They put a knife under our necks, as if
they were going to cut our throats. Then they brought a cardboard
box in which there were two cut off human heads with blood still
dripping. At the entrance of the room, I saw two bodies in my
unit’s uniforms, but I could not see them whether there were
heads on the bodies.

Two days later, we were transferred to Gostovi?i, near Zavidovi?i.
On the way, they stopped the small bus at many places for
mujaheddins to come and beat us. We were also beaten by
civilians who happened to be there.

We were brought to Gostovi?i, where there was a mujaheddin
camp with tents in a circle. One of the tents was bigger and served
for religious rituals. Since we could not wall, the mujaheddins
practically brought us into a smaller yellow tent, from which we
were later moved into a house with torn down roof, which was
located within the camp. They brought us into the ground floor and
locked us up in a room. Boards were nailed on the windows, and
the wooden door had an opening for the guard to look through and
control us. B.T. was in charge of bringing in and taking out the pail
in which we relieved ourselves.

They tied our legs with a large chain. My left leg was tied to V.T.’s
right leg, and his left leg was tied to M.K.’s right leg, and so on.
Each of us, who were tied, was locked by a separate padlock.

Abuses continued. One of the mujaheddins asked Dr.S. if he was a
medical doctor and then pushed him to cut M.K.’s throat, which he
refused, saying that he was trained to help people, not to cut their
throats.

Since our hands and legs were tied, we could not take food
ourselves, so they untied V.G.’s hand so that he could feed us,
crawling on his knees.

Mujaheddins often burst into this room, to beat us with sticks and
handles of agricultural tools. They also carried hand and motor
saws and threatened to use them for chopping our heads off,
which exhausted us mentally.

On one occasion, they took me out of that house and one of the
mujaheddins kicked me hard near my mouth. Then they
blindfolded me with a thick wrapping and took me with them for a
while, to make me lose orientation. They they placed me on my
stomach, with my legs raised up and tied with a rubber hose. They
brought other prisoners to the same place, one by one, to beat
them and give vent to their lower instincts in all kinds of ways.

Before being captured, Gojko Vuji?i? had been wounded in the
area of his right thigh. Since the wound was not treated, he was in
a very bad condition. During the beating he moaned in pain,
pleading the mujaheddin to stop. At one point of time, I heard him
swear God because he could no longer stand the pain. Then I
heard a shot, after which they cut the Vuju?i?’s head off. I did not
see them actually doing it, but the others did. Since the Vuji?i?’s
head was cut off, the mujaheddins uncovered my eyes and
brought the head close, showing it to me and to the others and
ordering us to kiss it, and we had to obey.

After that, they untied our legs and, one by one, we were returned
to the room in which we were kept prisoner. They brought Vuji?i?’s
head there and put in on a metal hook on the wall. As far as I can
remember, the head was taken out two days later.

One day, they brought us out in the camp area for all the
mujaheddins to see us. In my assessment, there were one
thousand of them. They lined us up in such a way that we were
surrounded by them, and they were singing and shouting
something in Arabic. One of them had a knife in his hands and was
persistently trying to come close and cut our throats, but two
others prevented him. He was foaming with rage. They returned
us to the room in which we were imprisoned.

On 23 August 1995, the mujaheddins took me out to a small
football field behind the building in which we were kept. Three
mujaheddins approached me and one threw the keys to the
padlocks with which we were locked. They ordered me to find the
keys to our padlocks. When I did it, they ordered me to stand up
and one of the mujaheddins said in Serbian: "Your last minutes
have come". They took me behind the goal and told me to kneel
down in a canal. One of them held the gun and spoke English, and
the other one translated it to other mujaheddins. He told them to
move back so as not to be splashed with my blood. However, he
then changed his mind, ordered me to rise and brought me to the
middle of the field. The other, who spoke Serbian, told me to kneel
dawn and put my hands on the ground. The one who carried the
gun caught my hair, pulled my head back and pushed the
gunbarrel into my mouth. He pulled the trigger and the gun just
clicked, because it was empty. The other mujaheddin fired two
rifle bullets just next to me. Then they beat me for about an hour.
They stopped when two military policemen of the Muslim Army
arrived. Those military policemen took us to the KPD in Zenica.

I was registered by the International Committee of the Red Cross
on 31 December 1995 in Zenica. Until that time they were hiding
me.

In the mujaheddin camp, five of my ribs were broken, by spinal
verterbra were damaged, my 11 teeth were knocked out. My nose
bone was broken. I was afflicted head injuries. Now I have pain in
my body. I have the medical documentation. I have been declared
80% disabled ...

2. 2. Witness 260/97-11, who was captured by the "El Mujahid"
mujaheddin unit on 21 August 1995, after which he spent a month
in the Gostovi?i prisoner camp, testifies:

... Having graduated from the secondary school in 1994, I joined
the Army of Republika Srpska, to do my regular military service,
and was sent to the battlefield in Ozren in May 1995. I was
captured there during the Muslim offensive, on 21 July, 1995. I
was captured by the mujaheddin unit in which several Muslims
from Bosnia-Herzegovina served as interpreters. I was captured
together with Gojko Vuji?i? and S.G., who had previously sustained
leg wounds, and with V.A.

After the capture, we were tied with wire and taken to the village
of Livade, where we spent three days. We were beaten
incessantly. Mujaheddins would come to the room in which we
were imprisoned and shout: "Hear are the heads of your
chetnicks", but I did not see those heads because I was
blindfolded.

On 23 July 1995, I was transferred from Livade to the mujaheddin
base in the territory of Gostovi?i near Zavidovi?i. When we arrived
in the base, they beat us again, our arms and legs tied. We were
first placed in a tent, then in a room in the groundfloor of a torn
down house. I do not remember whether it happened the same
night, or the following night, but they took us out in the base area,
blindfolded us, tied our arms and legs, in such a way that our legs
were up and tied with rubber hoses. I had an impression that the
air was injected into the hose by a compressor, because the hose
tightened and caused us terrible pains. They beat us in that
position and molested us all night, until early morning, when their
prayer started.

I heard Vuji?i? begging them to untie him because he could no
longer stand pains, then I heard a shot and mujaheddins shouting:
"Allah Yegber". Some minutes later, they untied our eyes,
ordered us to rise, which I could not do, so two mujaheddins held
me. They put before me a human head and ordered me to "kiss
the brother", which I had to do. It is only then that I saw that it
was Gojko Vuju?i?’s head. Later on, they hang the head on a hook
on the wall of the room in which we stayed.

Molestation and heavy beating were a daily routine, attended with
threats that they were going to execute us.

They would order us to lie down on the floor, bring electric saws
and threaten to cut our head off. Throughout the time we were
tied to each other with chains and each one was locked by a
separate padlock. This caused open wounds, which have left scars
on my wrists and ankles. At the peak of heat, they forced us to lie
still on the football field in the sun, beating us at the same time.

On 23 August 1995, they took us out "to sunbathe" in the football
field, when they beat us severely. Then the military police of the
Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina came to the camp. The military
policemen removed the chains, handcuffed us and put us, one by
one, in a small bus. They took us to KPD Zenica, where I stayed
until the exchange on 24 December, 1995. I was not registered by
the Red Cross.

During the stay in the mujaheddin camp, they broke my two ribs.
As a consequence of the beating, I still have problems with my
spine and kidneys...

2. 3. Witness 303/97-26, born in 1931, states:

...I learnt that after being taken prisoner on 21 July, 1995, by a
mujaheddin unit, my son Gojko Vuji?i? was killed. He was a farmer,
from the village of Donji Vija?ani, the municipality of Prnjavor, born in
1955, in the village of Donji Vija?ani.

A group of captured Serbian soldiers, including Š.B. and S.J. told me
that the mujaheddins had cut off Gojko’s head, and then forced all
Serb prisoners present to kiss his head...

2. 4. Witness 303/97-28, born in 1961, states:

... It was on 21 July, 1995, that I was captured by mujaheddins,
together with 11 other soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska. They
took us to a house and imprisoned us in a room where they beat us all
night with wooden sticks, a rubber hose, with their fists and legs with
heavy soldiers boots on.

The following morning, some men in white clothes came into the room
in which we were imprisoned, holding 60 cm long swords in their
hands. One of them ordered me to lie down on my stomack, saying
that he was going to cut my throat. He cut my shirt all over with the
tip of the knife. The skin of my back was also cut. Then they beat me
severely. We were left tied in the same room until the next morning.

The next morning, the mujaheddins took me to the front line in the
place called Kr?evine, where I had been captured. Then they
uncovered my eyes and ordered me to show them where our units
were. On the way back, I noticed a body of the killed Serb soldier
Miladin Šuman from the village of Hrva?ani, the municipality of
Prnjavor, on whose forehead the crescent and star sign was incised.
Moving on, I noticed 21 dead bodies of Serb soldiers in army uniforms.

In Gostovi?i, we were placed in an unfinished, roofless house, with
only a concrete slab which leaked, so that water was inside all the
time. As soon as we arrived, the mujaheddins tied us with a hose, into
which they let air under pressure, to make it expand and press our
legs. This cause terrible pains and Gojko Vuji?i? swore God, so one
mujaheddin took him aside and cut his head off. I did not see what he
used for the cutting, but I know that he brought the head into the
room and forced all of us to kiss it. Then the mujaheddin hung the
head on a nail in the wall. Every day, the mujaheddins, Muslim
soldiers and civillians came into that room, to beat us until we lost
consciousness. They ordered us to lie down on our stomachs and then
they kicked us with their boots, hit us with pieces of wood, and often
connected some electric devices on various parts of our bodies and
caused electric shocks by turning on a kind of a machine, until we lost
consciousness.

I was kept in Gostovi?i for 33 days, during which time I did not receive
any medical help, even though I was wounded during the capture ...

2. 5. Witness 303/97-29, born 1947, states:

... On 21 July, 1995, I was captured together with 11 other soldiers of
the Army of Republika Srpska by soldiers of the Army of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, which also included mujaheddins. After they took
us prisoner, they threatened to butcher us. They kicked us with their
boots, beat us with rifle butts and gun barrels, with their fists and
pieces of wood, swore our Serbian and chetnick mother, and women
who followed us all the way hit us with pieces of wood all over our
bodies, mostly on the head and back.

We were brought in a house in the village of Gostovi?i and the
mujaheddins immediately tied our hands and legs with a rope, made
nooses on other ends of the rope, and put them around our necks.

Tied like that, I was unable to make a move with any part of my body
because the noose around my neck tightened with even the slightest
move. We spend the entire night and the following day tied like that.
In the evening, we were tied again, except that we were ordered to lie
on our stomachs,to put our hands on our backs and raise our legs up.
A mujaheddin tied my legs first, then my hands with the same rope,
and than put a wire around my neck, to which he tied the rest of the
rope. I spent the whole night in that position. I could not move my leg
or arm because each move would tighten the wire noose around my
neck.

In the mujaheddin camp, we were placed in a roofless building which
only had a leaking concrete slab, for which reason water was on the
floor, and we were tied, 12 of us with one rope.

Mujaheddins came into that room. We distinguished them from
Bosnian Muslims by their uniforms and signs, as well as by the color of
their skin.

Tied like that, mujaheddins hit us mostly with sticks and batons until
we lost consciousness. Mujaheddins entered the room with sabers in
their hands, about 60 cm long. They stuck saber tops into our bodies,
mostly in the neck area, showing that they were going to cut our
throats. They also hit us with their booted legs, and with the sabers all
over our bodies. After the mujaheddins would leave, Muslim soldiers
would come in, with shovel handles, which they used for hitting us,
mostly in the chest and head areas. The beating took place every day,
mostly at night, several times in a row.

I remember that on the fourth night of the stay in the mujaheddin
camp in Gostovi?i, we were all blindfolded and taken out to a field
where we were ordered to lie down on our stomachs, after which they
tied our arms and legs. Our legs were tied with a hose which
expanded fast and tightened around our legs. This caused terrible
pains and none of us could keep quiet, we had to moan. I was beaten
throughout the night and was retaurned to the prison room only the
next morning.

A mujaheddin came into that room, bringing with him the head of
Gojko Vuji?i?, whom I had known well, and ordered us all to kiss
Gojko’s head, which was covered with blood. When we did it, he took
the head and hung it on a nail on the wall and the head stayed in our
room for about three days.

I stayed there for 33 days, during which time we were beaten every
day and night until we lost consciousness. We were bruised, covered
with blood and swollen all the time. Whenever Muslim or mujaheddin
soldiers came in, they threatened to slit our throats and cut our heads
off.

During our stay in the mujaheddin camp, they brought some electic
devices and connected them to parts of our bodies and then turned a
handle on that device to cause horrifying electric shocks all over our
bodies.

Mujaheddins took us, chained, to a nearby river, where they forced us
to lie in water for several hours, after which they returned us, so wet,
to the camp.

They took us out at about 14 hours, when the sun was the strongest,
and ordered us to lie on our backs and look at the sun for a long time.
As we were looking at the sun, they also forced us to hold a 30 cm
long piece of wood in out teeth.

2. 6. Witness 303/97-30, born in 1951, states:

... I was captured on 21 July, 1995 in the village of Kr?evine by
soldiers of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina, including mujaheddins
who wore special unifors, special marks and had darkish faces, unlike
Muslim soldiers.

After the capture, we were transferred to a building where we spend
the night kneeling, tied with a rope. On the other end of the rope, a
noose was made for each one of us and put around our necks. The
second night, mujaheddins entered the room in which we were kept,
ordered us to lie on our stomachs, put our arms on the back and raise
our legs up, and tied a rope around our legs. They tied our arms with
a wire and put the wire noose around our necks. We stayed in that
position throughout the night and noone could move either arm or leg
because each move tightened the noose and we could be strangled.

I spend 33 days in the mujaheddin camp in the village of Gostovi?i and
every day, myself and other Serbs were beaten at least once,
sometimes several times, not only by mujaheddins but also by local
villagers.

Every day, I was taken to be interrogated and on my way back, I saw
that all captured Serbs were swollen, bruised, covered with blood and
beaten up, and most of them were beaten up so severely that they
could not even move.

Considering that I received heavy blows on my head every day, I
cannot exactly remember the date when Gojko Vuji?i? was taken out
of the room in which we were kept. When his head was brought into
the room, it was still bleeding. The mujaheddin who brought Gojko’s
head in forced us to kiss it, and the interpreter added that one
chetnik’s head was cut off, and it will be somebody else’s turn
tomorrow. Gojko Vuju?i?’s head was hung on a large nail found in the
wall. One mujaheddin placed a handsaw on my neck after having
ordered me to kneel down. Holding me by the hair with his hand, he
said that he was going to cut off my head. He threatened B.Š. and
V.T. in the same manner.

During our stay in the camp, we could niether lie down nor sleep. We
had to sit tied next to the wall with our heads bowed to the floor.
Muslim soldiers and mujaheddins brought in some electirc devices
which they most frequently put on our chests and then turned on
electricity, which caused terrible pains.

We were given food once a day, mostly a small piece of bread and
some warm water...

2. 7. Witness 303/97-27, born in 1961, who was captured on 21
July, 1995, early in the morning, together with 11 other soldiers of
the Army of Republika Srpska, in Kr?evine, states:

... After capturing us, they took us to the village of Gostovi?i,
where the mujaheddin camp was located, and imprisoned us in a
house under construction, which had only a concrete slab and
leaked all the time. They tied our arms and legs with wire, of
which I still have scars. They ordered us to sit all the time, with
our heads bowed.

Mujaheddins were coming into the room all the time, to beat us
with riflebutts, barrels, kick us with their boots. All the time, they
were putting sabers on our necks,