The International War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia acquitted Wednesday in The Hague former commander of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 53-year-old Sefer Halilovic, of charges of responsibility for murders of Croat civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. (17-NOV-05)
Background
The indictment against Sefer Halilovic concerns murders alleged to have been committed by troops belonging to the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“ABiH”) in the villages of Grabovica and Uzdol in the Jablanica and Prozor areas in Herzegovina in September 1993 during a military operation allegedly called “Operation Neretva”.
The Prosecution alleges that Sefer Halilovic was the commander of this operation and as such the troops involved in the “Operation Neretva” were under his command and control. The indictment alleges that between the 8th and 9th of September 1993 thirty-three Bosnian Croat civilians were killed in Grabovica.
The indictment also alleges that on the 14th of September 1993 in the course of the Operation, the Prozor Independent Battalion attacked the village of Uzdol and killed twenty-nine Bosnian Croat civilians and one HVO prisoner of war.
In view of these alleged facts, Sefer Halilovic is charged with murder, punishable under Article 3 of the Statute as recognised by Article 3 (1) (a) of the Geneva Conventions. The indictment alleges that Sefer Halilovic incurs criminal responsibility under Article 7(3) of the Statute since, notwithstanding his duties as a commander, Sefer Halilovic did not take effective measures to prevent the killings of civilians in Grabovica and did not take steps to carry out a proper investigation to identify the perpetrators of the killings in both Grabovica and Uzdol and as commander of the Operation to punish them accordingly.
Judgment
The Trial Chamber of the Hague tribunal (ICTY) announced Wednesday an acquitting verdict for the former chief of the main staff of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina General Sefer Halilovic, establishing that he was not responsible for murders of Croat civilians committed by members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Herzegovina villages of Grabovica and Uzdol in September 1993 during the Croat-Bosnian conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The Prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Halilovic either ‘de jure’ or ‘de facto’ was commander of the operation of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina “Neretva ‘93”, or that he had effective control over the troops of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina that had committed crimes in Grabovica and Uzdol. The Trial Chamber has therefore found that the accused Halilovic was not responsible for the murders committed in Grabovica and Uzdol. The Trial Chamber has decided that the accused Sefer Halilovic is found not guilty and is acquitted of charges of murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war”, the Presiding Judge Liu Daqun read the explanation of the verdict.
Judge Liu ordered Halilovic to be released from the UN detention unit in Scheveningen as soon as preparations are complete.
The Trial Chamber has found that that it has been established that 13 Croat civilians were murdered in the Grabovica village near Jablanica on 8 and 9 September 1993, and 29 Croat civilians and one captured HVO soldier in the Uzdol village near Prozor, and that the brigades that committed the murders were effectively controlled by their commanders Zulfikar Alispago and Enver Buza, and the Commander of the Main Staff Rasim Delic, while Halilovic, as the Team Leader of the Inspection Team in the operation “Neretva ‘93” was responsible solely for coordination under instruction of Delic.
The ICTY Prosecutor’s Office last week filed a proposal for extension of the existing indictment against General Delic to include crimes in Grabovica and Uzdol.
