Personal testimony · ulica Filipa Kljajića · April 9, 1992
Morning in a Basement in Zvornik: The Testimony of One Family, 9 April 1992
On the morning of 9 April 1992, the day after Serb forces entered Zvornik, armed men burst into the basement of a residential building where some thirty civilians were hiding and led out the men. One family's story is known from the testimony of a woman in a documentary film, while the broader framework of events is described by witnesses before the ICTY. In 2023, the IRMCT issued a final conviction of Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović for crimes committed during the takeover of Zvornik.
Where and when
Zamlaz
- Date
- April 9, 1992
- Place
- Zamlaz, Karakaj, Zvornik
- Coordinates
- 44.38° N · 19.10° E
The Takeover of Zvornik
Serb forces, among them the Srpska dobrovoljačka garda (Arkanovci), began taking over Zvornik in eastern Bosnia on 8 April 1992. According to the indictment in the Stanišić and Simatović case, about twenty non-Serb civilians were killed that day. Both witnesses and the 2021 IRMCT judgment state that the Srpska dobrovoljačka garda was among the forces that seized the town.
The Raid on the Basement
On the morning of 9 April 1992, at about 10 o'clock, a powerful explosion shook a residential building. About ten armed, masked men burst into the basement, where some thirty civilians were hiding: women, children and elderly men. According to the testimony in the documentary film, the building was located on Filipa Kljajića street. The armed men led the men out of the basement.
A similar scene, in which about ten soldiers burst into a basement after an explosion at about 10 o'clock in the morning, was described before the ICTY by a protected witness, who speaks of her building without naming the street. It has not been established whether this is the same event.
Killings in Front of the Building
According to the testimony in the film, a father and his two sons were shot in front of the building. Their mother, as recounted, was told that she would die alone.
On the same day, a protected witness before the ICTY saw from a distance the execution of about ten men at the Zamlaz site, among whom he recognised a father and son. A possible connection with the killing in front of the building has not been confirmed.
The Testimony of One Family
The family story that follows rests solely on the testimony of one woman in the documentary film. According to her, armed men took her brother, her husband and her brothers-in-law towards Karakaj and shot them in the back. Her brother, as she says, had earlier turned to their mother, who was holding his small son in her arms. "Mama remembers the look from my brother, who turned and said to her: 'Take care of my son,'" the witness recounted.
Her father, according to the testimony, was left alive to watch the deaths of his loved ones and was sent back. When he returned, he told the family: "they killed them like rabbits." One of the brothers-in-law, H. M., was, according to her account, shot twice but survived. "He was shot twice. He survived," the witness said.
The Veterinarian Izet Sabirović
According to the film, on the same day armed men took the Zvornik veterinarian Izet Sabirović from his home and killed him. His body was later identified in a video recording presented to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Perpetrators and Justice
Witnesses attributed the killings in Zvornik to members of the Srpska dobrovoljačka garda. According to testimony, one of its officers was "Major Peja" (Marko Pejić), Arkan's deputy; he was never indicted. The commander of the guard, Željko Ražnatović "Arkan", was never indicted for Zvornik; he was killed in 2000.