A Fifteen-Year-Old Girl from Trošanj: Nine Months of Captivity from Foča to Montenegro

The War Comes to Foča

In April 1992, fighting began in Foča. Barricades and checkpoints were set up, and the school was closed. A fifteen-year-old Bosniak girl from the village of Trošanj, who would later testify before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as protected Witness 87, hid in the forest with her family and two other families.

The Attack on Trošanj, 3 July 1992

On 3 July 1992, Serb forces attacked Trošanj and surrounded the group hiding in the forest. The men were separated, beaten and questioned about weapons, and the women were questioned about gold and money. Gunshots were heard. Witness 87 never saw her father again; according to the ICTY, he was killed. His name and the exact circumstances of his death are not known.

Buk Bijela

The women and girls were taken to a building in the Buk Bijela compound in Mješaja, at the former hydroelectric power plant construction site along the Brod–Miljevina road. There they were interrogated and raped. According to the ICTY judgment, Dragan Zelenović interrogated and raped Witness 87, and later raped her again on several occasions.

Aladža and the Partizan Hall

The witness was then held for about two weeks in a classroom of the Srednja škola Nikola Tesla in Aladža in Foča, and afterwards in the Sportska dvorana Partizan. From there, soldiers took women almost every night to houses in the town, including a house near the Aladža mosque and a house near the bus station. According to the ICTY, Dragoljub Kunarac raped her on several occasions. According to her testimony, Gojko Janković also took women away from the Partizan hall.

Karaman's House in Miljevina

For about two months, Witness 87 was held in the so-called Karaman's house in Miljevina, one of the places where women and girls from Foča were detained and subjected to sexual violence.

Apartments in Foča

At the end of September or the beginning of October 1992, she was moved to apartments in Foča. For about four months she was detained with four other girls in an apartment in the Brena building. According to the ICTY, Radomir Kovač raped her during that period; the court rejected his claim that it was a romantic relationship. Among those detained was a twelve-year-old girl, in whom the witness described severe signs of trauma.

Transfer to Montenegro

According to her testimony, she and another girl were bought by two soldiers for 500 German marks and taken to an apartment in the Brod area. Around mid-February 1993, the women were taken across the border to Nikšić in Montenegro. They had to claim to be Serbs, and their documents were destroyed. According to her testimony, in Nikšić they had to work without pay and continued to be subjected to violence. They were then driven to Podgorica and left in an apartment. Around 5 April 1993, Witness 87 left for Rožaje with another girl.

Testimony and Verdicts

Witness 87 testified before the ICTY on 4 and 5 April and on 23 October 2000 in the proceedings against Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovač and Zoran Vuković. At the end of her testimony she said: "I think that for my whole life... I will remember and feel the same pain."