Paklenik Massacre-visegrad Genocide

Paklenik Massacre

Image: Hand-drawn map by Ferid Spahic explaining the Paklenik massacre during the Vasiljevic case. The Paklenik Massacre is the massacre of at least 50 Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb Army in the Rogatica Municipality on 15 June 1992. One day earlier,local Serbs close to the Serb Democratic Party-led Visegrad Municipality organized the deportation of several hundred Bosniak civilians to Olovo(a town in Bosnian Government-controlled territory). However, on its way towards the Rogatica Municipality, Bosnian Serb Army members from Visegrad stopped the buses and took all the men off to another bus. They spent the night in Rogatica and the next day they were taken to Paklenik (Hell) to a ravine called Propast (Downfall) where they were systematically executed and their bodies thrown into the ravine. Only one man survived the massacre – Ferid Spahic. The men responsible for this massacre have not yet answered for their crimes. The only people who have been indicted were Mitar Vasiljevic, Nenad Tanaskovic, Sredoje and Milan Lukic. The Bosniak civilians who were deported and who were massacred came from the following villages in Visegrad: Gornji and Donji Dubovik, Velatovo, Zagre, Smijece, Zupa and Dobrun. The remains of these executed Bosniaks were found in 2000. During the Mitar Vasiljevic case, Ferid Spahic testified about the Paklenik massacre. Above is a hand-drawn map by Spahic explaining the murder of about 50 Bosniak men civilians from villages in the Visegrad municipality.

Hand-drawn map showing the position of Bosnian Serb soldiers and Bosniak victims near the Paklenik ravine. Spahic also drew an important map showing the location of Republika Srpska Army members and Bosniak civilians shoot and dumped in the Paklenik ravine. Spahic names 3 Bosnian Serb soldiers he recognized: Predrag Milisaljevic, Slavisa Vukojcic and Ceho Borisa. Read more on this here. Editor’s note: These drawings were used as evidence in the Vasiljevic case. They were obtained on the official ICTY website.