Naser Orić (born 3 March 1967) is a Bosnian former officer who commanded Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) forces in the Srebrenica enclave in eastern Bosnia surrounded by Bosnian Serb forces, during the Bosnian War.
In 2006, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Netherlands for failing to prevent the deaths of five Bosnian Serb detainees and the mistreatment of eleven other detainees from late 1992 to early 1993 on the basis of superior criminal responsibility.
Orić was acquitted on other charges of wanton destruction and causing damage to civilian infrastructure beyond the realm of military necessity. On 3 July 2008, the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY reversed the Trial Chamber's conviction and acquitted Orić of all charges brought against him. In November 2018, he was formally acquitted by a Bosnian appeals court.
Early life Naser Orić was born on 3 March 1967 in Donji Potočari, about from the town of Srebrenica to Džemal and Hata. His grandfather had fought with the Ustaše, an ultranationalist movement, during World War II. Orić graduated from high school with a metalworking certificate.
Career Orić was conscripted into the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in 1985/1986, where he served in a special unit for atomic and chemical defence. He left the JNA with the rank of corporal. In 1988, he completed a six-month training course in Zemun and served in Savski Venac in Belgrade as a trainee policeman. As a member of the police unit for special actions, he had courses for two more years. He was occasionally deployed to Kosovo and worked as a bodyguard for Slobodan Milošević when required. He guarded Milošević during the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo at Gazimestan in Kosovo Polje in June 1989, when the Serbian president delivered a speech in front of hundreds of thousands of Serbs. Orić says he did not speak to Milošević when he guarded him, but says he did meet and talk with him years later when the two were both on trial at the Hague, remarking that Milošević acted "like a gentleman" and even gave him gifts.
In 1990, Orić was deployed to Kosovo as a member of a Special Police unit of the Ministry of the Interior of the Socialist Republic of Serbia. Thereafter, he returned to Belgrade. He worked in quelling the civil unrest during the March 1991 mass anti-war protests, arresting Vuk Drašković. During that time he also worked as a bouncer at the famous Belgrade nightclub Metro (formerly Zvezda) in Knez Mihailova Street. In August 1991, Orić was transferred to a police station in Ilidža, outside Sarajevo. He was moved to the police station in Srebrenica in late 1991. In April 1992 he became the police chief of the Potočari police sub-station.
Territorial Defence (April 1992–September 1992) With the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a cadre staff consisting of former JNA officers began to prepare for the defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 8 April 1992, the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina transformed the existing Territorial Defense of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Territorial Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In mid-April 1992, the Potočari TO was established, and Orić became its Commander. In May 1992, members of the Crisis Staff of the TO Srebrenica appointed him as the Commander, which Sefer Halilović, Chief of the Supreme Command Staff of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), officially confirmed in June. Orić also became a member of the War Presidency in Srebrenica upon its creation on 1 July.
Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (September 1992–1995) In September, 1992, the Srebrenica TO HQ was renamed the HQ Srebrenica Armed Forces. Orić remained the commander. Orić's command was further extended when he was appointed the Commander of the Joint Armed Forces of the Sub-Region Srebrenica in early November 1992. Now his command encompassed the geographical regions of several municipalities: Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica and Zvornik in Eastern Bosnia. Orić received a Certificate of Merit in April 1993.
On New Year's Day 1994, all units under the command of Orić were named the 8th Operative Group Srebrenica HQ, 2nd (Tuzla) Corps of the ABiH. On 12 July 1994, Orić was promoted to the rank of Brigadier, and sometime before the first of March he was awarded the Order of the Golden Lily, the highest award given by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command of the ARBiH. In early 1995, the 8th Operative Group Srebrenica HQ was renamed the ABiH 2nd Corps 28th Mountain Division.
Orić in Srebrenica 1992–1995 Background In 1990, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia that ruled the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) dissolved. Ethnically defined political parties emerged in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which was one of the six republics that once constituted SFRY, and fought over BiH's future. In November 1991, a Bosnian Serb plebiscite reflected support for BiH to remain within the SFRY. However, an overwhelming majority of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats voted for BiH independence, in the next few months.
Beginning of the war in Srebrenica Srebrenica, and the surrounding Central Podrinje region, held immense strategic importance to both the Serbs and the Bosniaks during the ensuing Bosnian war.
Srebrenica was a focal point in the Serb strategy and was gradually isolated by the Serb forces in 1992. By April 1992, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) had set up artillery at all strategic points surrounding Srebrenica. In 1992, Bosniak villages around Srebrenica were under attacks by Serb forces. According to the Naser Orić trial judgement:"Between April 1992 and March 1993, Srebrenica town and the villages in the area held by Bosnian Muslims were constantly subjected to Serb military assaults, including artillery attacks, sniper fire, as well as occasional bombing from aircraft. Each onslaught followed a similar pattern. Serb soldiers and paramilitaries surrounded a Bosnian Muslim village or hamlet, called upon the population to surrender their weapons, and then began shelling and shooting. In most cases, they then entered the village or hamlet, expelled or killed the Bosniak forces, who offered no significant resistance. Meanwhile, in a number of villages around Srebrenica the Bosniak population began to organize local resistance groups.
From April 1992 onward, Naser Orić personally led a group of 20-30 Bosnian Muslim fighters from his native Potočari, a village about four kilometres northeast of Srebrenica. Orić was chief of the Potočari police sub-station and his group was involved in holding the front line and resisting Serb attacks on Potočari.
On April 18, 1992, Srebrenica fell to the Bosnian Serbs. However, Naser Orić and a handful of lightly armed fighters based in Potočari ambushed and killed a number of Serb paramilitaries. On 6 May, Bosniaks led by Naser Orić carried out their first attack on a village, Gniona, to the north of the town of Srebrenica in which some Serb civilians were massacred. On May 8, 1992, a leader of the Serb forces at Srebrenica, Goran Zekić was killed in an ambush. At around the same time, the Serb forces retreated from Srebrenica and Naser Orić, together with other Bosnian Muslim fighters and civilians reoccupied Srebrenica.
From May 1992 to January 1993, forces under Orić's leadership attacked and destroyed scores of Serbian villages. Evidence indicated Serbs had been tortured, mutilated and others burned alive, while their houses were torched.
The Prosecution at the ICTY alleged that between September 24, 1992 and March 20, 1993, the military police, under Orić's command and control, subjected several Serb individuals to physical abuse, serious suffering and injury to body and health, inhumane treatment, and in some cases, murder. However, Orić was acquitted of these charges by the ICTY Appeals Chamber, who found that there is insufficient evidence to hold Orić responsible for the crimes with which he was charged.
Bosnian Serb forces committed a massacre in the village of Glogova on 9 May, which resulted in the deaths of 64 Bosniak civilians. On 12 July 1992, 69 Bosnian Serb soldiers and civilians were killed in the villages of Zalazje and Sase in the municipality of Srebrenica, and Biljača and Zagoni in the municipality of Bratunac, after an attack by the ARBiH led by Orić.
General Philippe Morillon of France, Commander of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), visited Srebrenica in March 1993. By then the town was overcrowded and siege conditions prevailed. There was almost no running water as the advancing Serb forces had destroyed the town’s water supplies; people relied on makeshift generators for electricity, and food, medicine and other essentials were extremely scarce. Before leaving, General Morillon told the panicked residents of Srebrenica at a public gathering that the town was under the protection of the UN and that he would never abandon them.
The attacks The attacks under Orić's command mentioned in the ICTY indictment, by Deputy Prosecutor David Tolbert, are listed below: 15–20 May, the villages of Viogor, Orahovica and Osredak were attacked. The main objective of these attacks was to link up various Bosniak resistance centers around Srebrenica. 21-27 June, the villages of Ratkovici, Bradjevina, Ducici, and Gornji Ratkovici were attacked by Orić's forces. The objective of the attack was reportedly to prevent further shelling of Srebrenica enclave. 8 August, the villages of Jezestica and Bozici were attacked by forces under the command of Naser Orić after repelling an attack of Serb paramilitary known as Panteri. 24 September, the village of Podravanje, which was on the road between Srebrenica and Žepa, was attacked. 19 Serbs were reportedly killed. 26 September, Orić's forces attacked the villages of Nedeljista and Rogosija near Milici after repelling an attack by Serbs. 5 October, Orić attacked Fakovici and other villages along the river Drina. According to a Dutch government report (NIOD report), Orić's forces killed at least 24 Serb soldiers and burned down 36 buildings. Serbs at the other (i.e. Serbian) side of the Drina were involved in skirmishes as well. The report states that Serbs were using small boats as platforms for machineguns. 6 November, Bosniak forces, led by Orić, attacked and captured the village of Kamenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina). 14-19 December, Bosnian Army and irregulars under the command of Orić attacked the villages of Bjelovac, Voljavica, Loznica, and Sikirić after an attack by the Serb Army. 7 January 1993 (Orthodox Christmas Day), Bosniak forces under Orić captured the Serb villages of Kravica, Siljkovici and Jezestica. An estimated 25 VRS troops and eleven civilians were killed in the attack. The attack was reportedly in response to shelling by Serb forces. 16 January 1993, Orić attacked the village of Skelani, on the border with Serbia, killing at least 40 Serbs.
UN Safe Area On 10 January 1993 the Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladić launched a full-scale offensive against Srebrenica. On 17 April 1993, the city was made a safe haven by the United Nations, while fighting between Serb forces and Orić's units in Srebrenica continued with the Serbs retaking much of the territory lost during 1992.
In July 1995, the partially disarmed "UN safe area" was ultimately overrun by the Bosnian Serb Army, resulting in the Srebrenica massacre. Orić, along with rest of the command staff of 8th OG, was evacuated by helicopter in May 1995 two months prior to the fall of the enclave.
ICTY war crimes trial