The Čelebići camp was a prison camp run by joint Bosniak and Bosnian Croat forces during the Bosnian War where Serb prisoners were detained and subjected to murder, beatings, torture, sexual assaults and otherwise cruel and inhumane treatment. The facility was used by several units of the Bosnian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and later the Bosnian Territorial Defence Forces (TO). It was located in Čelebići, a village in the central Bosnian municipality of Konjic.
The camp was operational from April to December 1992 and approximately 400-700 Serbs were held there during its existence. Most of the Serb detainees were civilians, arrested during military operations that were intended to unblock routes to Sarajevo and Mostar in May 1992 that had earlier been blocked by Serb forces. Some prisoners were shot or stabbed and killed or beaten to death. It is believed that as many as 30 prisoners died while in captivity.
On 21 March 1996, camp deputy commander Hazim Delić, guard Esad Landžo, commander Zdravko Mucić and Zejnil Delalić were indicted by the ICTY for their roles in the crimes committed at the camp. Following the trial, Delić, Landžo and Mucić were found guilty of violations of the customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions for the murder, torture and cruel treatment of prisoners with each receiving a sentence of 20 years, 15 years and 7 years respectively. Delalić was acquitted.
Background
As war broke out in Bosnia, the municipality of Konjic was of historical and strategic importance. It is located in the center of areas both Serbs and Croats long considered to fall within their sphere of influence, with the Croats laying claim to the entire area of Herzegovina and the Serbs primarily interested in the eastern Neretva valley. A key railway line and highway passed through Konjic towards Sarajevo. Several important military facilities were also located in Konjic, including an arms and ammunition factory, JNA barracks and reserve command site, a communications and telecommunications centre, and the Čelebići barracks and warehouses.
In March 1992, Serb political members of the Konjic municipality adopted a decision on the Serbian territories, even though Serbs did not constitute the majority of the population of Konjic nor did it form part of the declared "Serb autonomous regions" set out on 21 November 1991. This was reportedly recognized by the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) on the basis of the number of Serb representatives in the Municipal Assembly. The SDS, in co-operation with the JNA, had also been active in arming the Serb population of the municipality and in training paramilitary units and militias.
Konjic was also claimed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) as part of the "Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia", despite the fact that the Croats did not constitute a majority of the population there either. Therefore, HVO units were established and armed in the municipality by April 1992.
Following the recognition of Bosnia as an independent state, the Municipal Assembly in Konjic met for the final time on 17 April 1992. Decisions for the defence of the municipality were undertaken and the Territorial Defence Force (TO) was mobilized. SDS representatives walked out and the assembly ceased to function.
Between 20 April and early May 1992 Bosnian government forces seized control over most of the strategic assets of the Municipality and some armaments. However, Serb forces controlled the main access points to the municipality, effectively cutting it off from Sarajevo and Mostar. In April, the local authorities in Konjic had already organised their forces pursuant to existing defence regulations. Muslim and Croat forces began to arrive in the city of Konjic from surrounding villages, while Serb inhabitants moved to Serb-controlled villages.
On 4 May 1992, the first shells landed in Konjic, thought to be fired by the JNA and other Serb forces from the slopes of Borašnica and Kisera, nearby mountains. This shelling, inflicted substantial damage and resulted in the loss of many lives and continued until the signing of the Dayton accords.
The de-blocking of the routes to Sarajevo and Mostar became a clear priority for Konjic authorities. This required that the Serbian forces holding the nearby villages of Bradina and Donje Selo, as well as those at Borci and other strategic points, be disarmed.
Authorities attempted to negotiate with the principal representative of the Serbian people, the SDS but these apparent negotiations failed. Thereafter, the Konjic defence forces which included the local Croatian Army (HVO) and the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) in addition to the TO, launched a military campaign: the Bradina operation. At the time, the TO and the HVO had a common interest in uniting against the Serbs and thus co-operated.
Joint Bosniak and Croat military operations
The first area to be targeted was the village of Donje Selo where on 20 May 1992 TO and HVO and forces entered. Muslim and Croat soldiers then moved through Vinište towards the villages of Cerići and Bjelovčina. Cerići, was the first village to be shelled and it was attacked around 22 May and some of its inhabitants surrendered. The village of Bjelovcina was also attacked around that time. Some people in the village of Vinište were arrested around 23 May.
The Serb-populated village of Bradina was shelled in the late afternoon and evening of 25 May and then soldiers in both camouflage and black uniforms appeared, firing their weapons and setting fire to buildings. At least 43 or 48 Serb civilians were killed in the Bradina massacre and the village was burned to the ground. Many of the population sought to flee and some withdrew to the centre of the village. They were nonetheless, arrested at various times around 27 and 28 May, by TO, HVO and MUP soldiers and police. These operations resulted in the arrest of many members of the Serb population, necessitating a facility where they could be detained.
The camp Establishment
The former JNA Čelebići compound appears to have been chosen out of necessity as the appropriate facilities for the detention of prisoners in Konjic were minimal. The compound was a relatively large complex of buildings covering an area of about 50,000 square metres, with a railway line running through the middle. The JNA had used it for fuel storage and so it had underground tunnels and tanks, in addition to various hangars and assorted buildings. Only a small part of the camp was actually used to detain prisoners. At the entrance laid a small reception building beside a larger administrative building, referred to by the ICTY as "Building A" and "Building B" respectively. A building containing water pumps referred to "Building 22" was located opposite. To the north-east was a tunnel that was 1.5 metres wide and 2.5 metres high, labeled "Tunnel 9" by the ICTY. It extended about 30 metres downwards into the ground and led, after a steel door, to a fuel measuring and distribution station. On the other side of the camp, beside other buildings was a large metal one, 30 metres long and 13 metres wide, referred to as "Hangar 6".
The camp was operational from April 1992 to December 1992.
The total number of prisoners held at the camp is not known but estimates range from at least 400 to as many as 700.
Inmates
The majority of the prisoners who were detained were men captured during and after the military operations at Bradina and Donje Selo and their surrounding areas. Many of the men who were rounded up were elderly or infirm. The women who were held at the camp were housed separately, first at Building A then Building B. Most of the prisoners were civilians.
Most of the detainees were captured between 22 and 27 May 1992 and transferred to the camp from various locations and villages. A large group of people from Bradina were arrested on 27 May, made to walk in a column then searched and beaten by their captors before being loaded into trucks and transported to the camp. These Bradina detainees, numbering 70-80 were taken to Hangar 6 and appear to have been the first group stationed there. Many of the witnesses who were taken to the camp testified that upon their arrival, they were made to line up against a wall where they were searched or forced to hand over valuables. Several said that they were severely beaten by soldiers or guards. Other detainees were housed in Building 22 which was tightly packed with people and later moved to Hangar 6. Some spent a substantial amount of time in the tunnel.
A Military Investigating Commission was formed with its purpose being to establish the responsibility of these persons for any military involvement or crimes. However, it was made evident during the trial that the commission had been created as a façade to give the Čelebići camp some semblance of legality. It only lasted for a month. Members of the commission were so horrified by the conditions the detainees were living in, the injuries they suffered, and the state of terror prevailing in the camp, that they resigned en masse. Nevertheless, the commission interviewed many of the Čelebići inmates and took their statements, as well as analyzing other documents which had been collected to determine if they had a role in the combat against the Konjic authorities. As a result, prisoners were placed in various categories and the commission compiled a report recommending that certain persons be released. Some of the individuals who had been placed in the lower categories were subsequently transferred to the Musala sports hall. Others were exchanged, some under the auspices of the International Red Cross who visited the camp in August.
Conditions and treatment
From the camp's establishment to its closure, detainees were subjected to murder, beatings, torture, sexual assaults and otherwise cruel and inhumane treatment.
Tunnel 9 was utilised for the incarceration of many detainees, containing at least 80 individuals at one point and, given its small size, was extremely crowded. Prisoners rarely bathed, slept on concrete floors without blankets, and many were forced to defecate on the floor. A former prisoner at the camp, described his and others' ordeal inside the tunnel to the Belgrade-based independent news agency Vreme News Digest:
A large number of prisoners were confined to Hangar 6, at least 240 at one point. They had assigned places on the floor where they had to remain seated, arranged in rows. Given that the building was made out of metal, it became hot during the daytime and prisoners were not allowed to leave their places, except in small groups upon request to use the toilet facilities which consisted of an outside ditch.
Soldiers and guards beat prisoners with clubs, rifle butts, wooden planks, shovels and pieces of cable. Prisoners were called out of the hangar daily for beatings. Some of the prisoners testified to having their body parts doused in gasoline before being set alight as a form of torture. Pliers, acid, electric shocks and hot pincers were also used to torture prisoners.
Investigators say that between May and August, about 30 prisoners died from the severity of the "bestial" beatings and a few others were killed, either by being shot or stabbed to death. Several of these victims were elderly. Meanwhile, the few women in the camp, who were kept separate from the men, were frequently raped.
ICTY trial
Indictment