PHYSICIANS for

HUMAN RIGHTS

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FORENSIC MONITORING PROJECT REPORT

Kamenica Exhumations Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing

(31 July 1998)

FINDINGS

Report by: Heather P. York, M.A.

Forensic Monitor Forensic Monitoring Project Tuzla, Bosna i Hercegovina

January 1999

Physicians for Ftuman Rights 100 Boylston Street, Suite 702 Boston, MA 02116 USA Tel. (617)695-0041 Fax. (617)695-0307 Email: phrusa@phrusa.org http://www.phrusa.org

Physicians for Human Rights Pere Cuskica br.24

75000 Tuzla Bosna i Hercegovina

Tel/fax: 387-75-250-639

Financed with support of International Commission on Missing Persons

ICMP International Commission

on Missing Persons

KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

Summary of Events

On the 31st of July 1998, the Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing searched for bodies alleged to be buried on the grounds of a schoolhouse near the town of Kamenica. This school had been used as a prison camp during the 1992-95 war. No human remains were encountered.

A Forensic Monitor from Physicians for Human Rights was present for the duration of this investigation.

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KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

Participants and Observers

Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing IVANCEVIC Milan Member KARAN Zeljko Forensic Pathologist, Banja Luka KRCMAR Goran Member MARIC Milko Crime Technician VESELINOVIC Slavisa Morgue Assistant Laborers

Federal Conimission on Missing Persons - Croat Side CVITANOVIC Berislav Member

Office of the High Representative ESCOBAR Gabriel KULJTJH Klaudija YOUNG Steve

Physicians for Human Rights STIKIC Sandra YORK Heather

Exhumations Officer, Banja Luka Special Assistant and Translator, Sarajevo Exhumations Officer, Banja Luka

Translator Forensic Monitor

Security Organizations Members of Canadian Stabilization Force Officers of the International Police Task Force Local Bosnian Croat police

Site Description

The site of the former prison camp is located about 3 km west of Drvar. It can be found on the Drvar DMA topographic map at UTM grid coordinates 33T XK 057E 13 IN (Sheet 2483-IV, Edition 6, Scale 1:50,000; Figure 1). It is accessed by driving on National Route 14-2 south and west from Drvar, then taking the northwest route when the road splits near Gornja Kamenica and continuing for another 2.75 km. At this point, a narrower road branches off to the northwest from the National Route and passes in front of the prison camp grounds.

The camp grounds are surrounded on all sides by a double row of barbed wire fences. The only break in the fence rows is at the southwest entrance to the grounds. A schoolhouse which had been converted into a prison facility (Photos 1 & 2) is situated in the northern corner of the grounds and is accessible by a gravel road (Figure 2).

Upon our arrival, a large area on the southwestern half of the grounds was cordoned off with red RONCO mine tape. Vegetation had already been cut back from the area, presumably by the demining team. In the western corner of the grounds, a roughly square-shaped depression, approximately 10 m x 10 m, was easily discernable (Figure 2; Photo 3). The vegetation over the depression was greener than in the surrounding areas.

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999

KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

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KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

1-Story Structure

2-Story Structure

10m

j " ~" •- --'-

To National Route 14-2 (2 km) - >

Legend

Depression

Double row of barbed wire fence

RONCO mine tape

Figure 2: Kamenica Prison Camp Structures and Grounds (not to scale)

Site History

Witness information provided to the Republika Srpska Commission indicated that this high-security prison camp initially had been controlled by Bosnian Serb forces, but toward the end of the war, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) took over its operation. Therefore, it was presumed that there would be both Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs buried somewhere on the grounds. There was speculation that Bosniak bodies collected from the nearby frontlines would be buried at this site as well.

Exhumation Process and Condition of Remains

Under the direction of Dr. Zeljko Karan, four laborers used shovels and picks to dig several trenches, most of them to a depth of less than 0.5 m, throughout the area of the depression. The soil in the trenches was not densely packed, and the presence of onion bulbs indicated

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KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

the area had been cultivated at some earlier time. The skeleton of a cow was found in the trenched area, but no human remains were encountered.

Given the difficulty of digging by hand and the heat, the Commission team decided to discontinue looking for human remains at this location. As of this writing, no plans have been made to return to the site.

Postmortem Examination Findings

No postmortem examinations were necessary for this investigation.

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KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

Photo 1. Schoolhouse converted into a prison facility. (Roll HY-014, Exp.6)

Photo 2. Sleeping pallets in the interior of the converted schoolhouse. (Roll HY-014, Exp. 8)

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999

KAMENICA EXHUMATIONS

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Photo 3. Members of the Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing surveying the site area. View is toward the northwest. (Roll HY-014, Exp. 5)

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999 7

PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes the health professions and enlists public support to protect and promote the human rights of all people.

PHR believes that human rights are essential preconditions for the health and well-being of all members of the human family.

We use medical and scientific methods to investigate and expose violations of human rights worldwide.

We work to stop violations of human rights.

We demand the perpetrators of human rights violations be held accountable for their actions under international law.

Since its founding in 1986, PHR has carried out forensic investigations, including exhumations and autopsies, of alleged torture and extrajudicial executions in Afghanistan, Brazil, Israel, the former Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Iraqi Kurdistan, Kuwait, Mexico, Panama, Somalia, and Thailand. PHR has also devoted considerable energy and resources, under the auspices of its Chicago-based International Forensic Program, to assist the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (and its predecessor the U.N. War Crimes Commission) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, to collect evidence of genocide in those nations.

The President is Charles Clements, M.D., M.P.H., the Vice President is Carola Eisenberg, M.D., the Executive Director is Leonard Rubenstein, J.D., the Deputy Director is Susannah Sirkin, the Advocacy Director is Holly Burkhalter, the Senior Program Associate is Richard Sollom, the Director of Communications is Barbara Ayotte, the Campaign and Education Coordinator is Gina Cummings, the Membership Development Coordinator is Steve Brown. William H. Haglund, Ph.D., is Director of PHR's International Forensic Program. Vince Iacopino, M.D., Ph.D., is Senior Medical Consultant. The director of Bosnia Projects is Laurie Vollen, M.D., M.P.H.

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