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THE CASE OF 158 SERBS IMPRISONED IN THE MUSLIM-HELD SILO CAMP
IN
TARCIN, BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA
1995
Shortly after the first shots were fired on April 6th starting the war in
Bosnia and Hercegovina, the Muslim
and Croat forces started to round up the civilian populations around and
move them into detention camps of which the most notorious were Tarcin
and Celebici. Following the London Conference of August 1992 and according
to the agreement on the release and transfer of prisoners signed by the
three parties on October 1, 1992 in Geneva all detainees were to be
released by the end of 1992. To this date, the Muslim Government remains
in violation of that agreement by having consistently refused to release
all the detainees held captive since May 1992 at a detention site in a
wheat silo in Tarcin, a town outside of Sarajevo in the municipality of
Hadzici. 158 detainees (of which only four are not civilian) still remain
captive in this detention camp including men ranging in age 20-74 and one
woman. In repeated requests by the Serb representatives for prisoner
exchanges to release the civilian detainees the Muslim Government
has and continues to refuse to consider the option since the end of 1993.
The case is well documented by the International Red Cross. Yet, the
international authorities aware of the still existing camp have ignored
the case, made no effort to bear any pressure on the Muslim Government
to comply with the agreement they signed in October 1992 to release the
detainees, but instead continue to allow the civilians to be subjected
to unimaginable cruelty which has often resulted in death.
Some four hundred women of Hadzici (the municipality where Tarcin is located)
have spent two and a half years blocking UN convoys, pleading with UN and
International Red Cross officials, the international media and others to
obtain release of the prisoners, to no avail. The little support they
were able to solicit has gone completely ignored by the Muslim Government
and key international authorities.
An American man and wife team who learned of this tragedy from the women of
Hadzici have taken a personal effort and made numerous trips to gather
information and to try to bring attention to the case of the 158 Serbs
still imprisoned in the Muslim-held silo camp in Tarcin, Bosnia and to
try to obtain their release. They have video taped former prisoners,
families of the imprisoned, gathered written documentation, etc.
The American Serbian Womenís Caucus has joined this effort and compiled the
gathered documentation to reach public policy, media, academic and other
private individuals of influence in the hope of gathering support in
exposing this tragedy in order that those who have the authority to
influence the release of these civilians will no longer be able to
pretend that it does not exist.
Human tragedies are a consequence of any war and they have been plentiful
in this war affecting all members of the population of the former
Yugoslavia, Croat, Muslim and Serb. However, it has been a tendency to
ignore the Serbian victims who are no less victims and whose tragedy
is not any less unjust.
We hope to overcome this general bias with this report. The contents of
the report should leave no doubt as to the legitimacy of this case and will
hopefully motivate the reader to assist in seeking redress to this
tragedy.
San Francisco, April 1995
The Amercian Serbian Women's Caucus
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