The Omarska camp

See Human Rights Watch summary here - more HRW reports here

When the war began in this part of Bosnia, Serb nationalists seized control of the local authority in Prijedor and worked through a "crisis staff" body to imprison and expel the Bosniak and Croat populations. They worked alongside paramilitary forces, managing a logistical network of buses and internment facilities to "process" the non-Serb population.

Thousands of people went through the camps at Omarska and nearby Keraterm, Manjaca and Trnopolje, but conditions in Omarska were worst of all. Hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed and many more suffered unspeakable torture in what was the best documented act of genocide in recent times - see for example the summary indictments against several local Serbs relating to Omarska and Keraterm. There are over 13,000 pages referenced by Google on the ICTY Web site, which is not surprising since the camps in north-west Bosnia that so shocked the world at the time were instrumental in the decision to classify Serbian war crimes as acts of genocide. The history of the Omarska camp is highly significant to the Bosnian war as a whole, because it illustrates both its purpose and its worst results.

The camp existed during the summer of 1992, until international attention made it impossible to maintain. The remaining detainees were then hastily transferred to Trnopolje and Manjaca, killed or eventually evacuated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Journalists such as Roy Gutman and Ed Vulliamy revealed the existence of the camps, but the true horror emerged in the form of survivors' testimonies, which are in many cases extremely harrowing.

The mine management cooperated with Serb paramilitary forces to organise and equip the complex for torture and incarceration, and some mine workers were involved in the process. See this piece about the role of former mine manager Ostoja Marjanovic.

Thus began a long and painful journey of recovery for survivors, and mourning for those who lost family members. A huge number of mass graves have been discovered in the 13 years since then, the latest of which was in the neighbouring village of Kevljani, where 465 bodies were discovered in 2004-2005. Even now, it will be a long time before the fate of all the victims is known.

It is a cliche to say it, but Omarska really should stand as a lesson from history.

Useful Links

Na Bosanskom

Background

The Memorial Project

The Debate

The Omarska camp