The White Eagles ( sr, / ), also known as the Avengers (), were a Serbian paramilitary group associated with the Serbian National Renewal (SNO) and the

Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска радикална странка, Srpska radikalna stranka, ''SRS'') is an ultranationalist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1991, and its founder and current leader is Vojislav � ...

(SRS)."Profile: Vojislav Seselj" ''BBC News'' 27 November 2006
/ref>Allen, Beverly (1996) ''Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia'' University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, pp. 154-155, The White Eagles fought in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

during the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

. In the 2003 ICTY

Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician, founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS); he was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal ...

indictment, the group is included as an alleged party in the

joint criminal enterprise Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine used during war crimes tribunals to allow the prosecution of members of a group for the actions of the group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually responsib ...

, in which Vojislav Šešelj allegedly took part. In the indictment the group is identified as "volunteer units including ' Chetnik', or Šešeljevci ( sr-Cyrl, Шешељевци, translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as 'Šešelj's men')".ICTY
Vojislav Seselj indictment
15 January 2003 This association has been denied by SRS leader Vojislav Šešelj.

Name

Although the group's members were occasionally referred to as Chetniks, they are not to be confused with the Serbian anti fascist and anti communist guerrilla group during and after World War II also known as the ''White Eagles'' and also referred to as ''Chetniks''. The name White Eagles comes from an anti-communist organisation that was formed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and continued a guerrilla war against Tito's government after the war. White Eagle refers to the

national symbol A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an e ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, the double headed white eagle under a crown.

History

The White Eagles paramilitary group was formed in late 1990 by

Dragoslav Bokan Dragoslav Bokan (, ; born 15 February 1961) is a Serbian film director, writer, politician and former paramilitary commander. Biography Bokan was born in the Savski Venac area of Belgrade on 15 February 1961 to Serb parents Ilija and Milka (née ...

and Mirko Jović. The group split into different fractions as Bokan and Jović went their separate ways in 1992. Jović called for "a Christian, Orthodox Serbia with no Muslims and no unbelievers". Šešelj states that the group was started by Jović but they got out of his control. According to Šešelj, the White Eagles and Arkan's Tigers operated with help from the Yugoslav counterintelligence service.

War crimes

Testimony at the

International War Crimes Tribunal The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, Russell–Sartre Tribunal, or Stockholm Tribunal, was a private People's Tribunal organised in 1966 by Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, and ...

indicates that the White Eagles were responsible for a number of atrocities during the Croatian and Bosnian wars, including: the

Voćin massacre The Voćin massacre was the killing of 43 civilians in Voćin, Croatia, by the Serbian White Eagles paramilitary unit on 13 December 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The massacre was carried out after the unit was ordered to ...

, Višegrad massacre, crimes at

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and a municipality located in Republika Srpska in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...

Gacko Gacko ( sr-cyrl, Гацко) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the region of East Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,784 inhabitants, while the m ...

and others. Various members of the White Eagles were indicted by the Tribunal.

Mitar Vasiljević Mitar Vasiljević ( sr-cyr, Митар Васиљевић; born 25 August 1954) is a Bosnian Serb who was convicted of crimes against humanity and violation of the laws or customs of war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugosl ...

received a fifteen-year sentence. Former head,

Milan Lukić Milan Lukić ( sr-cyr, Милан Лукић; born 6 September 1967) is a Bosnian Serb war criminal who led the White Eagles paramilitary group during the Bosnian War. He was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Y ...

, received a life sentence for his war crimes which include murdering men, women and children. It has been also reported that White Eagles managed a

detention camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

in Liješće, near

Bosanski Brod Brod ( sr-cyr, Брод, ),The official web site of the municipality
, Brod/Брод.

Reappearance

In December 2010 a group called "White Eagles" ( sr, / ) took responsibility for the killing of Kosovo's Bosniak leader Šefko Salković in the north of Kosovo. The group also took responsibility for obstructions of the election process in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, as well as for attacking KFOR troops.Emg.rs
Serb organization “Beli Orlovi” takes over the killing of Salkovic
14. December 2010.

References

External links

* ttp://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/113/t113-7.htm (22 November 1993) Vreme News Digest Agency No 113 {{DEFAULTSORT:White Eagles (Paramilitary) Paramilitary organizations in the Yugoslav Wars Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence Chetniks Military units and formations of the Bosnian War Far-right politics Military wings of political parties Paramilitary organizations based in Serbia 1991 establishments in Serbia Military units and formations established in 1991 Military units and formations disestablished in 1995 Anti-communist organizations