The Zaklopača massacre occurred three years before the

Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Masakr u Srebrenici, Масакр у Сребреници), also known as the Srebrenica genocide ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Genocid u Srebrenici, Геноцид у Сребрен ...

, at the time when

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

forces were committing a campaign of ethnic cleansing of the

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

civilians in the

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby ...

region. According to Helsinki Watch at least 83 Bosniaks were killed, including 11 children and 16 elderly persons. According to the Institute for the Research of Genocide, Canada:

On 16 May 1992, Serb forces approached the village and demanded Bosniak residents to hand over their weapons. Except few hunting rifles, Bosniak residents did not have any combat weapons to defend themselves. When the Serbs learned that the residents were effectively unarmed, they blocked all exists of the village and massacred at least 63 Bosniak men, women and children.

Court Proceedings

According to the trial judgement of

Momčilo Krajišnik Momčilo Krajišnik (; 20 January 1945 – 15 September 2020) was a Bosnian Serb political leader, who along with Radovan Karadžić co-founded the Bosnian Serb nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS). Between 1990 and 1992, he was speaker of ...

On 16 May 1992, Serb forces killed approximately 80 people in Zaklopača. A large number of Muslims were transferred to and detained at Sušica camp, where about 2,000 to 2,500 Muslims of both genders and all ages passed through during the period of June to September 1992. Detainees at Sušica performed forced labour, sometimes at the front lines. Some detainees were killed by camp guards or died from mistreatment. A massacre was committed during the night of 30 September 1992, when the remaining 140 to 150 detainees at Sušica camp were driven out of the camp with buses and executed.

The Zaklopača massacre is also one of events discussed in charges against

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tr ...

The Chamber is also satisfied that the proposed evidence of Mersudina Saim-Hodzic is relevant to the charges of genocide (Count 1), persecutions (Count 3), extermination (Count 4), murder (Counts 5 and 6), deportation (Count 7), and inhumane acts (forcible transfer) (Count 8), as it specifically relates to the attack against Zaklopaca, the imposition and maintenance of restrictive and discriminatory measures against the Bosnian Muslim population in Vlasenica municipality, the expulsion of Bosnian Muslims from Vlasenica municipality, and the killing of Bosnian Muslims in Zaklopaca.

The massacre Bosniak civilians at Zaklopača was also discussed in the

Naser Orić Naser Orić (born 3 March 1967) is a former Bosnian military officer who commanded Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) forces in the Srebrenica enclave in eastern Bosnia surrounded by Bosnian Serb forces, during the Bosnian War. ...

case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaklopaca massacre Massacres in 1992 Massacres in the Bosnian War 1992 in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian war crimes in the Bosnian War May 1992 events in Europe Massacres of Bosniaks