Žepa
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Žepa ( sr-cyr, Жепа) is a village located in the municipality of Rogatica,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Rogatica itself on the banks of short river with a same name, the Žepa river, which flows into the
Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long river in the Balkans, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Al ...
river nearby, in a valley between the mountains Javor and Devetak.


History


Bosnian War

During the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
(1992–95), Žepa became one of three Bosniak
enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...
s in eastern Bosnia surrounded by the
Army of the Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska (; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herz ...
(VRS), along with
Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...
, a short distance downstream, and
Goražde Goražde ( sr-cyrl, Горажде, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of the Drina rive ...
farther upstream, after other towns such as
Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the south-east on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...
,
Bratunac Bratunac ( sr-cyrl, Братунац) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the municipality has a population of 20,340 inhabitants, while the town of Bratunac has a population of 8,359 inhabita ...
and
Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. Zvornik is located on the Drina River, on the eastern slopes of Majevica mountain, at the altitude of ...
were taken by the VRS. In 1993, the town was declared a
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
'' safe area'' and had a small
Ukrainian Army The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...
unit of
UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and ...
peacekeepers stationed there. The Bosniak military commander of the enclave was Colonel Avdo Palić, who disappeared soon after the town was captured by the VRS on 25 July 1995. According to eyewitness accounts, he was murdered at the orders of VRS General
Ratko Mladić Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb former military officer who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing war crimes, crim ...
. Totten et al. (2008), p. 483 116
Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
were killed in the takeover. Unlike in Srebrenica, a widespread slaughter of Bosniak men did not occur, as most Bosniak males had fled the enclave by the time Bosnian Serb forces arrived. Meanwhile, Bosniak women, children and the elderly were deported to
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
. In the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, who was implicated in the
Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by unit ...
, the trial chamber had found that the killings of the three top Bosniak civilian and military leaders of Žepa, and the conduct of the forcible transfer of the population, met the terms satisfying genocide, in combination with the Srebrenica massacre. The appeals chamber of the ICTY however, reversed these convictions regarding the events in Žepa as qualifying as genocidal acts, however it was reaffirmed that the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica, Žepa, Goražde and "Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina in general", were members of the targeted group and thus "the ultimate victims of the genocidal enterprise against the Muslims, of Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina".ICTY conviction of Zdravko Tolimir
icty.org; accessed 18 November 2015.


Demographics

As of 1991 census, the village had a population of 462 inhabitants, of which 450 (97.4%) were
Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
and 12 others. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants, majority of whom are Bosniaks (132; 99.2%).


Notes


References


Books

*


External links


Ivo Andrić Foundation - The Bridge on the Žepa




* ttp://www.icty.org/sid/11175ICTY: Zdravko Tolimir Judgement {{Authority control Villages in Republika Srpska