Ljubiša Beara (14 July 1939 – 8 February 2017) was a Bosnian Serb

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and convicted war criminal who participated 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 ...

Biography

Born in

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 ...

, Drina Banovina,

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, he was

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and Chief of Security of the

Bosnian Serb Army 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 ...

Main Staff. On 26 March 2002, the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

(ICTY) issued an indictment against him for his role 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 ...

. He surrendered and was transferred to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

on 10 October 2004. Two days later, he appeared in the Chamber and did not enter a plea. On 10 June 2010, the Trial Chamber brought a verdict that he "was the most senior officer of the Security Branch and had the clearest overall picture of the massive scale and scope of the killing operation. From his presence in

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 ...

on the night of 13 July, to his personal visits to the various detention and execution sites and the significant logistical challenges he faced throughout, Beara had a very personal view of the staggering number of victims destined for execution. Steeped in this knowledge, he became, in the opinion of the Trial Chamber, a driving force behind the murder enterprise". The Chamber found that Beara was a member of the JCE to murder the Bosnian Muslim males from Srebrenica, and that he participated in that JCE with persecutory intent. The Chamber was satisfied that in July 1995 Beara was intent on destroying a group by killing all the members of it within his reach, and that, beyond all reasonable doubt, he had harboured

genocidal intent Genocidal intent is the specific mental element, or , required to classify an act as genocide under international law, particularly the 1948 Genocide Convention. To establish genocide, perpetrators must be shown to have had the '' dolus speciali ...

. He was convicted of

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

, extermination,

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

and sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 2017, aged 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beara, Ljubisa 1939 births 2017 deaths Army of Republika Srpska soldiers People from Sarajevo Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of genocide Bosnia and Herzegovina people imprisoned abroad Bosnia and Herzegovina prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Bosnia and Herzegovina people who died in prison custody People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Prisoners who died in German detention

Biography

See also

References