April 2, 1992
Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serb paramilitary rape, murder, and pillage the citizens of Bijeljina
Between 48 and 78 were killed over two days (April 1 and 2), the majority of whom are Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), though people of other ethnicities were targeted as well. It is claimed that the victims numbered in the hundreds or even thousands, but troops were ordered to remove the bodies of the massacred victims before a Bosnian delegate arrived to investigate the killings. As such, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office were only able to verify between 48 and 78 civilian deaths.
In the wake of the massacre, mosques were demolished and detention camps established. Subsequent deaths of civilians were often reported as “natural causes.” Before the Bosnian War began in 1992, the Bosniak population of Bijeljina was approximately 30,000; after the war ended in 1995, fewer than 2,700 lived in the area. No arrests have been made regarding any of the civilian deaths as of this post.
Pictured: a Serb volunteer guard kicks a Bosniak woman as she lays dying of her gun wounds. Photo credit: Ron Haviv
