The Sijekovac Massacre

The secessionist war was systematically transferred from the territory of the former Socialist Republic of Croatia to the territory of BiH. Consequently, the first mass crimes against members of the Serbian people were committed by Croatian units in the border areas of BiH.

Massacre in Sijekovac – The First Mass Crime in Posavina

In the Posavina region (the northern part of BiH bordering Croatia), the first mass crime was committed in the village of Sijekovac, in the then-municipality of Bosanski Brod. In this village, Croatian units (acting alongside a certain number of Muslim fighters), which had already occupied parts of the municipality in early March, killed nine Serbian civilians in their homes and yards in an exceptionally cruel and criminal manner on March 26.

In addition to these murders, in a pre-planned operation by Croatian forces, the village was looted, and over 50 Serbian houses were set on fire. The remaining Serbian population was illegally detained and subjected to other forms of psychological and physical abuse. As part of these events, ethnic cleansing was carried out in this and other Serbian localities, where various forms of criminal actions against Serbs also took place.

During 1992, another 10 people of Serbian nationality from Sijekovac were killed, having previously been imprisoned and abused by the attacking formations. It should be noted that, just before the aforementioned events, in the night between March 24 and 25, three Serbs were killed in Bosanski Brod. Until the breakthrough of the Corridor, the Posavina region was marked by a high number of instances of torture, abuse, and murders of Serbian civilians by Croat-Muslim forces.