The Suffering of Serbs in Kupres Municipality

In the municipality of Kupres, in the southwestern part of BiH, an aggression by Croatian armed formations was carried out in early April, primarily targeting areas where Serbs had lived as the majority for centuries. The criminal operation threatened the village of Donji Malovan, which, along with several other Serbian villages, was attacked on April 3, 1992.

The artillery attack was followed by infantry operations, during which a significant number of murders, internments in camps, arsons, lootings, and other crimes were committed. In Donji Malovan, eleven civilians of Serbian nationality were killed at that time, with the youngest victim being 25 and the oldest 85 years old. It is evident that all generations of the local population were targeted, and the victims were of both sexes.

Detentions and Crimes

At that time, as previously noted, Serbs were also captured and sent to Croatian places of detention, torture sites, and camps. Following this attack, Croatian forces assaulted Begovo Selo, and subsequently the town of Kupres itself. During these battles and events, which lasted from April 4 to April 10, 1992, war crimes were also committed against civilian victims of Serbian nationality.

At least 40 Serbian civilians were killed during this period, while a large number of individuals were taken to camps in Croatia and BiH, where they were subjected to various forms of torture. At least eighteen of them, who were captured in Kupres in early April, were killed in those camps.

During the attack on Kupres by Croatian formations, several individual execution sites were recorded, most notably the "Viline kuće" (Vila's Houses) site, where at least nine Serbs were killed in a single building. Following the crimes in Kupres itself, the atrocities continued in the villages of Rilić, Zanaglina, and Botun, where at least ten Serbian civilians were killed.

Counterattack by JNA Forces

Units of the Yugoslav People's Army, in their counterattack which began on April 7 and unfolded across the Kupres municipality over the following few days, liberated Kupres. It was then that the first remains of the victims' bodies were found, showing visible signs of crimes, along with other material evidence, tools, and locations. The first testimonies were recorded regarding the atrocities and cruelties exhibited by Croatian forces toward Serbs, which in many ways recalled the crimes from the era of the genocide against Serbs in the NDH during World War II.