FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

COMMITTEE FOR GATHERING DATA ON

CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST HUMANITY

AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

B E L G R A D E

CRIME OF GENOCIDE

October, 1998

1

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

From July 1991 to August 1995 in the territory of the Republic of Croatia (republic within the composition of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) a cruel and merciless civil inter-national and inter-ethnic war was wagged. Further to the war actions, atrocities and destruction which are the imminent and unavoidable side effects of conducted war operations, by their character, importance, nature and consequences, especially outstanding were the genocidal actions of the Croat military authorities, individuals and groups against the Serbian population (civilians, wounded, sick and prisoners of war).

It is about such actions and behavior which had acquired a massive character that this report is speaking. Namely, ever since the beginning of the war actions in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, in Split, in the area of the former military naval zone – the compound of the former Yugoslav People’s Army "Lora", after the withdrawal of the Army, in the part of the military investigation penitentiary of the JNA, a prison camp was formed in which from 1992 to 1997 Serbs were detained, both the civilian population, wounded, sick and the prisoners of war, who were arrested and captured throughout, not only Croatia, but also Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus, in this prison camp Serbs were detained from Gabela, Duvno (Tomislavgrad), Kupres, Bjelovar, Split, Livno, Dubica, Benkovac, Capljine, Trebinje, Nevesinje, Mostar, Teslic, Klepac, Odzak, Karlovac…

The prison camp for Serbs imprisoned in "Lora" is practically continuously in operation since the beginning of war in the territory of the Republic of Croatia until this day. The prison inmates (detainees) whose statements are contained in this report, have been released only in the year 1997 under a strong pressure of the international community, most of all of the International Committee of the Red Cross. During the entire time of its existence the prison camp was characterized by the most cruel, bestial treatment of the detained Serbs, systematically continued over a long period of time. The conditions of accommodation in the prison camp were unsupportable and atrocious, failing to satisfy even the most elementary needs of the inmates.

Namely, the prisoners were placed in cells without anything in them, without any furniture, they were forced to sleep on bare concrete or floor, and even if they did have some beds (iron beds with wires and rods) it was only in a few cases. They had irregular, insufficient and poor nutrition, and it used to happen that for three or more days in a row they would not be given any food at all. It was frequently happening that the inmates during or after the meals would be beaten up by the guards. When they would be given some food, it was either boiling hot or excessively salty, and the inmates were forced to eat quickly, at an in advance scheduled time ( which was impossible). The meals consisted of a piece of bread and some paste or jam, so that the prisoners for several days on end (sometimes even twenty days) could not have a bowl movement or physiological relieve. Furthermore, the prisoners did not have any or some but inadequate medical care, although they were being kicked, beaten up from head to toe, covered with wounds, bruises, cuts, swellings, all of them bloody and deformed.

Not only were the conditions of living extremely inhumane, intolerable and cruel, but on the basis of an extensive documentation – most of all from personal sources of the evidence (depositions of eye-witnesses – inmates and victims themselves) and material sources of evidence (medical and other documents) – it has been established beyond any doubt that against the members of the Serbian people, and for the sole reason that they were the members of this national group and of the Serbian Orthodox faith, massive, continuous, systematic, over a long period of time, war crimes were committed against civilian population, war crimes against sick and wounded, war crimes against the prisoners of war, i.e. a crime of genocide having only one and the same aim – to totally eradicate (destroy and erase) Serbs as a national group in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, where they have had their centuries old homes and were the members of the Serbian Orthodox faith.

It is clear that this material speaks only of one segment of such genocidal behavior of the Croat soldiers and political structures towards the Serbian population in these areas, but this is, through a number of the so far collected and treated cases, more than sufficient to draw such an indicative conclusion. This even more so since "Lora" camp was under the direct command of the military police of the Croat Army, and it is logical to assume that everything that was being carried out there was the will and the political decision of Zagreb. The crimes of such proportion, scale, dynamics, type, severity, and cruelty indicate that their perpetrators were undertaking their actions not only with the full knowledge but under a direct supervision and at the orders of the political and military top echelons of the new Croat government.

This text is based on only one of the so far collected and treated number of cases of the tragedy of Serbs, and wherever it was possible, it is stated who the direct perpetrator was, i.e. who was the one that gave the orders, and who was the victim or the eye-witness to the crime. All of the crimes described hereinafter are supported with evidence. But it would be presumptious to say that this report contains all the examples of torture, atrocities, cruel and inhuman behavior, inflicting of lethal injuries or sever bodily injuries or sever disorders to the health of the persons imprisoned. It is certain that the darkness of the prison camp walls still hides many secrets of bestialities and atrocities committed.

Genocidal crimes against Serbs perpetrated in the prison camp of "Lora" in the period 1992 – 1997 may be systematized as follows:

• wilful killing of inmates (civilians and prisoners of war) in various manners and by different means;

• crimes against civilian population in the form of infliction of sever bodily injuries, serious detriment to health, torture, inhuman treatment, abuse, inflicting of serious physical and psychological sufferings;

• crime against prisoners of war in the form of inflicting severe bodily injuries or sever detriment to health, torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, abuse and infliction of serious physical and psychological sufferings;

At the end of this report, names together with the relevant evidence, of persons issuing the orders are given, as well as the names of direct perpetrators of the crimes (prison camp commanders, their deputies or assistants, prison guards, members of the military police, etc.).

2

WILFUL KILLING OF SERB INMATES

During the time it was in existence and in operation, in the prison camp "Lora" in Split in the period 1992 – 1997, it was established beyond any doubt that a large number of Serbs were killed there – both civilians and the prisoners of war, and that they were killed either from fire arms or side and cutting arms, or that they have died from the consequences of the inflicted serious body injuries or from sever treatment detrimental to their health. According to the available data it may be concluded that over twenty five persons were killed in this manner.

1. PETAR SPEMO, a Serb from Begovo Selo near Kupres, born on January 2, 1945 of father Slavko. After being captured on April 5, 1992 he was taken to the prison camp in Kupres, then to Sujice, and finally to the "Lora" prison camp, where he was beaten up, tortured, and where he died from the effects of the torture on April 18th that same year. His body was handed over to the Serbian authorities during the exchange of June 26, 1993.

About his killing the following statements of witnesses are testifying:

1. Witness 333/96-6 states the following: "In Split we were first brought to the building of the Secretariat for Interior Affairs (SUP) where they beat us up and abused us again. From these beatings Petar Spremo from Kupres died in "Lora".

2. Witness 333/96-11 states the following: "In "Lora" they started beating us up immediately, so that we were all of us beaten up. Then they took away all of our valuables. They took from me 20 and from my son 100 DEM. They also took away our documents. After the beatings they took us to the cells. I was placed in a cell together with my son, and there were in the cell also M.R. and M.Lj. with us. It was there that Petar Spremo was immediately separated from us, because he had serious injuries and he later died and his body was exchanged".

3. Witness 333/95-23 states the following: "In Split we were taken into the compound of the naval zone where the center of the Croat military police is located. There, just like in Gornji Brisnik, we were coming out of the truck one by one. We were met by the Croat policemen and were beaten up. In front of me, at some three meters distance, was Petar Spremo. One Croat soldier hit him hard on the head with the pistol handle and from the kick he fell and hit his temple on the sidewalk, after which he remained laying there immobile. I did not see him after that. That same soldier also hit me strongly with the pistol handle on the head from which hit my scull was cracked in four places, and I was covered with blood".

4. Witness 420/95-2 states the following; "I know that in "Lora" Petar Spremo from Begovo Selo was killed in the manner that he was hit with the baton on the head, from which blow he fell into a coma and after a few days he died".

5. Witness 426/96-50 states the following: "Croat soldiers in "Lora" during the arrival have hit Petar Spremo, my cousin further removed, with a metal rod over the head and later he succumbed to the injuries".

6. Witness 426/996-53 states the following: "From the received blows during his passage through the ranks of the policemen, immediately afterwards, my cousin, my uncle’s son, Petar Spremo, died, because he was inflicted a blow on the head and his temple bones were broken".

7. Witness 547/96-40 states the following: "I wish to underline that before my departure to Zadar, in the camp of "Lora" Petar Spremo died, of father Slavko, from Begovo Selo. He died from the blows received in "Lora" where he was terribly beaten".

2. STOJAN ZUBIC, a civilian, arrested in Kupres

About his murder the following witnesses are testifying:

1. Witness 333/96-11 states the following: "In "Lora" they started immediately to beat us, so that they have beaten us up, all of us. Then they took away all our valuables. From me they took away 20 and from my son 100 DEM. They also took away our documents. In "Lora" with us was also Stojan Zubic, who had serious injuries and was operated upon in Split. He was exchanged with us, but immediately upon his arrival in Knin he died".

2. Witness 420/95-2 states the following: "I also know that Stojan Zubic, who was arrested in Kupres, and who was inflicted there with heavy injuries during the beating, two days after the exchange died of the effects of injuries inflicted upon him by beating that he received in Kupres and in "Lora".

3. RATKO and LJUBO MILIC (brothers), DUSAN NIKIC, SLAVKO DRAGOLJEVIC and CIVCIC, in a group of eight-nine Serbs

About their killing the following witnesses testify:

1. Witness 334/97-19, who was taken to Split with a group of some 80 Serbs from Kupres in April 1992, states the following: "After three days of our stay in "Lora" a group of some 70 of us arrested Serbs from Kupres, was tied up and loaded on the truck which took us in the direction of Duvno. Somewhere around Drnis the truck stopped and we could see in the vicinity of the road an excavated large pit close to which a bulldozer was working. People were standing there having the electric saws in their hands. Croat soldiers who had brought us there took down from the truck 8-9 Serbs from our group : brothers Ratko and Ljubo Milic, Dusan Nikic, Slavko Dragoljevic and Civic, who was a deaf-dumb, and I do not remember the names of the other ones. They took them to the pit and killed them there".

4. VLADO SAVIC from Nevesinje, DRAGAN JELIC and CUCAGA

About their assassination the following witnesses are testifying:

1. Witness 485/95 who was detained in "Lora" prison camp from April 10 to August 12 , 1992 states the following: "I know that in "Lora" Vlado Savic, Dragan Jelic and Cucaga were killed".

2. Witness 111/95-2, Lieutenant-Colonel of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in the prison camp of "Lora" was detained from April 26 to August 1992. He states the following: "I know that from the beatings have succumbed Dusko Jelic from Trebinje, Savic Vlado from Nevesinje and Vesovic Bojan called "Orao" (the Eagle)".

3) Witness 182/95-2 in the prison camp of "Lora" was detained from April 26 to May 2, and from May 20 to August 10, 1992 and he states the following: "In this camp was also killed Savic Vlado, reserve soldier, born in Nevesinje. I saw him several times and on many occasions they were beating us together, and he was of a completely distorted face and swollen from the beatings. His head was covered with wounds. On one occasion he was, allegedly, taken to the hospital and since then no one had even seen him again. I heard from C. and Z. that they had seen his body".

3. Witness 67/94-2 states the following: "In the block beside ours there was Z.S. from Capljine, for whom I heard that he is now in Trebinje, a certain Savic from Nevesinje and Vesovic Bojan called "Eagle" from Serbia. The two of them were also tortured and beaten up. Savic was swollen and bruised. About Savic they told us that he was exchanged because he suddenly disappeared from the block".

4. Witness 67-94-3 states the following; "I remember Savic from Nevesinje who was also in the block "C". He was disfigured, all swollen, and I remember that his ears were enormous and that he was in a very poor state, and then he disappeared from the block. The guards told us that he was taken to be exchanged".

5. Witness 67/94-1 states the following: "I also remember Savic Vlado from Nevesinje whom we found in the block "C" and I remember that I was appalled by his looks. He was bruised, swollen and blue and I have never seen until then that the ears could become so much swollen, they were enormous and blue from bruises. He was also beaten on regular basis, and some 10-15 days after our arrival he disappeared from the block "C". The guards told us that he was taken for the exchange".

6. Witness 445/94-26 states the following; While I was in "Lora" there were no death cases amongst us in the block "A", but I have seen when Z.V. and C. whose name I do not know, were making a coffin from one ammunition box, and latter on I learnt that it was for a certain Jelic who perished in the block ".

5. Group of fighters of the Niksic Corps of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA): LUKA GAZIVODA, SIMOVIC RATKO called "MALISA", BAROVIC DUSAN called "DUKA", ADZIC LUKA

About their killing the following witnesses are testifying:

1. Witness 333/94-21 who was detained in the prison camp from April 11 to 14, 1992 states the following: "We, women from Kupres, were separated into special cells. They called us the Chetnik whores, they cursed and insulted us. We were forced to wash the latrines, bathrooms and walls from the blood. In the adjacent cells they were beating up the detained men, and they would bring us to watch the beatings. I was forced to watch the beatings of my own husband. They were beating them with the beech tree, with wooden bats and riffle butts. My husband was all bruised and covered with blood. We were forced to watch them beat up four Montenegrins from Niksic. They were beaten up so much on April 13, 1992 that one of them died the next day. The next day they bound our eyes and loaded us on board some van vehicle in which they pushed also a coffin without a cover in which there was a corpse of that killed Montenegrin, and three Montenegrins who were still alive. I touched the inside of the coffin and felt that in it there was a still warm body of the killed Montenegrin. From "Lora" they took us to Duvno".

2. Witness 333/95-2, a housewife from Kupres, detained in this camp in the spring of 1992, states the following: "In "Lora" they separated us women. There were five of us and they placed us in a separate cell, close to the cell in which men were detained.. In this prison camp I stayed for fifteen days. The guards were beating every day the detained men in the adjacent cells. They would open our doors and would force us to watch them torturing and beating the men. Across the cell from ours was the cell in which were detained four Montenegrins from Niksic. I was watching them beat them all day long and torturing them also. Luka Gazivoda was beaten so much that he remained down on his back, without giving any signs of life. The next day I heard nailing of some boards. Latter, I saw a coffin which in the evening they brought out into the circle".

3. Witness 445/94-17 states the following: "On one occasion in the prison camp circle I saw four prisoners for whom I knew that they were Montenegrins, and they were covered with blood and swollen from the beatings, and I well remember that two of them have had their ears cut off. I know that they have spent here two days but I do not know what happened to them afterwards. However, in the meantime, C. and myself were given the order to make two coffins. When these Montenegrins disappeared C. and I were washing a van vehicle which was all covered with blood, so I suppose that they were taken away in that van, either dead or alive".

4. Witness 510/96-13 states the following; "I know that one reserve soldier from Niksic was severely massacred (his ears were cut off) and that he died. I think that his family name was Barovic, but I am not sure. And Luka Adzic from Niksic, Ramova Street No. 14 was also killed. He died under terrible torture. I was bathing him twice because he was laying immobile on the floor, and he started decaying while still alive. I do not know where he is buried".

5. Witness 420/95-2 states the following: "One military commander whom they called "Montenegrin" had his ears cut off and they forced him to eat them up. I also noticed that in the prison camp there were some captured pilots".

6. Witness 164/95-2 states the following: "I remember that Luka Adzic from Niksic was forced to eat his beard which was long and which they had shaven off. He had to eat every hair of it. As far as I know, Luka Adzic died some month after the release from prison and is buried in Niksic".

7. Witness 340/94-3 states the following: "While I was in "Lora" one day, I do not remember the date, in the cell number 3 which was across the cell in which I was detained, there were four Montenegrins, two of these Montenegrins succumbed to the beatings inflicted upon them. I saw personally how they cut off the ear of one of them, and then I heard them beating them, to learn later that on that same day they died from the injuries. One of these Montenegrins who died was a tall and strong man, between 30 and 40 years of age, and was captured near Bijelo Polje in Mostar. He was killed because allegedly he had raped and slaughtered the nuns in Bijelo Polje. The second one was skinny, dark, some 27 years old, and I do not know anything else about him. It is the one whose ear they had cut before they killed him. I do not know what happened with the bodies of the assassinated victim".

8. Witness 445/94-33 states the following: "I remember well on one occasion that we were walking around the circle, and although we were always forced to look down at the ground, I saw these three Montenegrins, to whom there in front of me, one soldier had cut off the ears, and gauged the eye of another.. They were completely deformed, bloody and in a terrible state. Latter I heard from the guards that during that night one of those three died, but what was their fate afterwards I do not know".

9. Witness 445/94-18 states the following: "They would take us out into the courtyard, they would force us for hours to march by the step of the legionnaire, which is tiring fast because one has to step with an unequal force on both feet and during all that time to sing the songs. It was then that the prisoners from the other parts of the prison camp would be joining us. The one forced to sing the most was Luka Adzic from Niksic, and we were accompanying him. Luka died after the exchange in Niksic".

10. Witness 437/94-2 states the following: "I remember well that one evening they brought two Montenegrins for whom I think that they were captured at the Trebinje-Dubrovnik battle front, and I saw that they were in military uniforms, so they took them to a cell close to our own, so I could hear their screams and the blows. They were beating them all night long. In the morning when they took us out for a walk before breakfast, they took out also these two so I could see that they could hardly stand on their feet. They were covered with blood, their heads were all swollen, their eyes were closed and their clothes thorn up. After breakfast we all lined up and received "degenek" beating, and then they returned us to our cells, so I did not see the Montenegrins any more. Since they did not appear the next day, I assume that they have succumbed to their injuries. After this event I do not remember exactly whether one or two days have passed, they brought up five men into the cell in which they were beating the Montenegrins, to clean it up. It was all covered with blood and there was blood both on the walls and on the floor".

11. Witness 418/95-2 states the following; "From the first three Montenegrins when we came to Duvno, one Montenegrin called Barovic Dusan, called "Duka", died. He was from Niksic".

12. Witness 445/94-3 states the following: "I remember that there was also an active solider Montenegrin who was taken one day for the exchange, but later on I learnt that he died from the injuries inflicted upon him in "Lora"".

13. Witness 259/94-6 states the following: "One evening, I do not remember the exact date, around midnight, Tomo Dujic, who seemed to have had a special grudge on me, took me out of my cell and into another room. There I found five men who were dressed in standard JNA uniforms, so I concluded that they were the members of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA). According to the way they spoke I understood that they were Montenegrins. These men were so much tortured, with broken arms and legs, that it all left a terrible impression on me. I shall never be able to forget that picture. As far as I can remember, the ears were cut off from all of them, or it seems to me that there was only one of them with one ear left. They were lined up on the floor, some were leaning against the wall, and some were half laying on the floor. To some of them the eyes were already gauged, and to some they were gauging the eyes in front of me. I remember how one of the torturers stabbed one of them with the knife through the tongue and then pulled the knife, so that the tongue was cut off. They did not gauge the eyes of one of the Montenegrins, so that he could see what was going on, and then they started slaughtering them, one by one. They were slaughtering them in such a way that they would hold their hair in the hands and would cut their throats with the knife. On that occasion the head would be severed from the body of every one of them. If some one would try to defend himself he would be quickly overcome, because there were five torturers and they were all beaten up and in a terrible state. At the end, only one of them stayed alive, the one whose eyes they did not gauge. One of the torturers lined up three knives, one beside the other and told him to chose the knife with which he will be slain. This poor man who really had enough of torture and humiliation, did point his hand to one of the knives. One of the torturers, I do not recall exactly which one but I think the one who asked for the knife to be chosen, became very angry – he was more resembling a beast than a man – and he swiftly grabbed that knife and in a split second rushed to the Montenegrin and in one blow severed his head from his body. The lifeless body turned over, and the head remained in the air, because the executioner was holding it by the hair. It was a terrible sight which can hardly be described. While the Ustashi was holding the head, the eyes of the slain were wide open, and also the mouth and they in such a state were opening and closing several times. From this sight even the torturers became frightened. When after a certain time the one who was holding the head came to his senses, he crushed the head with all his force against the wall and it simply blow over and I saw the brain sizzle".

14. Witness 64/94-1 states the following: "I remember one reserve soldier from Kragujevac who was captured while wounded. He was beaten up on the wounds and he succumbed to the injuries. I have personally buried him close to the prison barb wire towards the sea. I also took part in the burial of three Montenegrins who also died in the prison camp, but I do not know their names".

6. DUSKO JELIC from Trebinje; BOJAN VESOVIC, called "Beli orao", soldier from Kragujevac, of father Miroslav and mother Ilinka; NENAD KNEZEVIC, from the vicinity of Sibenik; BULOVIC (or VULOVIC0 lawyer from the vicinity of Benkovac.

About their killing the following witnesses testify:

1. Witness 63/94-1 who was detained in "Lora" prison camp from April to August 14, 1992, states the following: "I remember one soldier, a reserve soldier from Kragujevac who was captured while wounded. He was beaten on his injuries and he succumbed from the beatings. I have personally buried him close to the prison barbed wire towards the sea".

2. Witness 181/95-2 states the following: "From the effects of torture several prisoners had died. I know for sure that from the beatings have died Dusko Jelic from Trebinje, Bojan Vesovic from Kragujevac and that Knezevic, a Serb from Kasteli near Split, who was wounded in the arm and leg, was finished off by the guards Andjelko Botic and Ante Gidic in the prison latrine close to my cell.".

3. Witness 111/95-2, Lieutenant Colonel in the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) who was imprisoned in the prison camp "Lora" from April 26 to August 1992, states the following: "When I was brought to "Lora" I was placed in the block "C" for which I have latter learnt that it was the part of the camp reserved for the worst possible torture. Even the members of the International Red Cross were never allowed an access there. I know that the following persons have died from the beatings: Dusko Jelic from Trebinje, Savic Vlado from Nevesinje, and Vesovic Bojan called "Orao" from Kragujevac, Knezevic Nenad from the vicinity of Sibenik, who attempted an escape, but was wounded and after a certain time had died, and Bulovic, a lawyer from Benkovac, who was killed as a warning to all the others because of the escape attempt by Knezevic. He was killed by Ante, Andjelko Botic and Emilio Bunger".

4. Witness 182/95-2 states the following: "I know that in this prison camp Bojan Vesovic from Kragujevac, called "Beli orao" was killed. He was terribly tortured and I was often hearing his screams and cries. He was never taken out of his cell, and according to the stories of the soldiers who were bringing him food, he was completely beaten up and could not walk, because both of his legs were broken. A coffin for him was made by the prisoners in the camp. From the effects of the torture Bjelic Dusan also died in this prison camp, and he was buried in the prison camp circle together with another two civilians, I thing that they were from Split. One of them was Knezevic. He attempted an escape but during the escape was wounded and so wounded he was taken to the courtyard of the camp where he was beaten up and soon died. Afterwards the guards as a warning have killed yet another civilian, of the family name of Bulovic".

5. Witness 499/95-2 states the following: "I know that in the prison camp one soldier was also arrested by the name of Dragan, I do not know his family name, but they called him "Beli orao" ("White Eagle") because he belonged among the ranks of the formation of "White Eagles’, although before that he was serving his regular military service. I could hear in my cell how he was tortured every day, i.e. every night, - he was beaten up because the screams from the interrogation room could be heard throughout the night. After this period I did not hear anything about him any more, and I only know that he disappeared, but sometime in May and June (I think that it was then) the prisoners V.Z. and M.C. were telling me that "The White Eagle" was killed and that they had buried him somewhere close to the "Lora" prison camp. I also know that two Serbs were arrested from Split, and one of them while he was being taken from the block "A" to the block "C" pushed away the guard and started running. On that occasion he was wounded in the leg and through the stomach and was captured and dragged to the prison camp circle. Then he was beaten up by the guards until he fainted and was beaten the most by the guard who had a nickname "Emilio" and who was a guard commander. He was beating him up with boots, kicking him in the head until the prisoner fainted, and when he remained completely immobile and did not move at all, he was still kicked and remained lying there. Afterwards I heard that he was allegedly taken to the hospital, but I think that he was already dead. I have never seen again either him or the other Serb from Split, and there was talk in the prison camp that he was also killed. Only in the cell in which he was detained his shoes were found, so he was probably killed and taken away. I know that in the prison, at the time when I was detained there, at least ten prisoners were killed. More details about this are known to V.Z. and C.M.".

6. Witness 67/94-1 states the following: "I think that it was on May 14, 1992 when Jelic Dusko succumbed. He just fell dead, and they immediately transferred us to another cell. They ordered D. and G. to take him out and place him in the coffin in front of the door. The coffin was made of wooden ammunition boxes. I remember also a young man by the name of Bojan who was called "White Eagle" or "Little Eagle". He was detained alone in one cell. He was especially tortured in a terrible manner. He would stay completely naked, incredibly skinny, a real skeleton He was tortured the most, beaten up and abused. One morning, when the guards were bringing in the breakfast, I noticed that he was laying in his cell on the back. His body was completely yellow. They returned us immediately into our cells. I heard them nailing the coffin and the guards whispering something in the corridor. After that I have never seen him again."

7. Witness 67/94-3 states the following: "I remember the event with two civilians from Split, and I know that after this event one of them who could have been some 50 years old, was later on brought into our block "C". On that day shooting was heard in the circle and immediately we were pushed into the cells. I was watching from the window and saw them bring into the circle one civilian who was obviously wounded in the leg and was being terribly beaten by the guards, most of all by Ante Gudic. They were kicking him for as long as his body did not go numb, after which they took him somewhere. The other civilian who was brought into our block I did not see, but I heard the screams and I knew that they were beating him. The next day he was no longer in our block, and one prisoner from Serbia, I do not know his name, told me that he found in the cell only the blood and the shoes of that civilian".

8. Witness 67/94-2 states the following: "In this block, close to our cell was detained Z.S. from Capljine, for whom I heard that he is now in Trebinje, and also a certain Savic from Nevesinje and Vesovic Bojan called "Eagle" from Serbia. These two were also tortured and beaten up. Savic was completely swollen and bruised, and Vesovic was a living skeleton. The scarce food that they were giving us was most often denied Vesovic, he was only beaten on regular basis and without pause, and on one occasion he was found dead. They told us about Savic that he was exchanged because he had suddenly disappeared from the block".

9. Witness 481/95 states the following: "I was not an eye-witness to the direct killings of the prisoners, but I have heard during the exchange that a certain young man Bojan from Kragujevac was killed in the prison camp and that for this reason he was not exchanged, and the same about a certain Savic Vlado".

10. Witness 445/94-42 states the following: "I was detained in the block "C" and in the cell across mine a certain Bojan from Kragujevac was detained. He had a fire-arm wound in his buttock, I do not know of which leg. He was captured during combat and that wound was not treated but became infected. One could see that that was an old wound. He was very skinny and one could see that he was in a difficult both psychological and physical state. There was a stench from his room because there was a lot of excrement there since they did not allow him to use the latrines. His wound was infected and gave stench, and I tried to help him by washing his wounds with water, because no one of us was offered any medical care. He did not have any clothes at all, but only a single blanket which was covered with blood and puss. I assume that he died about one month after my arrival into the camp. I saw a guard come one morning to open his cell, calling him, but he did not respond, and then we saw that he was dead. Afterwards they took out his body, and we could hear them make the coffin. I already explained that Jelic Dusko from Trebinje also died in "Lora" from the inflicted injuries".

11. Witness 67/94-4 states the following: "I did not see Jelic Dusko and the young man named "White Eagle" but I was told latter that they succumbed to the beating received in this block".

12. Witness 445/94-28 states the following: "I now remember that in the prison camp a certain Jelic from Trebinje was killed, which I heard from the other inmates".

13. Witness 470/95-3 states the following: "While I was detained in the prison camp a certain Goran was killed called "White Eagle" and a young man from Split, who tried to escape, whom they were piercing with some nails in the legs while killing him".

14. Witness 164/95-2 states the following: "While I was detained in the prison camp "Lora" I remember that the guards have killed one prisoner who tried to escape. That man was wounded and he was beaten up so wounded. I have seen the director of the camp Toma Dujic jumping on top of this prisoner who later died. I do not know his name and I do not know where he was buried. I remember that in "Lora", from the effects of the torture one young soldier also died, who was captured somewhere in the vicinity of Knin, but I do not know his name and where he came from They were forcing him to say that he was in the "White Eagles". The other prisoners were watching this man being terribly tortured: they were breaking fingers on his hands, they were sticking nails under his finger nails. I do not know where this man is buried. I remember also one young man from the village of Krekovi near Nevesinje, who looked to me as if drugged. The guards were making jokes with him in the circle. I remember that one night he was taken away from the prison camp "Lora" with another five men, and I do not know what had happened to him afterwards".

15. Witness 510/96-13 states the following: "In connection with the killing of the prisoners of war in "Lora" I was an eye-witness to the following: One day Nenad Knezevic, by origin from Benkovac, who was living in Kasteli, tried to escape. They stopped him by opening fire. He was hit three times. I do not know where he was buried. Prisoner of war Vulovic, I do not know his given name, was present with Knezevic when he tried to escape, but Vulovic himself did not escape. I was standing behind the two of them, together with R.I. in the company of the guards Botic Andjelko and Gudic Ante. After preventing Knezevic from escaping and his arrest, the guards and members of the intervention unit started with physical torture of Vulovic. They were beating him, kicking him with boots, and he died from the beating that same night. I do not know where he is buried, although I have myself, together with C.M., made the coffin. In connection with this event I was given a written statement which I had to sign, where it was written that Vulovic perished by falling down the stairs after having physically attacked the guard, which is not true. I can say the following about Jelic from Trebinje. One morning they brought six men from Trebinje, among them was Jelic. I took him into the cell. He was in a very difficult condition from the beating. I do not recall whether it was that night or the next one when I was ordered by the guard on duty Bungur Emilio, together with C. to make a coffin. Afterwards the guard Rambo asked me whether I know where is the sixth Trebinje man. I told him that I did not know, but that they told me to make a coffin. In later contacts with the Trebinje men I learnt that this severely beaten up prisoner of war whom I helped enter the cell was Jelic and that he died. He was transferred in a van outside of the prison camp circle. I do not know where he is buried. A soldier from Kragujevac by the name of Bojan was tortured and died in terrible pain. I was bathing him twice while he was laying immobile on the floor, and started decaying while still alive. Yet another man died, some 55 years old, but I do not know anything further about him".

16. Witness 445/94-17 states the following: "C.M. and myself had to make coffins in which we would place the bodies of those who had succumbed to the injuries, and we were making coffins from the ammunition boxes. I remember that we had made some seven or eight coffins, but we were not the ones to place the bodies in the coffins, so I do not know who were the dead ones. Since I was taking the food to the prisoners in the block "C" I heard from them who were the prisoners that had died, so I learnt about Jelic Dragan from Trebinje; Savic Vlado from Krekovo (Nevesinje), Bojan, 19 years old, from Kragujevac, who was wounded and who died in the most horrible pain; Knezevic Nenad from Benkovac, who had a house in Kasteli and who was with another prisoner named Bulovic, I do not remember his given name, from the vicinity of Benkovac. When the two of them tried to escape the first one was wounded, and the other one was kicked about by some dozen of their policemen who came. I was watching them step all over him".

7. JNA Pilots – SLOBODAN MEDIC, PANTIC PETAR and MIRKO ZECEVIC, a civilian, 63 years old, from Kupres.

About their killings the following witnesses are testifying:

1. Witness 181/95-2 states the following: "I was exchanged on August 14, 1992. In the group for the exchange, in which six of us were supposed to be, pilot Medic was not exchanged. I heard that he was returned from the exchange because his ears were cut off and his nose. Later on I heard from one Serb that he overheard by chance a talk in a café of some Croat soldiers when one of them was boasting that they had killed one pilot in the manner that they roasted him alive on a grill in Siroki Brijeg. I assume that the victim was Medic, because he was the only pilot who was not exchanged".

2. Witness 445/94-32 states the following: "The pilots that I found in the prison camp were in a very poor state and were previously beaten up, before we have arrived, so during the time that I was detained in the prison camp they were not much tortured, but just before our departure for Zagreb they started beating them again. I did not see myself, but I heard from one of the young men who were captured before at Crnoglava, that two from their group died from the beating inflicted upon them".

3. Witness 467/94-8 states the following: "They brought to the adjacent cell one wounded pilot and Mirko Zecevic, an old man 63 years of age, from Kupres. The pilot was very severely wounded in a leg all along its length, and Mirko had a fractured arm. After some time they brought yet another pilot who was shot down in "Galeb". We could see them only when the doors would by chance be opening at the same time on our and the adjacent cell. During the night the tortures would continue. We had again several visits. They would beat up also those two, seriously wounded men, and afterwards they allegedly took them to the hospital because they were dying. I do not know anything further about their fate."

4. Witness 418/95-2 states the following: "Petar Pantic was beaten most often with boots, fists, batons, and some boards and other items, and he died from the beating. I know that some kind of a wooden coffin was made and the body placed in that coffin".

8. A LARGE NUMBER OF UNIDENTIFIED SERB INMATES

About the killings of a large number of unidentified Serb inmates – civilians and prisoners of war, testify the following witnesses:

1. Witness 234/95-6, who was detained in the prison camp "Lora" in mid-1992, states the following: "A large number of prisoners died from the beatings, so they would place them in the prison camp circle, sprinkle with gasoline and set on fire".

2. Witness 245/97-3, a JNA pilot, who was kidnapped in Mostar and was imprisoned in the prison camp "Lora" in November and December 1991, states the following: "On November 30, 1991 MUP (Ministry of Interior) of Croatia handed me over to the authorities of the Military Police of the ZNG (United National Guard) of Split, who transported me to their headquarters located in the former JNA compound "Lora". On the fourth day of my detention in this prison camp I heard the screams, shots and a fuss with a comment "Look at this Chetnick, for ten minutes now he refuses to die, but is still kicking". In this prison camp I was detained until December 3, 1991".

3. Witness 547/96-39 states the following: "One night around April 15, 1992, in the cell which was located close to the cell in which I was detained together with the other women, they were terribly beating up some one. We could hear the blows, curses, screams and cries from that cell, and then, suddenly, there was silence. Next morning from that cell they took out a man who was covered with a blanket, and he was dead. According to the whispers, he was a Serb from Mostar, but I do not know his name and family name. We, women, were forced to enter that cell and wash it up, so I have seen that in the cell there was a lot of blood on the concrete floor and on the walls".

4. Witness 454/94-28 states the following: "In our block there were no death cases, but we were constantly hearing the screams from the block "C" and one night I saw some prisoners making the coffins, I think that they were the young soldiers who were captured near Capljine. I saw the nailing of the coffins, and then I saw the coffins loaded on board some van but I did not see the bodies being placed in the coffins. Latter I saw them wash that van because it was covered with blood from the inside. I do not know who was killed and who many they were, but the guards were boasting that they had killed some persons from Serbia who were the members of the "White Eagles".

5. Witness 445/94-42 states the following: "In ‘Lora’ a young man was killed some 30 years old or more, for whom I heard that he was an active athlete. They were saying that he was a judo instructor. He was taken out to the courtyard where he was beaten up and at the moment when he tried to escape and jump over the fence, they opened fire, wounded him and captured him. Then they all started beating him and so they killed him".

6. Witness 259/94-6 states the following : "In ‘Lora’ there were a lot of liquidations while I was detained there both the first and the second time, but I was never so directly present as in those cases that I have described. I learned of the liquidations also because we could hear when someone was beaten up and tortured, and later we would hear that he had succumbed to the wounds. We were also often forced to clean up and wash away the blood that was in the corridors, on the walls and on the floors, so this was also a sign that there were liquidations in the prison camp. I was cleaning up the blood several times. On one occasion I did not clean well the blood from the floor, because I could not bend down from the beatings that I have suffered myself, so the wife of Toma Dujic came by and forced me to lick all the blood from the floor. On another occasion when I was taken out of the solitary for purpose of cleaning the blood, I have seen that they are trying to place one large and tall man, whom they had slaughtered, into a black bag which was especially made for the dead. They were cutting up the body with a saw-axe into two parts and so they placed the parts into that bag.

After several days, during the night, I was taken out again with another nine men, to the same place of the slaying. That night Dujic was not there, but the present ones were: Andjelko who was even more cruel than Dujic, one that they called "Artist" because of his artistic skills in slaughtering, and another one called for the same reason "Doctor". From among those people brought for the slaying I noticed that one had his ear cut off. Before the slaughter itself they did not torture us. They carried out the slaughtering in the manner that with the knives in their hands they would approach the victim, some would be caught by the arms and shoulders, one was catching the victim by the hair with one hand and with the other hand holding the knife he would cut off the head. On this occasion eight people were slaughtered. In each of these cases the head would be severed from the body. Just by chance, on this occasion again, the arrival of one Ustashi saved my life. When the turn came of one man who I think was by origin from Kupres or the vicinity, and he was a high power current engineer, one Ustashi came in and prevented further slaughter by saying that it was enough for that day. Since it was almost dawn, it was time to remove the blood and take away the corpses, so I think that this was the reason why the slaughtering was stopped".

*

On the basis of the available evidence on the tragedy of Serbs – civilians, prisoners of war, wounded and sick in the prison camp "Lora" in Split, during the time it was in operation from 1991 to 1997, it may be concluded beyond any doubt that over twenty identified persons have been killed there, and these victims are the following persons:

1. PETAR SPREMO – a civilian
2. STOJAN ZUBIC – a civilian
3. RATKO MILIC – a civilian
4. LJUBO MILIC - a civilian
5. DUSAN NIKIC – a civilian
6. SLAVKO DRAGOLJEVIC – a civilian
7. CIVCIC, of unknown given name (deaf-and-dumb) – a civilian
8. VLADO SAVIC – a reserve soldier
9. DRAGAN JELIC – a civilian
10. CUCAGA, of given name unknown – a civilian
11. LUKA GAZIVODA – a soldier
12. RATKO SIMOVIC "MALISA" – a civilian
13. DUSAN BAROVIC – a soldier
14. LUKA ADZIC – a soldier
15. DUSKO BJELIC – a civilian
16. BOJAN VESOVIC called ‘BELI ORAO" (White Eagle) – a soldier
17. NENAD KNEZEVIC – a civilian
18. BULOVIC, of given name unknown – a civilian
19. SLOBODDAN MEDIC – JNA pilot
20. PETRA PANTIC – JNA pilot
21. MIRKO ZECEVIC – a civilian
22. MILAN VULIC – a civilian
23. GRBIC RANKO – a civilian
24. BORO IVKOVIC – a civilian
25. DUSKO JELIC – a civilian

Further to the persons identified, there is evidence and data in the prison camp of the beating up, torture, body and psychological harassment of a large number of unidentified persons also died: notably civilians from Kupres and others. Therefore, a conclusion may be drawn that at least thirty Serbs were liquidated during the operation of this prison camp and that they all died in terrible pain from consequences of injuries inflicted by beating up, inhuman treatment and torture. It may also be concluded that in such treatment of prisoners by the Croat military and civilian police authorities there was no difference in treatment of Serbs – civilians (elderly, women) and Serbs – prisoners of war and wounded, regardless of the fact whether these persons were from the territory of Croatia or from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

3

CRIMES AGAINST CIVILIAN POPULATION

In the prison camp "Lora" located within the composition and under the supervision of the military police authorities of the Republic of Croatia throughout the period of war actions in the territory of the Republic of Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, starting from the year 1991 and up to the year 1997, the imprisoned Serbs – civilians, non-fighting population (both men and women) were continuously, systematically exposed to various kinds of torture, inhuman, cruel, humiliating treatment, when they were inflicted with serious body injuries, severe detriment to their health, physical and psychological suffering of a lasting character, with life-long consequences.

The prison camp authorities had, practically, devised an entire system of measures and treatments for the destruction (physical and psychological) and eradication of the Serbian people, which system in this prison camp obtained various forms and types of its demonstration and manifestation.

All the manners and procedures of torture, abuse, bestial, almost animal, inhuman treatment of the imprisoned Serbs practically show how inexhaustible is the imagination when it is in the function of hatred for another people and members of a different faith. Through the killings, torture, bodily injury, inflicting of physical and psychological sufferings and trauma, beatings inflicted on all the parts of the body, the Ustashi specters are appearing again from the times of World War Two and the ideas of the Ustashi ideology in these lands.

The crimes against the civilian population – members of the Serbian people and the Serbian Orthodox faith, undertaken actually with the intention in this manner to annihilate the Serbian people and eradicate its presence in the area of the Republic of Croatia but also in certain parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were manifested in the following manners:

• beating of prisoners with fists, boots, rubber hoses, batons, baseball bats, plumbing pipes, chains, electrical conductors;
• "telephoning" in the form of connecting certain especially sensitive parts of the prisoner’s body (ears, toes and fingers, sexual organ) to the induced electrical current from the field telephone;
• forcing the prisoner to pass through the row of persons inflicting beating;
• forcing of prisoners to carry each other around the prison camp circle, to race with each other while squatting;
• threats that they will be killed, that they will be thrown into the sea, that fishes will eat them, threats of death by slaughtering or letting loose on them of the trained wolf dogs;
• forcing of prisoners to sing the Ustashi songs, a Croat national anthem, songs insulting Serbian people;
• forcing of prisoners for three days and night on end not to sit or lie down, but to spend all the time standing;
• forcing of prisoners to dig their own graves in the prison camp courtyard;
• cursing, insulting, harassment of prisoners, calling them names;
• pouring over prisoners of cold water from the hose connected to the hydrant;
• forcing of prisoners to ride each other on all four and then to race each other;
• forcing of prisoners to run around the prison camp circle until they would faint, and then so hot and covered with sweat, pouring over them cold water from the water hose;
• forcing of prisoners to hit each other with open hand, with fists, feet, to slap each others faces;
• forcing of prisoners to lick and kiss "beautiful" Croat soil, the floors and the WC bowl;
• threats of killing prisoners in the manner that prisoners are forced to place the head on the wood block while the guards are swinging the axe;
• cursing of their Chetnick mother;
• holding prisoners for entire night in the barrel of water;
• forcing of prisoner to sleep naked on the wires of the wire bed the entire night;
• forcing of prisoners to kiss wolf dogs;
• pulling out of prisoner’s beard or dry-shaving of prisoner and then forcing the prisoner to eat his own beard;
• threatening the prisoner that he will not leave alive the prison camp, and even if he did, that he will be like a vegetable in a wheelchair;
• allowing citizens of Split and the hospital staff and patients in the hospital Firule to beat the prisoners in different ways;
• setting up of false or pretended executions by firing squad of the prisoners;
• during driving of prisoners in a van or a truck, at full speed, sudden stop of the van when prisoners would fall down, roll over and hit each other in the vehicle;
• extinguishing cigarettes on the body, head and in the mouth of prisoners;
• forcing of prisoners to make push-ups or gymnastics until they would faint from exhaustion;
• stepping with boots on the back of the prisoner down on the floor;
• stepping with boots on the toes and fingers of prisoners;
• forcing of prisoners to dig holes, to work in the quarry without any tools, with their bare hands;
• preventing prisoners from physiological discharge on regular basis;
• denying prisoners potable water;
• forcing of prisoners to eat live snails, clams, worms, maggots;
• forcing of prisoners to publicly perform sexual intercourse with each other, perversion, homosexual relations and masturbation;
• forcing of prisoners to watch the sun for the entire day;
• setting of wolf dogs on prisoners;
• forcing of prisoners to enter dog-houses and bark;
• forcing of prisoners of imitate certain animals: dogs, cats, bulls;
• placing of pistol barrel into the mouth of a prisoner with the threat of killing him in this manner;
• forcing of prisoner to lie on burning hot concrete in the courtyard under the sun for an entire day;
• throwing of pieces of bread among hungry prisoners who must fight on all four for the bread, like dogs;
• forcing of prisoners to eat grind stone and sand;
• "search for Chetnicks" – insertion of the hand of the guard into the anus of the prisoner for purpose of "looking for Chetnicks" inside his body;
• forcing of prisoners to crawl on concrete and race each other, the one coming last to the finish to be beaten up until he faints;
• "imitating aircraft" – a special type of torture consisting in forcing of prisoners to run around the prison camp circle with their extended arms like the aircraft during bombing, while the other prisoners would imitate firing up at the aircraft in order to shoot it down;
• forcing of prisoners to bite with teeth their military boots;
• bringing into the prison camp of male children 7-8 years of age to urinate over prisoners;
• forcing of prisoners to eat excrements from the WC;
• "Russian roulette" – forcing of prisoners to fire at themselves from the revolver.

About certain types of inflicting body injuries and serious detriment to health, torture, abuse, bestial, cruel and animal treatment of prisoners by the prison guards and the management of the prison camp "Lora" against the imprisoned Serbs – civilians, testimony of the following witnesses are bearing proof. But it is clear, first of all, that these were not all of the forms of torture and humiliation to which the imprisoned Serbs were subjected during their detention in this cruel prison camp, and that neither the stated testimonies of witnesses, supported with corresponding medical documentation, are the only ones. It is certain that through this notorious Croat military camp many other Serbs have passed who are either still inaccessible to the official authorities in charge of gathering and study of data on the crimes committed in our areas during the time of war conflicts in the period 1991 – 1995, or are not in the position to testify about the period of their detention in these "factories of death and humiliation", thinking that time will bring oblivion, escaping from opening the old and sore wounds again.

1. Witness 103/96-2 states the following: "After our detention in the prison camp in Duvno (Tomislavgrad) in April 1992, us 15 Serbs were boarded on a truck and taken to Split. When we arrived in Split, it was already night, so they took us out in front of a building which was within the port of "Lora" and there the Croat soldiers started beating us up for one hour and a half. Afterwards, they boarded us on the truck again and took us to Zadar".
2. Witness 160/96-3 states the following: "In the prison camp Lora" I have spent only three days in March 1992. There the members of the military police were interrogating us in different manners and were torturing us. One of the military policemen placed some wires on my temples, while the investigator who was seated at the desk was turning the button on an apparatus placed in front of him, so when the button was turned I could feel the electric shocks. Such torture lasted some ten minutes, and when my interrogation was finished they continued to interrogate other prisoners. Every time I could hear their screams. In this prison camp they were beating us also with electrical batons".

3. Witness 160/94-4 states the following: "We have spent in Split in "Lora" three days in March 1992 and during that time we were interrogated continuously for three days and three nights. In that prison camp they were beating us with fists, boots, electric batons, riffle butts and in many other ways. By means of some apparatus with connected wires they would let the electrical current on us. They were bringing the citizens from the street to beat us also. They were bringing in the dogs and were letting them into the cells where we were detained".

4. Witness 160/95-5 states the following: "When in March 1992 we came to "Lora" they first of all separated us in cells, and then would take us individually out for interrogation. On such occasions they were using electricity. These tortures with electricity would last for three days and three nights continuously, with the breaks which lasted one hour at the most. Screams could be constantly heard from the interrogation rooms. They were bringing civilians from the street into our cells and they would beat us up. They were bringing also dogs".

5. Witness 333/96-4 states the following: "When they brought us in April 1992 to "Lora" first they took us to a polygon for training where they lined us up, and then systematically beat us up. The priest P. was taken out and in front of us he was shaved off with a knife. When we started from Kupres they wrapped him up in a white sheet in order to humiliate him as much as possible. After the beatings they took us to the prison camp "Lora". First they searched us and confiscated all of our belongings of any value, if we had any. They took my watch, some money and documents. I did not receive any receipt. They never returned to us these things, although they said that they will do so. After the beating they placed us in cells. I was in a cell with another seven comrades. In "Lora" we were detained for five or six days. During that time we were given some slight food and a bit of drinking water.

In "Lora" they were torturing us all the time in such a manner that the guards would rush into the cell and would beat us up. They were taking us also outside, one by one, or in groups for the beating. They were beating us either in the corridor or in the prison camp circle throughout the day, but mostly at night when it was dark. That was happening every day while we were imprisoned in this camp. Their specialty was to take us into one room where they would pour water over us and then would place the clams connected with a cable of the inductor telephone on our ear, and the other one on the sexual organ and by turning the handle would let the electricity through our bodies. They were doing this to me, and I also know that they were doing this to the others. This would cause very strong pain, and I would faint, so it would happen that I could not regain consciousness for a long time. They were taking out some of my friends telling them that they will be shot by a firing squad. They would ask them what is their last wish. Then they would shoot over their heads in order to frighten them. They wanted to slaughter some of them and would pass the knife across their neck. They were constantly keeping us in fear. Further to many injuries that I received, I think that the most serious one was inflicted on me during the beating at the polygon in Split. At that time I was hit with some ball over the head and I had a large wound from which blood was pouring, so that I lost a lot of blood".

6. Witness 333/96-6 states the following: "First they brought us to Split, in front of the Ministry of Interior building and there they beat us again and again. From there they took us to the military investigative prison "Lora" and they placed us in cells. I was in the cell number 4. We were nine in that cell. I remained there for several days and almost every hour they would take us out of the cell, one by one, and would beat us up. They were mostly beating us on the flat of the feet and the palms of our hands".

7. Witness 333/96-10, from Kupres, born in 1948, states the following: "When we came to Split, in front of the Ministry of Interior building, they threw us out of the truck and there they systematically beat all of us up again. Just by chance they did not beat me. From there we were driven to the prison camp "Lora" in Split. While they were driving us to "Lora" the driver would suddenly accelerate the speed of the vehicle, and then would suddenly push the brakes or would make a sudden turn in the curves, so we were rolling around in the vehicle, falling over each other, and since we were beaten up we were suffering even greater pain.

In "Lora" they were beating us up from the very first day. After two or three days I was taken for interrogation and was questioned by a large man, over 100 kg in weight, who told me that he was from Rama. He was some 30 years old and was rather tall and strong. He was beating me with a baton all over the body and legs. Then he threw me on the floor and while I was flat on my stomach he was jumping on my back. They were one of the most horrible beatings that I have received. After the interrogation I was returned to the cell, and in the evening that man from Rama came again, with another smaller, dark man, and they took me out into the corridor, and the other one started beating me with a wooden stick so I fainted. There was also a third man there he was pulling me by the ears.

After the beating I was in a very serious crisis, so my friends from the cell called the guards asking them to take me to the hospital. There the doctors made some X-rays and asked to keep me in the hospital because I was in a very difficult state, but those who brought me from the prison did not want to leave me in the hospital, and returned me back again to "Lora", this time to the cell number 1, where there were already many of those who were beaten up. Until then I was in the cell number 4. There were some rags over there on which I could not sleep because I was all covered with wounds and was aching all over. I could not lie down but could only sit. I could not sleep from the pains".

8. Witness 333/96-11 states the following: "In ‘Lora’ they started beating us immediately, so they beat us all up. They took away all of our valuables. They took from me 20 and from my son 100 DEM. They also confiscated our documents. After the beating they placed us in cells. I was in a cell together with my son, and there were also there M.R. and M.Lj. On the second night upon our arrival in "Lora" the guards called my name and that of my son, and immediately placed the cuff-links on our hands and transferred us to Duvno, to the police station, only to return us after three or four days back to "Lora". That night when they returned us to "Lora" they beat us up immediately".

9. Witness 333/96-7, who was detained in the prison camp "Lora" in Split in the period May 14, 1995 – April 2, 1996, states the following: "A group of us 16 captured Serbs from the prison camp in the sports hall in Bjelovar was transferred on May 1, 1995 to "Lora" in Split, where we found two earlier captured Serbs. Our group was imprisoned in "Lora" for some 11 months and from us 16, nine was exchanged on April 2, 1996. The others remained in "Lora".

In "Lora" we were placed in cells of four in the block "C". I was being transferred from time to time from one cell to another. From the very first day of our arrival in "Lora" they were torturing us in different ways. They were beating us incessantly, cursing us, calling us names. When one of them would enter our cell, we had to stand up at attention with our head down and look down to the ground, our hands kept at the back. Further to every day beatings they were extinguishing their cigarettes on my head, forcing me to do the push-ups until I would faint from exhaustion, they were kicking me, stepping on my back, crushing my fingers and toes with their boots. They tried to humiliate us in every way and at any cost. They forced us to dig holes, for what purpose I do not know, because when once the prison warden came and saw us do it, he prohibited this. They were forcing us for hours on end, sometimes for an entire day and night, to sing their national songs, which was very exhausting.

We were given three meals a day, but the time for eating was limited. We had to eat the soup in only one minute, and it was boiling hot. For the main course we had one and a half minute or two minutes, so we would mostly go hungry, because we could not eat anything in such a short time. We could not keep the hygiene regularly, we had difficulties with physiological needs, because there was only one WC toiler seat, and we had to stand in queue and wait and suffer. Washing was with cold water, and we would be given a bath sometimes by pouring strong jets of water over us, and this was not for cleanliness but for torture. From time to time they would prevent us from having a bowl movement on regular and normal basis because they would not allow us into the toilet, so we had to relieve ourselves in the cell, into a Coca Cola bottle or into a towel. When they would find this out, they would beat us all.

They were often keeping us without water, not giving us any to drink, and neither would they give us food. This was usually happening after some hard labor. A special type of torture was the work in the quarry where we were forced to crush stone and transport it, which was very trying because it was hot summer, and we had to do the work without any necessary tools. We were crushing stone with metal rods and with several picks, which was an almost impossible job.

We were not given any medical care at all. On one occasion when I had strong pain in my chest, and I suspected that my ribs were broken after the beating, I asked to see a doctor, but I was not allowed to do that. I was very often hit on the sexual organs, so my testicles were very much swollen.

We were beaten the most by Tadija Bokanovic and Grujica Niksa – members of the anti-terrorist military police, Tomo Dujic – a former warden of the prison camp "Lora", Ivica Baban – who was beating me up and torturing me the most and who broke several of my ribs, and was extinguishing cigarettes on my head, was jumping on my back and arms, Zdenko Jovic – a guard, military policeman who was beating us the most for the Catholic Christmas, when we were most severely beaten. They are the people who were beating us the most, but there were also some others. Everyone who came was free to beat us. Some were coming and were driving in their cars so we had to wash them, and then they would beat us. One of them was from Polje, they called him "Bosko", and also an elderly man with moustaches whom they called "Dabro", who was kicking us with riffle butt. Furthermore, they were forcing us to slap each other on the face and we had to do it hard. If someone would not be slapping hard his friend, they would beat him up. That is why C.M. received 180 slaps. We were recorded by the International Red Cross, but two of us – D.V. and M.C. were always hidden when the members of the Red Cross were coming and would be transferred to some other prison".

10. Witness 427/95-7, a pensioner from Split, born in 1940, states the following: "I was taken to ‘Lora’ on August 22, 1992. They handed me over to the guard on duty and they told me to follow them so that I may make a telephone call to Serbia. They took me to a room where there was an induction telephone, so they placed the telephone wires on my fingers and by turning the telephone handle, would let the electricity pass. From that wire even today I have the scars on the fingers of my both hands. During that time they were beating me on the head with baseball bats. Then they took me to the cell where they left me alone. On the next day at some 09:00 hours the officer on duty of the military police came to the cell. He was inspecting one cell after the other and was beating all the prisoners. When he entered my cell he said that they had found in my house a bomb. Then he approached me and started kicking me with fists in the chest and stomach. Some time after him, came the guard on duty in the prison, Tonci Rogusic. During the inspection we was also beating me and kicking me with boots. During the day the other military policemen were also coming and were beating us up. This was taking place during the entire day, and at night we did not have any peace as well.

On the next day the officer on duty was Zoran Sulejmanovic, who was also beating me and the other prisoners. On one occasion he forced me to put a helmet on my head which was not fastened, and then from a squatting position he ordered me to clean the prison latrines. He was threatening to beat me up if only the helmet would fall off my head. Together with him in the same shift was Zoran Culina who was beating me once, so that I could not stand, so he forced me to get up and stand alone at attention the entire day. During that time he would come from time to time to the cell and would beat me up again. This bestiality of his lasted for seven hours. After he handed over his shift duty, that evening I had terrible pain in my legs and one leg started to swell so I asked for some medical assistance. They took me to the Hospital Firule. During the drive there the driver would suddenly step on the brakes and was intentionally cutting the curves, so that I was all bruised from the falling around in the vehicle. I was given an injection in the hospital. After that I was taken out into the corridor and at that moment appeared the military policemen Sevic and Covic, and as soon as they saw me, they started telling the other patients that I am a Chetnick, so the patients started spitting on me and insulting me. I was never given the medicaments that the doctor prescribed for me.

11. Witness 715/95-7, pensioner, some 62 years old, who was wounded by the Croat soldiers during the raid on his village, then was treated in the hospital in Livno and the hospital in Split, to be transferred from there to the prison camp "Lora", states the following: "Although I have not been yet cured, they placed me in "Lora" in a solitary cell where I remained for a couple of days, when I was visited and registered by the members of the International Red Cross. They asked me whether I was beaten, but I did not dare say that I was. After the departure of the members of the Red Cross I was transferred to a joint room in which there were some 5-6 imprisoned Serbs who were terribly beaten, all covered with blood and bruises and swollen. They were taken out several times every day and beaten. They were also beating me up.

In "Lora" I remained for two months. During that time I was sleeping on bare floor without any cover or blanket. We were receiving food only once per day, a piece of bread not bigger than 50 grams and most often some liver paste. In this prison camp the imprisoned Serbs were tortured in different ways. They would force us to bark like dogs, to run while squatting, to carry each other, to hit each other. They were also telling us all the time that we will all be killed, that they will throw us into the sea to be eaten by the fishes. They would force us to sing the songs: "We will cross the Drina, we will set Serbia on fire", and the other songs insulting the Serbian people".

12. Witness 315/96-2 who was living before the war in Zagreb, and is now a refugee in Serbia, after 38 days of treatment for the suffered injuries, in the Firule hospital, was taken to the prison camp "Lora" and states the following: "Upon my arrival to "Lora" on July 31, 1992 they dressed me up in a military uniform and in that prison camp I remained until July 19, 1993. From the very first day of my arrival into that camp, my new sufferings had started. They started with the physical torture and abuse. I was beaten with anything and everything: fists, boots, batons. Specially arduous in the torture were Mladen Tolusic, Sasa Vidovic, Resid Hodzic, Slavko, I do not know his family name, Tonci Vrgic, Tomo Dujic, who was the warden of the prison camp "Lora", Mirko Galic, commander of the 72^nd military unit and the others that I can not recall their names. I am trying hard to forget the entire period of my detention in the prison camp. In order to tell you about everything that was happening in Lora, I would need a lot of time, and I do not have any benefit from remembering all that, so it is better that I do not know anything and to remember as little as possible of that time, and to live those few years left of my life as a man".

13. Witness 34/96-1 states the following: "When we came out of the tuck in the prison camp "Lora" they were beating us all, and then one soldier hit with a riffle butt Spremo Petar, who fell from that blow unconscious".

14. Witness 234/95-6 was imprisoned in the prison camp "Lora" in mid-1992 and states the following: "After 4-5 days I was transferred from the Firule hospital to "Lora" in Split, where at the entrance I was met by Vrgic Tomo called "Tonci" with the words: "Here comes a new Chetnick", so he kicked me with the boot on the jaw which was fractured in three places. The jaw was fractured, so they returned me to the hospital where, without any anesthetics, they fixed the jaw and placed some wires. Immediately afterwards I was returned again to "Lora". I was detained in the block "C". They were torturing me there in an unprecedented manner. They were giving me electro-shocks, connecting wires on to my ears and the sexual organ. They were forcing us during the day during terrible heat, to walk around the prison circle barefooted, until blood would pour from our feet. In "Lora" I have spent two months and during that time I was sleeping on bare concrete. They were beating us every day. They were threatening to liquidate us. The food was extremely poor. We were given a piece of bread and a bit of liver paste. The most difficult thing for me was that we were not given any water although the temperature was almost 40 degrees Celsius. They were forcing us to rape women, some 10-15 of them in the prison camp, and they were from 10 to 60 years old. They were ordering us to take off all our clothes and naked to enter the room where naked women were waiting".

15. Witness 702/96-2 in the prison camp "Lora" had spent fifteen days in December 1993 and states the following: "Immediately upon my arrival, several guards beat me up in the room in which I was received and recorded. From there I was transferred to a cell in which I found one Serb. In that cell there was a small window which was always open although it was very cold outside. During the first three days that Serb who was with me in the cell and myself had to stand between beds all the time. For three days and three night the guards were constantly keeping watch over us and did not allow us to either sit or sleep. During that time they gave us only once per day some food to eat. Later on the guards were forcing us do the push-ups until we would faint, and the first one to succumb would receive a kick with the boot in the back or stomach.

The guards by night, when we were in the bed, would raid our cell and command us to stand up. They would give us picks and spades, would take us out into the courtyard where we had to dig our own graves. When the digging was finished, each one for himself, they would force us to go down into the graves and the guards would take aim with pistols at us. Some Serbs were not given the tools for digging of graves, but had to do the digging with their bare hands, without any tools. In this prison camp one guard made a tattoo of the chess-flag on my body with a knife. I was forbidden in "Lora" any contact with the other imprisoned Serbs".

16. Witness 333/95-21, a technician from Kupres, born in 1956, was detained in "Lora" from April 11 to 14, 1992, and she states the following: "We, the women from Kupres, were separated into a special cell. They called us Chetnick whores, they cursed and insulted us. We were forced to wash the latrines, bathrooms and walls from the blood. In the adjacent cells they were beating the imprisoned men, and would bring us over to watch them do the beating. I was forced to watch them beating my own husband. They were beating them with beech wood poles, wooden batons, riffle butts. My husband was all bruised and covered with blood".

17. Witness 333/95-23 was detained in "Lora" in spring of 1992 and states the following: "In Split we were taken to the compound of the naval base where the center was of the Croat military police. There, just like in Gornji Brisnik, we were coming out of the truck one by one. We were met by the Croat soldiers and beaten up. In front of me, at some 3 meters, was Petar Spremo. One Croat soldier hit him hard with the pistol butt on the head. That same solider also hit me hard on the head with the pistol butt, and my scull was fractured in four places, so I was all covered with blood. In "Lora" we were placed in groups in cells, each cell with 20 prisoners. In this cell I remained for three days. During that time we were interrogated and beaten up by any of the guards who were willing to do so. They were beating us up and humiliating in different ways. They would force us to enter the dog-houses and bark like dogs.

I would be taken out for a walk and they would beat me up, saying that I resemble Radovan Karadzic. They would beat me up until I fainted. When I regained consciousness they told me that I look like Momcilo Krajisnik, so they beat me up again. One of the most humiliating situations happened to us in the prison camp "Lora". There some of us were forced to perverse actions. We had to take the sexual organ of the other one into our mouth or were forced to have an intercourse with each other. That happened to the deceased Milo Spremo, to the priest P.Z., S.L., Z.B. and the others. They did not give us any food or drinking water throughout the three days that we had spent in "Lora".

18. Witness 333/95-20, a technician from the vicinity of Kupres, imprisoned in the prison camp "Lora" in April 1992, states the following: "From Duvno they took us again to "Lora". There they continue with our torture, beating us with various objects, tying us up to some grids, pouring water over us and connecting our bodies to low voltage electricity. Late at night in the cells the policemen would erupt with the masks on their faces or without masks, having previously been in the cafes. They would beat us up and torture and abuse us in different ways.

In "Lora" I would be taken out by Musa from Siroki Brijeg near Listice. He would place a knife on my throat and would threaten to slaughter me. He said that he will have me shot by a firing squad, and before I was taken for execution, the priest Z.P. had to read me the final rites. It was extremely uncertain what would happen to us at any moment, both during the day and at night. After 17 days they tied our hands and covered our eyes, loaded us on board a truck and took us to Zadar".

19. Witness 333/95-22, a housewife from Kupres, born in 1953, detained in the prison camp "Lora" in the spring of 1992, states the following: "They separated us women in "Lora". There were 5 of us and they placed us in a separate cell close to the cells in which men were detained. In this prison camp I remained for 15 days. During that time they were torturing us in different ways. Among other things, one of the guards – a Muslim some 20 years old, would take me out into the courtyard 4-5 time where he would tear off my clothes, putting a knife on my throat, tying to rape me. He was treating in the same way D.M.

The guards were beating up every day the men in the adjacent cells. They would open our door and would force us to watch them torturing and beating the men. In the prison camp they were beating the most B.L. They took him out three times saying that they will slaughter him. We could hear his screaming and the kicks and cries and I thought that they were really slaying him. Some of the guards would be coming with blood on their hands saying that they had slaughtered him. They were especially torturing his wife who was detained in the same cell with me".

20. Witness 195/97-44, arrested in August 1995 in his village near Bosansko Grahovo during the raid of the Croat army, states the following: "Through Duvno they took me to Split and imprisoned in the prison camp "Lora". During my entrance into "Lora" I was awaited by the line of Croat soldiers and civilians who were having in their hands the batons, pieces of wood and electrical conductors. They were kicking me mercilessly while I was passing through that line, and then I was placed in a solitary cell. From that cell I could hear the screams and cries from the other rooms and this was happening all the time, both during the day and at night. I have seen when I was taken out of that cell, that in the other cells there was a lot of the imprisoned Serbs. They would take me out often for interrogation and every time they would beat me. They would ask me in which units I was, what kind of armament did I have, although I was not in the Serbian army. I was detained in "Lora" for seven days and during that time I was given one meal per day which consisted of a small quantity of some stew and a small piece of bread.

From "Lora" I was taken to a place called Arzana and detained in some sort of a warehouse where there were another ten arrested Serbs with whom I was not allowed any contact. They were also interrogating me there and beating me, and then after 7 days, they returned me back to "Lora". In "Lora" they continued with interrogation and I was taken there into some room in which from all the sides under a great pressure the wind was blowing. I do not know what it was, but I know that it was causing a terrible pressure on the respiratory organs and on the ears. I was imprisoned in "Lora" again for 4 days, afterwards they took me to Turjance near Sinj. In "Lora" they would order me to stand by the wall with my arms up in the air and they would kick me until I would fall on the floor, then while I was on the floor, they would kick me with boots".

21) Witness 249/97-3, born in 1941, was imprisoned in "Lora" prison camp from May 14, 1995 to April 1, 1996, and states the following: "At the very entrance into "Lora" prison camp we were awaited by the line of the Croat police, and while passing, they would kick us terribly all over the body with the wooden and rubber batons, pieces of electrical conductors some 3 cm thick, with some chains, legs and fists. Almost every evening the Croat policemen would ask us whether we had a bath, and would then order us all, completely naked, to go out of the cells, when they would for several hours on end pour over us from the hose cold water under a very high jet pressure. Members of the Croat police who were securing the prison camp were taking us very often from the cells into the corridor and would order us to move on all four. They would sit on our backs and we would have to carry them around the corridor in this manner.

Also, mostly at night, they would take us out into the prison camp circle where we had to enter the dog-houses and bark from them. They would force us to run barefooted five circles around the prison camp building, although the building was a huge one. If some one would lag behind during the run, they would fiercely beat him all over the body, most often with fists and boots. I saw some of the prisoners with many scars on the hands and arms from extinguishing of cigarettes, and I also know that some of the imprisoned Serbs were forced to eat the feathers of the killed birds and to swallow live worms and maggots.

I was taken together with the other prisoners detained in "Lora" every day in the morning for physical labor which consisted in taking out the stones and building of some houses. We would be working at times over 12 hours per day, so that we were exhausted from hard labor. The food was very poor and scarce. The policemen who were guarding us would force us to finish the meal in five minutes, and before the meal every prisoner had to cross himself according to the Catholic faith. On one occasion, I think it was in August 1995, after the fall of Knin, they showed us an arrested Serb whose name was Milos, who was terribly beaten. They ordered Milos to take off his underwear and we saw that his body was all blue and that there were traces of hits with some objects. Milos was completely immobile, swollen and covered with blood. Members of the Croat police forced us to get up every night at midnight and sing the Croat national anthem, then in a single voice to exclaim "We are Ustashi!". They were also forcing us to sing various Ustashi songs""

22. Witness 249/97-40, a lawyer born in 1947, detained in the prison camp "Lora" from May 16, 1995 to April 2, 1996, states the following: "Immediately after our arrival in "Lora", while coming out of the vehicle, we were awaited by the line of Croat policemen having in their hands wooden and rubber batons and pieces of pipes for plumbing, with which objects they beat us 22-23 Serbs until we fainted, while we were passing along their line. Afterwards they lined us up and we were standing for several hours in the sun. M.G. fainted and fell on concrete from the sunstroke. Then they lined us up against some wall and they started kicking us on the back and head with boots, wooden and rubber batons and fists, then ordering us to enter into a corridor. In that corridor there were a lot of doors and beside each door one policeman was standing, and when I appeared in the vicinity of the first policeman, he hit me with a fist and a boot, saying "not over there, but here". When I appeared at the other door, in the same manner I was met by the other policeman and that was going on all the way down the corridor, when they pushed me into a room, where one terribly huge policeman was standing who ordered me to take off all my clothes, and then he beat me up so much that I could not feel the parts of my body.

In "Lora" they would force us every day to enter the dog-houses and to bark at certain times, and afterwards they would expel us out of the dog-houses forcing us to sing the Croat national anthem and the Ustashi songs. Croat policemen would force us to run around the circle and when completely hot and covered with sweat, they would pour over us cold water directly from the hydrant and under a strong pressure. Every day they would force us to kneel and hold ourselves on our hands on the concrete, and the Croat policemen would ride us forcing us to run like horses on all four. They would also force us to hit each other with open hands and fists, and to kick each other with feet as hard as we can. I also remember that they forced us to eat live snails and clams, to eat some worms and maggots. I wish to especially emphasize that the Croat policemen were forcing me to kiss and lick the Croat soil, and were forcing the others to lick the toilet bowl and to masturbate. Throughout my detention in "Lora" from the other premises there were constant screams and cries of the imprisoned Serbs, especially after the fall of Knin".

23. Witness 249/97-8, a worker, born in 1953, detained in the prison camp "Lora" from May to August 1992, states the following: "The first harassment I suffered was when the guards brought in for breakfast some muddy warm water which I could not drink, so one guard came closer and spit into the cup, and then ordered me to drink it. When I did that he hit me several times with the fist, then with the baton, and then several times with feet clad in heavy army boots, after which kicks I fainted. When I came around I was all bruised, bloody and swollen from the inflicted kicks. The next day the guards tied my hand at the back, then ordered me to kneel down and from above, across the back, placed a metal barrel. After that two policemen while holding some long and thick pieces of wood, started hitting that barrel. From the noise of the hits on that barrel I fainted. From then on and during my further detention in the prison camp "Lora", every day I was placed under that barrel at least once every day.

From the room in which I was detained, the other imprisoned Serbs were also taken out to the basement room where electricity was connected to various parts of their bodies and then the indictor plugged in. They did not do that to me, but the other prisoners who were in the same cell with me were telling me about it. Members of the Croat police who were securing the prison camp were hanging me by the arms in such a way that they would place one cuff-link on the left arm and one on the right arm and then would lift me some ten centimeters off the floor and would hang the cuff-links on the metal bars on the door, so that I was suspended by the arms. While I was hanging there they would hit me with batons over the back and some other parts of the body. Croat policemen had the practice in "Lora" in the night hours to raid the cells with the imprisoned Serbs and to beat us terribly with anything and everything over all the parts of the body, mostly in the area of kidneys and the chest. I wish to underline that the Croat policemen were forcing myself and the other prisoners in "Lora" to drink urine and mutually hit each other until we would faint.

Croat policemen were especially torturing us with food and water. They would give us only every third or fourth day some water and this only 1.5 liters of water for 50 prisoners. At the time of my detention in "Lora" we would be given only once per day a few spoonfuls of warm water and a small slice of bread, not bigger than a box of matches. We had to eat that food in two minutes, and if some one would fail to do so, he was terribly beaten. They would take us out every day for two hours to spend in the dog-houses and from those houses we had to bark all the time".

24. Witness 93/97-24 from Duvno, arrested on April 11, 1992 and after two days of detention in the Ministry of Interior (MUP) in Duvno taken to Split, states the following: "Under the cloth cover of the truck in which 15 of us were driven from Duvno, I could see that they brought us to Split and that we have arrived to "Lora" which was a large prison camp for Serbs. Since there was no place for us there, members of the Croat army beat us up with the baseball bats, and kicked us with fists and legs, mostly with boots. After the beating which lasted for one hour, they boarded us on the same truck and we started towards Zadar".

25. Witness 334/97-19, who was taken to Split on April 7, 1992 with a group of some 80 Serbs from Kupres, and was detained in "Lora" for three days, states the following: "When they brought us to Split, to the circle of some military barracks, the truck in which we were riding suddenly stopped, so we hit each other’s bodies since we were tied up. Then they ordered us to leave the tuck and started beating us, and ordered us to board the truck again and took us to "Lora". At the entrance of "Lora" we were awaited by the line of the Croat soldiers. By passing through that line they were hitting us with various objects. They had in their hands water pipes 70 to 80 cm in length, some 3 cm thick, pieces of rubber hoses, pieces of electrical conductors, pieces of wood and other objects with which they were beating us. Most of us passing through that line would fall down and the Croat soldiers were kicking us with boots. In the prison camp we were placed in cells 12 of us in each of the size 2 x 2 meters. So we could not even squat, and neither sit down, but were standing all the time leaning against each other. From that room they were taking us into other rooms and they were torturing us there in all the possible ways.

First they would hit us with different objects, and then would plug us on to electrical current, by placing one end of the conductor on the sexual organ, and the other on the hand or ear, and then they would let the electricity in which caused terrible pain.. Afterwards they would give us half a kilogram of salt which we had to swallow, but they did not give us even a droop of water. The life in "Lora" was insufferable. In the room in which we were detained Croat soldiers would enter every night with knives in their hands, threatening to slaughter us all. On such occasions they would ask for volunteers and after taking them out shots could be heard. I also heard that they were taking people out and were slaughtering them. I could hear their creams and cries, the noises like when the throat is being cut. They were telling us all the time that they will kill us all. They would take us out into the circle of the prison camp, and would force us to move on our knees over the crushed stone, ordering us to enter the dog-houses and to bark from there like dogs. During that three days of detention in "Lora" they did not give us any food to eat, and neither did they give us any water to drink, but we were subjected all the time to terrible torture. After three days of detention in "Lora" a group of some 70 of us arrested Serbs from Kupres was tied up and loaded on the truck and taken in the direction of Duvno".

26. Witness 334/97-32, arrested in Drvar on September 13, 1995 and after two months of torture in Zadar was transferred to "Lora" prison camp, where he remained for two months, after which he was exchanged in March 1996, states the following: "In "Lora" I was placed in a cell with another Serb and I remained there for two months. In "Lora" also they were taking me out every day and several times each day for interrogation and every time they would beat me up and torture me. They demanded that I confess to what I did not do, so when I would refuse to confess, they would beat me up. In the room where they were interrogating me the members of the military police were finding the objects with which they were threatening to torture me. There were there an axe, a mallet hammer, a wood block for decapitation, a piece of wood, pieces of metal pipes, pieces of electrical conductors and a knife. The policemen would order me to place my head on the wood block and they would take the axe, swinging it over my head, cursing my Chetnick mother, threatening to cut my head off. They were swinging the mallet hammer and were threatening to kill me with it. In "Lora" I was sleeping on an iron bed and I had only one blanket which I used to cover myself and also as a sheet. The food in "Lora" was a bit better than in Zadar and we had two meals every day. During all the time of my detention in Croat prison camps I never had a bath or a change of clothes".

27. Witness 50/97-2, born in 1949, detained in the prison camp "Lora" from mid-May 1995 to August 30, 1996 and again in March and April 1997, states the following: "In the prison camp "Lora" I was beaten almost every day, subjected to starvation and various humiliations. They were forcing us to eat maggots and worms. We would be held all night long in a barrel with water, they poured over us iced water from the rubber hoses, and afterwards, so wet and frozen, we had to sleep on bare wires of the iron beds. They would take us to perform the most tedious physical labor in the camp. Such physical and psychological torture lasted all the time until we were transferred to Knin on August 30, 1996. Almost all of my teeth were crushed out in the lower jaw, so that I only have two teeth left in the lower and a few teeth in the upper jaw. From the inflicted tortures I became an epileptic. I have today permanent pain in the area of kidneys and ribs."

28. Witness 485/95 in the prison camp "Lora" was detained from April 10 to August 12, 1992 and states the following: "When I arrived at the prison cell I found there only one wet blanket, and I was in a hospital pajama. We would be given as food only some leftovers placed in a nylon bag thrown into our cell from the bars on the door, the guards saying: "Eat, you Serbian pigs". I was taken out for interrogation every day and for torture. I was mostly tortured by Dujic Tomo, Livaja Ivica, Solic, Giljanovic and a certain Bane, a former boxer, from somewhere in Slavonia. They were plugging me into electrical current, so I had bleeding from my nose, mouth and ears, and then they would beat me up. After all this they would pour a bucket of cold water over my head. They were beating me on the feet, head and mostly on the wound which I had on my right leg. During all the time of my detention no one even once tended my wound and neither did I ever receive a clean bandage for the wound.

The girl-fiend of Tomo Dujic, called Tanja, was coming every day to the prison camp and was presenting herself as a medical nurse. We had to kiss her boots and to beg her for medical assistance. All those who would ask her for help were taken into some room from where they would return all beaten up and mutilated. During the time of my detention in the cell I never had any peace, either during the day or at night. There would always be some of the guards opening the door and beating me up until I would faint. The greatest torture and beatings were suffered by P.G., Dj.. N., L.J., P.M. and B.D. They were plugged to the electrical current and beaten with baseball bats. Dj.N. had both his legs broken three times, P.G. had his ribs broken. A.L. had his beard pulled out and was forced to eat it. B.D. was beaten on the spine, K.M. and P.M. had their jaws fractured".

29. Witness 205/94-20, who was detained in the prison camp ":Lora" for only one day in mid-April 1992, states the following: "Immediately upon my arrival to "Lora" I was taken together with some other ten prisoners into some field. Then the military policemen came with metal pipes some 50 cm long and ¾ inches thick. With these pipes they were beating us all over the body. I was wounded but they did not pay any attention.

With the same pipes they broke my right arm in three places, and the left arm in two places in the upper arm and the shoulder bone. This beating lasted some two hours and when I fell down from the beating, policemen started kicking me with their boots. On that occasion they broke all the teeth that I had".

30. Witness 181/95-2 was detained in the prison camp "Lora" from April 19^th to August 11, 1992 and states the following: "Immediately upon my arrival to this prison camp the warden Tomo Dujic and the former warden Niksa Zaninovic came to my cell, and told me that, if I ever should leave the prison camp alive, I will be like a vegetable in a wheelchair. They started beating me immediately with everything, fists, boots, pistol butt and automatic riffle butt. Tomo Dujic placed the pistol barrel into my mouth and threatened to kill me. They were beating me almost every day, both the guards and the civilians who would come to visit the guards, the guards showing us prisoners as Chetnicks. During the visit of civilians the guards would force me to crawl in front of them on the concrete floor and to race in this manner with the others, and the last one to arrive would be beaten up.

In the beatings the outstanding one was Giljanovic Zvonko and a certain Perisic called "Rambo". These two especially enjoyed beating of the prisoners. They would kick us with fists, boots and baseball bats. They would force the prisoners to turn and face the wall, to place their hands above their heads on the wall, to put the feet away from the wall so that the body would be in an inclined position towards the wall, and then they would beat us on the kidneys and flanks. This was most often done by Dujic. They would also beat us on the stomach and the chest and would force us to stand at attention, with the hand up in the air and we would have to breath hard. While exhaling they would kick us in the stomach. From such beating three of my ribs were broken on both sides of the chest, so they had to take me for medical care to the Firule hospital. My colleague P. had 11 of his ribs broken and one rib pierced the pulmonary pleura. Giljanovic had special ways of torture. During his inspection of the prisoners in cells he would force us to report and the report was that every time we had to pronounce that we were the members of the Chetnick occupying army that was killing the innocent Croats and Muslims, and if someone would not repeat this without a mistake he would be beaten up.

During the visit of the members of the International Red Cross we had to learn a text prepared in advance which we would speak in front of them, and if we would change something and complain in some way, after the departure of the Red Cross delegates there was a lot of beating. The warden Tomo Dujic was the initiator and the perpetrator of many bestialities and tortures of the prisoners. He was most often applying the torture by electrical current. I was subjected four times to this torture. It consisted mostly in them taking me out of my cell blindfolded and taking me to Dujic’s office. Then they would tie me with cuff-links to the chair and Dujic would place on my ear-lobes the electrodes and by aid of some transformer set he would let the high voltage current so that I had the feeling that my eyes are going to pop out and the feeling as if someone was cutting me up with the saw. From the electric shocks I felt dazed but would not faint and I suppose that the electrical current was so adjusted that we would remain conscious. One of the funs of the prison guards was to force the imprisoned Serbs to enter the dog-houses and from there bark like dogs. They forced P.G. to run around the circle with his spread arms and imitate an aircraft while bombarding, and the other prisoners had to imitate shooting at him. L. had to collect with his mouth the garbage from the courtyard".

31. Witness 182/95-2, detained in the prison camp "Lora" from April 26 to May 2 and May 20 to August 12, 1992, states the following: "Beating up was an every day occurrence. They were beating us with fists, boots and rubber batons. Further to the guards free access to our cells was also allowed to the members of the Croat military police and civilians who were also beating us and torturing us. Further to every day beatings they were torturing us with electrical current. I was tortured several times in this manner, and the torture consisted in tying up to my hand the conductors and then they would produce electrical current by the inductor of the field telephone.

The most serious beating I have received was on May 1, 1992 when Giljanovic entered my cell with another two men, known by their nicknames "Bane" and "Pepi", who beat me up and Dj.N. They forced me to face the wall with hands up in the air and then they hit me with fists and batons on my back. My back was completely blue from bruises and they broke several of my ribs one of them having pierced my pleura. Dj fell into a coma so the prison doctor had to come to intervene. On the next day I was transferred to the Firule hospital where I stayed until May 20^th under the false name of Jurcevic Ante. Upon my return to the prison camp the torture was continued. Further to the physical torture, there were also other types of torture, especially the psychological one. Thus, every time when the guards would enter our cell they would force us to give a Ustashi salute, to sing the Ustashi songs and in various ways humiliating us and degrading us as men. We would be taken for staged executions. I remained in "Lora" until August 12, 1992 when I was transferred to the collection center of Kerestinac near Zagreb. From there on August 14, 1992 I was taken for the exchange."

32. Witness 205/94-13, a pensioner who was detained in the prison camp "Lora" from June to August 1992, states the following: "I was brought to this prison camp from the hospital where I was treated for one month and, although because of many injuries it was written in my hospital discharge list which was handed over to the prison warden Tomo Dujic, that I must report to hospital every second day for continued medical treatment – he did not allow any medical assistance to be given to me. I was treated as a prisoner of war although I was a pensioner. I had the register number "PZ 139".

I was first placed in the block "B", then in the block "C". Treatment towards me was very bad and from the injuries my ribs were broken again and my kidneys damaged, and my left side of body was paralyzed. Because of this, after the release from this prison by exchange – I was treated in hospital for three weeks. In this prison camp they were forcing us prisoners to beat each other all the time, for 5 to 6 ours every day and to stand in the sun until we would faint. Because of all this from 86 kilograms that I had at the time of arrest, I came down to only 50 kilograms of body weight""

33. Witness 221/94-4 was detained in the prison camp "Lora" from June to August 1992 and he states the following: "I was imprisoned in the block "A", in the cell number 6. One night all the prisoners were pushed into the corridor and forced to take off their military boots that they had on their feet, because they were captured as soldiers and to return to bed with the boots. We were ordered to bite the boots and who could not do that could not sleep. No one of us succeeded in this, although we all had to bite the boots until dawn, so we did not sleep during the night".

34. Witness 221/94-10, a retired professor, was detained in the prison camp "Lora" from June to August 1992, and he states the following: "During the time of my detention in "Lora" I was beaten every day, and on one occasion when I instinctively wanted to protect my ribs from the kicks, I was hit with the baseball bat on the right under-arm when both bones of the under-arm were broken, which was recorded on the x-ray after the exchange. The guards noticed that both of my arms were broken, and in spite of this would tie my hands in cuff-links and would suspend the cuff-links on the hook holding the radiator pipes and then would continue to beat me until I would faint. After bringing me to with water they took me to the nearby office and ordered me to place my hands on the table with spread out fingers and would hit me on the fingers with the baton. From the fracture my arm was swollen and blue, but I was not given any medical help. Only after the exchange I was given medical assistance".

35. Witness 365/94-4 was detained in prison camp "Lora" in May and June 1993 and he states the following: "I was exposed to the most diversified forms of humiliation and beating, although I was wounded. In this prison camp I have spent one month and a half, and during that time they were bringing three times from the city the male children 7-8 years old and then the prisoners would be individually taken out of the cells, among them myself, into the courtyard, where we would be forced to sit on the concrete and one child would be placed on a chair close to which the prisoner had to sit and from that chair, from above, the child would urinate on the prisoner. Afterwards the prisoner would be returned to the cell and the next prisoner taken out".

36. Witness 365/94-7, born in 1974, was detained in the prison camp "Lora" in June and July 1993, and he states the following: "I was exposed to beating although I was wounded and without one leg which was amputated and I had to move with crutches. Once then forced me to lie down completely naked on the floor which they covered with water, and they connected the wires of the inductor telephone to my ear and the toe of my left leg and then let the current. The electrical shock caused cramps and great pain. They were letting the electricity until I was bleeding from my mouth and ears".

37. Witness 113/98-19 was arrested during the seizure of Bosansko Grahovo by the Croat Army on July 28, 1995, and he was detained in the prison camp "Lora" from April 10 to May 1, 1996 and again from September 1996 to May 1, 1997, and he states the following: "While we were in "Lora" we had to perform hard physical labor which would last for ten and more hours every day. During all this the Croat military policemen would beat and torture us on any slight excuse".

38. Witness 93/97-25, teacher from Duvno, arrested on April 6, 1992 and on the next day taken to the prison camp "Lora" states the following: "In "Lora" some 15 of us Serbs were taken from Duvno. There they beat us up terribly. They were beating us with everything, and the next night they took us to Zadar".

39. Witness 55/95-15, arrested on May 8, 1992 in Posavina, states the following: "After the medical treatment in the hospital of the penitentiary in Dubrave, I was taken to Split, to "Lora". Over there they were forcing me to enter the dog-house and during the entire night bark from there in order to, allegedly, guard the camp. Furthermore, they were forcing us to place our heads in the mud and to hold our heads there until the Ustashi would be satisfied. They would force us to run and when we were covered with sweat they would pour cold water over us. They were beating us with batons all over the body. In the area of the back I still have today the scars. They were forcing us in "Lora" to climb on a tree and to sing the songs about Jure and Boban, Ante Pavelic, and others. The food was extremely poor and scarce, and mostly consisted of one meal ev