"...During our stay in that hangar the Muslims maltreated us and beat us with rifle butts, pistols, kicked us with their feet and hit us with what was referred to as "Bosnian clubs".

They beat me particularly severely in the evening when they returned from the front line. They would take us out into the hangar, sometimes two, at other times three of us or more, and then beat us with rifles, boots and anything they could lay their hands on. I remember particularly well a certain Hodžić who was the worst in the beatings.

They knocked four of my teeth out with a rifle butt and also injured my spine, as a consequence of which I am unable to move my right foot and my chest is still painful.

As a special form of humiliation, they would take us to the toilet and force us to lick the floor, clean the toilet bowls with our bare hands, collect cigarette butts, after which they would strew the floor with new ones, and if we refused to do these things they would beat us.

A particularly difficult task was the loading and unloading of ammunitions and other supplies hauled into the camp compound. Each one of us individually had to load or unload cargo weighing between 60 and 70 tons in one day.

I remember that they particularly maltreated physically one M. who used to work as an inspector at the Secretariat of Internal Affairs in Bihać...”

"I was captured on August 5, 1995 by members of the Fifth Corps of the Muslim Army. They immediately ordered us to empty our pockets and the soldiers who captured us took all our belongings.

Then they transferred us to a camp in Bihać and placed us into a hall where we had to kneel barefoot on the concrete. Initially they only beat us in the evening when they would come into the hall and take the stronger men out , beat them for an hour and then returned them into the room.

During our stay at this camp we did the hardest menial work, working for the whole day. At times some thirty of us would unload between 30 and 40 truck trailers with sacks of flour in a couple of hours.

On October 6 1995 they took us to Bosanska Krupa for labour and three of the guards hit us whenever and wherever they could. They hit us with weapon butts, hands and feet and we all sustained head injuries.

A guard called "Slovenac" was the most vicious of the guards who beat us.

We remained in this camp until October 31, 1995 when we were exchanged near Sanski Most, but some fifteen prisoners remained in the camp.

The food rations at the camp depended on the guards and often we did not get anything to eat for a whole day; of water there was enough "

"I was captured on August 5, 1995 on the Gračac - Plitvice road, at Plješevica and transferred the next day with the rest of the prisoners to the former “27. jul” barracks in Bihać.

The following two days and nights our group of prisoners was treated extremely inhumanely. A group of some 10 people "worked us over". We were beaten around the clock, getting punched with fists, kicked with boots and hit with other objects. In addition to beating us, they also ordered us to hit each other. We had to obey those orders, but when we fought one another at least we could mitigate the blows and we concluded that that was better than to suffer beating at their hands.

They threatened to lop off both of my ears.

When the guards came we had to stand up and to their question "Who are you?" we all had to reply in unison: "We are prisoners of war of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina". We also had to greet them with the Muslim greeting "merhaba".

Later, when we were visited by representatives of the International Red Cross, we complained about our treatment and there was a certain improvement. However, when the International Red Cross came to visit for the first time we were unfortunate enough to have a Muslim woman for an interpreter and she would not convey everything that we said.

The food was very scant and I can say that we only received about 20% of the normal dietary needs of a grown-up.

Members of the Muslim Army seized all the documents I had on me and never returned them..."

"...There we were locked up in a room 20 x 10 m. in size which used to be a warehouse.

The first two days we slept on the bare concrete. We covered ourselves with what little hay there was in the room.

They beat me up horrendously. They kicked me and hit me with whatever they could lay their hands on. Before beating me they handcuffed me. After the beating they had me kneel in a corner and the Muslim soldiers who passed by hit me. I was blue all over the body from the beating. My hands were so swollen that the handcuffs could not be taken off and had to be cut through with a power cutter.

Once they took me out and forced me to crawl while Muslim soldiers trampled on me and beat me. Then four soldiers ran up to the area in front of the warehouse and placed me in a "circle" and all four of them beat me for some fifteen minutes. The guard whom they called "Slovenac" was the worst.

The next morning the military police commander, who was about 35, came to the warehouse. He took me out of the line and as he had found out that I had been a sergeant in the army he punched me in the nose. I bled and could not sleep the whole night because of the excruciating pain and because I choked on the clotted blood.

While we were held in that warehouse Muslim soldiers came during the day and at night and took us out individually to be beaten. The prisoners who had a rank fared the worst.

After a week we were moved from the warehouse into a sheet metal hangar which was within the barracks compound. In the hangar they beat us incessantly for the first two days and then stopped. After that they took us out for hard physical labour.

When on August 8 we were registered by the International Committee of the Red Cross we got shoes; until then we had been going around barefoot for our shoes had been seized at the time of capture.

...Immediately after capture on August 5, 1995, after seizing our money, documents and all the valuables which we had on us, the Muslim soldiers forced us to work clearing the road which had been mined.

There we had to kneel all day long with our heads bent against the wall. In the beginning we slept on hay strewn on the bare concrete, without any covers.

During that period we were beaten and maltreated every day. Soldiers came in, took us out one by one and beat us.

As for food, initially it was extremely bad and we got only one meal a day. It consisted of a slice of bread and some beans. After we had been transferred into a hangar the guards beat us every day for the first 10 days. Then we were taken to do the hardest and dirtiest work for the whole day until 8 p.m. without any rest. While we worked they maltreated us, threatened to kill us, staged mock executions, leading us barefoot through Bihać and then out of town saying that they would execute us.

I got shoes only fifteen days after, on August 8, the Red Cross registered us. In the barracks compound there was a separate room which they called the detention unit and where mainly officers were held for fifteen days. When they got out they were blue from the beating. R.M., V.Đ, who was wounded, Ž.M. and V.B. were beaten particularly hard.

I remained in the camp until October 30, 1995.

I have mental afflictions and traumas as a consequence of my stay at this camp. I went through many stressful ordeals. I wake up at night and I have other mental disturbances..."

6. Witness 215/96 stated:

“...During the first days of my stay at the “27.juli” barracks which is now called “Adil Bešlić”, Muslim soldiers came and took individuals out into the adjacent room or outside and there they beat us.

Among the camp staff, the prisoners were beaten particularly viciously by a soldier called "Slovenac", blond, of medium stature, as well as by a certain Osman. The camp commander was a Muslim nicknamed "Kauk"..."

"...During the first days at the camp in Bihać we were almost given no food at all; In the beginning it was poor and improved later.

Then we were in a hangar, and as it was the summer period and the hangar was of sheet metal without any ventilation, the heat was unbearable and it was stuffy. We were unable to maintain personal hygiene.

I did not get beaten much. I was only hit with a truncheon in the back, slapped once in the face and kicked once in the stomach. However, the other captured soldiers, especially those with ranks, were subjected to more beating and maltreatment. Đ., P., M., V., who was wounded, and L. fared the worst...”

“...When they brought us to the “27.juli” barracks in Bihać, on the first day they gave us no food. They beat us especially hard the first ten days. They took us out in front of the hangar individually and there beat us with hands, feet, sticks, rifle butts, and whatever else they could find.

After some ten days we were moved into the hangar, where the treatment was the same as before. They took us out one by one in front of the hangar and beat us. The heat in the hangar was unbearable. The hygienic conditions were very poor, the only thing we could do was wash our hands.

The first twenty days they took us out to work barefoot, because the Muslim soldiers who captured us had taken our shoes.

Journalists and television cameramen often came to the camp while I was there. My friends had to say that they were treating us well and to reply to provocative questions of the kind "Why did you come here to make war? Who sent you?" and similar.

After 23 days I was out doing work near Bosanska Krupa. There we did the hardest labour. We slept in a room which was a detached part of a stable. One night, around 2 a.m. a group of Muslim soldiers led by one Nedžad around 30 years old burst in and they beat us all up...”

" When they captured us I was wounded in both arms, head and chest. As soon as they captured us the Muslim soldiers had us strip and took parts of our uniforms and the boots of us all. The next day they led us to a camp in the former YPA barracks "27.juli" in Bihać. We who were in the mortar platoon were beaten particularly bad. I personally, although I was wounded, was beaten up twice by HVO members who kicked me, hit me with rifle butts and what have you.

Afterwards, when we had been transferred to another hangar, they beat up especially bad M.L. who could not get up from the consequences of the beating for five days. Muharem called "Slovenac" and Osman who was nicknamed "Šatirani" beat him especially hard and trampled him underfoot.

All the prisoners were forced to do the hardest and dirtiest menial labour. The group assigned to disposing garbage from the hospital fared by far the worst. In the hospital were wounded Muslim soldiers and these Serb prisoners were subjected to beating and maltreatment at the hands of the relatives of the wounded soldiers. I myself was not sent out for labour until September 18 when my wounds healed. In the beginning I was extended no medical care at all. Only after the intervention of the Red Cross did I get some medicaments, but we never saw a doctor throughout our incarceration in Bihać.

Early in September some twenty of us were taken to a military detention unit in a nearby building within the barracks compound. I was locked up in cell No.2 which was 2.10 x 3 meters in size and their I slept on wooden pallets. Muslim soldiers took us out of the cell and beat us. They beat us up especially severely one night and it lasted till 6 o’clock in the morning. One Kauković, about 35 years old, who I heard was from Raštelina, beat me particularly hard.

I heard that some women also were locked up in a section of the barracks, but I never saw them..."

In the period from August 5 to October 30, 1995 I was in the Muslim camp in Bihać within the compound of the former “27.juli” barracks. We were held in a hangar.

There were a total of 122 prisoners in the hangar. They beat us especially during the first 20 days after capture. The tortured us particularly at night when one by one we would be taken out into the compound and walked about in circles, surrounded by guards standing around and hitting us as we circled with hands and feet, butts and other objects.

During the second part of may stay at this camp we were taken out for forced labour which would last for as long as 20 hours. We unloaded truck trailers; during the last 23 days I worked felling down timber for firewood with another prisoner. The two of us felled down about 1,000 cubic metres of firewood. I unloaded so many trailers and cut down so much wood that a normal person cannot even imagine possible..."

"...I was captured by members of the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 5, 1995 in the vicinity of Ličko Petrovo Selo and taken under guard to the former YPA barracks in Bihać which was now called “Fadil Bešlić”.

During the first 25 days we were beaten daily by members of the Fifth Corps practically around the clock. They hit us with their hands, feet, rifle butts, sticks, rods, practically anything they could lay their hands on, until they were tired. The tired ones would be replaced by fresh men who continued to beat us in the same way. The only respite we had was the interval between such shifts.

The first four or five days we got absolutely nothing to eat, and the 135 of us got only 20 liters of water.

After about 25 days they realized that we could be useful doing various physical work and started taking us out for labour. We felled wood in the forest, unloaded trucks, warehoused goods. We were always flanked by their guards to prevent us from escaping, but we were nonetheless beaten by their soldiers and civilians also. The guards would simply turn around and light up cigarettes, pretending not to see. We were also hurled stones at, not only by adults but also by children. Everybody knew that we were prisoners of war for they had us wear uniforms of the former YPA.

Sometimes we worked for as long as 20 hours a day without getting any food at all all that time.

When we first came they took our shoes. I had to walk barefoot for 20 kilometers on the macadam.

When we got what was referred to as humanitarian relief from the Red Cross the guards halved it. When the Red Cross came the interpreter was a Muslim woman, and through her we talked to a French woman, a representative of the Red Cross. However, in view of the interpreter we had, it did not even remotely occur to us to describe in detail our living conditions as they really were. We did not dare complain aware of the consequences.

Hygiene was at an extremely low level. We had a bath only once in the following way: they had us strip, line up and then hosed us with cold water.

In the hangar we slept on the concrete.

When I was brought to the mentioned camp in Bihać the deputy commander’s name was Kauk and he took off my golden chain, my wedding ring and my “Seiko” watch and simply made off with them. He did this to the other prisoners as well. He did this in an exceptionally humiliating way. It was regular robbery. This Kauk was a markedly strong man. He beat the prisoners mercilessly, especially when he got drunk.

Among the tormentors who beat us was also a certain Hodžić as well as one “Slovenac” who had a streak of white hair.

The savage way in which they beat Z.M. will remain forever etched in my mind..."

"I was held in the camp in the barracks in Bihać for 87 days, until October 30, 1995 when I was exchanged. Occasionally their soldiers entered the room in which we were and chose at will people whom they took out and beat up. This happened most frequently to P.M.

When we came all our personal documents were seized as well as all our personal effects, jewelry, watches, and nothing was returned to us before we were exchanged.

Ten of us dug a collective grave at the Orthodox cemetery in Bihać for our killed soldiers and buried 15 soldiers in it, 14 of whom had been identified as far as I could gather from their story. There were visible traces of torture on their bodies..."

"...After we were captured they moved us to the barracks in Bihać where we were put in some kind of a sheet metal hangar where we slept on wooden pallets.

I had to kneel during interrogation. Once they kicked me, but they beat the others much more than me.

We had to do hard physical labour: we dug trenches, buried dead bodies at the Orthodox cemetery. I unloaded bodies from trucks.

The bodies of killed Serbs would be buried at the dump heap. Our guard "Slovenac" forced us to go an see those bodies telling us that they were dead and that we were still alive.

I remained in the camp until October 30, 1995 when, together with another 137 prisoners I was exchanged, while 15 remained at the camp.

Many sustained injuries from the beatings.

I lost 16 kilograms in this camp..."

"...On August 5, 1995 I was taken prisoner by the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The next day they transferred us to Bihać. One hundred and twenty people were locked up in the barracks.

Members of the Muslim army took all my personal documents: driver’s license, vehicle registration card, passport, two bank books, and never returned any of it.

In the beginning we received one meal a day..."

"...Two days after our capture on August 5, 1995 we were brought to the barracks in Bihać above the stadium of the “Jedinstvo” club.

In the evening "Kauk", the deputy camp commander, came. He demanded that we tell him where we had left the mortars. As I was the squad leader I was beaten by "Šatirani". He beat me with his rifle and kicked me.

Afterwards a group came of members of the Fifth Corps and beat up behind the building all our captured soldiers who reported for going to the toilet. Occasionally Muslim soldiers came, took the prisoners out and beat them and maltreated them in the presence of the guards.

We were taken just out from Bihać to dig up the bodies of killed Serbs which would then be put in sacks. Then they would be taken to be exchanged. That was somewhere in the vicinity of Bihać. I remained in this camp for 87 days.

We slept in the hangar. From August 1 fifteen of us officers and non-commissioned officers were held in a military detention unit.

We were divided into three groups. We stayed there until August 15.

We were beaten up there and were to go out for physical labour after that. We went to work every day loading and unloading various goods. This went on the whole day and the whole night. They also took us into the forest to fell trees.

Due to previous injuries I myself and another two soldiers were feeling poorly and worked more slowly because of that. "Dida" noticed this and reported us to the deputy commander and we were again beaten and maltreated in consequence.

They forced the guard to beat us. We were beaten many times.

A group of about 20 prisoners was taken to a farm and after we were exchanged I learned that they had been beaten up viciously.

"...We were subjected to torture and maltreatment daily. The Muslims who guarded us treated us ruthlessly. They beat us, they humiliated us, harassed us.

The camp commander, "Kauk" was particularly brutal and cruel. He beat and maltreated us. Whoever was beaten by "Kauk" will remember it for the rest of his life.

Beating was daily routine at the camp. Especially brutal, among others, was "Slovenac"..."

"...I was in the camp in Bihać from August 5 to October 31, 1995 as a prisoner of war. We were treated brutally and inhumanely. We were subjected to daily torture and maltreatment. We were poorly fed. In the beginning we only got one meal a day.

I know that a prisoner was killed, but I do not know his name. This was done by the Muslims who guarded us.

The camp commander, "Kauk", maltreated, beat and tortured us, and a guard whom they called "Slovenac" was also very cruel..."

"...I was captured on August 5, 1995 in Preboj as a member of the army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina.

They took us to a camp in Bihać located in the “27.juli” barracks where I remained until October 30, 1995 when we were exchanged.

The camp was secured by Muslims and the staff were mostly Muslims.

In the camp they put us to all manner of torture. This was especially so in the beginning when the Muslims beat us every day. There was daily torture, both mental and physical. They gave us very little food, almost none.

They forced us to work barefoot.

The deputy commander Kauk was particularly brutal and all the prisoners remember torture at his hands well, as well as that at the hands of a certain Aca and one "Slovenac". They beat us every step of the way.

I remember especially well how they maltreated a man who was over 60, whom they beat constantly. That man was a judge and they treated him especially brutally. It is a miracle that he survived.

There were old men over 70 in the camp too. They too were subjected to torture.

I took part in the burial of killed Serbs. We buried them in a joint grave at the orders of the Muslims. As far as I could notice there were 20-year old youths among them. I do not know where those Serbs had been killed..."

The first seven days we were beaten daily by members of the military police of the Fifth Corps of the Muslim army and the prison guards. They beat us every day using their hands, feet, rubber sticks, weapon butts. They knocked out four of my upper teeth with their blows.

Later they did not beat me but they did beat individual prisoners from among our group.

Budmlić, called “Rošasti” and Kauković called “Kauk”, as well as a certain Osman from the surroundings of Sanski Most beat us the most.

I sustained injuries all over the body from the beating, with bruises and hematomata and contused flesh.

In this camp there were also some civilians, and among them an elderly woman, T., from the vicinity of Slunj..."

"...With a group of soldiers of the Republic of Serbian Krajina I set out towards Mt. Plješevica. They captured our scout whom they returned with the message that we were to surrender and would then be allowed to cross over to Serbian territory, so our entire group of 170 soldiers surrendered.

The first 10 days we were all beaten; they would take us out during the day or at night, one by one or in groups, and then beat us with hands and rifle butts all over the body for about ten minutes.

In addition to the staff, other persons also took us out to beat us.

On top of that they shouted threats at us saying that they would slit our throats, and cursed our Chetnik mothers and humiliated us in other ways.

Then we would be taken to do the hardest physical labour: felling trees in the forest, clearing a road through the forest, unloading trailers. We worked from 7 a.m. till midnight.

The first 15 days the food was scant as we only got a slice of bread and a small helping of beans or some other food. Later the quantity was increased, but was insufficient as we did hard physical labour..."

"...I was captured at Plješevica. There they showed us a pit that had been dug by an excavator and told us that we would be liquidated there. However, they took us to the barracks in Bihać which was a camp for captured Serbs. There they put us in a warehouse where we slept on the concrete. Then we were transferred to a hangar which also had a concrete floor and we slept on pallets. The hangar was leaky and the rain fell on us.

We were maltreated every day, and every night they beat us with rifles, boots. At night they came in groups of three or four, took us out and beat us.

The first 15 days the food was very poor and we only received one meal a day, while over the last two months we each got two meals a day.

One of the cruelest guards was "Slovenac", who beat me in the stomach with his boot. After that, I could not eat for five days.

As a consequence of the beating in the camp, I fell ill. My left kidney had to be removed and my right kidney is in a poor condition. My nerves and my heart weakened. I have the relevant medical documentation ..."

22. Witness 97/96-3, prisoner of war, born in 1948, testifies:

"...In the Bihać army barracks, we slept on hay and straw. We were later moved to the hanger, where we slept on wooden pallets.

We were often maltreated. A man with a big dagger approached me and said that he was going to cut my throat. He then stabbed me in the rear. Another time, one of their soldiers kicked me in the face with his sneaker. They also slapped me in the face.

The worst period was from 14 to 21 September when ten of us underwent interrogation. We were slapped in the face, then battered on the backs with police nightsticks. I was afflicted 100 hits the first time. The next day, they hit me with sticks again, 30 times on my back. It was very painful because they hit the same place again and again. It was Kauković and a person called Aca that were beating us.

We were given food in only 25 plates and spoons. There was no water for washing the plates, so we used the same plate by turns. It is a miracle that no one got sick ..."

23. Witness 97/96-4, born in 1939, arrested near the Plitvice Lakes, testifies:

"... We were taken prisoner by soldiers of the Fifth Muslim Corps, on 5 August 1995. They took all our belongings: money, jewelry, footwear, clothing, armament, watches and personal documents.

We arrived in the Bihać camp with no shoes, wearing socks. We were beaten, battered also by Hajro Hadžić called “Slovenac” and an Osman, prison warden Kauković, who was particularly dangerous. They beat us with riflebutts, fists and feet.

They occasionaly took somebody out of the hangar and beat him cruely. We listened, fearing who would be next.

When the Red Cross representatives came, they asked us how we were treated and whether we were beaten, but we did not dare tell the truth, fearing that we would be maltreated even worse after they leave, so we said that we were treated well, which was untrue..."

24. Witness 97/96-5, a driver, born in 1951, testifies:

" ... The day after we had been taken prisoner, we were transferred to Bihać and after having our hair cut, some twenty of us were set aside and beaten. They beat us with riflebutts and kicked us with their soldier boots. I received the largest number of hits in the right side of my ribs, where I felt pain for a month. I still feel the pain when the weather changes.

We were barefoot the first twenty days, because they had taken out boots.

I was registered by the Red Cross on 8 August, 1995.

A month later, 20 of us were transferred to Bosanska Krupa, to dig out potatoes and carrots. The 20 of us dug out 70 wagons of potatoes.

During the night of 11 to 12 October 1995, a drunk deputy police commander burst in and beat us with his gun, a peace of wood and his legs. He lined the 20 of us up and then beat us. When we would fall down, he would stop, just to start again 15 minutes later. We slept in a barn with bulls. All the 20 of us had diarrhea. We were told that it was because of water, but I suspect that they had put something in our food..."

25. Witness 97/96-6, a farmer, born in 1951, testifies:

"... As a soldier of the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina, I was on the position. We were taken prisoner between Korenica and Plitvice. The following day, we were taken to Bihać, to the former army barracks “27^th July". They cut our hair first and left us kneeling down for 5-6 hours in a room.

We were maltreated, especially at night. We were taken outdoor and beaten with riflebutts and sticks. I was taken out the second night, with five other men. "Osman" beat us on the head with a birch broom. "Slovenac" battered us with a stick and others with riflebutts.

33 of us were taken to the village of Spahići, to do road repair works. We slept on the attic of a barn. We were given food twice a day, but those were meals for children..."

26.Witness 97/96-7, born in 1952, testifies:

“I was taken prisoner on 5 August 1995. They took our weapons, our boots, and some clothes, leaving some men in underpants. Then they took us to the Bihać army barracks. The first twenty odd days we had no blankets, and then we were given one blanket each.

I was taken out of the hangar two or three times and beaten with nightsticks, boots and fists. There were usually three of them to beat us, one was called "Slovenac", the other one was "Osman".

During the stay in this camp, I lost 18 kilos...".