Kaonik

ICTY

On January 27, 1993, Croatian Defence Council (HVO) soldiers entered the town of Očehnići, arrested men of military age, and took them to the prison in Kaonik, where they remained detained until February. During their detention, they were subjected to numerous abuses. (para. 570. Blaškić, p. 194.)

The Kaonik camp was located in the former barracks of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in Busovača. The barracks were mostly used as a warehouse for weapons and the prison in Kaonik consisted of two warehouses located about a hundred metres from the entrance to the camp. All the detainees were Bosniaks and, for the most part, civilians. Most of the people were arrested by members of the HVO while they were at home and unable to defend themselves. The exact number of detainees has not been determined. (para. 153. Aleksovski, p. 60.), (para. 774. Kordić and Čerkez, p. 261.)

The first period of imprisonment lasted 15 days, from January 25 to February 8, 1993, after which the Bosniak detainees were exchanged for about 30 Croat prisoners from Kaćuni. (para. 149. Aleksovski, p. 59.), (para. 774. Kordić and Čerkez, p. 261.)

The second wave of arrests lasted from April 14 to around April 20, 1993. Some Bosniaks were taken directly to the Kaonik camp, while others were first detained in the cultural centre in Vitez. (para. 150. Aleksovski, p. 59.), (para. 774. Kordić and Čerkez, p. 261.)

The detainees were subjected to physical and psychological abuse, and were taken to dig trenches. The conditions in the camp were poor. (paras. 135., 204. Aleksovski, pp. 54, 77.), (para. 774. p. 261.)

In mid-April 1993, HVO soldiers entered the village of Lončari, arrested 25 people, took them to the Kaonik camp, and set Bosniaks’ houses on fire. Residential buildings, stables, and livestock in the villages of Jelinak and Putiš were set on fire and about 10 people were reported missing afterwards. Around 200 people in Lončari (as well as from Jelinak and Putiš), including women, children, and the elderly were gathered in the mosque’s mekteb, threatened with death if they tried to escape, and several of them were beaten. Numerous Bosniak civilians were forced to leave the village. (paras. 567-568. Blaškić, pp. 193-194.), (para. 658. Kordić and Čerkez, p. 220.), (paras. 143., 146. Aleksovski, pp. 57-58.)

Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik

At the beginning of the war, the prison in Kaonik was converted into a military prison, where people who did not respect the commands of the HVO or Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) were sent. It was also a camp where Bosniak civilians were imprisoned. (A. J. and Đ. M., pp. 11-12.)

Bosniak civilians who were imprisoned in the military prison in Kaonik from April to June 1993 were physically and mentally abused. (A. J. and Đ. M., pp. 3, 29-33.)

Three Bosniak persons were killed by HVO members with gunshots in a house in the Luke settlement, after which an explosive device was thrown through a window and activated. A survivor was later taken to Kaonik. (J. R., pp. 3, 8, 9.)

The victims were previously mistreated in the house. (J. R., pp. 3, 9.)

In late April and early May 1993, HVO members searched and looted a house in Luka and threatened the Bosniak owner. Afterwards her family members were detained in the Kaonik camp. (D. V., p. 3.)

Civilians in Luka were also threatened, tortured, and robbed during June 1993. (D. V., p. 3.)

A Bosniak woman who was detained in a military prison in Kaonik was raped several times in the first months of 1994. (A. J. and Đ. M., p. 2, 24-26.)