The pit on Bašajkovac hill
Zastinje bb, 80101 Livno1992
The pit on Bašajkovac hill, located in the settlement of Zastinje in the Livno area, contained a mass grave. The exhumation of victims was carried out in 1999 and some of the victims were identified only 26 years later.
Court facts
Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In late 1991, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) began arming the Serb population and in April 1992, Serb forces shelled Livno on several occasions. (paras. 140., 272. Zdenko Andabak et al., pp. 55, 93.)
The premises of the Ivan Goran Kovačić School housed the Croatian Defence Council’s (HVO) military police in Livno, and in early August 1992, the Serb population, including women and the elderly, began to be rounded up and brought to this facility. (paras. 174-175. Zdenko Andabak et al., p. 64.)
The court determined that the Ivan Goran Kovačić School had all the characteristics of a camp, where civilians of Serb nationality were detained and subjected to various forms of psychological and physical abuse on a daily basis. They lived in extremely inhumane and unhygienic conditions and were taken to perform forced labour. Some were taken and did not return alive. (para. 182. Zdenko Andabak et al., p. 66.)
It was established that 13 civilians, 12 of whom were brought from the Republic of Croatia, were taken from the premises of the Ivan Goran Kovačić School and never returned. Their remains were found during the exhumation of a pit in Zastinje in Livno Municipality. (paras. 367-374. Zdenko Andabak et al., pp. 122-125.)
Dobrinka Šaponja waited three decades for her brother Dragomir to return home — until his remains were finally discovered in 2026 in a pit on Bašajkovac hill, in the Livno settlement of Zastinje. Her wish is for a monument bearing the names of all victims to be erected at this site.
Dobrinka Šaponja — Bašajkovac Pit, LivnoRelated content
The pit on Bašajkovac hill
Zastinje bb, 80101 Livno