Prosecutor's Office of BiH: Wartime Commander of the ARBiH Enver Buza Indicted for Crimes against Croats in Uzdol

Following a thorough investigation, the prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH has filed an indictment for war crimes against victims of Croatian nationality in Uzdol, committed in September 1993, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH announced, as reported by the Patria news agency.

The prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH filed an indictment against Enver Buza, born on July 12, 1947, in Visoko, a citizen of BiH.

The accused is charged with, during the war and armed conflict in BiH, acting as a commander and officer of the Army of the Republic of BiH, acting contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions on the protection of civilian persons during wartime.

He is charged with, in his capacity as commander of the Independent Prozor Battalion of the Army of the Republic of BiH, on September 14, 1993, personally commanding and participating in the attack on the village of Uzdol and the hamlets of Križe, Zelenike, and Raiči, inhabited by civilians of Croatian nationality, where during the attack, in an extremely cruel and brutal manner, members of the Army of BiH killed 27 civilians of Croatian nationality, including children, women, the elderly, and immobile persons. The youngest victim was a 10-year-old boy, and the oldest, an 87-year-old woman.

According to autopsy findings and collected evidence, the victims were killed with firearms and the use of cold weapons and tools. After the crime in Uzdol was committed, information about the massacre was published in the media, the then-special representative of the UN requested information from the BiH authorities about the crime and the investigation of this crime, and the Vatican was also informed about the massacre of civilians.

The accused is charged with being present in the field during the execution of the operation and in the immediate vicinity of the place where the murders were committed, as well as having received information from the security organs of the Army of the Republic of BiH about the committed crimes and the scale of the crime, and taking no action to conduct an investigation, and to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the crimes to whom he was superior.

The accused Enver Buza is charged with committing the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population. Attached to the indictment are several hundred pieces of material evidence, and the summoning of approximately 100 witnesses and expert witnesses is proposed.

The indictment, along with the evidentiary material, will be forwarded to the Court of BiH, the statement reads.

Also mentioned in The Hague cases

Enver Buza was the wartime commander of the Independent Prozor Battalion of the Army of the Republic of BiH. According to the allegations in the first-instance Hague verdict against General Sefer Halilović, the unit commanded by Buza was most responsible for the massacre of Croatian civilians and soldiers in Uzdol and the subsequent cover-up in reports sent to the command in Sarajevo.

In the Halilović case, details of the organization of the attack against Croats and Operation Neretva 93, as well as meetings held in that regard, are precisely stated.

The Independent Prozor Battalion, led by Buza, and its members are highlighted, as stated in the Hague Halilović case, as the most responsible for the committed massacre of 41 Croatian soldiers and civilians.