CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY HVO units killed 116 civilians, women, children, elderly, mined two mosques

(Patria) - 32 years ago today, a horrific massacre occurred in Ahmići near Vitez. Units of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on April 16, 1993, killed 116 people, aged from three months to 81 years, and completely destroyed the village. The remains of 15 people are still being searched for.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ruled that the killings in Ahmići were a crime against humanity, and one of the commanders of this operation, Dario Kordić, was sentenced to 25 years. He was released in early June 2014.

Zoran, Mirjan, and Vlatko Kupreškić were sentenced to prison terms of 6 to 10 years for participating in the attack, but were acquitted by a final verdict in 2001. Drago Josipović received 12 years, and Vladimir Šantić 18 years in prison. Dragan Papić was acquitted.

In the early morning of April 16, 1993, in an attack by the special unit Jokers of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), 116 residents of Ahmići were killed, of whom 33 were women and children.

The night before the attack, Croats were evacuated from these villages. The HVO began the attack by first shelling Ahmići-Šantići from a distance, and then groups of soldiers went from house to house attacking civilians and their property, using incendiary tracer rounds and explosives. HVO soldiers set fire to almost every Bosniak house in Ahmići-Šantići, as well as two mosques.

According to data from the Center for Human Rights in Zenica, 180 out of 200 Bosniak houses were burned.

The massacre was discovered by UN peacekeeping forces composed of the British army and Colonel Bob Stewart.