Byzantine Blog

Biggest Ethnic Cleansing of the Entire Yugoslav Conflict

“On Aug. 5, 1995 the army of the newly independent European state of Croatia attacked its own citizens, expelling its undefended Orthodox Christian population in what it called ‘Operation Storm’.

“These Orthodox Christian Serbs had earlier survived the slaughter of three quarters of a million Serbs, Jews and Roma (Gypsies) in the Holocaust conducted by Nazi-allied fascist Croatia in World War II. Only some Serbs, who were forcibly converted to Catholicism at gunpoint, were spared.

“Modern-day Croatia completed the crime it started in World War II. On Aug. 5, 1995, in front of CNN cameras and an inexplicably silent international community, Croatia completed the biggest ethnic cleansing of the entire Yugoslav conflict, expelling over half a million Orthodox in four years,” reads the announcement of the STOP Coalition’s protest against the “Operation Storm” on the anniversary of Croat mass ethnic cleansing of Serbs twelve years ago, held today in front of the Croatian embassy in Washington.

Memorial Services for Victims of Croat “Operation Storm”

Memorial services were held yesterday in Serbia and Republic of Srpska (Bosnia-Herzegovina) for victims of the Operation Storm in which over 2,500 Serbs were killed and more than 250,000 people of Serbian nationality banished.

The service in Belgrade’s Church of St. Mark was held by Metropolitan of Montenegro Amfilohije and bishops Atanasije and Nikanor. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Minister of Religion Radomir Naumov, Minister of Infrastructure Velimir Ilic and Commissioner for Refuges Dragisa Dabetic were among those who attended the service.

Metropolitan Amfilohije said that a train of refugees who sought shelter in Serbia 12 years ago is no different or less horrifying than trains of Serbs who were taken to Jadovno and Jasenovac in World War II to be tortured and slaughtered.

The ordeal of Serbian people on the territory of Croatia continues today, said the Metropolitan, and invited all exiled Serbs to return to their hearths where their ancestors had lived for centuries.

Following the memorial service, over 1,000 people set off for Nikola Pasic Square where a gathering was held in memory of victims of Operation Storm.

Serbs Will Never Forget

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that Serbs will never forget the terrifying scenes of ethnic cleansing of twelve years ago when an entire population of Serbs from Krajina was banished from their homes and land.

Kostunica said that the longest train of forcibly expelled people Europe had seen since World War Two will forever remain a testimony of the defeat of all those who committed this crime and are responsible for it.

“It is our duty as a people to pay tribute to all innocent victims of Operation Storm, which is what we are doing today,” stressed the Prime Minister.

He emphasized that in the course of the entire previous century a number of crimes were committed against Serbian people and added that Serbia must do all it can so that none of those victims is ever forgotten and crimes like those repeated.

President Tadic: Croatia Must Honor Its Responsibilities Towards Expelled Serbs

Serbian President Boris Tadic underscored that those responsible for the murders and expulsion of over 250,000 Serbs during the Operation Storm alone have to be brought to face the justice. “I will keep reminding and demanding that everyone who committed crimes has to be held accountable in the court of law,” said Tadic after lighting a candle in St. Mark Church in memory of the Operation Storm victims.

Press service from the President’s cabinet stated that during his conversation with the representatives of the Family Association of Missing and Killed During Operation Storm, Tadic reiterated his firm dedication to establishing the responsibility and prosecuting those who committed crimes. He also assured them that during his conversations with Croat president Stjepan Mesic he insisted on Croatia’s responsibility for securing the safe return of Serbian refugees, guaranteeing their rights to employment and reinstating the score of other rights they were stripped off during the war.

The Crime Without Punishment

Saturday morning, Representatives of Family Association of the Victims and Missing Persons During Operation Storm and Serbs expelled from Croatia gathered in protest in front of the Croatian embassy in Belgrade. The protest was dominated by the gigantic banner with names of the missing Serbs, along the messages “Croatia’s Still Hiding 2,650 Killed Krajina Serbs” and “The Crime Without Punishment—Through Storm to NDH” (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska, Independent State of Croatia, a fascist — Ustasha — state during WWII, notorious for one of the most gruesome chapters of holocaust in the human history).

A resolution that condemns continued crime and genocide over the Serbs in Krajina and Croatia was read by the Minister of Serbian Krajina Government in Exile, Ratko Licina.

The document demands that Croatia ends its policy of national, ethnic and religious discrimination, that Croat officials put an end to indiscriminate arrests and rigged political trials, and that it stops celebrating the Operation Storm as a national holiday, since the operation was a criminal undertaking of a genocidal nature, aimed at purging the country’s territory from each member of Serbian ethnicity.

The resolution also calls on Croatia to reinstate the status of a constitutive people to Serbs and for granting political and cultural autonomy to Croatian Serbs.

The document to be sent to the Croatian president and parliament, also demands restitution of Serb-owned property in Croatia, while urging the Serbian parliament to pass a law on refugees, and monitor implementation of bilateral and other agreements related to the plight of those exiled in August 1995.

700,000 Serbs Expelled From Croatia in 1990-1995

Serbian refugees from Croatia addressed the so-called “international community” at the gathering in front of the Croat embassy in Belgrade, saying that even after 12 years official Zagreb has not honored its responsibilities regarding the return of the expelled Serbs who are still stripped of all their civil and human rights in Croat state. “Croatia is deeply mistaken if it believes it has solved ‘the Serbian question’ by expulsion and ethnic cleansing,” said Rade Cubrilo, president of the citizen association “The Return of the Expelled Krajina Serbs.” He stressed that Croatia keeps failing to honor three legally binding documents, mainly demanding the safe return of all expelled and reinstating their rights.

Cubrilo reminded that up until 1990 Serbs had the status of constitutive nation in Croatia, adding that they will not relinquish that status, but demand to have it reinstated. From 1990-1995 Croats have expelled 550,000 Serbs from Krajina and another 150,000 Serbs, most of whom declared themselves as Yugoslavs, from cities and towns and other parts of the country, said Cubrilo.

During the war some 20,000 Serbs were killed, captured and went missing, while up until today the destiny of 2,650 Serbs remains unknown, said Rade Cubrilo. He added that during the WWII, in what was then a fascist “Independent State of Croatia” (NDH), over one million Serbs were killed, concluding that such Croatia will not and should not be allowed to join the EU.

Representative of the expelled Serbs called on USA, Canada and other states to request that Croatia reinstates the civil rights it took from Krajina Serbs, emphasizing that they are sorely mistaken if they hope to find someone to sign off on Croatia solving “the Serbian question”, since no one has the mandate or the right to wipe from memory the entire nation turned into homeless refugees.