Gunpowder Warehouse, Kalinovik

Location: Kalinovik

Importance of the locality:

The Gunpowder Warehouse in Kalinovik was used as a detention facility for Bosniaks run by the Army of Republika Srpska from June to September 1992. The prisoners were kept in inhumane conditions and were subjected to abuse, forced labour and beatings. As stated in the judgement against Đorđislav Aškraba, more than 80 civilians were taken from the Gunpowder Warehouse and subsequently killed at various locations, some are still counted as missing.

Entity: Republika Srpska

Ethnic group: Bosniaks

Area that victims came from: Kalinovik and surrounding villages, some of the captured civilians were from Trnovo and Foča.

Responsibility: VRS

Court trials:

For crimes committed in the area of Kalinovik, the Court of BiH convicted Ratko Bundalo, sentencing him to 19 years in prison, while Neđo Zeljaj was sentenced to 15, Novica Tripković to 8 and Đorđislav Aškraba to 7 years in prison for crimes against the civilian population of the Kalinovik area.

For war crimes committed in the Kalinovik area, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Momčilo Krajišnik, the wartime speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Biljana Plavšić, wartime member of the Presidency of Republika Srpska, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, while Ratko Mladić, the wartime Commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska, was sentenced to life in prison.
For crimes committed in Kalinovik and Foča, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted the commander of the special volunteer unit Dragoslav Kunarac Žaga and sentenced him to 28 years in prison.

The High Court in Belgrade sentenced Dalibor Krstović to 9 years in prison for crimes against the civilian population committed in Kalinovik.

Commemorations: Every year on 25 June, Istina-Kalinovik ‘92, the association of families of missing persons from the Kalinovik Municipality, visits former detention facilities and sites of execution to mark the Day of Memory commemorating killed Bosniaks of Kalinovik and the surrounding area.

Data source: ICTY, Court of BiH, High Court in Belgrade

Marked and photographed: 28.10.2023

Map:

Updated: 13.12.2023