Zvornik massacre

Zvornik massacres
Zvornik massacres
	Zvornik municipality on the map of Bosnia
Location	Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date	April–July 1992
Target	Bosniak, Romani and other non-Serb civilians
Attack type	Mass killing and ethnic cleansing
Deaths	491–700
Perpetrators	Serb paramilitary groups

The Zvornik massacre refers to acts of mass murder and violence committed against Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians in Zvornik by Serb paramilitary groups^[2]^[3]^[4] (Arkanovci, Territorial Defence units, White Eagles, Yellow Wasps^[5]) at the beginning of the Bosnian War in 1992. It was part of a wider campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War: by one estimate, 40,000 Bosniaks were expelled from the Zvornik district.^[6]

It was the second city in Bosnia and Herzegovina that was forcefully taken over by Serb forces during the Bosnian War.^[7] A total of 3,936 people were killed or went missing in the Zvornik municipality between 1992 and 1995 (of which 2,017 were Bosniak civilians), according to the Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo.^[8] The U.N. established International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted seven Serb officials, who were found guilty of persecution, forcible transfer and/or deportation, murder, unlawful detention, torture (crimes against humanity) and wanton destruction, plunder of property (violations of law of war).

^ "Court in Belgrade sentences Serbs for war crimes". Independent European Daily Express. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
^ John F. Burns (22 May 1992). "Bosnian Strife Cuts Old Bridges of trust". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
^ Katharina Goetze (2008-11-17). "Witness Says Serbs Knew Zvornik Attack Was Coming". iwpr.net. Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
^ Bassiouni, Cherif (27 May 1994). "Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 – Annex IV: The policy of ethnic cleansing". United Nations. Archived from the original on 23 March 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2010 – via www.ess.uwe.ac.uk.
^ Sekularac, Ivana (12 June 2008). "Serbia jails three for killing Muslims, prosecutor to appeal". Reuters.
^ Roger Cohen (7 March 1994). "In a Town 'Cleansed' of Muslims, Serb Church Will Crown the Deed". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
^ Chuck Sudetic (10 April 1992). "Serb-Backed Guerrillas Take Second Bosnia Town". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
^ Ivan Tučić (February 2013). "Pojedinačan popis broja ratnih žrtava u svim općinama BiH". Prometej.ba. Retrieved 4 August 2014.