Bosanski Šamac ethnic cleansing
The Bosanski Šamac ethnic cleansing refers to war crimes, including murder, looting, ethnic cleansing and persecution committed against Bosniaks and Croats in the Bosanski Šamac area by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serb paramilitary units from 17 April until November 1992 during the Bosnian war. The area was later incorporated into the newly formed proto-state Republika Srpska.
| Bosanski Šamac ethnic cleansing | |
|---|---|
Šamac municipality | |
| Date | 17 April–November 1992 |
Attack type | Murder, ethnic cleansing, forced transfer |
| Deaths | ~126 civilians |
| Perpetrators | Bosnian Serb forces, JNA, Special Operations Unit |
| Motive | Greater Serbia |
Out of over 17,000 Bosniaks and Croats recorded in the municipality, only around 300 remained after the war in 1995. According to the Research and Documentation Center (IDC), 639 people died or went missing in the municipality during the war, of which 126 were civilians. The UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) classified it as a crime against humanity and sentenced nine Serb officials, including Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, who served in the State Security Service (SDB) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, making it the only case in the history of the tribunal for which officials from Serbia were sentenced for crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.