Action "Storm" represents one of the cruelest and most massive ethnic cleansings in the territory of the former SFRY in the conflicts of the 1990s, and it remains a crime for which no one has yet been held accountable, said Tamara Milaš from the Center for Civic Education (CGO).
She said that the victims, survivors and families of those killed and missing during the "Storm" are invisible victims for the institutions of all countries in the region, whether they live in Croatia, Serbia or Montenegro today, they do not have any material, health or psychosocial support from the institutions.
They paid tribute to the innocent victims of the crimes that occurred during the operation "Storm", which was carried out from August 4 to 7, 1995, and as they state, they are using the opportunity to once again call on all authorities in the region to effectively deal with the past.
"We remind you that 26 years ago, with the attack on Knin, at dawn on August 4, 1995, the long-prepared exodus of Serbs from Krajina began. In the military-police operation "Storm" by Croatian units, systematic crimes were committed against the civilian population of Serbian nationality and their property. In a few days, about 250.000 people were expelled, mainly to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia, and thousands of houses and other buildings were burned. To this day, a large number of refugees have not returned to the areas from which they were expelled." Milas said.
He points out that according to the data of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, by the end of 1995, around 400 Serbs who decided to stay in their homes were killed.
He adds that in 2008, Ante Gotovina, the commander of the Croatian Army's Joint Area Split and the chief operational commander of Operation "Storm" in the southern part of the Krajina region, were accused before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes against the Serbian population in "Storm". then Ivan Čermak, the commander of the Knin assembly place and Mladen Markač, the commander of the Special Police of the MUP of the Republic of Croatia.
"In the first-instance verdict, from 2011, Gotovina and Markač were sentenced to 24 and 18 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while Cermak was acquitted, and after an appeal, the following year, Gotovina and Markač were acquitted of criminal responsibility. This verdict caused a lot of controversy because the Trial and Appeals Chambers of the ICTY - on the basis of the same facts and the same law - reached diametrically opposite conclusions about the key issues that the prosecution and defense disputed at the trial. However, it is important to emphasize that these conclusions do not call into question the established facts about what actually happened during and after the operation "Storm", said Milaš.
"Victims, survivors and families of those killed and missing during the "Storm" are invisible victims for the institutions of all countries in the region. Whether they live in Croatia, Serbia or Montenegro today, they do not have any material, health or psychosocial support from the institutions. In March 2020 , Serbia adopted the Law on the Rights of Combatants, Military Invalids, Civilian War Invalids and Their Family Members, but even in it, the victims of Operation "Storm" are not recognized as civilian war invalids," explains Milaš.
He adds that during the week marking the 26th anniversary of "Storm", CGO will also participate in the regional online campaign organized by the Center for Transitional Justice SENSE. The campaign consists of five narratives – The objective of Operation "Storm"; The purpose of shelling; Killings; Looting and destruction of property; Preventing returns.
Bonus video:
