No Progress in Briševo Massacre Case, Victims' Families Urge Action

Families of victims are expressing deep frustration over the stalled progress in the legal proceedings related to the Briševo massacre, one of the largest atrocities committed against Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s. Zdravko Marijan of the "Dom Briševo, Dobri" association highlighted the lack of movement in the case before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The last court hearing for Briševo took place in 2024, according to the Detektor portal, which monitors war crimes prosecutions. Marijan made these remarks during the commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the crime in the Croatian village of Briševo, near Prijedor. Serbian military and paramilitary units attacked the village on July 24 and 25, 1992, killing dozens of civilians. The Banjaluka Diocese reports that 67 Croats were killed, including the youngest victim, 14-year-old Ervin Matanović. Entire families, such as the Matanović, Atlija, Dimač, and Barišić families, were among the casualties.

Before the war, Briševo was home to approximately 400 Croats. Following the attacks and wartime destruction, none of the former residents have permanently returned to the village. In 2023, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina indicted five former commanders and members of Serbian forces: Slobodan Taranjac, Ranko Kaurin, Branko Dženopoljac, Draško Topić, and Veljko Brajić. They are charged with war crimes against civilians. However, Brajić has since passed away, and the trial against Taranjac has been separated.

Testimony regarding the attack on Briševo was also given at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Ivo Atlija, a Croat from Prijedor, testified at the trial of Radovan Karadžić, former president of Republika Srpska, who was accused of genocide and other war crimes. Atlija described the shelling of the village, the murder of civilians, and the expulsion of the Croatian population from the Prijedor region. His father was among those killed. The crime in Briševo has been established in several ICTY judgments, which have also convicted former Prijedor wartime mayor Milomir Stakić and high-ranking political official Radoslav Brđanin.

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There has been no progress for a long time in the trial for one of the biggest crimes against Croats in BiH in the 1990s.