Teritorijalna odbrana Republike Bosne i Hercegovine na području Prijedora od aprila 1992. do aprila 1993. godine
Territorial Defense of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Prijedor area from April 1992 to April 1993

Summary/Abstract: Aspects of the political situation in Prijedor during the resolution of the Yugoslav crisis on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovinawere multiple. The municipality which according to the 1991 census had Bosniak ethnic majority, and backed by relative victory of the Party ofDemocratic Action (SDA), found itself hostage to the plans and politicsof the Serb Democratic Party (SDS). Heavily surrounded by municipalitieswhich had created the Serb Autonomous Region of Krajina, withoutthe possibility of legal authorities to get support from the existing structuresof the Territorial Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and with large forces of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) on the territory of the municipality and the immediate surroundings, the Bosniak populationand its legitimate political representatives at the head of the Municipalityof Prijedor did not have effi cient instruments for the protection ofconstitutionality and legality. After disclosure of the fi rst internationalconcept for the crisis resolution in the form of the Cutilheiro peace plan,according to which Prijedor should be ceded to the constituent unit with Bosniak ethnic majority, the Serb military and political factors began preparations for forcible takeover of power in Prijedor. After the coupand suspension of legal authorities, the forcibly established Serb authorities began a genocide project of creating a permanent ethnic domination of Serbs in Prijedor, which was subsequently realized in the form ofethnic cleansing of Bosniaks and Croats through wide and systematicattacks on civilians, mass murders, torture in concentration camps andpersecution. The legal authorities and political representatives of Bosniaksin such situation tried to avoid the confl ict and wait for solutions in the context of negotiations on constitutional arrangements. Followingthe recognition of the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they had tried to harmonize these efforts with the respect for the decisions of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other things, in terms of organization and functioning of the Territorial Defense. These measures have also reflected efforts relating to the protection of the population and territory. This paper examines the organizationof units of the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Prijedor area, its structure and operation from the beginning of the armed conflict on the territory of the municipality to the annihilation of the last broken down groups on the ground.

• Details
• Contents