ANNEX A.
- The Armed Forces of the Republika Srpska consisted of the Army of the Republika Srpska, and the units of the Ministry of Interior of the Republika Srpska.
- In July 1995, the Armed Forces of the Republika Srpska were under the command and control of the Commander-in-Chief, Radovan Karadzic. His headquarters was in Pale.
- Within the framework of the VRS, immediately subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief, was the Main Staff of the VRS, headquartered in Han Pijesak and commanded by General Ratko Mladic. It was the responsibility of the Commander of the Main Staff to issue regulations, orders and instructions regarding the implementation of orders by the Commander-in-Chief, and to discharge the command duties delegated to him by the Commander-in-Chief. The Main Staff of the VRS consisted of staff officers and staff support personnel, as well as some specialised military units such as: the 65th Protection Regiment, designed to provide protection and combat services for the Main Staff; and the 10th Sabotage Detachment, a unit trained for operations behind enemy lines and other special combat assignments.
- The vast majority of the fighting force of the VRS itself was divided into six geographically-based Corps, all subordinate to, and under the command of, General Mladic and, in turn, the Commander-in-Chief, Radovan Karadzic. In July 1995, the six Corps were the Drina Corps, the 1st Krajina Corps, the 2nd Krajina Corps, the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, the Hercegovina Corps and the East Bosnia Corps.
- Each of the above six Corps had their own individual commander and command staff, all of whom were directly subordinate to General Mladic in the VRS chain of command.
- Milenko Zivanovic was appointed the first commander of the Drina Corps when it was formed on 1 November 1992 and served as the Drina Corps Commander until about 2000 hours on 13 July 1995 when he was replaced by General Krstic. General Radislav Krstic was the Commander of the Drina Corps from about 2000 hours on 13 July 1995 through to the end of the war. Prior to his promotion to Commander, General Radislav Krstic was Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Drina Corps, a position he had held since October 1994.
- The position of Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Drina Corps or any Drina Corps brigade was a concurrent position. In the event that the Commander was absent, incapacitated, or otherwise unavailable to exercise his command functions, the Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander was empowered automatically and without further authorisation to assume and to exercise command authority over subordinate units, within the framework of the Commander’s overall intent. In such circumstances, the position of Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander is a position of superior responsibility within the meaning of Article 7(3) of the Tribunal Statute and, in addition, a person holding this position may be criminally liable under Article 7(1) of the Tribunal Statute.
- The Drina Corps staff was headed by the Chief of Staff, as described in the preceding paragraph. The command staff, headquartered in Vlasenica, had three specialised branch bodies each headed by Assistant Commanders. Those specialised branches were the Corps Security Affairs Branch, the Corps Morale, Legal and Religious Affairs Branch, and the Rear Services (or Logistics) Branch. Along with the specialised branches named above, the Corps staff had approximately ten operative branches responsible for the day-to-day planning, operations and combat functions of the Corps. Those branches included the Operations and Training Department, the Intelligence Department, the Armour and Mechanised Forces Department, the Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defence Department, the Engineering Department, the Artillery and Missile Department, the Communications Department, the Anti-Aircraft Defence Department, the Personnel Administration Department and the Electronic Security Department.
- The Drina Corps consisted of approximately 15,000 soldiers organised into thirteen geographically-based subordinate units, which included the 1st Zvornik Infantry Brigade, the 1st Vlasenica Light Infantry Brigade, the 1st Birac Light Infantry Brigade, the 1st Milici Light Infantry Brigade, the 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade, the 2nd Romanija Motorised Brigade, the 1st Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade, the 5th Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade, the 5th Mixed Artillery Regiment, the 5th Military Police Battalion, the 5th Engineer Battalion, the 5th Communications Battalion, and the Skelani Separate Infantry Battalion.
- Each of the brigades, regiments and battalions mentioned in the preceding paragraph had their own command staff and numerous subordinate units designated as battalions, companies and platoons. The command and troops of the Bratunac and Zvornik Brigades of the Drina Corps played significant roles in the crimes charged herein. The command structure of those brigades is set forth below:
A. 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade
Command Staff
Subordinate Units
1st Infantry Battalion
2nd Infantry Battalion
3rd Infantry Battalion
4th Infantry Battalion
Reserve Battalion
Mixed Artillery Battery
Engineer Platoon
Military Police Platoon
Intervention Platoon (Red Berets)
B. 1st Zvornik Infantry Brigade
Command Staff
Subordinate Units
1st Infantry Battalion
2nd Infantry Battalion
3rd Infantry Battalion
4th Infantry Battalion
5th Infantry Battalion
6th Infantry Battalion
7th Infantry Battalion
8th Infantry Battalion
Reserve Battalion
Rear Battalion
Mixed Artillery Battalion
Armour-Mechanised Company
Military Police Company
Light Anti-Aircraft Company
Engineering Company
Podrinje Detachment (Drina Wolves)
Signal Platoon
- Each brigade staff was headed by the Brigade Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander. The structure and function of the brigade staff was basically the same as the Corps staff, but operated on a smaller scale.
- With respect to these brigade staffs, one significant difference pertains to the role of the security branch. In a light infantry brigade structure, the role of the Assistant Commander for Security Affairs and Intelligence is combined. In a regular infantry brigade structure, the position of Assistant Commander for Security Affairs and the Chief of Intelligence are separate.
- In addition to the Bratunac, Zvornik and Vlasenica Brigades, units from the VRS Main Staff, other VRS Corps units, and RS Ministry of Interior "Special Police" and regular municipal police forces were present in the area of responsibility of the Drina Corps during the time frame set forth in the indictment. These units specifically were:
(1) Elements of the 65th Protection Regiment (Main Staff VRS)
(2) Elements of the 10th Sabotage Detachment (Main Staff VRS)
(3) Elements of the RS "Special Police" (Ministry of the Interior)
(4) Zvornik Police (Ministry of Interior)
(5) Vlasenica Police (Ministry of Interior)
(6) Milici Police (Ministry of Interior)
(7) Bratunac Police (Ministry of Interior)
(8) Skelani Police (Ministry of Interior)
(9) Visegrad Police (Ministry of Interior)
(10) Rogatica Police (Ministry of Interior)
- All of the entities referred to in the preceding five paragraphs were units of the VRS or units of the RS Ministry of Interior, all legally organised and existing under the relevant laws of the RS, and under the command of individuals lawfully appointed under the relevant laws of the RS.
- The geographic area of the Srebrenica enclave fell entirely within the area of responsibility of the VRS Drina Corps. (See Attachments A and B). Specifically, the Srebrenica enclave was in the territory under the responsibility of the 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade, the 1st Milici Light Infantry Brigade and the Skelani Separate Battalion. Further, all of the criminal acts charged occurred within the area of responsibility of the Drina Corps, principally in the areas of responsibility of the 1st Zvornik Brigade, the 1st Milici Light Infantry Brigade and the 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade.