Page 16364
1 Wednesday, 13 July 2005
2 [Open session]
3 [The accused entered court]
4 [The witness entered court]
5 --- Upon commencing at 2.37 p.m.
6 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Registrar, would you please call the case.
7 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honours. This is case
8 number IT-00-39-T, the Prosecutor versus Momcilo Krajisnik. Thank you.
9 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Mr. Registrar.
10 Mr. Harmon, are you ready to continue the examination of Mr.
11 Brown?
12 MR. HARMON: Yes, Your Honour. Thank you very much.
13 JUDGE ORIE: And, Mr. Brown, before -- yes. Ms. Loukas, if
14 there's anything you'd like to raise before I remind Mr. Brown that he's
15 still bound by the solemn declaration given at the beginning of your
16 testimony.
17 THE WITNESS: Yes, Your Honour.
18 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. Thank you, Your Honour. I'd just indicate
19 that in my discussions with Mr. Harmon, he's indicated that he feels that
20 the examination-in-chief will conclude around about the time of the first
21 break. In those circumstances, Your Honour, I -- depending on when Mr.
22 Harmon does finish, I would propose that we take the break when he does
23 finish so that I can be in a position to take the lectern and what have you
24 and organise my --
25 JUDGE ORIE: Equality of arms, yes.
Page 16365
1 MS. LOUKAS: -- things in such a way that --
2 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
3 MS. LOUKAS: So that I can be in a state of combat readiness,
4 Your Honour.
5 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I -- if that would not cause us an extra
6 break, then we'd gladly agree.
7 MS. LOUKAS: Thank you, Your Honour.
8 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Harmon.
9 MR. HARMON: Your Honours, the exhibits I will be referring to
10 will be in our binder 3, for your benefit.
11 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
12 MR. HARMON: And I will also refer to binder1 but that won't be
13 until the end of our examination.
14 WITNESS: EWAN BROWN [Resumed]
15 Examined by Mr. Harmon: [Continued]
16 Q. Mr. Brown, do you have binder 3 in front of you?
17 A. Yes, I do, Mr. Harmon.
18 Q. I'm going to be very conscientious about pausing between
19 questions and answers.
20 Mr. Brown, I'd like to refer you to four exhibits that relate to
21 the massacre that took place on Mount Vlasic. Those are exhibits that are
22 found -- and we'll first of all refer to the exhibit in tab 84.
23 This exhibit, Mr. Brown, is a -- an extraordinary report dated
24 the 21st, and the month is illegible, 1992. It's an extraordinary report
25 that is directed from the command of the 22nd Light Infantry Brigade up to
Page 16366
1 its superior command, the 1st Krajina Corps command. And the author of
2 this is Bosko Peulic, whose name we have seen earlier in other documents;
3 is that correct?
4 A. Yes, that's correct. He's the officer we mentioned yesterday as
5 commanding that brigade and also Operations Group Vlasic.
6 Q. And while there is no translation of a stamp that appears on the
7 English version, the B/C/S version does bear a stamp with a time reference
8 of 0800 hours on it. Can you tell the Judges very briefly what this report
9 is.
10 A. I think the report speaks for itself. It's a report of a
11 killing, and it makes mention -- or killings. And it makes mention of
12 around 16 -- 1630 hours on the 21st there was a refugee convoy travelling
13 through -- it was actually through Colonel Peulic's zone and that the
14 police and the CSB were escorting the convoy. The convoy stopped at the
15 Koricanske Stijene, which is a feature on Mount Vlasic or near Mount
16 Vlasic, and there was a killing occurred, and people were thrown into the
17 canyon. And the report mentions that an illegible number of police
18 participated in these -- they call it liquidation. And in fact he uses the
19 phrase "genocide against civilians." He indicates that that his --
20 individuals from his brigade have nothing to do with it and requests that
21 some following measures to be taken: a commission be established and the
22 CSB be informed, and any other necessary measures be taken.
23 Q. Mr. Brown, if we could turn now to tab 85, and we will be
24 referring to tab 83. What is the document that is found in tab 85? Can
25 you describe that to the Judges, please.
Page 16367
1 A. This document is written on the following day, and it's a combat
2 report from the 1st Krajina Corps sent to the Main Staff. And it makes
3 mention in page 2 on paragraph 4 in the situation on the ground -- it makes
4 mention of this incident that was reported previously, that a column of
5 refugees escorting -- being escorted to Travnik, and that a group of
6 policemen from Prijedor and Sanski Most pulled out 100 Muslims and killed
7 them in various ways and threw them into the ravine. So this would
8 indicate that the corps had taken that information from Colonel Peulic and
9 sent a report in their daily combat report up the chain to the VRS Main
10 Staff.
11 Q. If we look at the translation -- the English translation on the
12 second page, it appears to have been received by the Main Staff at the 22nd
13 of August at 1400 hours; is that correct?
14 A. Yes, it seems to have been sent in that way.
15 Q. And you earlier in your testimony made mention of the corps
16 reporting to the Main Staff sometimes on one occasion a day, sometimes on
17 multiple occasions on the same day; is that correct?
18 A. Yes. As I said, there are -- these regular combat reports were
19 very frequent.
20 Q. Could you turn to the exhibit in paragraph -- in tab 83, please.
21 This is a document that appears to have been sent the same day by the 1st
22 Krajina Corps to the Main Staff of the army. Can you explain what this
23 report is.
24 A. Well, this is another combat report, and I think this one is sent
25 a little bit later in the day, so this would indicate that they -- they
Page 16368
1 were sending two combat reports. And on page 2 in paragraph 3, again, the
2 situation on the ground, it makes reference to that -- that killing, "A
3 massacre against civilians - Muslim men - was committed on the 21st of
4 August between 1830 and 1900," and again it makes reference that there was
5 a group of policemen escorting a convoy of refugees from Travnik, and it
6 indicates the massacre took place at the Koricanske Stijene in the canyon.
7 And it notes, "About 100 people were killed in various ways and left in the
8 canyon." So it would re-echo the earlier combat report and also the
9 initial report that Colonel Peulic sent the previous day.
10 Q. Finally in respect of this massacre, could you turn to tab 97.
11 Mr. Brown, this appears to be a combat report, a report on the state of
12 combat morale, I should say, prepared by General Talic, and it is to the
13 VRS Main Staff. And in it, there is a reference to this killing that
14 occurred -- that has been reported a few days earlier by General Talic.
15 Could you turn to page -- page 4. I'd refer to the top two
16 paragraphs. Cast your eye on that and explain to the Judges, if you will,
17 how you interpret this.
18 A. Well, the -- the paragraph 4 -- the page 4 in the top paragraph
19 indicates that -- again, it talks about the massacre in Skender Vakuf. It
20 seems to say that there were more than 100 -- over 150, and that Stevo -- I
21 think they've misspelled it here. It's probably referring to Simo Drljaca,
22 who is chief of the Prijedor police. Then it's also -- also makes
23 reference in the second paragraph that this action has caused indignation
24 amongst citizens and the Krajina soldiers. But it interestingly notes that
25 "this dark stain which was created did not have support, but it is very
Page 16369
1 fortunate the international community didn't find out about it in more
2 detail." So although they seem to be critical of the incident, they seem
3 to be highlighting the fact that at least there were some -- they were
4 quite fortunate that the international community hadn't found out about the
5 incident.
6 Q. Mr. Brown, in -- I'm going to refer to your report --
7 MR. HARMON: Which, Your Honours, is found in Volume 1.
8 Q. Do you have that in front of you, Mr. Brown?
9 A. Yes, I do.
10 MR. HARMON: And I'm referring, Your Honours, to -- it's the
11 section -- it's on page 88 and 89, referring to paragraph 2.80, that starts
12 at the bottom of 280 in your report.
13 Q. And, Mr. Brown, in your report, you say in paragraph 2.80 that --
14 "From April of 1992 onwards, there were regular reports of the killing of
15 civilians." These were reported in the army reports. And you reference a
16 number of locations in the footnotes in your report, starting at 400, and
17 running over to -- through 412, describe a number of incidents where the
18 army personnel are involved in the killing of civilians. And what I would
19 inquire to you about, Mr. Brown, is: In your review of these documents,
20 can you inform the Judges what your assessment was in respect of the army's
21 attitude toward the killing of civilians?
22 A. I do highlight these are references from predominantly, I think,
23 daily combat reports that identify individual villages or locations where
24 civilians or prisoners, in fact - I think it's not just solely civilians -
25 and these are the ones that I -- I was able to review and -- and saw.
Page 16370
1 There are other more general comments about killings of civilians, not
2 necessarily specifying individual locations. And there are a few of those
3 I think I've highlighted, as well.
4 I mentioned yesterday the incident in Kotor Varos where they
5 themselves reference it as a massacre and then apparently appear to put it
6 down to combat casualties. And as I said yesterday, I didn't see any
7 examples outside the one in Kljuc municipality, Vicici, whereby there seem
8 to be any prosecutorial proceedings, and even in that case, it seemed to
9 dwindle and achieve very little, and I don't believe anybody was -- was --
10 was prosecuted.
11 I don't believe the military, from the reading of the
12 documentation, followed up on the incidents that they themselves had
13 highlighted in their own documentation. And I can -- from the last comment
14 about -- it was fortunate the international community didn't find out about
15 it, I would come to the conclusion that they -- they -- although they noted
16 the killings and in some cases were critical of the killings, were not
17 interested in following up and conducting any action that would result in
18 the prosecution of anybody as a result of those killings.
19 Q. Mr. Brown, let me direct your attention to two footnotes:
20 Footnote 408, which refers to a 1 KK regular combat report that reported
21 that "A group of five members of the Sanski Most 6th Light Infantry Brigade
22 had killed seven non-Serbs, among them three women," and it describes
23 essentially the -- the prosecution history, if you will, in that particular
24 case. And could you comment on that case that's reported in your footnote
25 408.
Page 16371
1 A. Actually this was one case, again, that did -- when I say it was
2 the only case, I was thinking of it last night, if there were -- if there
3 was other cases, and -- and this has just highlighted that there was one.
4 But I believe this is another case that nothing happened. I think these
5 people -- there was a case file opened, if -- I believe, and -- I'd have to
6 go through the files, but I don't think anyone was prosecuted for this at
7 all. I believe they may have been held for a very brief period of time and
8 nothing happened.
9 Q. Your -- the footnote says that "The people who were involved in
10 these killings expressed the desire to return to their unit and the
11 prosecutor in the zone of the 1st Krajina Corps agreed to the request and
12 ordered the end of their detention, as there was no reason to hold them."
13 And there was later an indictment, but the perpetrators were never tried.
14 A. Yes. And that was what happened also at Vicici. I think they
15 were held for a short space of time, and they expressed the desire to go
16 back to their units or wrote letters to General Talic saying they wanted to
17 go back to their units, and they were released, and nothing happened.
18 Q. Could I direct your attention to the incident that's described in
19 footnote 412. This is from a report of the 6th Krajina Brigade military
20 police dated the 7th of December, 1992, describing a mass murder that had
21 been committed on Croatian villagers in a village in Sanski Most. Could
22 you review that note and just comment on it to the Judges, please.
23 A. Yes. This is another example of what happened. These
24 individuals were held for a short space of time and released -- released
25 back to their units. I believe they even went back to -- under the command
Page 16372
1 of Colonel Peulic and -- in Vlasic, if I -- I'd have to re-look at the
2 file, but -- but, again, nothing happened to these -- these individuals.
3 MS. LOUKAS: Just in relation to that, Your Honour, we do have a
4 military expert before us. There are specific documents. It seems to me
5 that questions -- and this has emerged in some of the most recent answers,
6 "I believe, but I'd have to relook at the file" -- I would submit that
7 there should be a little more precision in this is regard, rather than
8 belief from the witness, Your Honours.
9 JUDGE ORIE: I take it that when the witness says "I believe,"
10 that he expresses that he has found no further information in the
11 documents. Is that a correct understanding, Mr. Brown?
12 THE WITNESS: Yes, Your Honour. Just refreshing these
13 footnotes, I think -- and it has been some time since I was reviewing the
14 documents, not having worked here for -- for a year or so. I -- I remember
15 reviewing some of the prosecutorial logs and the case files, and I saw no -
16 - no examples that I remember now of individuals who after even a
17 preliminary investigation and even being held for a short space of time, no
18 individuals that ended up in -- in those three incidents being -- being
19 sent to prison or -- or in -- in custody for -- for any period of time or
20 brought to trial as a result of these three incidents.
21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Perhaps I took a wrong example. You said, "I
22 believe that they even returned back to" -- and then you said, "Under the
23 command of Colonel Peulic." And then you said, "In Vlasic." I don't know
24 from -- from what I remember, it was a Mount Vlasic that the incident
25 happened. I do not know whether was anyone ...
Page 16373
1 THE WITNESS: That was a different incident, Your Honour.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
3 THE WITNESS: I think the one -- the reference to the --
4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. But let me, apart from going into further
5 details -- may I take it if you say "I believe" that you are not sure about
6 that, that at least you are -- your knowledge at this moment doesn't allow
7 you to come to any more firm statement in that respect?
8 THE WITNESS: Well, I would argue that, from what I remember of
9 -- and refreshing myself with the footnotes and from what I remember
10 analysing at the time, I did not see in these three incidents anybody being
11 tried for these events, even though they were well known.
12 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, I do see that. But you said, "I believe that
13 they returned," and then you mentioned a commander, and you mentioned a
14 place. May I take it that your actual knowledge is not sufficient to --
15 THE WITNESS: In that -- those very narrow issues of them
16 returning to the Vlasic feature under Peulic.
17 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
18 THE WITNESS: I would be less -- less confident.
19 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
20 THE WITNESS: So you're right, Your Honour.
21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
22 THE WITNESS: But in relation to the substantive issue of --
23 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, you explained that, that you do not recollect
24 any further action taken against suspects in that.
25 THE WITNESS: No, I don't.
Page 16374
1 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, of course, we could have done it in --
2 well, not we, but you could have done it in cross-examination, but this at
3 least further specifies the level of knowledge of the accused in respect of
4 what he said after he said "I believe."
5 MS. LOUKAS: Of course, Your Honour. But, of course, I have
6 very limited time for cross-examination.
7 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
8 MS. LOUKAS: And I think it's important that -- that the
9 procedure of the evidence in chief --
10 JUDGE ORIE: Rather the Judges ask. Yes, no. No. It's well
11 understood.
12 Judge Hanoteau has a question.
13 JUDGE HANOTEAU: [Microphone not activated]
14 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.
15 JUDGE HANOTEAU: [Interpretation] Witness, upon the analysis of
16 this page of your report, we can see that you are referring to a certain
17 number of massacres, of killings. You talk about killings of prisoners,
18 killings committed by various people, groups. And I would like to ask you
19 the following question after hearing your answers: I wonder if the
20 military authorities, were they working for themselves in a closed circuit
21 in a way? We're under the impression that those reports are only drafted
22 for the army, without really wondering where these reports will end up. In
23 fact, I wonder now why were those reports drafted, if they were meant to
24 stay within the army, within the headquarters of the army. So my question
25 would be the following: Did you see any traces of any forwarding of these
Page 16375
1 reports to civilian authorities? Because you say in your answer, "I did
2 not see reports," testifying to the effect that there were -- that these
3 people were tried, that they went to prison. But it is not up to the army
4 itself to try those people; it is not up to the army to condemn people,
5 such as police officers, who had perpetrated crimes over civilians. It is
6 up to the army to send to the civilian authorities by way of their
7 Ministries of Defence or so on and so forth -- it was up to them to forward
8 those reports to the civilian authorities so that those -- the perpetrators
9 of those crimes would be tried.
10 So my question is the same as yesterday: Who were those reports
11 disseminated? Were they drafted to the attention of the headquarters or
12 only for the army, without them being sent to the competent authorities?
13 THE WITNESS: I believe that most, if not all, of the references
14 to the individual incidents there were regular combat reports that were
15 sent to the VRS Main Staff, in the same way that the reference to the
16 killings on Mount Vlasic and the killings in Kotor Varos that I mentioned
17 yesterday. So those references are reports that are going to the Main
18 Staff.
19 Now, in relation to the issue of the military not trying or
20 dealing with civilians or policemen, I am not a judicial expert and -- but
21 I would agree that -- that there are other competent bodies, police
22 investigative bodies that undoubtedly would have done that.
23 However, General Talic and the military did have a -- a military
24 prosecutorial body, and they did have a court system. And I know that the
25 Office of the Prosecutor did obtain military court records and military
Page 16376
1 court proceedings. And within his own competency, for example, the killing
2 in Kotor Varos of the 200 men, even on the basis of the report that went to
3 the Main Staff itself, it is highlighted that the perpetrators were
4 military. I think they highlight it as the Kotor Varos Light Infantry
5 Brigade. I was not aware of having reviewed the military court records at
6 all that any military figure was brought into, investigated, or went
7 through the military prosecutorial process. I know that the brigade
8 commander from the Kotor Varos Light Infantry Brigade remained as the
9 commander at least into 1993. So -- so that is one aspect.
10 Now, in relation to where did the reports that went from the
11 corps go to, they clearly would have gone and did go to the VRS Main Staff.
12 And as I indicated yesterday or the day before, we are -- were hampered
13 because we were not given access, even though we requested on many
14 occasions -- given access to the VRS Main Staff documents in order to
15 critically look at those. But it would seem to me from the combat analysis
16 readiness report, from the fact that they themselves reference good
17 communications, from the fact that there was a functioning communication
18 chain, that there were examples of briefings, that there were alternative
19 methods by which reports could go up. The police chain being one; civilian
20 chain presumably being another; and there are references in the
21 international media about these incidents. That there were these multiple
22 ways in which this type of information could -- could reach other actors.
23 And I -- I believe in relation to -- as a -- as an aside possibly, in
24 relation to the Vlasic Mountain massacre that there is a reference in David
25 Owen's book, "Balkan Odyssey," that he visited Banja Luka, in fact, around
Page 16377
1 this time in part because, of course, there had been rumours of a killing
2 in that area. And so maybe this is another example whereby, despite what
3 the Krajina Corps say that, thank goodness it hasn't come to the
4 international press, there were these mechanisms by which these types of
5 incidents would have become known.
6 So those are both the limitations in answering your question but
7 also maybe highlighting or reinforcing some of those other communication
8 methods that existed.
9 JUDGE HANOTEAU: [Interpretation] Let's take footnote 412, page
10 89. Here we see that you refer -- page 90. It's the follow-up of footnote
11 412. You refer to the report from the military prosecutor's office related
12 to a crime committed, I believe, against civilians. So that was my
13 question: If you reported this, if you were able to find this for that
14 particular case, does that mean that you did not find any evidence of this
15 report transmitted to other military prosecutors for the other incidents
16 you mention? I don't know if I'm clear enough. Why in that specific case
17 have you found or do you refer to the report from the military prosecutor's
18 office, and why in the other incidents, in the other cases, don't you give
19 these reports? Is it because they don't exist, or is it because you did
20 not have access to the relevant documents?
21 THE WITNESS: Your Honour, when I reviewed the military
22 prosecutor -- prosecutor's documents, I did not -- I did not see in
23 reviewing those documents evidence on the other cases whereby people were
24 brought through the military prosecutorial process.
25 JUDGE HANOTEAU: [Interpretation] So you had access to the
Page 16378
1 archives of the military prosecutors, didn't you?
2 THE WITNESS: Yes, I had -- I had access to the records of the
3 military prosecutor's office in the 1st Krajina Corps, and there were some
4 follow-up work that members of the Office of the Prosecutor did in relation
5 to the Main Staff or the army-wide prosecutor's office. And I certainly
6 looked at the records of the 1st Krajina Corps military prosecutor's
7 office. And, in fact, the reason -- if I take it back slightly. The
8 reason we went to look for those documents was very much because out of the
9 1st Krajina Corps archive we had one report which seemed to indicate that
10 there had been some investigative effort in the Velagici school massacre in
11 Kljuc, and it seemed to me that the VRS 1st Krajina Corps had initiated an
12 investigation against a killing of civilians in the school in their
13 documents. And I felt that this needed to be explored further: if they had
14 one reference, were there more? So we made a request to go and obtain a
15 review -- and review the records from the military court. And in that
16 particular case, the individuals were initially -- or one individual, I
17 think, was initially charged with war crimes. That's why it raised my
18 attention. And I felt if there was one, there might have been an awful lot
19 more. So that's why we went to look for the archive or military records
20 from the military prosecutor's office in Banja Luka.
21 When we obtained those documents, that was the only case in
22 reviewing those documents that I remember that was -- that the war crimes
23 were -- war crimes were charged, or at least initiated. And when you
24 followed the trail of that case, it just petered out in 1993, I believe,
25 and then nothing ever happened -- I think the case might have been
Page 16379
1 reactivated at the very end of the war or after the war had finished. That
2 was the only case.
3 And in these other examples, I couldn't find any whereby the
4 incidents that were related in the 1st Krajina Corps were -- were being
5 investigated at all, except for possibly the other two that -- that are
6 here; the one in Skrljevita [phoen] and the other one in -- that Mr. Harmon
7 mentioned earlier on, I think Carakovo. The rest -- and actually what I
8 tended to find in the -- in the military court records -- and I'm, by the
9 way, not an expert on the military court process, necessarily, or the whole
10 records -- was that there were a number of examples whereby non-Serbs were
11 being pushed through the military court process and charged and prosecuted,
12 and there were incidents where Serbs were being pushed through for attacks
13 on other Serbs. But there was nothing that would link any of these other
14 incidents in the court records at all.
15 JUDGE HANOTEAU: [Interpretation] Thank you very much.
16 Maybe one last question. You might not even be able to answer
17 it. These military courts, what was the situation within the judicial
18 system? Did they depend only on the military system? Were they only
19 placed under the military authorities or also under the civilian
20 authorities?
21 THE WITNESS: I would prefer someone who has more of an
22 experience in judicial matters to -- to explain that. I don't think it's
23 really within my competency to answer. I'm sorry, Your Honour.
24 JUDGE HANOTEAU: [Interpretation] Thank you very much, sir.
25 MR. HARMON:
Page 16380
1 Q. Mr. Brown, how do you reconcile the lack of prosecutions and the
2 lack of punishment that you see revealed in these -- for these crimes that
3 you see revealed in the military reports with the frequent or relatively
4 frequent admonition contained in some of these documents to abide by the
5 Geneva Conventions?
6 A. It -- it strikes me as the references to abiding by the Geneva
7 Conventions were not -- were certainly not obeyed and that they seemed
8 somewhat hollow in relation to their genuine nature of abiding by those
9 regulations. And it -- I don't necessarily see that exclusively in
10 relation to killings. There are references to people in detention camps
11 who don't deserve to be there. There are -- there clearly are references
12 to people being moved out and expelled. And it strikes me that there is
13 this very stark -- stark view, on the one hand, where some of the documents
14 do make references to abiding by the Geneva Conventions but, on the other
15 hand, that this activity was going on. And it went on for a period of
16 time. And I can only come to the conclusion that these -- not only were
17 they not -- were they not abided by but they were hollow statements in
18 their own documentation.
19 Q. Mr. Brown, in the limited time that is remaining, I want to cover
20 two more topics with you. And I first of all would like to cover the topic
21 of the resettlement and the expulsion of people in the area of the 1 KK.
22 Did -- when you assessed the documentation that you had at your disposal,
23 could you assess the attitude of the army toward expulsions and
24 resettlements, and could you also assess their participation in those
25 events?
Page 16381
1 MR. HARMON: Your Honours, for your benefit, Mr. Brown covers
2 this in part in his report starting at page 110 through page 122.
3 Q. We're going to look at a series of documents in a few minutes,
4 Mr. Brown, so there's no reason necessarily to reference documents at this
5 point in time. I'd just like your general view about what the
6 documentation showed insofar as it revealed the part -- the army's
7 participation in an attitude towards expulsions and resettlement.
8 A. I think the army, from the documentation, were first and foremost
9 very aware of it, that it was occurring. And I think there are references
10 that would indicate that they were engaged in assisting that process and
11 that they operated with the police and in coordination with civilian bodies
12 in order to assist in that process. And off the top of my head, I remember
13 at least one document where they actively supported it and encouraged that
14 there should be -- civilian authorities should work harder at it.
15 Q. Mr. Brown, can you define in your own terms what "resettlement"
16 means in the context of the army documents that you read.
17 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, before we go on to the next
18 question, we have this indication of "off the top of my head, I remember at
19 least one document." Perhaps it might be appropriate to ask and --
20 MR. HARMON: Your Honour, I'm going to cover that document in
21 just a few minutes. So rather than have a protracted debate on that, I'm
22 prepared to show Mr. Brown that document in just a few minutes, and I am
23 quite conscious of the clock.
24 MS. LOUKAS: Well, I'm happy with that.
25 JUDGE ORIE: Then please proceed.
Page 16382
1 MR. HARMON:
2 Q. Mr. Brown, my question was, In the context of the documentation
3 you've reviewed there's frequent references, to resettlement. Can you give
4 us the context of what that meant.
5 A. I think "resettlement" meant either the forcible removal of
6 individuals from -- from areas that they wanted to control or an awareness
7 that individuals, through fear or other reasons, were leaving and would not
8 be coming back.
9 Q. Mr. Brown, I'm going to refer you to a series of documents now,
10 and I'm going to invite your comments on each. The first is found in tab
11 88. This is a -- I'll give everybody time to secure their binders. Tab
12 88, you'll see, Mr. Brown, is a document that is dated the 1st of June.
13 This is approximately three weeks after the strategic objectives were
14 announced, and this is a document that is from the 1st Krajina Corps, and
15 it is signed by Colonel Vukelic. It's a report on the current political
16 and security situation.
17 And I refer you to the third paragraph in that document. Could
18 you -- and this is a document -- I'll read the paragraph very quickly. It
19 refers to "Groups being disarmed every day, particularly in the city." And
20 then it says, and I quote, "A portion of the Muslim and Croatian population
21 is moving out, and the region of Bosnian Krajina has issued a decision to
22 facilitate such departures, providing the Serbs from Central Bosnia in
23 places with predominantly Muslim and Croatian populations were also allowed
24 to move out. Those departing will not be allowed to return."
25 Can you just briefly comment on that. We have a number of
Page 16383
1 documents to go through.
2 A. Well, it clearly shows - excuse me - it clearly shows an
3 awareness that people are leaving. It clearly shows an awareness that they
4 are aware that the region of Krajina has issued decisions. So there's a
5 issue of cooperation at least there or knowledge of what they're doing.
6 And they are obviously aware of the issue of Muslims and Croats moving and
7 Serbs moving into, presumably, RS territory, and the reference that those
8 departing will not be allowed to return would indicate some permanency in
9 the fact that these people will not be coming back.
10 Q. Mr. Brown, let me direct your attention to tab 87.
11 A. Is it possible for me just to comment on another section of this
12 document?
13 Q. Yes.
14 A. If we'd go to page 2 on the top. This document was written only
15 a few days after the attacks in Prijedor, and they're highlighting what's
16 going on more generally in the whole corps, but they highlight the issue of
17 Prijedor. And at the top paragraph, they make reference of -- actually
18 it's at the very bottom of page 1: "The heaviest fighting has taken place
19 in the area of Hambarine, Prijedor, and Kozarac. Troops under the command
20 of the Prijedor area cleared Hambarine and Kozarac completely and
21 completely destroyed one ZNG unit, black shirts, foreign mercenaries, and
22 legionaires. The troops have arrested more than 2.000 Green Berets who are
23 now in Omarska. 135 of them are in Stara Gradiska prison -" Stara Gradiska
24 prison was a prison that the JNA had used; it's in Croatia, just over the
25 border, and the 1 Krajina corps ran that prison - "and about 5.000 in the
Page 16384
1 village of Trnopolje. Among the arrested is a large number of officers and
2 organisers of paramilitary formations."
3 They then go on to talk about "All SRBH troops in the areas have
4 demonstrated a high degree of combat readiness, with the troops from the
5 seasoned 343rd Brigade excelling. The troops and officers received a
6 written commendation from the corps commanders for their determined skill
7 and courage they have demonstrated. They are an example of how one should
8 act while defending the SRBH," and then they mention that some members of
9 the army had been killed during that fighting and some wounded.
10 And this, again, indicates to me that the corps was very aware
11 that people were -- well, the areas were being attacked. They're
12 commending the very unit that took part in it, and --
13 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Brown, I don't know whether you can have a look
14 at your screen. It says, "Kindly slow down for the purposes of the
15 record."
16 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry.
17 JUDGE ORIE: It's not only translation but also the transcript.
18 THE WITNESS: I do apologise, Your Honour.
19 And they note that -- well, some 7.000 here, anyway. They call
20 them "Green Berets" -- "are in Omarska and Trnopolje."
21 MS. LOUKAS: Sorry, Your Honour, perhaps it's a misreading of
22 the document. I think the document says 2.000, rather than 7.000.
23 THE WITNESS: I think I meant 7.000 in total because it's --
24 MS. LOUKAS: Oh, 7.000 in total.
25 THE WITNESS: Yeah.
Page 16385
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Page 16386
1 MR. HARMON:
2 Q. Mr. Brown, let's turn to the next document because I will soon
3 run out of time and I need to address about 15 documents.
4 A. Okay.
5 Q. If we'd turn to the next document. This is a document written
6 the day after this document that was just referred to. This is found in
7 tab 87, a document from the 1st Krajina Corps dated the 2nd of June from
8 General Talic himself, and it's a regular combat report.
9 And at the end of paragraph 2, he says, and I quote, "In the
10 area of Derventa, there continues to be occasional artillery fire while the
11 Muslim extremists have failed to hand in their weapons. The Muslim
12 population of the area of Lisnja village has been expelled."
13 Can you comment on that document?
14 A. I think it's self-evident that he's referring to Lisnja village,
15 which was a Muslim village in Prnjavor municipality.
16 Q. If we could turn to the document that's found at tab 72. Now,
17 this -- this document is only a couple days after the document that General
18 Talic sent up to the Main Staff, and this is a document dated the 4th of
19 June from the Sanski Most Crisis Staff, and it's their conclusions. And
20 I'd like to direct your attention to the first paragraph, which is the
21 first conclusion, and it says that "Mirko Vrucinic, Nedeljko Rasula, and
22 Colonel Nedjo Anicic shall be in charge of resolving the issue of prisoners
23 and their categorisation and deportation to Manjaca." And the categories
24 that are listed are, first category, politicians; second category,
25 nationalist extremist; third category, people unwelcome in Sanski Most
Page 16387
1 municipality. And then it ends with "In view of this, have a talk with
2 Colonel Stevilovic from the 1st Krajina Corps."
3 Now, Mr. Brown, this is a document that talks about deportation.
4 My first question is, Manjaca, that is referred to, what -- what is
5 "Manjaca," for the record?
6 A. Manjaca was a military-run detention camp in Banja Luka
7 municipality.
8 Q. And this is talking about the deportation of people who from the
9 categories are civilians in part; isn't that correct?
10 A. Yes, it would seem so. Yes.
11 Q. Can you comment further on this document and its relationship to
12 the army?
13 A. I'm aware from other documentation that people were transferred
14 from Sanski Most to -- to Manjaca camp. And for the record, Colonel
15 Stevilovic is the chief of security of the corps, a subordinate to General
16 Talic.
17 Q. And were those people who were transferred from Sanski Most to
18 Manjaca transported with the assistance of the military?
19 A. I believe they were transported with the assistance of the
20 police; I think the police escorted them to the camp. And for the record,
21 some individuals died during that transfer. That's referenced in
22 documentation, by the way.
23 Q. If we could turn, Mr. Brown, to tab 90. This document was issued
24 by General Talic about a month after the strategic objectives were
25 announced. It is dated the 14th of June. It is to the Main Staff, "A
Page 16388
1 state of combat and morale of the units of the 1st Krajina Corps."
2 Before directing your attention to the part dealing with
3 expulsions, let me direct your attention to a -- paragraph 1. Five lines
4 from the -- from the bottom of -- above the bottom of that paragraph,
5 General Talic in this -- reports, and I quote, "The entire zone of
6 responsibility is fully under control." He's talking -- the entire zone of
7 responsibility being his area of responsibility, is he not?
8 A. Yes, he is.
9 Q. Okay. So if we could now turn to page 3, the paragraph directly
10 above the number 3 that is in bold, and I will read it. "The most
11 difficult situation concerns the Muslim and Croat refugees in the area of
12 AR Krajina, their security, and the provision of food. The attempt to
13 expel them to Central Bosnia failed because of transportation difficulties
14 and their resistance to leaving their places of residence."
15 Again, I invite your comments on this, Mr. Brown.
16 A. Well, it would seem to indicate a knowledge that people are being
17 expelled that and that -- that he's more worried about logistic
18 difficulties involved in that process than -- than -- than necessary -- and
19 also the problems that -- because some of them were having to stay, that
20 it's giving rise to vindictiveness and revenge, and the enemy are closing
21 their ranks as a result of that. So he -- he seems to be not -- aware of
22 the expulsions, and the only reasons that they seem not to be being
23 expelled is because of logistic problems.
24 Q. Let's turn to the item in -- in tab 94. Mr. Brown, this is a 1st
25 Krajina Corps report dated the 28th of July, and it is directed to the army
Page 16389
1 Main Staff. And I'd like to refer you to two parts of this document. The
2 first is in paragraph 3, which I will quote: "In the city of Banja Luka
3 and other large towns, there is an increased demand for the organisation of
4 the departure of Croatian and Muslim population. We considered that the
5 municipal and regional authorities should work much harder at this."
6 When he refers to "we," I -- do you conclude he's referring to
7 the 1 Krajina Corps?
8 A. Yes, it would seem so.
9 Q. Again, can I have your comments on this.
10 A. Well, at face value, what he seems to be saying is that he's
11 aware of this increased demand for the -- for the organisation and
12 departure of non-Serbs, and he agrees that the regional authority should
13 work harder at facilitating that. He isn't exactly saying that that should
14 not occur. He's not going, on the face of this, disagreeing with the --
15 what's happening, and he seems to be trying to encourage that these
16 departures should -- should continue.
17 Q. Now, during this period of time, General Talic, who was the head
18 of the Krajina Corps, was a part of the staff of the -- of the ARK, wasn't
19 he? We saw that in an earlier document, didn't we?
20 A. Yes. I'm not quite sure if the ARK Crisis Staff was still
21 functioning at this date when this document was written, and I would have
22 to defer to somebody who would know more than that. But he certainly was a
23 significant commander, one of -- at this case, five corps commanders. He
24 headed the biggest single corps in the VRS, and he clearly was an important
25 military figure.
Page 16390
1 Q. Let's turn -- I want to just touch on this very, very, very
2 briefly, Mr. Brown. If you'd turn to page 2 of this document. There's a
3 reference to somebody you've discussed earlier. It is on page 2, under
4 paragraph 5, the second paragraph. It identifies and it says, "Among
5 those, there are officers such as Lieutenant Veljko Milankovic, an
6 excellent combat soldier but inclined to shady dealings." Do you see that
7 reference?
8 A. Yes, I do.
9 Q. Do you -- in respect of being an excellent combat soldier, you
10 indicated that -- Veljko Milankovic continued to remain in the VRS despite
11 his -- his shady dealings in this reference, despite his criminal record
12 that you referenced earlier. What's the relationship, do you think,
13 between being a good soldier and -- and being someone of his quality able
14 to remain in the VRS?
15 A. Well, in his case, I can only assume that it was more important
16 for him to -- to be an excellent combat soldier and to assist the corps and
17 that -- you know that -- that his shady dealings were of less importance
18 than his ability to -- to command forces and fight within the corps. And
19 as I said, beforehand he remained in the corps, was ordered to Knin, was
20 wounded and -- I believe -- in fact, I know from a document was also
21 recommended for a commendation by General Talic, so ...
22 Q. Did you see, Mr. Brown, in the reports that you analysed the
23 corps reporting on the -- on the departures of people from the various
24 municipalities? And I can refer you to tab number 93.
25 A. Yes. There were -- there were documents which made specific
Page 16391
1 reference to numbers, and there were other documents, not necessarily
2 exclusively military documents, which talked about numbers, as well. I'm
3 not sure if this is one -- tab 93 is one that talks about --
4 Q. Tab 93, take a look at the first paragraph, Mr. Brown.
5 A. Yes, this is one example. "Croats from Kotor Varos" -- it
6 announces which -- the three villages -- "are announcing mass departures",
7 and basically from the period of the 15th of to the 25th of July 1.000
8 people have moved out of the municipality.
9 Q. Mr. Brown, let -- let me show you a document that you -- it was
10 not in the possession of the Office of the Prosecutor at the time you
11 prepared your report. It's found in tab 86, and I would like to invite
12 your comments on it. This is a report that was from the Serbian Republic
13 of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of the Interior in Sarajevo, and it was
14 written to -- it was addressed to the president of the Presidency and to
15 the Prime Minister. So it's addressed to the political leadership. It's a
16 report on the work of the Ministry of the Interior, and it's dated the 17th
17 of July, and it essentially reports results of a meeting that was held in
18 Belgrade on the 11th of July as part of an ongoing analysis of the
19 situation in Bosnia.
20 And if you'd turn to page 3 of the document, at the top it
21 reads, "The army, Crisis Staffs, and War Presidencies have requested that
22 the army round up or capture as many civilians as possible and they leave
23 such undefined camps to Internal Affairs organs. The conditions in some of
24 these camps are poor. There is no food. Individuals sometimes do not
25 observe international norms, et cetera."
Page 16392
1 Can I invite your comments as to this, particularly in relation
2 to the military documentation that you saw in respect of the army's conduct
3 toward resettlement and expulsions.
4 A. Well, in some of the documentation I have seen that, is very much
5 a picture of what happened, that the army conducted operations, people were
6 rounded up, taken to detention camps in some cases, processed through
7 detention camps, occasionally moved to other detention camps, and there are
8 also additional references that people are being expelled or are leaving or
9 are -- in an organised fashion or being -- are being -- are leaving the
10 territory. So it would seem that this is a reflection of some of the
11 documentation -- of the other documentation I've seen.
12 Q. And that is -- that documentation you saw, you've earlier --
13 we've already looked at, indicates the rounding-up of thousands of
14 civilians, does it not? I'm referring to the -- the report that we saw
15 that was a result of the commission report with -- from the three
16 municipalities. It identified numbers of civilians that had been rounded
17 up and --
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. -- processed through camps, et cetera.
20 A. Yes. And also that other example I've just highlighted, where
21 7.000 -- they called them Green Berets - they were moved into Omarska,
22 Trnopolje.
23 Q. I'm -- we're going to be moving to the topic of camps in just a
24 minute, but I'd like to turn your attention to two documents, please, Mr.
25 Brown. They are at tabs 91 and 92, and if we could start at tab 91. And
Page 16393
1 these documents deal with Kotor Varos, the municipality of Kotor Varos.
2 MR. HARMON: And for Your Honours' reference, we have looked at
3 a document in relation to Kotor Varos. It was at tab 68. Those are the
4 Crisis Staff minutes of Kotor Varos from the 7th of July in which Colonel
5 Peulic was to participate in the work of the War Presidency. So these two
6 documents also relate to that municipality. One of these documents, tab
7 91, predates the document in tab 68, but the other one postdates it.
8 Q. You see in this document, in tab 91, Mr. Brown, these are the
9 extracts from minutes of the 47th Session of the Crisis Staff held on the
10 29th of June. And there are two references, the first in item 2, the first
11 subpoint: "All those willing to move out of Kotor Varos are to make a
12 statement at the lower court, leaving their immovable property to the
13 social and political community."
14 And then we get to the bottom of the second bullet point -- the
15 second-from-the-bottom subpart: "Ljuboje Gavric is to make" -- "to take
16 part in the Crisis KS and take responsibility for organising population
17 resettlement."
18 Now, Mr. Brown, what had happened by the 29th of June in Kotor
19 Varos?
20 A. If I take you back to that document that General Talic sent out
21 on the 10th -- 9th/10th of June, which was based on a directive in which he
22 in part started off operations in the Corridor and then also to the
23 remaining units, told them to secure their territory. In Kotor Varos,
24 military operation were conducted from around the 11th of June, and they
25 seized control of Kotor Varos. There was some areas where they didn't get
Page 16394
1 complete control, and I mentioned Vicici being one of them. But this comes
2 19 days after that. And there's the reference -- I've seen other
3 documentation about registering or deregistering the movable and immovable
4 property; I think I referenced that in my report, as well. And clearly Mr.
5 Gavric has been given a responsibility for organising population
6 resettlement.
7 And then if we move a little bit further ahead, there was the
8 document which we've just seen, that 1.000 people had moved out between
9 15th of July and 25th of July, I think it was.
10 Q. Mr. Brown, let me take you to the next document, which is in tab
11 92. You will see once again Mr. Gavric mentioned. This is from the 25th
12 of July. These are conclusions of the War Presidency. And I refer you to
13 subpart 2, which I will read: "Ljuboje Gavric is to draw up and submit to
14 the Presidency" --
15 MR. HARMON: I will say, Your Honour, this appears to refer to
16 the War Presidency of the Municipality of Kotor Varos. Q. I'll
17 continue: "A detailed report on the resettlement of the population
18 containing the following: A number of convoys which have been moved out to
19 date; number of persons moved out; composition of the people moved out; who
20 carried out the transportation and under what conditions, and a financial
21 report including proper documentation on expenses and other important
22 details." Mr. Brown, again, could I have your comments on these two
23 documents quickly because we're going to move in the remaining 15 minutes
24 to the issue of camps.
25 A. I think it's self-evident and reflects the other documents that
Page 16395
1 we've just seen, that there was this resettlement and that the Crisis Staff
2 are asking Mr. Gavric to provide them with some significant details about
3 this process.
4 Q. Now I'd like to turn to the issue of camps, Mr. Brown. This is
5 found in your report starting at page 97 through 110. And I'd like to
6 start with reading part of your report or referring to part of your report,
7 which is paragraph 2.106. And in 2.106 you assert the following: "It is
8 apparent that there was significant cooperation and coordination between
9 the military, police, and civilian bodies in relation to the establishment
10 of camps and the movement of detainees to and from camps and detention
11 centres. It is also evident that the military were heavily involved in
12 many aspects of the camps in Bosanska Krajina, even though they did not
13 specifically run them."
14 Now, Mr. Brown, I'd like you to identify the various forms of
15 cooperation between the military and the police in respect of running these
16 camps, preparing detention camps where non-civilians were detained. Can
17 you identify the various forms of co-operation between those two bodies.
18 MS. LOUKAS: Your Honour, I might indicate that I think it's
19 also appropriate that Mr. Brown identify the documents he's referring to.
20 MR. HARMON: Again, Your Honour -- again, Your Honour, I am
21 going to be referring to some of those documents in addition to which Mr.
22 Brown has prepared his report, and the documents are identified extensively
23 in these reports. So this is a general question, a survey question. In
24 the 15 minutes I have remaining to comply with that request would consume
25 whatever time I have left. If -- if it will be of assistance to counsel, I
Page 16396
1 can refer to the specific portions when Mr. Brown identifies the various
2 forms of cooperation; I can refer counsel to the specific parts of the
3 report that he prepared. That will --
4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, it's not --
5 MS. LOUKAS: Your Honour, I have no question about the report.
6 That's not what my --
7 JUDGE ORIE: No, but you wanted Mr. Harmon not to take the
8 expert to the various documents. Is that what I -- and ask him to identify
9 these documents himself?
10 MS. LOUKAS: Yes, Your Honour. I mean, there's been rather a
11 lot of, you know, Mr. Harmon directing the witness, and it's -- it's most
12 unfortunate.
13 JUDGE ORIE: What, as a matter of fact -- Ms. Loukas, that would
14 not be a very practical way to proceed. It's clear from the report of the
15 witness that he has documents he relies upon, and the Chamber does not mind
16 if Mr. Harmon would take him to documents and ask him whether these are the
17 documents which would support his findings in the report.
18 Mr. Harmon, you may proceed.
19 MS. LOUKAS: Whilst that is the case, Your Honour, there is, of
20 course, the situation that on the day this witness began giving his
21 evidence a exhibit list was produced of documents that were not referenced
22 in his report at all, and I just think it's important to ensure that the
23 lines here are kept clear in relation to what exactly is being referred to.
24 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Harmon.
25 MR. HARMON:
Page 16397
1 Q. Mr. Brown, what I'd like you to do first of all is just to
2 identify the various ways in which the police and the military cooperated
3 in terms of the detention of non-Serb civilians in the 1st -- in the area
4 of the 1st Krajina Corps.
5 A. Some of the areas that are highlighted in the report are
6 obviously there in those pages that you -- you mention: Transportation to
7 and from camps; securing external perimeters, I know in Omarska, was a
8 military issue, internally was -- from documentation was police, mixed
9 security, police investigative teams; transportation to camps, between
10 camps; the document we've seen about Sanski Most; categorisation,
11 coordination there. So those are some of the areas. Providing -- when
12 people were being transported from camps, making sure that there was -- the
13 military had been informed that convoys were travelling through -- through
14 zones; those are some areas.
15 Q. Now, in these -- and you've cited to countless paragraphs, the
16 documents supporting those various forms of cooperation in this report,
17 have you not, Mr. Brown?
18 A. Yes, I've -- I've cited some documentation in the pages you --
19 you highlighted.
20 MR. HARMON: Now, Your Honour, I don't intend to ask Mr. Brown
21 to go through extensively, in the remaining ten minutes I have, each of
22 those documents. I can refer Your Honours and counsel to the paragraphs
23 specifically that Mr. Brown, when he has identified the various forms,
24 where he has identified those forms and the documents that are found --
25 JUDGE ORIE: Do you want to produce them as contextual documents
Page 16398
1 in this respect?
2 MR. HARMON: Well, I -- yes, I will do that. But I just -- I
3 refer Your Honours to his report. I mean, he -- he reports -- and he's
4 reported -- we've had some of these documents already. The -- the army was
5 involved in the capture of these prisoners. We've -- we've introduced some
6 of those documents already, and Mr. Brown refers to that in paragraph 2.107
7 of his report. We have introduced documents showing security coordination.
8 He's identified those documents in paragraph 2.109 of his report. He has -
9 - we have already identified documents in terms to the processing of
10 prisoners with the police and with the army; those documents are referenced
11 in paragraph 2.110. Cooperation in terms of transferring prisoners,
12 referenced in 2.111 of his report. We've already introduced some of those
13 documents here. Security at camps; again, we've referenced -- we've
14 identified -- introduced some of those documents, and Mr. Brown references
15 it in 2.116 of his report. And the removal of prisoners from the camps
16 we're going to get to in just a minute; I will introduce some documents.
17 But that's referenced in paragraph 2.131 of his report.
18 But it -- I will continue, Your Honour, because I --
19 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
20 MR. HARMON: -- intend to introduce some additional documents to
21 support what Mr. Brown has said.
22 JUDGE ORIE: You're allowed to do so. Please proceed.
23 MR. HARMON:
24 Q. Now, Mr. Brown, did the documentation that you reviewed indicate
25 that the military was aware that they had civilians, non-combatants, in
Page 16399
1 their custody?
2 A. Yes, there are references to that effect.
3 Q. I would like to show you actually a document in tab 97, if I can.
4 This is late -- this is a document, Mr. Brown, that is from General Talic
5 and it's dated the 3rd of September, 1992. It's to the Main Staff of the
6 army, once again, and it -- the topic is the state of combat morale in the
7 1st Krajina Corps in 1992.
8 If we turn to page 3, under "The effect of the political and
9 security situation on the territory on combat morale," this is a document
10 we referenced earlier. It says in the final paragraph, "Certain tensions
11 are still present in the Kotor Varos, Kljuc, Sanski Most, and Prijedor
12 areas because of a large number of arrested citizens for whom there is no
13 evidence or criminal reports that they participated in the armed
14 rebellion."
15 Mr. Brown, can you comment on that paragraph, please.
16 A. I would -- it would seem to indicate that General Talic at least
17 by this date is acutely aware that there are a large number of citizens in
18 those areas from which there's no evidence or criminal reports that they
19 had -- they were doing anything in relation to armed rebellion.
20 I would also just for the record like to add that the next
21 sentence reads, "The CSB, especially from Prijedor, is not contributing to
22 this approach."
23 So whether he feels that the CSB are not -- not engaging
24 themselves in this issue, is -- is an area of interest, too, but it's clear
25 that General Talic is aware here that there's a large number of people from
Page 16400
1 the areas that his forces had been conducting operations only weeks before,
2 had been arrested, and that there's a significant number of them -- there's
3 no evidence that they participated in the armed rebellion.
4 Q. Mr. Brown, again, referring to your report, page 109, at
5 paragraph 2.133. Let me read part of this report to you, and then I'm
6 going to ask you to comment on it. "The involvement of the 1st Krajina
7 Corps in the eventual removal of those who found themselves in the
8 detention centres is important to understanding one of the purposes of
9 these facilities. The fact that the military were involved in moving out
10 people -- people out of the SRBiH territory, some of whom they knew had
11 committed no crimes, is an indication that these centres were not simply
12 locations in which people were processed in order to find out if they had
13 any criminal culpability or, as was stated -- was the stated purpose of the
14 Trnopolje camp, for example, to protect those who were in a combat zone."
15 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Harmon, please slow down.
16 MR. HARMON:
17 Q. "The overlapping involvement of the military, police, and
18 civilian authorities in relation to the establishment and running of many
19 of these facilities and the fact that a significant number of detainees
20 were transferred between multiple camps highlights a degree of planning and
21 cooperation."
22 Then you discuss that many of those who entered the camps were
23 not released home but were taken to third countries.
24 And you conclude that paragraph on page 110 by saying, "These
25 camps were, in essence, a component in the policy of separation in which
Page 16401
1 the military participated."
2 Can you develop that thesis for the Judges, please, Mr. Brown.
3 A. Well, I -- I stand by the statement that I think these camps were
4 a component in the policy of separation. There was cooperation,
5 coordination, it seems to me, between those who ran the camps and
6 established the camps. Many of those people who ended up in the camps were
7 not processed, checked to see if they had an involvement in any armed
8 rebellion, and then released back to their homes. There was understanding
9 that many were not -- were civilians, that there was no evidence to that
10 effect, and yet they were also escorted out. I know in Manjaca, when it
11 closed in December 1992, despite an instruction in August 1992 indicating
12 that a large number of those in Manjaca, there was no evidence and they
13 were civilians, they were simply moved out in December 1992 in buses to the
14 Croatian border according to documents of the 1st Krajina Corps and
15 undoubtedly would have become refugees in Croatia. And I -- I believe that
16 I can only come to that conclusion that the camps were a component of a --
17 of a policy of separation.
18 I would just like to add, as well, in this regard: At times it's
19 not what's in the report or the documents, to me, that's important, but
20 it's what's not in the documents. And often what is lacking is any -- any
21 conciliatory words or any -- any words that indicate that these people
22 should go back to their homes or should be taken out of detention camps, if
23 they didn't deserve to be there, immediately and returned to their homes,
24 given support, given -- and often it's not what's in the report that seems
25 to be the most glaring. And from the reports that I've seen of the Krajina
Page 16402
1 Corps, those were lacking completely. And -- and what I did see, in fact,
2 was quite the opposite; that -- that individuals when Manjaca closed,
3 everyone was taken away, moved on buses, transported by the military, sent
4 to the border, and became refugees.
5 Q. Could we look at two documents in respect of the army's
6 participation in transportation to the borders of different countries. If
7 you'd take a look at tab 98. Mr. Brown, this is a document dated the 18th
8 of July from the Prijedor Public Security Station. It's addressed to the
9 Banja Luka Security Services Centre. Can you please inform the Judges the
10 salient features of this particular document and how it supports your
11 thesis.
12 A. Yes. This would seem to be an example whereby the Prijedor
13 police are informing -- or there has been an arrangement, anyway, at least
14 with Colonel Arsic, who's the garrison commander of Prijedor and the
15 commander that actually had been engaged in the attacks in Hambarine and
16 Kozarac in May, and Colonel Peulic, who covered the Vlasic-Travnik border
17 area. And it's -- there's been an arrangement that five buses with women
18 and children from Prijedor, from the reception centre in Trnopolje, are
19 going to depart and travel through that area and that there's going to be a
20 police patrol. So it would seem to me to indicate that there had been a
21 coordination that -- and a knowledge that people were travelling through
22 military zones.
23 Q. And the reference to -- the destination of the convoy is Skender
24 Vakuf. Where is Skender Vakuf, Mr. Brown?
25 A. Skender Vakuf is -- is -- is near the Vlasic feature, which was a
Page 16403
1 -- which was the border between Central Bosnia and the RS territory. It's
2 actually near the area where the Koricanske Stijene massacre happened, as
3 well. Although, I think that's actually in a different municipality, but
4 it's in the same area.
5 Q. This is a group of people who are going from the Prijedor region
6 to be essentially transferred out of the Republika Srpska territory.
7 A. Yes, it's women, children from -- from Trnopolje camp.
8 Q. If you'd take a -- if we could take a look at tab 99, which is a
9 document approximately five months later. It's in December 1992, a regular
10 combat report from the 1st Krajina Corps, and if we could reference
11 paragraph 3 of that document, Mr. Brown. Can you comment on that, please.
12 A. Yes. This is a document, as I said, about Manjaca when it
13 closed. "1.001 prisoners were released today, and they were escorted out
14 of RS territory. 413 still remained, and they were due to be released a
15 couple of days later."
16 Q. Could you take a look at the final document in the binder; it's
17 tab 100. Mr. Brown, this is a -- a report that was prepared in May of 1993
18 from the Ministry of the Interior Security Services Centre in Banja Luka.
19 And have you had a chance to review this document in the municipalities
20 that are located within the area of responsibility of the 1st Krajina
21 Corps?
22 A. Yes, very briefly.
23 Q. Can I have your observations and comments on this document, Mr.
24 Brown. I note, Mr. Brown, for example, in page 2, the municipality of
25 Kljuc is noted; Prijedor, Sanski Most on the next page; on page 4, Mrkonjic
Page 16404
1 Grad, Srbac, Jajce, Sipovo; page 5, Laktasi, Prnjavor, Krupa Na Uni, Novi
2 Grad, as well -- I'm sorry, I missed that on page 2.
3 A. Well, the -- this would seem to indicate that a large number -- a
4 significantly large number of non-Serbs had moved out of those
5 municipalities and ...
6 Q. When you said known Serbs had moved out of the municipalities ...
7 A. Muslims and Croats.
8 Q. I didn't understand your answer, Mr. Brown.
9 A. It would seem at face value to list the number of non-Serbs that
10 had moved out of those municipalities, and there seems to be a
11 significantly large number of them. And -- and this would seem to be a
12 document that would highlight what separation meant.
13 MR. HARMON: I have no additional questions, Your Honour.
14 Thank you, Mr. Brown.
15 THE WITNESS: Thank you, Mr. Harmon.
16 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you.
17 Thank you, Mr. Harmon. As far as document 98 is concerned, you
18 just have drawn our attention to -- we see that there are two originals,
19 one translation. I take it that the English translation refers to the
20 first of the originals presented; they look very much the same, but they
21 are not the same. And I draw your attention to the fact that in the
22 translation there appears to be a reference to "no electricity" in
23 handwriting, which does not appear on the original. So neither of the two
24 fully corresponds with the translation. If you'd please have a look at it
25 and see what can be done about it.
Page 16405
1 MR. HARMON: I will, Your Honour. And may I just also inform
2 the Court that yesterday there was a problem with the translation in tab
3 32, which was the minutes of the 21st Session of the Presidency. Mr.
4 Krajisnik's name was omitted as one of the attendees. We now have a
5 corrected translation which we will --
6 JUDGE ORIE: I think, as a matter of fact, that -- I think it is
7 in the transcript that I invited everyone to correct it, and I made a
8 handwritten correction on the original that was given to Madam Registrar.
9 So there's no need to distribute corrected copies any further.
10 We will have a break and we'll resume at 25 minutes to 5.00.
11 --- Recess taken at 4.09 p.m.
12 --- On resuming at 4.44 p.m.
13 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, I see you have two lecterns, so there'll
14 be no reason not to start your cross-examination. Please proceed.
15 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. Thank you, Your Honour. I noticed that Mr.
16 Harmon had two lecterns, and I thought it was an excellent idea in view of
17 the volume of the material. Of course, that necessitated two microphones.
18 Cross-examined by Ms. Loukas:
19 Q. Now, good afternoon.
20 A. [Microphone not activated] Good afternoon.
21 Q. Now, Mr. Brown, firstly I think you indicated on the first day
22 that you gave evidence that you selected the documents that you examined
23 for the purposes of the preparation of your report; correct?
24 A. Yes, that's correct.
25 Q. Now, who selected the documents that were given in the exhibit
Page 16406
1 list on Monday that were the additional documents you were taken through?
2 A. I don't know who exactly selected them, but Mr. Harmon presented
3 them to me about a week ago or maybe not even as long as that, when -- when
4 I met with him before coming here.
5 Q. So as far as you're aware, the Prosecution made the selection of
6 those documents.
7 A. Yes, I think so.
8 Q. And you had no part in the selection of those documents.
9 A. No. They were presented to me.
10 Q. Now, Mr. Brown, in terms of the indictment in this case, I take
11 it you're familiar with the indictment against Mr. Krajisnik?
12 A. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the indictment against Mr.
13 Krajisnik. I may well have read it when I was working some -- some years
14 ago, but I -- I have not read it for -- if any, I must have read it once,
15 probably, when I was working for the OTP, but I haven't read it, and I'm
16 not familiar with it.
17 Q. Preparing your report, of course, you became familiar with the
18 indictment in relation to Mr. Brdjanin and Mr. Talic; correct?
19 A. Yes, I became aware of those indictments.
20 Q. Now, in relation to the drafting of the indictments, that is, in
21 relation to the indictment against Mr. Brdjanin and Mr. Talic, you were
22 asked for comments at certain stages during the indictment-drafting
23 process; correct?
24 A. Yes, I was.
25 Q. And I take it you were asked similar questions in relation to the
Page 16407
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and
13 English transcripts.
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Page 16408
1 drafting of the indictment against Mr. Krajisnik.
2 A. I -- my recollection is that I may well have been asked questions
3 by that team over the period of -- of their work. And whether that was
4 used in relation to the drafting of their indictment, I'm unclear. But --
5 but I wasn't at that time directly working for -- for the Prosecution that
6 was dealing with that case, and I was working on a separate team anyway, so
7 I --
8 Q. In any event, you've been working with the OTP from -- I think it
9 was 1998 to 2004; correct?
10 A. Yes, that's correct.
11 Q. And during that time, you produced the report that's been placed
12 before the Trial Chamber.
13 A. That's correct, yes.
14 Q. How long did it take you to prepare that report?
15 A. The document, I think, may have taken around 24 months, but I
16 wasn't working on it full time. I think -- I think I was asked around
17 about 2000 by Ms. Korner, and the report was finalised in July 2002, but it
18 wasn't the only thing I was working on at the time.
19 Q. During your proofing with Mr. Harmon in preparation for giving
20 evidence before the Trial Chamber, can you give the Trial Chamber an
21 indication of how long that proofing took.
22 A. Yes. It took place, I suppose, off and on. It -- over a period
23 of about a week. But -- but when I say "took place," I was popping in
24 after work for an hour, coming back the following day after work for an
25 hour, and -- so it wasn't a week's process. I was trying to fit it in with
Page 16409
1 my work.
2 Q. So how many hours overall would you say?
3 A. Could I -- could I think about that? I would have to count it
4 up. But -- do you want me to think about it now or go away and come back
5 and think about it? I mean, it was -- I think there was one weekend where
6 I must have worked about, say, six hours, seven hours one weekend. And
7 then there were periods in one week where I was doing an hour over maybe
8 four or five days, an hour or two.
9 Q. And during this process, you were shown the documents that the
10 Prosecution had selected; correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Okay. Now, in terms of your examination of documents, clearly a
13 proportion of the documents that you've examined are open to more than one
14 interpretation. Do you feel that you have presented a perspective that is
15 not merely in line with the Prosecution theory of the case?
16 MR. HARMON: I'll object to that question, Your Honour. I think
17 it's inappropriate to ask the witness. He said he had very little
18 consultations or dealings at all.
19 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, the first thing that would need to be
20 established, whether the witness is aware of the Prosecution theory in the
21 case. That, at least I understand, is more than just what is in the
22 indictment. And apart from that -- no, I think we should first establish
23 that.
24 The question -- I take it that the point you want to raise is to
25 what extent the witness felt free in reporting and in giving testimony to
Page 16410
1 take a view different from that of the Prosecution and how he dealt with
2 that; is that correct?
3 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. I'm interested in his own assessment.
4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Well, perhaps you --
5 MS. LOUKAS: Of his objectivity.
6 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Could we ask -- would it be a good idea to
7 ask the witness to give his view on what seems to be an issue which is now
8 in different ways - with objections, without objection - is defined, which
9 is, What's your assessment on how free you are from any views of the
10 Prosecution on this case, if you know -- at least to the extent you are
11 aware of the views of the Prosecution. Because that's not necessarily
12 included, Ms. Loukas.
13 THE WITNESS: Maybe if I can split it into two -- two parts to
14 answer the question. I am not aware of the Prosecution theory of -- of
15 this case. I -- apart from the fact I've been away from the court for some
16 time or the OTP for some time now, and I didn't work directly on this
17 particular case.
18 In relation to objectivity more widely, yes, I clearly worked
19 for the Office of the Prosecutor; yes, I worked, for example, in the -- the
20 Brdjanin and Talic case closely with -- with the legal staff there. All I
21 can say is that -- that my training is as a military intelligence officer.
22 My training is as an analyst; I've been an analyst all my life. I tried to
23 do the best to my ability in relation to looking at material and -- and
24 viewing it objectively and trying to put documentation in some context. I
25 worked in an analytical team that wasn't part of the Prosecution team per
Page 16411
1 se; it sat aside from -- from the investigation teams and the Prosecution
2 teams in part for that reason. And all I can say is that to the best of my
3 ability I've tried to be as objective as I can with the documentation. I
4 think in my report, as well, I cover areas that may not necessarily be of
5 direct interest or necessarily directly help the Prosecution; issues of
6 arms that the Muslims had, for example, could be one. The area in the
7 Posavina Corridor where the Croats had conducted military operations to
8 take control of that area, which did sever that -- that link, as another
9 area possibly. You know, I've tried to, within the limits of my own
10 abilities, to be as objective as I can.
11 MS. LOUKAS:
12 Q. Now, of course --
13 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, I'd like to return, a little bit more
14 to explore this matter.
15 Just because if we are talking about objectivity, of course,
16 everyone always tries to be as objective as possible in a position where he
17 is required to be objective. Let me just try to give you an example of
18 what I could imagine that would have happened.
19 Quite a number of times your attention was drawn to a line in a
20 text in which the word "objective" appears. It was included in the
21 question often, especially if it was briefly after the strategic objectives
22 had been formulated, that you were asked about a link. Did it ever happen
23 to you that you would think, Well, I see the word "objective," but why
24 apart from the moment in time, why have I not earlier thought of the
25 "objective" here to mean a reference to the strategic objectives? Where,
Page 16412
1 of course, you couldn't read the word "objective" very often, also in a
2 limited sense or in a different sense, a direct military objective. So did
3 it ever happen to you that you were wondering for yourself why you'd read
4 the word "objective" here in this specific way? This is just an example in
5 order to try to find out moments Ms. Loukas might have had in her mind.
6 THE WITNESS: Yes, it did clearly cross my mind that that could
7 have had far more of a limited reason. But in that particular case, when I
8 looked at not just that document but other references in -- in the
9 directives, for example, when I looked at other references that came out of
10 military documentation, it seemed to me that objectives were not just a
11 very narrow-focussed and small issue that General Talic was talking about.
12 Plus, General Talic is a corps commander. General Talic is of very
13 significant rank, one of the most senior commanders in the VRS. And when
14 senior commanders talk about objectives, they're talking about objectives
15 generally at their level. They're not talking about objectives down to
16 platoon. And so -- so that context, plus the other documentation, seemed
17 to me that there was a bigger meaning to that particular word.
18 And if, for example, in that document of the 21st of May where
19 General Talic says, Explain the objectives of our -- or our goals -- the
20 goals of our objectives, the phrase, whatever, to -- and that was the only
21 reference, that might have shifted my -- my view in what that meant and
22 maybe it did mean a far more narrow meaning. But -- but no, I did think
23 about those issues.
24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
25 THE WITNESS: The issue --
Page 16413
1 JUDGE ORIE: My question was not whether you thought about it
2 but whether these were moments where you might have had some doubt of where
3 you might have asked yourself: How solid is it to interpret these
4 objectives as the strategic objectives -- as a reference to strategic
5 objectives rather than to, I would say, strictly military objectives with
6 no specific strategic connotation?
7 THE WITNESS: I would have more doubt if that was the only
8 reference, Your Honour.
9 And maybe as another example, which -- just away from the
10 objective, talking about, you know, did you have doubts. I had doubts when
11 I reviewed the document that seemed to indicate that someone was being
12 prosecuted for war crimes in Vicici. At face value, had a document that
13 said there seems to have been some prosecutorial process against a killing
14 of non-Serbs. That would seem to mitigate that, well, you know, there was
15 no prosecutorial -- a theory could be that there was no prosecutorial
16 process. And when I found that document, it raised alarm bells with me
17 that there -- that this was maybe not quite as clear cut.
18 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
19 THE WITNESS: And so when they conducted more investigations to
20 see if this -- to get to the back of that. And I don't know if that is a -
21 - is a relevant example or not.
22 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. At least, it answers, to some extent, my
23 question. I can imagine that in interpreting words, Ms. Loukas, that
24 "alarm bells" might have a specific significance for you, which is perhaps
25 also not the only way of interpreting that word.
Page 16414
1 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed, Your Honour.
2 JUDGE ORIE: "Alarm bells" could be alarming for the
3 Prosecution, but it could also be alarming that, I have not yet a full
4 insight in what happened, I have not a full knowledge yet.
5 Please proceed.
6 MS. LOUKAS: Thank you, Your Honour.
7 Q. Now, you indicated earlier that you were in a separate section;
8 correct?
9 A. That's correct, yes.
10 Q. Yes. But the fact is that you did sit in on interviews with
11 potential witnesses.
12 A. That is correct.
13 Q. As part of a team that was interviewing a witness.
14 A. In a number of cases, yes.
15 Q. On how many occasions?
16 A. Maybe a dozen, I think.
17 Q. And what rules did you set in process for your own work in your
18 own mind about how to ensure, on the one hand, that on occasions you were
19 working as part of a Prosecution team and, on the other hand, you were
20 attempting to produce an impartial expert report? What rules did you set
21 in your mind for ensuring that you were undertaking impartial research?
22 A. Well, I felt that it was important to try and read as much as I
23 could, for one; to read the documents in their entirety; to try and put
24 documents that talked to the same issue and see what came out of those; to
25 have a process internally within my team of some peer review, and to try
Page 16415
1 and rely on -- on my training as an analyst and a military analyst over a
2 period of time, which was to -- to -- to be objective and to do the best
3 you could in terms of -- of reviewing that material honestly and
4 objectively.
5 Q. Mm-hm. And, of course, it's a standard axium, is it not, of
6 proper research that you have to remain open to documents and parts of
7 documents that are showing information that are not necessarily consistent
8 with the hypothesis you're formulating?
9 A. Yes, it is. I would say yes.
10 I would also add one issue in relation to -- you know, to
11 stating where your limitations are. You know, I state some limitations in
12 the report and, you know, I -- I'm honest that there are limitations there.
13 I'm not --
14 Q. Precisely.
15 A. I'm not --
16 Q. And we're just going to go to those limitations now, Mr. Brown.
17 Firstly, as you've stated at the beginning of the report, it's
18 not an exhaustive analysis, firstly. This appears on page 4 of your
19 report. And that it's an analysis of selected military, police, political,
20 and other related documentary material, firstly. And that it's not an
21 exhaustive analysis of all aspects of events in the Bosanska Krajina area
22 between 1991 and 1992. Correct?
23 A. That's correct.
24 Q. Okay. In addition --
25 A. I'd actually add another one which I hadn't put there, which is I
Page 16416
1 don't speak the language, and so --
2 Q. And that, of course, is very important in terms of analysing
3 documentation.
4 A. Yes, it is.
5 Q. And, of course, I think there are other people in your department
6 who, of course, do speak the language.
7 A. Yes, there are.
8 Q. For example, Mr. Treanor.
9 A. Yes, Mr. Treanor speaks the language.
10 Q. Now, of course, you don't put yourself forward as an expert in
11 relation to the political sphere. That's Mr. Treanor's area, is it not?
12 A. Yes, it is Mr. Treanor's experience, is in that area.
13 Q. And you don't put yourself forward as a political expert.
14 A. No, I do not put myself forward as a political expert.
15 Q. And you certainly don't put yourself forward as an expert on the
16 internal workings of the SDS. Correct?
17 A. No, I don't put myself forward as a -- an expert on the internal
18 workings of the SDS.
19 Q. Nor do you put yourself forward as an expert on Crisis Staffs.
20 That is to say Ms. Hanson's area, is it not?
21 A. Yes, that is her area of expertise. I have had some dealings in
22 the issue of Crisis Staffs from Prijedor municipality, and I have looked at
23 certain documentation in the Krajina whereby Crisis Staffs appear to have
24 defence-related issues, and there is an overlap there. But in terms of my
25 detailed expertise on all aspects of the Crisis Staffs and their
Page 16417
1 establishment, I do not put myself forward as an expert there.
2 Q. And, in fact, at paragraph 1.104 of your report, you've quite
3 clearly indicated that "it's not within the remit of this report to analyse
4 the detailed functioning of the Serb Crisis Staffs, although some general
5 comments should be noted." And, of course, you stand by that. You're not
6 an expert on Crisis Staffs; correct?
7 A. No, I'm not an expert on Crisis Staffs.
8 Q. And you don't put yourself forward as an expert on the military
9 judicial system either, do you?
10 A. I have reviewed some material in relation to the military
11 judicial system and -- but it's not something that I've spent a lot of
12 time, and I wouldn't necessarily say I'm an expert in that field, either.
13 Q. In fact, I think at page 15 of the transcript today you indicate
14 as much. You said, "I'm not a judicial expert."
15 A. I'm certainly not a judicial expert. I know that.
16 Q. Now -- and in relation to military court records, you have not
17 conducted an exhaustive analysis of those documents either, have you?
18 A. I have conducted an analysis of court records in 1992 from the
19 Krajina Corps, but in terms of an exhaustive analysis of all documents, no,
20 I have not.
21 Q. And you haven't gone beyond 1992. That's the point, isn't it?
22 A. In this report, that's correct.
23 Q. So in relation to military court records, number one, it's not
24 exhaustive; correct?
25 A. The court records are not exhaustive or my knowledge is not
Page 16418
1 exhaustive?
2 Q. Your knowledge.
3 A. I looked into 1993 in the court records.
4 Q. Sorry, I think you indicated you haven't gone beyond 1992. Are
5 you saying you also looked into 1993?
6 A. I did look into 1993 court records and -- in the registers that
7 we had.
8 Q. Okay. But the material available is not exhaustive; correct?
9 You haven't been through everything you could possibly go through in terms
10 of military court records, have you?
11 A. That's correct. No, I haven't.
12 Q. And you certainly haven't gone beyond 1993.
13 A. That's correct, yes.
14 Q. Okay.
15 A. I do know, however, in the Velagici School file, which we did
16 obtain the records for, that went further up until maybe 1995 or 1996. So
17 there were selected records which did go further than that. But in the
18 terms of the registers and -- and an exhaustive analysis of the whole
19 military court system, no, I didn't.
20 Q. All right. So you've told the court you have one example of
21 something that went beyond 1993, but, of course, that's the only example
22 you can come up with, correct, in terms of what we're talking about here,
23 an analysis of all relevant documents?
24 A. I've already highlighted, I think, in the report this is not an
25 exhaustive analysis of every single record or document. I think I'd be
Page 16419
1 still doing that job if I was there.
2 Q. Were you asked by the Prosecution if you could highlight for them
3 any documents that you thought might be relevant to Rule 68?
4 A. We had an ongoing obligation to highlight those documents.
5 Q. And did you select documents of that nature and show them to the
6 Prosecutor?
7 A. Yes, I did.
8 Q. And --
9 A. For -- for -- I remember certainly for the Talic and Brdjanin
10 case.
11 Q. How about for this case?
12 A. I know that the collection from the 1st Krajina Corps, for
13 example, was -- was tendered in -- in entirety, and many of the documents
14 that I believe were highlighted in the Brdjanin case as Rule 68 were also
15 passed to -- to other cases. But I think it might be -- I'm not sure if
16 that was -- you know, if I'm the person to -- to answer that.
17 Q. I'm asking you if -- and the question was, For this case? Were
18 you asked by the Prosecution to look for documents that might be relevant
19 to Rule 68 for this case, for the case against Mr. Krajisnik?
20 A. We had a standing obligation from all cases. It wasn't -- it
21 wasn't necessarily one from an individual case or a Prosecution. We were -
22 - we were -- we were at a -- we were very well briefed, and we knew all the
23 time that we had a standing obligation in relation to Rule 68.
24 Q. But I'm asking about whether or not you were asked that in
25 preparation for coming to give evidence here.
Page 16420
1 A. No, I was not. Not for this particular -- not during my
2 conversations more recently.
3 Q. Okay. Now, in relation to your assessment of your work as an
4 objective and impartial expert, I mean, I take it that you kept very keenly
5 in your mind in the preparation of this report that -- that it's, of
6 course, of no use to a Trial Chamber to have an expert who is merely trying
7 to squeeze every document into a particular overall hypothesis. You
8 understand that, don't you?
9 A. You're asking me to comment on whether it's of -- of use to the
10 Trial Chamber or whether --
11 Q. Whether you understand that it's of no use to the Trial Chamber
12 to have an expert merely trying to squeeze every possible document into a
13 particular hypothesis.
14 MR. HARMON: Objection to the question, Your Honour. I don't
15 think that's an appropriate question to ask this witness. That's
16 appropriate for a Trial Chamber.
17 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
18 MS. LOUKAS: I'm prepared to withdraw it.
19 JUDGE ORIE: Then please proceed.
20 MS. LOUKAS:
21 Q. Now, just in relation to your work on the text and your
22 footnotes, what do you think a footnote -- what relationship do you think a
23 footnote should have to what's asserted in the text?
24 A. It should relate to what -- what has been stated in the text
25 clearly, or it should be an exemplar of what is being stated.
Page 16421
1 Q. So it's critical, of course, that it's an accurate reflection of
2 what's contained in the footnote; correct?
3 A. Yes, it should be -- it should be accurate. It should emphasise
4 what -- what issue that's being discussed in the body of the text.
5 Q. And that's really basic research scholarship, is it not?
6 A. Yes, it's -- it's a feature of a research scholarship, yes.
7 Q. And, of course, a feature of report-writing is ensuring that
8 you're not selective about quotations; correct?
9 A. Could you explain what you mean by that. Taking an individual
10 reference and -- and making a -- a comment on that or -- or ...?
11 Q. Yes, without reference to other aspects of the document.
12 A. Well, you should try to be as objective as you can, and clearly
13 footnotes are there to reference an issue, and sometimes footnotes can
14 become unwieldy if you put everything in a footnote. So you should try to
15 be as objective as you can in the use of footnotes.
16 Q. So, it's really important, is it not, that what you've got in
17 your text -- because often as not people don't necessarily go to the
18 footnote. They'll read the text. So your text has to be accurate, does it
19 not?
20 A. Yes, you try to make your text as accurate as you can. Clearly
21 in this report you can't put every single footnote in because you would
22 have a very unwieldy document, but yes, you want to try to be as accurate
23 as you can.
24 Q. Okay. Now, let's go to some of the footnotes, shall we? Let's
25 go, first of all, to footnote 1.
Page 16422
1 MS. LOUKAS: That's unfortunate, Your Honours. I had a little
2 pile of footnote 1s to distribute.
3 But I can proceed without it. They were meant to be in a little
4 assembled pile over there.
5 Q. But let's go to footnote 1. Okay. Now, what you've got there at
6 -- on page 12 of your report, and you indicate there that "On the basis of
7 available information, it can be concluded that the three leading national
8 parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, HDZ, SDA, and SDS, have for all
9 practical purposes created the necessary political and economic and
10 military prerequisites to embark on armed conflict among themselves."
11 And you cite there paragraph -- footnote 1. Now, going to
12 footnote 1, there is, in fact, other information -- in fact, the -- the
13 footnote refers very specifically to the war conflict being transferred
14 from Croatia, "The setting-up of Herceg-Bosna and armed formations in the
15 territory of Western Herzegovina: the Posavina, Odzak, Bosanski Brod, and
16 Doboj, Kupres, and the Lasva River Valley, Travnik, Busovaca, Vitez."
17 Now, why did you leave that out of your quote?
18 A. I would actually like to see the document, if I can, before I
19 answer the question.
20 Q. Well, I'm more than happy to provide you with my copy. For some
21 reason, my additional copies disappeared.
22 A. Thank you.
23 MR. HARMON: Ms. Loukas, when you referred to that document and
24 you quote that document, could you give us a page reference?
25 MS. LOUKAS: Oh, absolutely. I've managed to locate footnote 1,
Page 16423
1 and I can distribute page 6 of that.
2 THE WITNESS: Would you like your copy back?
3 MS. LOUKAS: Thank you.
4 A. Could you repeat the question?
5 Q. Yes. My question was this: On page 12 of your report, you
6 indicate - and I read out the quote that you've included in your report -
7 you cite footnote 1. There is information -- other information. In fact,
8 the footnote refers very specifically to the war conflict being transferred
9 from Croatia, "The setting-up of Herceg-Bosna and armed formations in the
10 territory of Western Herzegovina: the Posavina, Odzak, Bosanski Brod,
11 Doboj, Kupres, and the Lasva River Valley, Travnik, Busovaca, Vitez." Why
12 did you leave that out of your report -- out of your quote there? Right at
13 the beginning.
14 A. I think the -- the point I'm trying to make with this document
15 and using the first section of the -- the reference is that simply by the
16 early part of 1992 the JNA were aware that in Bosnia the three leading
17 national parties had, as they themselves say, created necessary political,
18 economic, and military prerequisites to embark on armed conflict. And if I
19 -- I believe this document -- I've only got a section of it. But I think
20 they then go into detail about each three grouping. So they have the HDZ,
21 then talk about the SDA, and I would imagine on page 6 or 7 or 8 they may
22 make some references to the SDS. So it's only taking out this issue that
23 the JNA in one of their own documents are not unaware of the ethnic problem
24 that is developing in Bosnia.
25 And if I put in that section, I presumably would have had to put
Page 16424
1 in the section on the SDA, and I presumably would have had to put in the
2 section on the SDS, which may come on page 7 or subsequently in the
3 document.
4 Q. But truly it's important to ensure that right at the beginning
5 you're making it clear that the developments in Croatia have a very real
6 and very important impact on the subsequent events in Bosnia.
7 A. I believe I mentioned that in the report that what happened in
8 Croatia did have an impact.
9 Q. Well, we'll leave that footnote. We'll go on to footnote 5.
10 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Nevertheless, Ms. Loukas, I do not fully
11 understand. You asked the witness why didn't he pay attention in his
12 report to the -- what now appears on page 6 to be the, well, HDZ -- well,
13 let's say military preparations or what they had already; whereas, from
14 what I read in the part quoted from footnote 1 that the expert says all
15 three parties did it. So I -- would you -- is it your point that you would
16 have expected the expert - where he refers to "all three parties doing the
17 same," because that's what it says - to that, "And each of the parties has
18 in keeping with its political concept inter alia proceeded with military
19 organising, establishment plans, objectives and tactics for carrying out
20 armed combat"? Would you expect him to just highlight the HDZ, or would
21 you have expected him to highlight all three parties? Would you accept
22 that, at least in this respect, he left it with the, I would say, more
23 global assessment, each of the three did the same? I do not understand
24 exactly the point you are making. But perhaps I missed some of it.
25 MS. LOUKAS: Well, perhaps it will become more clear when I go to
Page 16425
1 the next footnote, Your Honour.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Okay. Then I'll --
3 MS. LOUKAS: It's part of a cumulative process.
4 JUDGE ORIE: Okay.
5 MR. HARMON: And, Your Honour, the question that was asked about
6 Mr. Brown's report and why he didn't put in the portion about the potential
7 impact in Croatia is found in the very next -- two paragraphs down in his
8 report. It's discussed explicitly.
9 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Harmon, the witness said already that he did
10 mention that, and I think that it's not appropriate that you add to the
11 testimony in this respect and answer the questions put by Ms. Loukas.
12 Please proceed, Ms. Loukas.
13 MS. LOUKAS:
14 Q. Now, let's go on to footnote 5, shall we? Now, in relation to
15 footnote 5, you've indicated there that you're dealing with arming. We go
16 to footnote 5, and you say, "As examples, the report on the current
17 situation in the area of responsibility of the JNA 2nd Military District
18 dated 20th of March, 1992, notes that 51.900 weapons had been distributed
19 to volunteer units, i.e., not part of the JNA."
20 Now, if one goes to footnote 5 --
21 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, if you want to tender that page 6, we
22 should assign an exhibit number.
23 MS. LOUKAS: Certainly, Your Honour.
24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, you want to tender that.
25 Mr. Registrar, that would be number D ...?
Page 16426
1 THE REGISTRAR: D46, Your Honours.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Mr. Registrar.
3 MS. LOUKAS:
4 Q. Now, if we go to footnote 5, and I'll give you a copy of that,
5 and I've got other copies for distribution.
6 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Registrar, that would be Exhibit number ...?
7 THE REGISTRAR: D47.
8 JUDGE ORIE: D47, I take it?
9 THE REGISTRAR: D47, Your Honour.
10 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
11 THE REGISTRAR: Thank you.
12 MS. LOUKAS:
13 Q. Now, if we go to footnote 5, you've indicated there that these
14 weapons have been distributed. But if you turn to page 3, it deals with
15 paramilitary organising in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and it indicates that
16 "Reliable information as well as the recently televised statements of the
17 Bosnia-Herzegovina MUP leadership indicate that the ethnic groups of this
18 republic are well-armed along the party lines. Muslims, around 60.000 men;
19 Croats, around 35.000, and Serbs, 25.000."
20 Now, you've mentioned in your footnote 51.900 weapons being
21 distributed to volunteer units, and yet you haven't mentioned very
22 specifically what's also contained at page 3 in relation to the arming of
23 Muslims and Croats and Serbs and the very specific numbers there.
24 A. That's correct. That's not necessarily the point I was making in
25 this -- in this section. There are -- I think there is other parts of the
Page 16427
1 -- the report that do talk that I don't doubt that the -- that the Croats
2 and the Muslims had armed themselves, and the JNA indicate that, as well.
3 But that wasn't necessarily the issue that I was drawing in the document
4 here. This document I was drawing attention to, that these volunteers had
5 been armed in part by the JNA and in part by the SDS.
6 Q. But in terms of the proper context, if you are talking about the
7 arming of Serb volunteers, if in the same document the numbers are quoted
8 of the arming of Muslims and of Croats, surely it would be appropriate to
9 include those specific numbers while you're including the specific numbers
10 that you have in footnote 5.
11 A. Well, I disagree. I'm talking about Serb volunteers in this
12 paragraph, in 1.7, and this is where this section is related in this
13 document.
14 Q. Well, you don't think that it's appropriate to include the full
15 context of arming of Muslims and Croatians when you're talking about the
16 arming of Serbs?
17 A. I've mentioned in the document that there was arming in Muslim --
18 in Muslim areas, and I have mentioned, as well, in the paragraphs earlier
19 on that the Croatian forces had taken control of municipalities in -- in
20 the -- the Drina -- the Posavina Corridor, and that that caused
21 difficulties for -- for the JNA. So I don't -- I don't believe I shy from
22 that issue. And I wouldn't -- I wouldn't -- I wouldn't necessarily
23 disagree with it, either. But issue I'm drawing attention to in paragraph
24 1.7 relates to the arming of Serb volunteers, which is what paragraph 5 is
25 discussing.
Page 16428
1 Q. But if you're going to discuss the arming of Serb volunteers,
2 it's proper to put it in its context when you are quoting numbers that from
3 the same document you have numbers in relation to Muslims and Croats, is it
4 not?
5 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, could you draw my attention to the
6 numbers on page 3. Because that's what you said, that numbers appear.
7 MS. LOUKAS: Yes, paramilitary -- page 3, paragraph 4,
8 "Paramilitary organising in the BH."
9 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Well, what I see there, there are numbers,
10 but these are numbers of persons, not of weapons. What I -- if I would
11 look at it unfavourably, I would say Muslims -- no, just numbers of men and
12 not weapons, is it?
13 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, in the full context of the
14 sentence, it is "Reliable information as well as the recently televised
15 statements of the Bosnia Herzegovina MUP leadership indicate that the
16 ethnic groups of this republic are well-armed along the party lines." So
17 it is talking about arming, and it's talking about Muslims --
18 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, I do understand. But then we have 20.000
19 Serbs, isn't it? On the other information -- I mean, if you try to combine
20 the information, that would mean that if the JNA has distributed weapons,
21 was that to Serb volunteers? Do I have to understand that, Mr. Brown?
22 THE WITNESS: I would argue that if you read from the issue of
23 some experiences down, that these volunteers are predominantly -- well,
24 Serb volunteers. I think that's what it's referring to.
25 JUDGE ORIE: That would mean three weapons for each Serb.
Page 16429
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3
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5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and
13 English transcripts.
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Page 16430
1 Ms. Loukas, that's something I have some difficulty to accept.
2 So, therefore, I am not fully aware if you are talking about numbers that
3 it's not the same as weapons, and it seems to be a bit apples and pears.
4 I'll try to put into context the numbers. I see no numbers of weapons
5 distributed, and I see numbers of -- I would say of troops or military men,
6 which I cannot link that easily to the others. But if the witness would
7 have any -- or if you would have any further ...
8 MS. LOUKAS: Is Your Honour saying that that sentence "Ethnic
9 groups of this republic are well-armed along the party lines" is not a
10 reference to well-armed men?
11 JUDGE ORIE: It would not necessarily mean -- of course well-
12 armed men. But I could not compare the number of weapons distributed. I
13 mean, one mortar would do for ten people; whereas, if you're talking about
14 rifles, then it might be different. So therefore, it's very difficult to -
15 - at least in my thoughts - but please convince me if I'm wrong - to
16 combine these figures and to say, Well, if you are talking about 51.900 in
17 weapons, then you should have mentioned also 60.000 Muslims.
18 I'm just trying to understand your point. It's ...
19 MS. LOUKAS: Okay. Well, Your Honour, the situation is that --
20 and I'll ask Mr. Brown if he has some knowledge of this.
21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
22 MS. LOUKAS:
23 Q. The JNA was also distributing arms to other ethnic groups, was it
24 not?
25 A. I have not seen evidence to that effect. If you've got some
Page 16431
1 documentation that you might want to show me, then I can certainly comment
2 on it. But I'm not aware of that. I have seen this reference, and I've
3 seen other references that the JNA were issuing weapons to -- to Bosnian
4 Serbs and the SDS. I've seen it in the 17th Corps. I've seen it in the
5 1st Corps, in documentation, and I have not seen it -- that the JNA were
6 issuing weapons to other ethnic groups. That's not to say other ethnic
7 groups did not get weapons, I have to say, but I have not seen documentary
8 evidence indicating that the JNA were distributing weapons to other ethnic
9 groups.
10 Q. Okay. So you haven't seen documentary evidence to -- to that
11 effect, that there was at this time that we're dealing with here
12 distribution of weapons more widely than the Serbs.
13 JUDGE ORIE: By the JNA, I take it, Ms. Loukas?
14 MS. LOUKAS: By the JNA, yes.
15 A. No, I've not seen that. I am aware -- maybe I'm straying a
16 little bit from my expertise, but I am aware of incidents where individuals
17 broke into armouries and seized weapons. Non-Serbs, that is; Muslims and
18 Croats in Central Bosnia. But I am not aware of -- of documentation that
19 would indicate that the JNA were distributing weapons to the HDZ or to the
20 SDA or anyone else, but I have seen documentation that indicates they were
21 distributing weapons to the SDS.
22 Q. Okay. Let's leave the footnotes alone for a second. Let's move
23 on to another area. We can come back to the footnotes later. Let's go to
24 All People's Defence. This was mentioned very briefly in your evidence on
25 Monday. What significance do you as a military analyst attach to the
Page 16432
1 concept of All People's Defence?
2 A. What do you mean? In terms of what significance do I attach to
3 it?
4 Q. In terms of examining, analysing the military situation in Bosnia
5 in the period covered by your report in the Krajina area.
6 A. I think, as I said, I'm aware that All People's Defence was, in
7 essence, a doctrine that Yugoslavia had adopted in which the JNA, the TO,
8 and the -- the state mobilised in a time of tension in order to defend the
9 state, and "All People's Defence" meant that, to all intents and purposes,
10 all individuals in the state had a function to play in the defence of that
11 state. The JNA predominantly to defend the borders of Yugoslavia; the
12 Territorial Defence, when it was mobilised, to defend -- well, to assist
13 the JNA, to provide additional manpower, but also to defend key
14 installations or municipalities or other areas, and a process of
15 mobilisation through -- through -- to bolster the JNA and -- and then also
16 presumably civilian bodies in order to assist the defence of the state.
17 That's -- that's my understanding of what "All People's Defence" meant.
18 Q. Now, it's clear, isn't it, to understand the events of the war in
19 the period covered by your report that an understanding of that military
20 doctrine is important; correct?
21 A. Well, it's useful to set some context, of course. It's not --
22 it's not -- you know, it's not the -- the meat of my -- of my report. By
23 1992, the situation certainly changed significantly from one way, and All
24 People's Defence was -- was -- as a doctrine was -- was being implemented
25 because of the war in Croatia. But it's of note to have an understanding
Page 16433
1 in terms of the JNA and -- and its -- its function.
2 Q. Okay. Now, this concept of the All People's Defence, it was a --
3 a concept that was assumed and taken into account by all three parties to
4 the conflict, was it not?
5 A. I think All People's Defence was a doctrine that was wedded with
6 Yugoslavia, so I'm not sure that I agree with your point that it was
7 assumed and taken into account by all three parties necessarily. All
8 People's Defence was a doctrine that had served Yugoslavia for some
9 significant time. Clearly, when the conflict in Croatia broke out and then
10 that subsequent conflict in Bosnia, I don't think All People's Defence
11 necessarily applied. And I'm not quite sure what -- what do you mean by it
12 was taken into account by all three parties of the conflict?
13 Q. Okay. Then let's approach it from another angle. Yes, the
14 concept of All People's Defence was a concept whereby all people in
15 Yugoslavia would be prepared to defend from external attack, firstly.
16 We're agreed on that?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Okay. And, in fact, in terms of this system, there was a
19 relationship between the regular army, military production, the storage of
20 weapons, uniforms, reserves of food, were actually distributed all over the
21 country in accordance with this doctrine; correct?
22 A. Yes, I believe so. There were these armouries and -- and
23 production clearly was important, and I think the means of military
24 production was split between republics and different locations, so ...
25 Q. Okay. And each municipality was obliged to have units of the
Page 16434
1 Territorial Defence; correct?
2 A. Yes, I believe that was the case.
3 Q. And every municipality had an operational plan for use or
4 deployment of units during wartime.
5 A. I would assume so, yes. I am not necessarily an expert on the
6 details of All People's Defence down at the low level, but I do know that
7 the TO was a feature of All People's Defence, so I would assume that there
8 were plans.
9 Q. Now, as far as leadership at a municipality level, part of this
10 All People's Defence doctrine was that there ought to be coordination in
11 terms of war; correct?
12 A. Yes. Again, you know, I'm -- I haven't read documents about
13 mobilisation of TOs at low level in relation to All People's Defence, but I
14 would assume that -- that in order to have a mobilisation, you'd have to
15 have some coordination.
16 Q. And, in fact, each municipality had a National Defence Council,
17 did it not?
18 A. I believe it did, yes.
19 Q. So when the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia began, you're
20 looking at a situation whereby, for example, the operational unit in
21 Croatia, the 5th Corps, withdrew to Bosnia from Croatia; correct?
22 A. It's my understanding from the documents that the 5th Corps were
23 mobilised in September 1991 as part of a wider JNA operation in Croatia.
24 They then deployed forces from Bosnia because the Corps was based in
25 Bosnia. It conducted operations in Western Slavonia between September 1991
Page 16435
1 and the negotiated peace or cease-fire in Bosnia at the end of 1991.
2 It remained, or a section of the corps remained in Bosnia --
3 sorry, in Croatia and Western Slavonia between that period,
4 December/January 1991 -- January 1992, and it withdrew finally its forces
5 from Croatia, I believe, in June 1992.
6 So the 5th Corps deployed to Croatia in September, had combat
7 operations there until December. There was a negotiated settlement in
8 which the UN appeared. The JNA 5th Corps remained in Western Slavonia on
9 the territory that it had taken and occupied, and remained there and
10 finally withdrew in June 1992.
11 Q. And, in fact, part of the 5th Corps' zone of responsibility under
12 the -- in the Yugoslavian set-up incorporated part of Croatia and part of
13 Bosnia; correct?
14 A. The issue of the zone of responsibility of the 5th Corps is a
15 slightly confusing -- well, not confusing but complicated issue because the
16 5th Corps became part of the 2nd Military District. The 2nd Military
17 District was only formed as a result of the withdrawal of significant
18 forces, JNA forces, from Croatia. So when you say the 5th Corps' zone of
19 responsibility in the Yugoslav set-up incorporated part of Croatia, that's
20 not exactly the case.
21 It happened to be deployed to Croatia as a result of the JNA
22 deployment in September 1991. But the peacetime, according to the
23 documentation anyway, the peacetime zone of responsibility of the JNA 5th
24 Corps was exclusively in Bosnia. So it's not exactly correct to say that
25 the 5th Corps' zone of responsibility in the Yugoslavian set-up - if you
Page 16436
1 mean the peacetime set-up of the JNA - that's not quite true. It happened
2 to be in Croatia in 1991 because it was ordered to go and conduct combat
3 operations in 1991 by the Federal Secretariat for National Defence in
4 Belgrade.
5 Q. But we're talking about the wartime set-up here.
6 Now, in relation to the All People's Defence concept, in fact,
7 all --
8 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas.
9 MS. LOUKAS: Sorry?
10 JUDGE ORIE: It's ten minutes of 6.00. I'm looking at the
11 clock. Another 20 minutes' break would bring us to -- or would you like to
12 take the additional half hour today, since we continue tomorrow? I'm just
13 asking for scheduling purposes.
14 MS. LOUKAS: Oh, I see, Your Honour. And the suggestion is ...?
15 JUDGE ORIE: We could continue today until 7.30.
16 MS. LOUKAS: Yes.
17 JUDGE ORIE: And you know that we reserve time for tomorrow as
18 well.
19 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed.
20 JUDGE ORIE: If you say time tomorrow morning will be plenty,
21 then, of course, we could stop at 7.00. If you'd say, Well, perhaps it's
22 better to use our time today, then I would take that into account when I
23 choose a time for a break.
24 MS. LOUKAS: I think, Your Honours it would be best if we did
25 have till 7.30. I mean, this witness was in the witness box for the
Page 16437
1 Prosecution for a long time.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
3 MS. LOUKAS: If I'm even to keep to 60 per cent, that would mean
4 a cyst significant period of time for cross-examination.
5 JUDGE ORIE: No, I'm just asking you.
6 At the same time, I consulted with my colleagues, Ms. Loukas.
7 We're now approximately ten minutes in the All People's Defence. I just
8 checked. We have no idea what, at this moment, the point is you are trying
9 to -- I take it that somewhere that it comes to a point where we understand
10 what the relevance for the case is.
11 MS. LOUKAS: Well, I think --
12 JUDGE ORIE: And, of course, we have discussed before closing
13 Doors. I don't know how much there's closing doors at this moment,
14 sometimes if you close all doors and if there's no electric light, you
15 don't see anything any more. We do not understand how this could assist
16 us. If there's a point to make, we are thrilled to know what that point
17 would be.
18 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour --
19 JUDGE ORIE: You don't have to explain, but I think the message
20 might be clear.
21 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed, the message is clear.
22 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
23 MS. LOUKAS: And I'm not going to spend much longer on All
24 People's Defence, Your Honour, but I also think it's important for the
25 Trial Chamber to be aware of the background to All People's Defence because
Page 16438
1 it was dealt with so briefly on the part of the evidence-in-chief of this
2 witness and it's a critical part of the military doctrine of the former
3 Yugoslavia, of which all three communities had an awareness of, and all
4 three communities were able to call upon in terms of the way that they
5 dealt with the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. So if one looks, for
6 example, at questions of would-be coordination and what have you, or
7 cooperation, as it were, they're part of a system that was put in place,
8 and it's not part of a system, Your Honours, that just sprang from nothing.
9 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. It's perfectly clear, Ms. Loukas, that if you
10 lived for quite some time together in the former Yugoslavia, Serbs,
11 Muslims, Croats, and if you were quite familiar with the All People's
12 Defence concept, that that was common to all the three nations or people I
13 just mentioned. That doesn't need -- perhaps for a jury it might take them
14 a bit longer to find out that if you're all raised in the same school that
15 you know, more or less, the lessons that were taught in that school.
16 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed.
17 JUDGE ORIE: But this Chamber is --
18 MS. LOUKAS: Your Honour --
19 JUDGE ORIE: -- is not -- I'm not going -- I mean, we don't have
20 to discuss or to debate your line of defence. I just wanted to convey a
21 message to you. And in view of your response, I thought I would spend a
22 few more words on it. Now, I leave it to you further to continue your
23 cross-examination.
24 MS. LOUKAS: Your Honour, I won't be spending much longer on All
25 People's Defence, and I take on-board what Your Honour has said. But I
Page 16439
1 thought it was a very important part of the background understanding what
2 occurred militarily.
3 Q. Now, just finishing up on All People's Defence, in fact, it was -
4 - it was something that was taught in high school, wasn't it?
5 A. I am not aware of that. I couldn't tell you if it was or not.
6 Q. In fact, there was weapons training. You're not aware of that
7 either?
8 A. In -- you mean in high school? Weapons training? Or are you
9 talking about weapons training more generally?
10 Q. Weapons training in terms of the All People's Defence. That was
11 part of the concept.
12 A. Well, I'm aware that there was a conscript army, that people had
13 to serve some time in this services, and undoubtedly would have received
14 weapons training then.
15 Q. And that, in fact, in terms of the military situation in the
16 former Yugoslavia, all reservists, that is, Serb, Muslim, and Croat, all
17 had access to uniforms.
18 A. I am unaware of that.
19 Q. And potential access to weapons.
20 A. I wonder if you could be more specific, what you mean by
21 "potential access to weapons." Are you ...?
22 Q. Well, the whole concept of All People's Defence was predicated on
23 the basis of being able to mobilise quickly, was it not?
24 A. Yes, but "potential access to weapons" doesn't necessarily mean -
25 - or can mean a variety of things. You know, you can have -- I'm a
Page 16440
1 reservist in my military, I do not have access to weapons. But when I'm
2 mobilised, I assume that I'm going to be given one. So when you say
3 "people have access to weapons," I know that the JNA weapons were held in
4 armouries, in secure locations. So people as a whole, I believe, did not
5 keep their weapons in their bedroom.
6 Q. I take it you're not really in a position to tell us what was
7 occurring in areas where there were significant Muslim majority, other
8 areas than what you've included in your report.
9 A. No, that was not within the remit of the report and that was not
10 within the tasking. I have not looked at that area.
11 MS. LOUKAS: I note the time, Your Honour. This might be an
12 appropriate time.
13 JUDGE ORIE: Well, if we continue until 7.30, it might be now.
14 But if you would like to continue for ten minutes, that would be fine as
15 well.
16 MS. LOUKAS: I just wanted to check my documents --
17 JUDGE ORIE: Okay.
18 MS. LOUKAS: -- during the next break before I proceed onto the
19 next topic.
20 JUDGE ORIE: Then we'll have a break until 20 minutes past 6.00.
21 --- Recess taken at 5.58 p.m.
22 --- On resuming at 6.27 p.m.
23 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, please proceed.
24 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. Thank you, Your Honour.
25 Q. Now, Mr. Brown, I just want to take you to a section of your
Page 16441
1 report that deals with the 16th Session of the Assembly of the Serbian
2 People in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that commences at page 24 of your
3 report. Now, in relation to your examination of that particular Assembly
4 session, you've taken various quotes from it and also made some comments in
5 your text of the report and also yesterday, when you were being taken
6 through various matters by Mr. Harmon.
7 Now, if we go first of all to, I believe it's tab 44. Do you
8 have that in front of you?
9 A. Yes, I do. Is that the minutes of this session?
10 Q. That's right. That's the minutes of the 16th Session of the
11 Assembly of the Serbian People held on the 12th of May in Banja Luka.
12 A. Yes, I do have those in front of me.
13 Q. Now, in relation to this Assembly session, I'm going to take you
14 through it in some detail. First of all, in relation to page 7, there's a
15 contribution there from Dr. Nikola Koljevic towards the top of the page.
16 A. Oh, yes. Yes.
17 Q. Where it's indicated that the Lisbon Conference was suspended the
18 day before.
19 A. Yes, I see that on page 6.
20 Q. Now, Mr. Brown, just in relation to the background to the
21 political negotiations that were going on, you were, of course, aware of
22 the negotiations surrounding what has come to be known as the Cutileiro
23 Plan?
24 A. I am aware that these negotiations were taking place and that
25 Jose Cutileiro was presiding over those negotiations, but I'm not an expert
Page 16442
1 on the detail of those -- of the plan -- or the political processes that
2 were going on there. But I am aware, in general, that these negotiations
3 were -- were there involving the EU and -- and others. But as I say, I'm
4 not an expert on this area at all, and I'd defer to somebody who is.
5 Q. Okay. So you tell the Trial Chamber you're not an expert on the
6 Cutileiro Plan but you're aware in general of the fact that there were
7 political negotiations going on surrounding this idea of the Cutileiro
8 Plan; correct?
9 A. Well, I'm aware that the negotiations were ongoing, but the
10 detailed minutia of the plan, I'm not au fait with, and as I said, I'd
11 really defer to somebody who knows far more in that area than I do.
12 Q. Okay. Were you aware that as of the 30th, 31st of March, 1992
13 stage of the political negotiations that the parties -- the three national
14 parties - that being the Muslims, the Croats, and the Serbs - had adopted a
15 statement of principles, a decision of principles of the new constitutional
16 order for Bosnia-Herzegovina?
17 A. I'm not. I'm not aware of that detail, no.
18 Q. So you're not aware of the process between the 17th of March and
19 the 31st of March specifically in relation to what was occurring on the
20 Cutileiro Plan.
21 A. No, I'm aware -- I'm not aware of the details, but I am aware
22 that there had been some tentative agreement, and I believe that that was
23 then later -- the Muslim side had initially given the impression they were
24 going to agree and then did. But apart from the detail, I really defer to
25 somebody else.
Page 16443
1 Q. In fact, there had been agreement on the principles and then Mr.
2 Izetbegovic changed his mind; correct?
3 MR. HARMON: Objection, Your Honour. The witness has said he
4 didn't know about the Plan and the details of it.
5 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. It's not clear to me, Ms. Loukas. Is there
6 any specific interest to know whether this witness was aware of that or
7 that it happened?
8 MS. LOUKAS: I'm interested to know if this witness is aware.
9 JUDGE ORIE: We've gone over that ground. Then he answered that
10 question, that from what he remembers is that -- so he gives you two
11 fingers, I would say, but you'd refer to have the whole hand. Yes. Yes.
12 Please proceed.
13 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed, Your Honour.
14 Q. Were you aware that there was an agreement to set up a -- a
15 working group to define the territories of the three communities within
16 Bosnia-Herzegovina?
17 A. I knew that that was part to have plan, that there had been this
18 -- this attempt to set up a working group in this way, but I'm not au fait
19 with the details.
20 Q. Were you aware that part of the agreement was that the maps of
21 the constituent units should be based on national, economic, and
22 geographical principles but also on historic, religious, cultural,
23 educational, and transport and communication criteria?
24 A. No, I'm not.
25 Q. So I take it, then, that you're not in a position to agree or
Page 16444
1 disagree with the proposition that the six strategic goals are not
2 inconsistent with the Cutileiro Plan.
3 A. I am not in a position because I haven't read the Cutileiro Plan
4 or looked at it in detail to make a comparison of those, so I don't think
5 I'm in a position to say one way or the other.
6 Q. Okay. Well, in any event, there at page 7 Mr. Koljevic is
7 dealing with the fact that the Lisbon Conference has been suspended, just
8 the day before this particular Assembly session.
9 A. Yes, he would seem to state that in the text on page 6.
10 Q. And the Lisbon reference is a reference to the Cutileiro Plan,
11 negotiations.
12 A. I would defer to somebody else. Whether it was directly the
13 Cutileiro, whether it was another agreement, I don't know, but clearly it's
14 part of a negotiation process, so ...
15 Q. Okay. Now, let's go to Mr. Karadzic's speech, which begins at
16 page 8.
17 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Krajisnik, for your information, the English
18 text is numbered in a bit different way from the B/C/S version, because the
19 B/C/S version starts to number again at the -- where the real meeting
20 starts. So since you would like to follow it, please be aware that that
21 might be on page 3, I take it. Yes, it starts on page 3 in the B/C/S.
22 Please proceed, Ms. Loukas.
23 MS. LOUKAS: Thank you, Your Honour.
24 Q. Now, with the beginning of Mr. Karadzic's speech there, he's
25 talking about the background to what had been occurring with the HDZ and
Page 16445
1 the SDA. He then goes on to talk about what had occurred in the parliament
2 with the outvoting. Have you studied any of the Assembly sessions in
3 relation to what was occurring politically?
4 A. No. As I say, that really wasn't within the remit of my report,
5 and I know that there are others who have looked at that in more detail. I
6 -- I haven't looked in that area. I have -- I have made myself aware of
7 some of the Assembly sessions, but it's not an area that I have gone into
8 significant detail, and I'd defer to someone like Mr. Treanor, who I know
9 has worked on that in some detailed depth.
10 Q. So your analysis of the 16th Assembly Session is not based on any
11 detailed analysis of the surrounding Assembly sessions; correct?
12 A. No, that is not true. I have reviewed a number of the Assembly
13 sessions when I was compiling the report. But as I -- I said a few days
14 ago, the reason that I focussed on the 16th Assembly Session in part was
15 the army was established then, and that clearly is a defence-related issue.
16 And when I was looking at this, and I had seen some references in military
17 documentation to objectives and -- and goals and operations that the 1st
18 Krajina Corps was launching, I wanted to see if those were in any way
19 related to -- to some political objectives which I read when I was
20 reviewing this document, knowing that the army had been established on that
21 day.
22 Q. Now, my question was, Your analysis of the 16th Assembly Session
23 is not based on any detailed analysis to have surrounding Assembly
24 sessions. And your answer was, "I have reviewed a number of the Assembly
25 sessions when I was compiling the report." It's nevertheless true to say
Page 16446
1 that you have not gone into a detailed analysis of the Assembly sessions
2 surrounding the -- and leading up to the Assembly session of the 12th of
3 May.
4 A. Yes, I would say that's correct. Not an exhaustive and detailed
5 analysis of these Assembly sessions. That wasn't within the remit of the
6 report.
7 Q. Now, just going on to page 9 of the Assembly session, Mr.
8 Karadzic is still speaking, and he's talking about the further ongoing
9 negotiations there at the beginning, where it's stated: "They,
10 nevertheless, accepted our proposal for a conference on Bosnia and
11 Herzegovina, recognising that the Serbian people would not accept the
12 unitrous [phoen] Bosnia of Alija Izetbegovic so easily, and that is how we
13 arrived at the conference on Bosnia and Herzegovina under European
14 auspices. At that conference, we booked great political success, gaining
15 the approval of the international community, in the case the European
16 Community, for a three-part Bosnia and Herzegovina, as opposed to a
17 unitrous Bosnia and Herzegovina, a complex Bosnia and Herzegovina
18 consisting of three nation states or three constitutive states whose
19 relations and connections would be stronger or weaker."
20 Do you see that portion there?
21 A. Yes, I do.
22 Q. So there Karadzic is still discussing the negotiations that had
23 been occurring; correct?
24 A. Yes, he seems to be giving his view on those negotiations.
25 Q. And he states there further down: "We have opted for a
Page 16447
1 political, peaceful solution and have accepted the arbitration of European
2 community politics, which does not favour the Serbs at this moment, but we
3 accepted that we might lose a thing or two in order to avoid war."
4 Do you see that portion of his speech there?
5 A. Yes, I do.
6 Q. Mm-hm. Now, he also refers to the fact that there was a -- a
7 mobilisation call, further down the page. Do you see that just towards the
8 end of page 9, that Mr. Izetbegovic had issued a mobilisation call?
9 A. Can you direct me to which line that could be? I ...
10 Q. It's towards the bottom of page 9. "For Izetbegovic" -- this is
11 -- I'm quoting from it -- "For Izetbegovic, even this alliance, this
12 support, this turning of a blind eye was not enough, and on the very day of
13 Ramadan-Bajram he resorted to a mobilisation call.
14 A. Yes, I'm sorry. I was looking in the wrong place, but no. Yes,
15 I do see that. Yes.
16 Q. And do you know the date of that mobilisation call?
17 A. I would have to check, but I think it was around about 6th or 7th
18 or 8th of April. Is that -- would that be correct? Round about then?
19 Q. I'm trying to see what your knowledge is, Mr. Brown.
20 A. But I know that the justification for that mobilization were the
21 activities that occurred -- one of the justifications were the activities
22 that occurred in Bijeljina and Zvornik earlier. But I think it was after
23 Bijeljina -- the incidents in Bijeljina and Zvornik.
24 Q. Now, further on in terms of Mr. Karadzic's speech there, he
25 indicates that "We have nothing against the Croatian national community in
Page 16448
1 Bosnia and Herzegovina setting up its state or staying in the same state
2 with the Muslims. We do have objections to the cruel war waged by Croatian
3 paramilitary, regular forces of the Croatian state, in Posavina, the Sava
4 River Valley, which have raided Posavina and invaded the Serbs of Bosnia
5 and Herzegovina, committing genocide and expelling them from their homes in
6 an attempt to gain the best possible negotiating position; that is to say,
7 to limit the borders of its state unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
8 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, are you reading from --
9 MS. LOUKAS: Yes.
10 JUDGE ORIE: -- a different version, a different English
11 translation of the 16th Session? I noticed that the bottom of page 9, I
12 had some difficulties to find it. And when you read it, I now and then
13 observed that you are using different words.
14 MS. LOUKAS: That's interesting, Your Honour.
15 JUDGE ORIE: I take it that you're reading?
16 MS. LOUKAS: Yes, I did, I am, Your Honour. And, in fact, what
17 I did was --
18 JUDGE ORIE: Not great differences, but I just wanted to check.
19 MS. LOUKAS: Oh, in fact, what I did, Your Honour, was print out
20 the version that was connected with Mr. Brown's footnote in this respect.
21 JUDGE ORIE: Let's proceed, but at least that you are aware that
22 --
23 MS. LOUKAS: Thank you, Your Honour.
24 Q. Now, if we move on there. He also indicates at the bottom of
25 page 12 - and I'm not sure if we're on the same page 12, but I'll see how
Page 16449
1 it compares with tab 44 -
2 JUDGE ORIE: May I just draw your attention to one difference.
3 You read, "that is to say, to limit the borders of the state unit in Bosnia
4 and Herzegovina," where in mine it says -- and it's not quite the same --
5 "To establish the borders of their state unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
6 So we are working from different versions, but until now without any
7 dramatic results, I take it.
8 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. I tend to think not, Your Honour. Of course,
9 I received the tab 44 version on the morning of the -- afternoon of the
10 commencement of Mr. Brown's evidence. And I was, of course, working from
11 the copy that I got from the footnote of his report.
12 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
13 MS. LOUKAS: So ...
14 JUDGE ORIE: Just that we are aware that there might be slight
15 differences.
16 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed, Your Honour.
17 Q. Now, if we move along through the session, we go to page 13 in my
18 version, which appears to be on page -- the bottom of page 12 of the tab 44
19 version. It's a paragraph that begins: "We did everything to avoid war and
20 when it did break out, for it to stop and for peace to be established,
21 which would make a political solution possible." Do you see that portion
22 there?
23 A. Yes, I do.
24 Q. And he indicates that "The cease-fire or truce has each time been
25 violated first and foremost by Muslim forces in Sarajevo and Croatian
Page 16450
1 forces in Posavina, where the war has never stopped, as well as in the
2 Neretva Valley, where we believe that the Croatian goal is the conquest of
3 territory and establishment of the situation on the ground and the borders,
4 which will, in their opinion, sooner or later be recognised, while the
5 Muslim actually violate the truce in order to suspend or sabotage the
6 conference on Bosnia and Herzegovina."
7 Now, just in relation to that portion of the speech, it is true,
8 is it not, that the Croatian forces were in Posavina?
9 A. Croatian forces being -- Croatian -- what do you mean by
10 "Croatian forces"? If I can have that clarified: Croatian state forces or
11 forces in -- Croatian forces from -- from Bosnia-Herzegovina? I'm aware
12 that the municipalities in the Posavina were controlled by Croats and that
13 they had taken control of those areas, yes, and I referenced that in the
14 report.
15 Q. Okay. Now, going on towards the end of that paragraph, there's a
16 statement being made there that "It would be much better to solve this
17 situation by political means. It would be best if a truce could be
18 established right away and the border set up. Even if we lose something,
19 in a manner, the European Community proposes and finds in conjunction with
20 the three national communities." Do you see that portion there?
21 A. Yes, I do.
22 Q. So Mr. Karadzic there is still talking about a negotiated
23 settlement, is he not?
24 A. He would -- he would appear at face value on this to -- to say
25 that; however, when he says issues like -- one of the quotes you used
Page 16451
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and
13 English transcripts.
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Page 16452
1 earlier on, "a peaceful solution," "you've opted for a political and
2 peaceful solution," this Assembly session came on the 12th of May, and
3 there had already been takeovers and some combat operations that occurred
4 in April, and there are a number of references throughout this document
5 that -- in fact, Mr. Krajisnik says it, that "We are at war."
6 Q. But that was a statement of the blindingly obvious, wasn't it?
7 What is the accepted date that the war began, Mr. Brown?
8 A. I'm not sure what the accepted date that the war began is.
9 Q. Really?
10 A. No.
11 Q. How can you analyse military documents without knowing what the
12 accepted date of the onset of the war is?
13 A. I'm not sure there is an accepted date on the onset of the war.
14 There was activity in March. There was activity in April. There was
15 activity in May.
16 Q. Okay. So in all your readings, you say that there is not a day
17 which is seen to be -- or a period which is seen to be the onset of the
18 war.
19 A. There's a difference between a period and a day, of course, but
20 ...
21 Q. Well, I'm happy to hear a period or a date from you.
22 A. I would argue that late March and April were -- were when combat
23 operations were -- were initiated.
24 Q. Okay. Now, let's move on to page 15 of the Assembly session, and
25 that is after the strategic goals have been set out. And in the tab
Page 16453
1 version that's at page 14, Karadzic actually -- Mr. Karadzic actually
2 states, "We must also put an end to the Serbian megalomania, trying to
3 include as many of our enemies in our areas as possible, especially as much
4 territory as possible. As many hills and brooks, regardless of whether
5 they are fertile or not, this must be brought to a reasonable measure in
6 order for us to be solid and compact. This can be compared to a balloon
7 which is blown up to be as big as possible, but the bigger it is, the
8 thinner its membrane and the more prone to bursting."
9 Now, do you consider it a possible interpretation of that phrase
10 there that Mr. Karadzic, who's been speaking about the negotiations and
11 continuing negotiations, is trying to keep what is occurring within the
12 negotiations?
13 A. It is a possible interpretation but one that I would not agree
14 with.
15 Q. Okay. Let's move on to page 16 in your footnote version, which
16 in the tab version is at -- also, fortunately, at page 16. And we come to
17 this portion where he indicates "We do not want to get a state with a huge
18 number of people who are against that state, but that is a possibility
19 they're afraid of. Secondly, we have shown that borders can be drawn
20 bilaterally, and we wanted to move the delineation line as deep and as far
21 as possible so there can be no more going back."
22 Now, where he speaks there about borders being drawn
23 bilaterally, that's obviously in the context of agreement of both sides;
24 correct?
25 A. It's not clear in this example what he's talking about and where
Page 16454
1 he's referencing. It could be that he's referencing what they had been
2 discussing in -- in the Cutileiro Plan. It could well be that he's
3 discussing something that's happening slightly more localised. For
4 example, I think he's referencing - excuse me - referencing earlier on
5 Kupres, which I think was a demarcation line, but it's not clear what he
6 means here.
7 Q. Well, what does "bilateral" mean to you?
8 A. Agreements between two parties.
9 [Defence counsel confer]
10 MS. LOUKAS:
11 Q. Well, is it possible that it was part of the negotiating process
12 with the Croats in that regard?
13 A. It's possible. It isn't quite clear from the -- from the phrase.
14 Q. So you're saying that the word "bilateral," as far as you're
15 concerned, doesn't make it clear.
16 A. No, not the word "bilateral." It's whether he's talking about
17 agreements that they had reached bilaterally with the Croats in the wider
18 negotiations or whether he's talking about, as he mentions earlier on,
19 "Take, for example, Kupres. When we told them we would take their
20 interests into account since Kupres was more important to them than to us,
21 we might agree for the border to run along a road or that something could
22 be arranged. First, by the local armies on the ground, and then by us at
23 the level of the republic."
24 So whether he's making reference to some agreements that he's
25 trying to organise outside of the Cutileiro discussions or other
Page 16455
1 discussions or whether he's talking about those discussions is not exactly
2 clear to me.
3 Q. Isn't he saying that we have shown that borders can be drawn
4 bilaterally?
5 A. Well, I can only re-echo what I've said. He's -- he's saying
6 that -- that that is -- it is -- it's possible to do that, but it's not
7 exactly clear in what framework he's -- he's saying that. One could read
8 the preceding statement that they're happy to agree, at the local level,
9 where it suits them or suits both parties down a road in Kupres, that
10 they'll have a border there. Or it could well be that he's talking about
11 bilateral agreements in another forum. But he is clearly talking or
12 referencing bilateral agreements, and I'm assuming, because the context is
13 Croats, it's with the Croats.
14 Q. Okay. In any event, he's not talking about the unilateral
15 drawing of borders, is he? He's talking about bilateral agreement on
16 borders in that context.
17 A. He makes a statement that -- that "We have shown that borders can
18 be drawn bilaterally," but it's not clear what he means by that.
19 Q. Well, it's not clear to you.
20 A. It's not clear to me, no.
21 Q. Okay. We can move on, further on to the session. Now, just in
22 relation to page 17 in your footnote version.
23 A. Mm-hm.
24 Q. And that is in the tab version at page 16. There's this
25 delegate, it's indicated there, Mr. Beli. And at one portion there, he --
Page 16456
1 he talks about communications, and he talks about -- it's about ten lines
2 down: "Until now, we were unable to communicate with anybody, with the
3 exception of our region of Semberija and Majevica."
4 Now, it's quite clear, is it not, that communications on the
5 ground during the period when the -- the war broke out were difficult, were
6 they not?
7 A. Can you be more specific about who you mean the communication on
8 the ground between? Are you talking about the military, or are you talking
9 about the SDS, or are you talking about the police, or ...?
10 Q. Okay. Well, you told us a little bit the other day based on the
11 combat readiness report, about this question of communication. Do you
12 recall that?
13 A. Yes, I do.
14 Q. And to a large extent, you've based your assumptions about
15 communication on the basis of the combat readiness report that was prepared
16 in 1993; correct?
17 A. No, I wouldn't say to a large extent, but it is a component, yes.
18 Q. Okay. What else do you base it on?
19 A. The functioning or apparent functioning of communications in the
20 1st Krajina Corps to the Main Staff, references to Presidency sessions,
21 indications in military documents of meetings, references in Assembly
22 sessions, the Assembly sessions themselves being a communication vehicle,
23 some indication about notification of the international press. Those are
24 some of the areas that I think I also included in relation to
25 communications.
Page 16457
1 Q. What was the state on the ground in relation to telephones? What
2 light can you throw on that?
3 A. In which particular period are you talking about?
4 Q. In the period that you're dealing with in your report.
5 A. I believe that the combat readiness report indicates that there
6 were problems initially, that they had to rely heavily on the PTT system;
7 the military had to patch into the PTT system, and that they utilised the
8 PTT system. Undoubtedly there were problems. Some exchanges weren't
9 working, I think. The military had to utilise some of its own equipment.
10 But no, there were undoubtedly some difficulties. They are highlighted in
11 the combat analysis readiness report, but they do come to the conclusion
12 that communications in 1992 were assessed as very good and they utilised
13 the PTT system as a means of communication.
14 Q. Just in terms --
15 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, may I ask one thing. And I'm
16 addressing both you and Mr. Harmon and perhaps the witness, as well. If
17 were talking about "communicate," you know I'm not a native English
18 speaker. I speak some English; I speak some French. What I know is that
19 "communique" in French, which is exactly the same word, could also be
20 "linked". For example, if you would order in a hotel the chambres
21 communiquantes, that means rooms connected with a door to two rooms. So,
22 therefore, looking at this in the context, I would exclude for certain that
23 "communication" would not mean such kind of a communication as we find that
24 -- and it's -- of course, we're interpreting texts. But if anyone could
25 help me out here because you start and the witness follows you in that
Page 16458
1 respect, that, When we are talking about communications, we are talking
2 about telephones and telexes, et cetera. It's not self-evident for me that
3 if you would use the word "communique" in French, that it would have only
4 that meaning. But I am just asking you, perhaps also on the basis of the
5 original B/C/S text, whether that is how it should be understood.
6 Perhaps we could ask the attention from the interpreters and ask
7 them whether they could exclude such a meaning, taking it from the original
8 text, and then I'd like to hear from you whether "to communicate" in this
9 context would necessarily focus on telephones, telexes, et cetera.
10 [Defence counsel confer]
11 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, I take it that the interpreters have
12 followed my observations and, of course, it's -- you're entirely free to
13 consult with someone of your team who speaks the language. But perhaps we
14 could also assist you to draw the attention of the interpreters to the
15 relevant line where you're talking about communication and see whether it's
16 without any ambiguity that the translation is "communications," in the
17 sense of telephones, telexes, et cetera.
18 MS. LOUKAS: Indeed, Your Honour.
19 I would indicate that I've given the B/C/S version to my case
20 manager, and I can return to this topic at a later point. It's just in
21 relation to the statement made by Beli on page 17. Or if it might be more
22 useful, if my case manager can find the relevant reference and read it out
23 in B/C/S, and it can be translated by the interpreters on the spot.
24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, I think on B/C/S it's on page 10, the last
25 portion of -- and then it should then be approximately a couple of lines
Page 16459
1 from the bottom, I would say.
2 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. Perhaps the ERN number, Your Honour.
3 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I could give you the ERN number. Its last
4 three digits are 725.
5 MS. LOUKAS: It's about --
6 JUDGE ORIE: And as a matter of fact, from what I see -- no. It
7 seems that in the original it also says something about -- well, a word
8 that starts with similar, in Cyrillic, similar letters as "communication"
9 in English and "communication" in French.
10 MS. LOUKAS: Yes.
11 JUDGE ORIE: Could I ask perhaps your case manager to slowly
12 read the line in Cyrillic, the seventh line from the bottom. That starts a
13 new sentence. I think that's the one we would need in -- approximately in
14 the middle. Would you please be so kind as to read that slowly.
15 MR. KARGANOVIC: [Interpretation] "Up until now, we were unable"
16 -- "Up till now, we were unable to communicate with anyone except for our
17 Semberija and Majevica region. Up till now, this cooperation has been
18 quite good."
19 JUDGE ORIE: Okay. That would do.
20 Could I ask the interpreters whether the word "to communicate"
21 here should be understood in the technical sense of telephones, telexes, et
22 cetera, or whether it could have a broader meaning. I'm listening to the
23 English Channel at this moment.
24 THE INTERPRETER: Your Honour, the word could have broader
25 meaning, especially if it's used as a noun; the word "komunikacija" could
Page 16460
1 also mean a road if used as a noun.
2 JUDGE ORIE: And now in --
3 THE INTERPRETER: In this case, it's used as a verb, so it's
4 hard to say.
5 JUDGE ORIE: Okay. So at least there could be some confusion as
6 whether we are -- now in the English translation -- I don't know whether
7 "to communicate" would have a broader meaning than - and I am now looking
8 to you, Ms. Loukas, perhaps to the witness, as well, and to Mr. Harmon -
9 whether "to communicate" could have a broader meaning than just technical
10 communication, electronic communication.
11 MS. LOUKAS: But it would of course --
12 JUDGE ORIE: We've Australian English and American now. So you
13 should be able to help me out.
14 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, obviously it would include those
15 other forms of communication, the technical forms of communication.
16 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Yes. I have no doubt that that would
17 certainly, but the question is whether we should understand it as
18 specifically having that technical meaning.
19 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, I think it's -- it's really
20 ambiguous in that regard.
21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
22 MS. LOUKAS: And I'm happy to move on. I'd like to hear from
23 Mr. Harmon, but ...
24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. He's nodding slowly yes from what I see, Mr.
25 Harmon.
Page 16461
1 MR. HARMON: Yes, that's correct. I agree with the Defence
2 interpretation.
3 JUDGE ORIE: I take it that, Mr. Brown, you do not disagree as
4 far as the linguistic version. I know that you're not a linguistic expert,
5 but --
6 THE WITNESS: Only that I am Scottish.
7 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. Now the issue becomes more confused.
8 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Ms. Loukas, that means that the basis for --
9 well, the assumptions on which your questions are based are not
10 unambiguously established, or the answers of the witness. Let's ...
11 MS. LOUKAS: Never -- well, I can explore that a little, I
12 suppose. Obviously --
13 JUDGE ORIE: If you want to do that, that's fine. But I think
14 it's just fair for you to know that it came into my mind that the whole
15 paragraph might have a totally different meaning.
16 MS. LOUKAS: Well, as with many of these things, Your Honour,
17 it's quite clear when one analyses the document that there are ambiguities.
18 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. But I think it's fair for you to know that
19 where you seem to focus very much on the technical meaning, that at least
20 one of the Judges - and I consulted with another Judge - might have a
21 totally different understanding of the part. And I think you should be
22 aware of that because otherwise you might be taken by surprise if that
23 would have any consequences, of course. It's just one line in a document,
24 but nevertheless. It's not an unimportant one. I take it that that's the
25 reason why you're asking questions on it.
Page 16462
1 MS. LOUKAS: Precisely, Your Honour.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Please proceed.
3 MS. LOUKAS: And of course the question of interpreting the word
4 "communication" as between English, French, American English, Australian
5 English, Scottish, communicating those differences in the word
6 "communication" can become difficult, as well.
7 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Please proceed, Ms. Loukas.
8 MS. LOUKAS: Yes. Thank you, Your Honour.
9 Q. Now, going on to a further aspect of the Assembly session. We go
10 to the contribution of a Mr. Dragan Kalinic, which is at page 22 of your
11 footnote version. And in the tab version ...?
12 JUDGE ORIE: We'll find it, Ms. Loukas.
13 MR. HARMON: It's on page 21.
14 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I see that -- Mr. Kalinic.
15 MS. LOUKAS: Yes -- oh, good.
16 Q. Okay. Now, going to Mr. Kalinic's contribution, we get to this
17 point in his speech -- it's in the second paragraph, about four or five
18 lines down.
19 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Krajisnik, for you it's page 14.
20 MS. LOUKAS: Thank you for that, Your Honour.
21 Q. It starts off with this: "I would like to address some of the
22 things I have heard here and some of the information and ideas that have
23 been in circulation lately which could create a certain confusion among
24 other people, and maybe this would be the right place to clear such issues
25 up while there is still time. Among all the issues this Assembly should
Page 16463
1 decide on, the most important one is this: Have we chosen the option of
2 war or the option of negotiation?"
3 Now, when you read Kalinic's contribution there -- Mr. Kalinic's
4 contribution, it's quite clear, is it not, or it's possible interpretation
5 of what's being said there that on what he's heard so far in the Assembly
6 session, he's not sure if they're talking about the option of war or the
7 option of negotiation?
8 A. Yes, he would seem to -- if you -- if you take that -- that line,
9 seem to stress that -- you know, he's asking the question himself, so he
10 may himself have some indecision, not quite sure, and he's stressing his
11 view, which clearly is to have the war option.
12 Q. And it's quite clear, as you might expect in any parliamentary
13 session anywhere in the world where there appears to be an ongoing war,
14 that in a debate there will be hawks and there will be doves? I.e., some
15 people that are for negotiations and some people that are for war.
16 A. Well, that's a theoretical and slightly hypothetical issue. Yes,
17 that may well be the case. I'm not sure if you can say in every case, but
18 yes, that could -- that -- that is a feature in some -- some parliamentary
19 states and ...
20 Q. Okay. So in this session, in this Assembly session, there has
21 been amongst the contributors people talking about a negotiated peace and
22 other people talking about war; correct?
23 A. Well, I think if there's any possible ambiguity, you might --
24 might have that with Mr. Karadzic, but I don't think anybody else seems to
25 be, in your phrase, a dove, and Mr. Karadzic himself talks about war. "We
Page 16464
1 are at war," I think he -- he himself -- it's a phrase he himself uses. So
2 I'm not sure that there is necessarily any disagreement that they are at
3 war.
4 Q. No, but the point is that he's still talking about negotiations,
5 isn't he? And the drawing of bilateral borders, is he not?
6 A. Well, he mention it is issue of bilateral borders, but I think
7 I've covered that, and it's a little ambiguous to what he means. He
8 references in the introduction to his speech the issue of negotiations. He
9 does make some references in that. But he -- he also makes references that
10 they are at war, that they've already taken control of territory, that
11 they've got significant territory and hold Sarajevo in encirclement. So
12 I'm not quite sure that -- that he is a dove.
13 Q. I didn't say he was a dove, Mr. Brown. In fact, the context in
14 which I used the term "dove" was in the context of -- well, I might go back
15 to that portion.
16 [Defence counsel confer]
17 MS. LOUKAS:
18 Q. Yes. I think the question was: "And it's clear, as you might
19 expect in any parliamentary session anywhere in the world where there
20 appears to be an ongoing war, that in a debate there will be hawks and
21 there be doves? I.e., some people that are for negotiations and some people
22 that are for war."
23 That was my question. You agree with that, yes?
24 A. Yes. As I said, that in a theoretical question there may well be
25 in parliamentary sessions people who are pro and against conflict.
Page 16465
1 Q. Okay. Let's move on now to Mr. -- I think further on in Mr.
2 Kalinic's speech. He talks about -- and that's at page 22 of the tab
3 version. He talks about there being mercenaries on their way from Libya
4 and Sudan and Iran and so forth. Did mercenaries become involved in the
5 Bosnian conflict from areas such as those nominated there?
6 A. This did not fall within the -- the remit of my report to study
7 this issue. However, I have heard that later in the war that there were
8 indeed individuals coming from other states. Whether they were those
9 states, I have no idea. But it was not really in the area of my expertise,
10 nor was it within the remit of this report.
11 Q. Are you aware of whether or not Osama bin Laden made it there?
12 A. I'm afraid I can't answer that question. I don't know.
13 Q. Okay. Now, moving on to the contribution of Mr. Vjestica, where
14 he indicates at one point -- and this is at page 26 of the footnote version
15 and --
16 MR. HARMON: Page 24.
17 MS. LOUKAS: I'm much obliged to Mr. Harmon.
18 Q. In fact, the portion I'd like to go to is on page 25 of the tab
19 version. And he indicates there that -- in the middle of the paragraph, he
20 says, "80 per cent of Serbs have left Bihac. A large number of Muslims
21 have also left Bihac, and we have a pre-conflict situation there."
22 Now, Mr. Brown, to your knowledge, do you have anything to
23 contradict that statement?
24 A. I do not know what was happening in Bihac at that time. I am
25 aware in some areas that there were indeed Serb refugees coming from --
Page 16466
1 from other areas, and a number of them did come into the Krajina area. But
2 in relation to figures and numbers in Bihac, I'm afraid I can't -- I can't
3 assist you here.
4 Q. But it's -- it's clear, isn't it, that in the -- the lead-up to
5 the war that people of all three communities, there was some movement
6 there, was there not? Or can't you answer that question?
7 A. I'm not sure I can answer the question in detail, to be truthful.
8 The -- the Serbs that I do know that did come into the Krajina, a number
9 came from Western Slavonia and Croatia. But as to others and when they
10 arrived or indeed what was happening pre, say, March or April, I really --
11 I really don't think I can assist you.
12 Q. Mm-hm. Were you aware of -- or do any of the documents you
13 looked at make it clear to you that Serbs were in fear as a result of what
14 had occurred in Croatia?
15 A. I'm not sure necessarily that the JNA reports, which would have
16 been the ones at that time, were as quite specific as that in that they
17 would list, for example, I don't know, interviews or whatever. I would
18 imagine - again this, is only just to some extent my opinion - that if
19 people are fleeing from Western Slavonia and become refugees, Serb
20 refugees, that they probably were in fear. But I don't think the documents
21 necessarily touch on that. What they do touch on and discuss are the
22 objectives often, especially come April, March and April, of what it was
23 that the JNA felt they had done in Western Slavonia, which was to protect
24 the Serbs, occasionally using the phrase "to protect the Serbs against
25 genocide."
Page 16467
1 But in relation to documented examples of whether I've seen, you
2 know, interviews or whatever of -- of individual Serbs who were in fear,
3 no, I haven't.
4 Q. Mm-hm.
5 A. I wouldn't discount that that, of course, was -- was happening.
6 Q. Well, of course, Croatia's unilateral declaration of independence
7 in June 1991, are you in a position to agree or disagree to the proposition
8 that there was some restoration of the old Ustasha symbols of World War II?
9 A. I'm not. The war in Croatia is one that I have not examined in
10 detail.
11 Q. But there was dismissal of Serbs from their jobs.
12 A. Again, I would have to defer to someone who's studied that area
13 in detail. I did not look at the war in Croatia. That was dealt with
14 either by -- by others and --
15 Q. That Serb residents who remained had to sign loyalty oaths.
16 A. Again, I can only repeat my answer. I don't know.
17 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, to ask for further details when the
18 witness has clearly said that he is not aware -- of course, you might be
19 lucky that the fifth or the sixth that he happens to know something about,
20 but he appears as an expert here.
21 MS. LOUKAS: Yes, I'm happy to move on, Your Honour.
22 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Loukas, it is two minutes to.
23 MS. LOUKAS: Well, I can move on tomorrow, as opposed to this
24 afternoon.
25 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
Page 16468
1 MS. LOUKAS: Or this evening.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. We'll adjourn until tomorrow.
3 THE WITNESS: Your Honour.
4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
5 THE WITNESS: I wonder if I could be so bold. I would like to
6 finish tomorrow because I am due to leave the country on Friday for two
7 weeks.
8 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Well, we expect Ms. Loukas to conclude her
9 cross-examination certainly by tomorrow.
10 MS. LOUKAS: Do we have a full session tomorrow, Your Honour?
11 JUDGE ORIE: Well, we have reserved -- I'll give you the exact
12 numbers tomorrow when we start. I can tell you that until the last break
13 the OTP had taken six hours and 45 minutes, which would mean --
14 MS. LOUKAS: That does not include Your Honours' questions?
15 JUDGE ORIE: I beg your pardon?
16 MS. LOUKAS: Does that include Your Honours' questions?
17 JUDGE ORIE: No. No. No. Our questions are such that they
18 should not be -- and they are neutral questions, as well; they are not
19 either in favour of the Prosecution or the Defence.
20 That means on the basis of the six hours' guidance, you would
21 have a little bit over four hours, of which you took until the last break
22 45 minutes, so you are now at approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, a little
23 bit over that because we started a little bit earlier than 6.30, which
24 would mean that under this guidance there would be another -- a little bit
25 over two hours -- well, let's say two hours and 15 to 20 minutes to go.
Page 16469
1 MS. LOUKAS: Does that exclude the questions Your Honours asked?
2 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I --
3 MS. LOUKAS: I'm buying for time here.
4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I -- I have not calculated exactly now the
5 questions we'd put to the witness in the last hour, and I am aware that I
6 dealt with the issue of communication. But -- well, let's say somewhere
7 close to the -- in the middle of the second session.
8 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, if I might make suggestion.
9 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
10 MS. LOUKAS: Because if I am going to be confined to two more
11 hours.
12 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
13 MS. LOUKAS: There is just no way I'm going to get through the
14 amount of material I have.
15 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. At the same time, Ms. Loukas - and I'm not
16 speaking on behalf of myself but on behalf of the Chamber - that the way in
17 which, especially the first portion of your cross-examination was
18 conducted, is not very much encouraging the Chamber to grant you more than
19 the usual 60 per cent.
20 MS. LOUKAS: Your Honour is referring to which portion?
21 JUDGE ORIE: At the beginning. Well, let's say the first 35
22 minutes.
23 MS. LOUKAS: In terms of asking questions about the independence
24 of the witness?
25 JUDGE ORIE: Well, in many respects. But we'll consider the
Page 16470
1 matter. But I just do not want to take you by surprise tomorrow morning if
2 the Chamber would, after having evaluated, which we usually do, also the
3 second portion -- that you'd not be taken by surprise if we'd be relatively
4 strict on the 60-per cent guideline.
5 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, I would indicate that an
6 examination and a detailed examination, for example, of the 16th Assembly
7 Session is critical in relation to cross-examining this witness, firstly.
8 And secondly --
9 JUDGE ORIE: It mainly comes down - and to that extent, cross-
10 examination very much resembles examination-in-chief - that you'd draw our
11 attention to certain portions you, Mr. Harmon for the Prosecution, and you,
12 Ms. Loukas for the Defence, consider to be of significant importance -- of
13 significance and then to say that very often, apart from reading the text -
14 - if you'd say to the Bench, I'd like to draw your attention to all those
15 portions where people are still speaking about negotiating peace rather
16 than going to war, and if the Prosecution finds it important, would like to
17 say, I would like to draw your attention to the strategic goals or to --
18 where people are talking in terms of war, then the Chamber could digest
19 that information and see what it thinks about it. But -- and it's not to
20 diminish your role, Mr. Brown, but very often it's mainly reading the
21 portion and saying, Is that what it says?
22 Well, this Chamber is able to read. Perhaps this could also
23 serve as a guidance for you. If you'd say at the beginning, I'd like to
24 draw your attention, Witness, to page so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-
25 and-so, where they're all talking about peace negotiations, and we'd
Page 16471
1 quickly try to follow that, and if the witness would say, Yes, that's what
2 I read there, as well -- because very often it does not go in any further
3 depth than this.
4 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, I must say when one looks at the
5 way the Prosecution dealt with this, that's exactly what occurred. There
6 was reading out of particular portions --
7 JUDGE ORIE: Well, I'm saying -- I said that it very much
8 resembles; although, it can be done five times as quick as you do it. And
9 even if there would be specific portions, if you would make a list and say,
10 I would like to draw the attention of that and that and that parts, be sure
11 that there'll be yellow highlighted areas, just as good as we do it for the
12 portions of the --
13 MS. LOUKAS: Well, Your Honour, part of the reason I've adopted
14 this approach is because Mr. Harmon's approach has been to take the witness
15 through selected portions, and I'm doing the same thing, taking the witness
16 through selected portions that don't match up --
17 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
18 MS. LOUKAS: -- with those particular portions. Now, if Your
19 Honour would say that there is a more shorthand way of doing that, I think
20 that's an excellent idea that should be adopted by both the Prosecution and
21 the Defence and that I'm happy to -- if need be, I can hand up the -- the
22 16th Assembly Session with the particular portions highlighted. But it's
23 also of use, I think, for the Trial Chamber to hear the witness's reaction
24 to that, in terms of his credibility - and I probably shouldn't be having
25 this discussion in front of the witness - his credibility as an impartial
Page 16472
1 expert.
2 JUDGE ORIE: No, but -- yes, but at the same time an expert not
3 mainly in political developments during Assembly sessions. And that
4 becomes clear, as well -- he's not to be blamed for it. But that's, of
5 course, very often what it ends in. You say, Well, this is what it reads;
6 it seems to say this and this, where the expertise is not absent but went
7 to the background. MS. LOUKAS: Well, your Honour, in that regard,
8 I do have a suggestion that will help shorten proceedings --
9 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
10 MS. LOUKAS: -- and I notice we're stealing too much time from
11 the interpreters --
12 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Because we are instructed that if we go on to
13 7.30, it should really not be later.
14 MS. LOUKAS: Yes, I understand that, Your Honour. I will make
15 one suggestion.
16 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
17 MS. LOUKAS: Which I think if Your Honour is allowing me two
18 hours because I did want to spend a certain portion of time dealing with
19 the cross-examination of Mr. Brown in Brdjanin by Mr. Akerman. If we could
20 just tender that portion, that will significantly assist in curtailing the
21 examination.
22 JUDGE ORIE: Any objection, Mr. Harmon?
23 MR. HARMON: No, Your Honour. But I'd like to receive copes of
24 those transcripts before they're tendered so they're not tendered without
25 my having had an opportunity to review them. I will need to see what
Page 16473
1 portions are tendered so I can see what context they're in and review the
2 transcripts to see if it's a fair submission.
3 MS. LOUKAS: Oh, I'm not -- I'm not suggesting -- I'm suggesting
4 the entire cross-examination.
5 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I leave it to the parties to see whether they
6 can reach agreement not only on the principle but also on the technical
7 aspects in the ten minutes to come.
8 I'd like to thank you very much, Mr. Brown, for being here
9 today. But we'd like to see you back, as you may have noticed, tomorrow.
10 We carefully noted that you'd like to finish tomorrow; you will finish
11 tomorrow, and you're instructed not to speak with anyone about the
12 testimony already given and still to be given.
13 THE WITNESS: Thank you, Your Honour.
14 JUDGE ORIE: We adjourn until tomorrow morning, 9.00, same
15 courtroom.
16 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 7.38 p.m.,
17 to be reconvened on Thursday, the 13th day of
18 July, 2005, at 9.00 a.m.
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