Unfinished Business - Croatian War Crimes in Mostar

Unfinished Business, a BBC documentary about the bombardment of East Mostar by the Croatian Army in the fall of 1993, was first shown in an ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) court in November 2001.

Former Bosnian Croat leaders, Mladen Naletilic “Tuta” and Vinko Martinovic Stela were charged with crimes committed in the Croat-Muslim conflict in Central Bosnia and Western Herzegovina, including the town of Mostar. Portions of the documentary were shown by the prosecution .

The author of the documentary, Jeremy Bowen (below), was a key witness in the trial.

In the film, Bowen describes how about 60,000 inhabitants in East Mostar – most of them Muslims – face the choice: to fight or to die. The situation in East Mostar is described as worse than that in Gorazde, Sarajevo and Vukovar. Esad Humo, the BH (Bosnia and Herzegovina Army) Army commander in Mostar, was asked what he was fighting for. His answer to Bowen was, “for survival”.

The film shows the refugees expelled by the Croatian Army, HVO (Croatian Defence Council ) from their homes in West Mostar crossing the Neretva river at night, under fire from infantry weapons. Bowen calls that “a war crime with a military objective” in the film. He interviews a rape victim, doctors in the Mostar war hospital, the mother of a wounded daughter who did not live to be evacuated in the first batch of the wounded, a daughter who has lost her father and a number of other civilians.

The film also talks about the practice of using Muslim prisoners as human shields on the front lines. On the other hand, it also shows the “newly-acquired” cruelty of BH Army soldiers, taking the Croat prisoners to do forced labor. A soldier explains that it was “the law of the jungle” in Mostar at the time.

Vinko Martinović (below) was charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility and superior criminal responsibility with crimes against humanity and war crimes. Martinović was arrested in Croatia and transferred to the ICTY on 9 August 1999. On 31 March 2003, he was sentenced by the Trial Chamber to 18 years. The judgement was confirmed by the Appeals Chamber on 3 May 2006.

Mladen Naletilic “Tuta” (below) was charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility and superior criminal responsibility. The indictment against him, issued on 21 December 1998, listed 17 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes including: torture, unlawful labour, wanton destruction, plunder, unlawful transfer of a civilian, persecution on political, racial and religious grounds. Naletilić was arrested in Croatia on 26 February 1999. On 31 March 2003, the Trial Chamber of the ICTY rendered its judgement convicting him to 20 years’ imprisonment.

“Unfinished Business” is an exceptional documentary. It was filmed in Mostar as the actual war crimes were being committed and the film crew witnessed what was happening. They were in extreme danger. Be warned, this documentary is graphic, shocking and heart breaking.