Amir Kubura

Last updated
Amir Kubura
Born (1964-03-04) 4 March 1964 (age 59) [1]
Kakanj, SR of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Allegiance Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg SFR Yugoslavia (1987–92)
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1998).svg Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–96)
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996-2001)
Service/branchLand forces
Years of service1987–2001
RankArmy commander
Unit3rd Corps, 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade
Commands held Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)
Battles/wars Bosnian War

Amir Kubura (born 4 March 1964) is a former Bosnian commander of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and officer of the Yugoslav People's Army who was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and sentenced to two years imprisonment for 'plunder of public or private property'. [2]

Contents

Early life

Amir Kubura was born in the town of Kakanj in SR of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the SFR Yugoslavia on 4 March 1964. [1] Kubura started his military career as an Officer with the Yugoslav People's Army where he served for five years, reaching the rank of Captain before leaving in 1992 in order to join the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. [1]

Role in the Yugoslav Wars

During the early stages of the Bosnian War Kubura worked for the Chief of Staff of the 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade, 3rd Corps of the Army the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1 January 1993 to 20 July 1993, [3] [4] he was then assigned Acting Commander of the 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade on 1 April 1993, [5] [6] [3] before being made permanent Commander on 6 August 1993. [4] During this period under Kubura's command was a notable amount of Foreign Mujahideen from Islamic Countries fighting for the Bosnian Muslims. [7] From January 1993 to January 1994 in Central Bosnia the Bosnian Army and the Mujahideen engaged in heavy assaults on the Bosnian Croat forces called the Croatian Defence Council, the fighting intensified in the municipalities Kakanj, Travnik and Zenica. [1] The attacks were aimed at primarily at Bosnian Croat towns and villages however Bosnian Serb settlements were also targeted around 200 Croat and Serb civilians were killed and many more were wounded. [1] [7] Croat and Serb property was destroyed and plundered without military justification. Houses, buildings, religious sites, livestock and institutions were damaged or desecrated. [1] In November 1993 Kubura's 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade of the 3rd Corps were involved in an offensive on the Croatian held town of Vareš. [8] During Kubura's trial the Prosecution claimed that from 3–4 November 1993 in Vareš the 7th Muslim Brigade "shattered the shop windows and broke down the doors of all the shops in town in order to get to the booty". [9] Ralf Wekesser a former monitor for the European Community Monitoring Mission testified to the ICTY in Kubura's trial that on the 8 November 1993 that the "streets were full of people trying to loot and the roads leading from Vares were full of soldiers and civilians loaded with the things they had looted", however Kubura stated that he had ordered his 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade to leave Vareš on 5 November 1993. [8]

Trial and Imprisonment

Kubura was first indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on 13 July 2001 before been arrested on 2 August 2001 after he voluntarily gave himself up, he was then transferred to the ICTY two days later on 4 August 2001. [2] [1] On 9 August 2001 Kubura was charged by the ICTY on basis of his 'criminal responsibility as hierarchical superior' per Article 7 paragraph 3 of ICTY Statute for six counts of violations of the laws and customs of war per Article 3 of the ICTY Statute including "murder, cruel treatment, wanton destruction of towns and villages not justified by military necessity, plunder of public or private property." [10] Kubura pleaded not guilty to all charges against him the same day. [2]

Kubura was given provisional release from 19 December 2001 to 27 November 2003 before his trial officially opened on 2 December 2003. [10] Kubura's defence lawyer Rodney Dixon argued that Kubura was the Chief of Staff and he wasn't officially appointed Commander until 6 August 1993, after the majority of the crimes he was charged with had already been committed. [4] Dixon stated that "there is not much we have to answer in the case against Amir Kubura," and that the prosecution's arguments about Kubura's control of the 7th Brigade over the Foreign Mujahideen were "based on assumptions." [4]

On 15 March 2006 Kubura was acquitted for the majority of charges against him [10] however he was found guilty due to his 'superior criminal responsibility' [11] [6] for "failing to take necessary and reasonable measures to punish members of his forces who plundered private or public property in the villages of Susanj, Ovnak, Brajkovici and Grahovcici in June 1993... [and] for failing to prevent or punish members of his forces who plundered private or public property in the village of Vares in November 1993" [7] and he was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment. [11] The Defence appealed this verdict asking for the verdict to be overturned whilst the Prosecution appealed the sentence requesting that it be increased to five years imprisonment, [12] however the Prosecution's appeal was dismissed by the appeals chamber. [11] Kubura was granted early release on 11 April 2006 due to the 828 days he spent in pre-trial detention. [6] [10] On 22 April 2008 the Appeals Chamber Judges found that Kubura took the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent certain acts of plunder committed by those under his command in Vareš in November 1993 and reversed the Trial Chamber's charges for this conviction, [11] his sentence was reduced from two and a half years imprisonment to two years imprisonment by the Appeals Chamber; [2] however Kubura had already served his sentence. [9]

Personal life

Kubura was given provisional release from detention from 13 March 2004 to 15 March 2004 for him to attend the funeral of his mother. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia</span> 1993–2017 Netherlands-based United Nations ad hoc court

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal was an ad hoc court located in The Hague, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tihomir Blaškić</span> Bosnian Croat army officer

Tihomir Blaškić is a retired general of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) who served during the Bosnian War and the Croat–Bosniak War. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicted him on war crimes charges and in 2000 he was sentenced to 45 years of prison. In July 2004, the ICTY, on appeal, determined that his command responsibility for most of the charges was non-existent and his sentence was lessened to nine years imprisonment. He was released the following month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosnian genocide</span> Murder of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats during the Bosnian War

The Bosnian genocide refers to either the Srebrenica massacre or the wider crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing campaign throughout areas controlled by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Bosnian War of 1992–1995. The events in Srebrenica in 1995 included the killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, as well as the mass expulsion of another 25,000–30,000 Bosniak civilians by VRS units under the command of General Ratko Mladić.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Muslim Brigade</span> Military unit

The 7th Muslim brigade was an elite all-volunteer brigade of the 3rd Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It served as the ARBiH's primary assault brigade in Central Bosnia, and was headquartered in Zenica. The brigade's manpower largely came from the cities of Zenica, Travnik, and Kakanj; however, there were soldiers from all over Bosnia who served in its ranks. During the war, the brigade liberated over 1,100 km² of territory, including multiple cities, as well as numerous villages and mountains. Some of the most notable combat actions of the 7th Muslim brigade include the liberation of Vareš, Fojnica, Bugojno, Kakanj, and Travnik from the hands of HVO forces, as well as the defence of Mt. Igman and the liberation of liberation of Mt. Vlašić (Opaljenik), Teslić-Šerić (Jezera), Nabožić (Ilijaš), and Vozuća and the Ozren pocket from VRS forces.

The Bosnian War attracted large numbers of foreign fighters and mercenaries from various countries. Volunteers came to fight for a variety of reasons including religious or ethnic loyalties, but mostly for money. Generally, Bosniaks received support from Muslim countries, Serbs from Eastern Orthodox countries, and Croats from Catholic countries. The numbers, activities and significance of the foreign fighters were often misrepresented. However, none of these groups constituted more than five percent of any of the respective armies' total manpower strength.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmići massacre</span> 1993 mass killing during the Croat–Bosniak War

The Ahmići massacre was the mass murder of approximately 120 Bosniak civilians by members of the Croatian Defence Council in April 1993, during the Croat–Bosniak War. The massacre was the culmination of the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing committed by the political and military leadership of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia. It was the largest massacre committed during the conflict between Bosnian Croats and the Bosniak-dominated Bosnian government.

Ivica Rajić was a commander in the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, later convicted of war crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing</span>

The Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing, also known as the Lašva Valley case, refers to numerous war crimes committed during the Bosnian war by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military leadership on Bosniak or Bosnian Muslim civilians in the Lašva Valley region of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The campaign, planned from May 1992 to March 1993 and erupting the following April, was meant to implement objectives set forth by Croat nationalists in November 1991. The Lašva Valley's Bosniaks were subjected to persecution on political, and religious grounds, deliberately discriminated against in the context of a widespread attack on the region's civilian population and suffered mass murder, rape and wartime sexual violence, imprisonment in camps, as well as the destruction of religious and cultural sites and private property. This was often followed by anti-Bosniak propaganda, particularly in the municipalities of Vitez, Busovača, Novi Travnik and Kiseljak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croat–Bosniak War</span> 1992–1994 armed conflict within the Bosnian War

The Croat–Bosniak War was a conflict between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, that lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 1994. It is often referred to as a "war within a war" because it was part of the larger Bosnian War. In the beginning, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) fought together in an alliance against the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). By the end of 1992, however, tensions between Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats increased. The first armed incidents between them occurred in October 1992 in central Bosnia. The military alliance continued until early 1993, when it mostly fell apart and the two former allies engaged in open conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasim Delić</span> Bosnian Army general (1949–2010)

Rasim Delić was the chief of staff of the Bosnian Army. He was a career officer in the Yugoslav Army but left it during the breakup of Yugoslavia and was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for failing to prevent and punish crimes committed by the El Mujahid unit under his command. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Enver Hadžihasanović is a former Bosnian chief of staff of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a convicted war criminal.

Mehmed Alagić was a Bosnian general in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was indicted for war crimes in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague but died before the trial commenced.

Bosnian mujahideen, also called El Mudžahid, were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the Bosnian Muslim side during the 1992–95 Bosnian War. They first arrived in central Bosnia in the second half of 1992 with the aim of helping their Bosnian Muslim co-religionists in fights against Serb and Croat forces. Initially they mainly came from Arab countries, later from other Muslim-majority countries. Estimates of their numbers vary from 500 to 6,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Croat–Bosniak War</span> Listing of important events

The Croat–Bosniak War was a conflict between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, that lasted from 19 June 1992 – 23 February 1994. The Croat-Bosniak War is often referred to as a "war within a war" because it was part of the larger Bosnian War.

The Stupni Do massacre was a massacre committed by Croatian forces on Bosniak civilians during the Croat–Bosniak war in the village of Stupni Do in Vareš municipality. It was committed on 23 October 1993 by Croatian Defence Council (HVO) units called "Apostoli" and "Maturice" led by Ivica Rajić, who pleaded guilty before ICTY for war crimes in October 2005. The Croat forces took control of the village and massacred most of the captured people. They raped the women before killing them and looted all houses before setting them on fire. The confirmed number of victims is at least 37.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doboj ethnic cleansing (1992)</span> War crimes committed against Bosniaks and Croats in the Doboj area

The Doboj ethnic cleansing refers to war crimes, including murder, deportation, persecution and wanton destruction, committed against Bosniaks and Croats in the Doboj area by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serb paramilitary units from May until September 1992 during the Bosnian war. On 26 September 1997, Serb soldier Nikola Jorgić was found guilty by the Düsseldorf Oberlandesgericht on 11 counts of genocide involving the murder of 30 persons in the Doboj region, making it the first Bosnian Genocide prosecution. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) classified it as a crime against humanity and sentenced seven Serb officials.

Zlatko Aleksovski is a former Bosnian Croat prison commander during the Bosnian War who was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for unlawful treatment of prisoners in Lašva Valley area in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Battle of Bugojno was fought between forces of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) for control of the town and municipality of Bugojno in central Bosnia, from 18–28 July 1993. The area of Bugojno was under joint control of the ARBiH 307th Brigade and the HVO Eugen Kvaternik Brigade since the start of the Bosnian War. Violent incidents in Bugojno followed the escalation of the Croat-Bosniak War in adjacent municipalities throughout the 1st half of 1993. Bugojno was spared from fighting and the two local brigades were still formally allied by June 1993, at the time of an ARBiH offensive in central Bosnia.

The Vitez massacre was the killing of eight Bosnian Croat children by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) on 10 June 1993, during the Croat–Bosniak War.

The Battle of Travnik was a battle between the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) to stop Bosniak aggression in the areas of Travnik and the Travnik region inhabited by Croats.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Bringing justice to victims of international crimes: Amir Kubura". trial-ch.org. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "HADŽIHASANOVIĆ & KUBURA" (PDF). ICTY. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 André Klip, Göran Sluiter (2005). The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 2001-2002 Vol 3. Oxford: Intersentia. p. 116. ISBN   9050953972.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "DEFENCE CALLS FOR KUBURA'S ACQUITTAL". sense-agency.com. 15 July 2005. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Lauterpacht, Sir Elihu (2008). International Law Reports. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN   9780521879224.
  6. 1 2 3 "Courts and Tribunals, Kubura, Amir". haguejusticeportal.net. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 "Tribunal Convicts Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura". ICTY. 15 March 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  8. 1 2 "GROTESQUE SCENES IN VARES". sense-agency.com. 12 May 2005. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  9. 1 2 "PROSECUTION CALLS FOR DOUBLING OF SENTENCES FOR HADZIHASANOVIC AND KUBURA". sense-agency.com. 4 December 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Appeals partially granted for Bosnian commanders". haguejusticeportal.net. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Hague Tribunal facing busy week". B92. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.