AMERICAN PROSECUTORS TO BE PRESENTED WITH A COMPREHENSIVE EXPERT REPORT ON CRIMES AGAINST SERBS

DERVENTA, JULY 16 /SRNA/ - Drago Knežević, president of the Derventa Association of Former Camp Inmates, said that he would hand over to the American investigator-prosecutors a comprehensive expert report on crimes committed against the Serb people in the Derventa camps, which he believes should "open their eyes" and prompt them to begin investigating crimes against Serbs in other parts of BiH as well.

Knežević told SRNA that the American investigator-prosecutors, who are due to arrive on July 20, will spend four days in Derventa, where they will hear testimony and take statements from eight surviving Serb former camp inmates at the premises of the Court of General Jurisdiction.

"Two former camp inmates will be interviewed each day, and I have been summoned to testify on Monday at 11:00 a.m.," Knežević said.

He noted that he would hand over to them the expert report on war crimes committed in camps for Serbs in the Derventa area, which the Association had previously submitted to the Hague Tribunal in Banja Luka.

He pointed out that the expert report contains complete documentation on the victims, the suspects who committed the crimes and their commanders, as well as witness statements.

Knežević said that the Serb former camp inmates who are due to testify cannot give statements to the media about the specific subject of their testimony before they are interviewed by the American investigator-prosecutors.

Five American investigator-prosecutors are expected to arrive in Derventa on Monday, July 20, to take statements from eight former camp inmates about the horrors they endured in the notorious camp for Serbs at the Rabić military warehouse in 1992.

During the Defensive-Patriotic War, before the Army of Republika Srpska had even been formed, Croatian and Muslim forces attacked the local Serb population in Derventa.

Camps for Serbs were established, the most notorious of which were located at the Army Hall and at the Rabić site.

The Rabić camp, established in April 1992, held 120 Serbs, and several hundred Serb civilians passed through the camps in the Derventa area overall.