Silos camp

Following the death of its longtime leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, the multi-ethnic socialist state of Yugoslavia entered a period of protracted economic decline. The anemic state of the country's economy led to a substantial increase in ethnic tensions which were only exacerbated by the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989.^[1] The following year, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia permitted democratic elections to be held nationwide. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, political parties were established largely along ethnic lines. The Bosnian Muslims founded the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) to represent their interests, the Bosnian Serbs founded the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Bosnian Croats founded the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH). The three parties were led by Alija Izetbegović, Radovan Karadžić and Stjepan Kljuić, respectively. Bosnia and Herzegovina held its first democratic election on 18 November 1990. The voting was dominated by nationalist parties such as the SDA, SDS and HDZ BiH. Socialist parties with no ethnic affiliation, most notably the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, failed to win a significant percentage of the vote.^[2]

The SDA and HDZ BiH, representing the aspirations of most Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, advocated for Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence from Yugoslavia, a move opposed by the SDS and the vast majority of Bosnian Serbs.^[3] On 25 June, the governments of Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, leading to the Ten-Day War and the Croatian War of Independence, the first armed conflicts of what would become known as the Yugoslav Wars.^[4] In November 1991, the SDS organized a plebiscite, boycotted by Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, in which the vast majority of Bosnian Serbs voted to remain part of Yugoslavia.^[5] The Bosnian government declared the referendum unconstitutional.^[6] The following month, an arbitration commission established by the European Economic Community (EEC) declared that a legally binding nationwide independence referendum would be a prerequisite for the EEC's eventual recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence.^[3] The SDS rejected such a referendum as unconstitutional.^[3] On 9 January 1992, the SDS announced the establishment of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a self-proclaimed autonomous entity which was to include all the municipalities in which more than 50 percent of voters had voted to remain part of Yugoslavia.^[7]

A nationwide independence referendum was held between 29 February and 1 March.^[8] At the urging of the SDS, the vast majority of Bosnian Serbs boycotted it.^[9] The referendum was reported as having a voter turnout of 63.4 percent, of whom 99.8 percent voted for independence.^[10] Since only 63.4 percent of eligible voters had taken part, the referendum failed to attain the two-thirds majority mandated by Bosnia and Herzegovina's constitution.^[11] The same day, Izetbegović declared the independence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Muslim-dominated People's Assembly quickly ratified the decision.^[12]

Tarčin is a predominantly Muslim municipality of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Bosnian War and the concurrent Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996), it was an area of great strategic significance because it connected the besieged city with the remaining territory controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). Fearful of a fifth column that would threaten their rear, the local authorities arrested all Bosnian Serb males of fighting age and detained them inside a large, windowless grain silo in Tarčin.^[13] Tarčin was home to another detention facility operated by the ARBiH, a health clinic that was located about 200 metres (660 ft) from the Silos camp. Some of those who were detained at the clinic were reportedly later transferred to Silos.^[14]

The grain silo contained eleven compartments, 25 square metres (270 sq ft) to 35 square metres (380 sq ft) each. Between each compartment were walls about 4 metres (13 ft) high, and between 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) and 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) wide. The space between compartments was patrolled by camp guards, who referred to each other exclusively by their surnames.^[14] The first detainees were brought to Silos in mid-May 1992. These initial forcible detentions lasted until June.^[13] According to survivors, inmates ranged between the ages of 14 and 80. Among those arrested was Slavko Jovičić, a future deputy in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as at least two Bosnian Serbs who had fought with the ARBiH.^[15][a] Prisoners did not see daylight for months at a time; some died of starvation.^[13][b] One survivor reported having lost 50 kilograms (110 lb) during his detention.^[18] The camp contained no sanitary facilities or running water and was surrounded by barbed wire. Inmates slept on the concrete floor.^[14] Some inmates died of disease. Many fell ill as the silo floor became covered with human excrement; others were killed by gunfire and artillery while labouring on the frontlines on their captors' orders.^[19] The camp was capable of holding 600 inmates at full capacity.^[13]

In September 1992, a prisoner exchange involving 454 Bosnian Muslim and 463 Bosnian Serb detainees was attempted. It was envisaged that the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) would release Bosnian Muslim inmates from a prison in the village of Kula, near Sokolac, and the ARBiH would release the inmates detained at Silos. Negotiations eventually broke down and the exchange never took place.^[20] After the Red Cross visited Silos in November 1992, conditions improved somewhat.^[13] Between 15 and 17 April 1993, the ARBiH wrested the town of Konjic from the Croatian Defence Council, taking more than 1,000 Bosnian Croats prisoner, some of whom were detained at Silos. On 13 June 1993, multiple Bosnian Croat males from Tarčin were detained by the ARBiH and imprisoned at Silos.^[21]

More than 100 inmates remained captive after the signing of the Dayton Accords in December 1995, which ended the Bosnian War.^[13] Through an intermediary, California congressman Ron Dellums, the American Serbian Women's Caucus in San Francisco successfully lobbied U.S. President Bill Clinton to call for the release of all the remaining inmates. Clinton subsequently told Izetbegović that all Bosnian Serb detainees had to be freed.^[22] Following the camp's dissolution, the Bosnian Serbs released many of the hostages they had taken to ensure the Silos inmates' safety. Among these was a Bosnian Muslim women in her fifties, who in February 1993, had been taken hostage by an elderly Bosnian Serb woman whose daughter had been imprisoned at Silos. The Bosnian Muslim woman was set free on 24 January 1996, having languished in the basement of her captor's family home for almost three years.^[23] Over the course of its existence, 24 inmates died or were killed at Silos.^[19]