KUKAVICA v. CROATIA
Inadmissible
Dmitry Dedov;Elisabeth Steiner;Erik Møse;Khanlar Hajiyev;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Ksenija Turković
1. The applicant, Ms Radojka Kukavica, is a Croatian national who was born in 1956 and lives in Crkveni Bok. She was represented before the Court by Mr L. Šušak, a lawyer practising in Zagreb. 2. The Croatian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Š. Stažnik. 3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 4. During 1991 and 1992 Serbian para-military forces gained control of about one third of the territory of Croatia and proclaimed the so-called “Serbian Autonomous region of Krajina” (Srpska autonomna oblast Krajina, hereinafter the “Krajina”). The applicant continued to live in the Krajina. At the beginning of August 1995 the Croatian authorities announced a campaign of military action with the aim of regaining control over Krajina. The action was codenamed “Storm” and lasted from 4 to 7 August 1995. Before that action, the vast majority of the population of the Krajina fled Croatia, initially for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but later many of them went to live in Serbia. Some returned to Croatia after the war. The number of people who fled is estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000. 5. According to the applicant, on 4 August 1995 she and her nephew Z.D. – in a vehicle of the “Lada” make – and her other nephew A.V. – in a vehicle of the “Zastava” make – were driving along the road between the villages of Strmen and Slovenci, trying to flee Croatia and reach Bosnia and Herzegovina. After overtaking a convoy of tractors and while passing through a forest called Zelenik, Croatian soldiers started to fire at them. The applicant and both her nephews were wounded. The applicant and Z.D. got out of the vehicle and ran into the woods. Later on, they both managed to flee into Bosnia and Herzegovina. A.V. surrendered to the Croatian soldiers and was provided with first aid. 6. The Croatian authorities learned about the applicant’s wounding in 2005 when she submitted a request for damages to the State Attorney’s Office in that connection. 7. On 27 January 2005 the police interviewed A.V. and Z.D., who both gave an account of the events of 4 August 1995 like that described in paragraph 5 above. 8. On 31 January 2005 the police interviewed the applicant, P.T. and I.Š. The applicant confirmed the accounts of A.V. and Z.D. P.T. said that he had been checking on his cattle in the same area on 4 August 1995 and had hidden in the woods during the shooting. After that he had been captured by the Croatian soldiers. He had seen A.V., who had a head wound that had already been tended to, being held by Croatian soldiers. 9. I.Š., the commander of a unit comprising 178 soldiers of the XVII Home Guard Regiment of the Croatian Army, said that their task on 4 August 1995 had been “to cut communication on the road between Strmen and Slovinci”. They had completed that task in the morning and in the afternoon had stationed themselves in the forest known as Zelenik, near that road. Tractors and people had occasionally passed along the road. In the afternoon he had received the order to “destroy a foresters’ lodge” in the Zelenik forest and had sent ten soldiers to carry out that task. A battle between these soldiers and Serbian para-military forces issued. At that moment two vehicles, a Zastava and a Lada, and a tractor appeared on the road. I.Š. was not sure who had fired at the vehicles, since they had found themselves in crossfire from both sides. The crossfire lasted for about twenty minutes. He had no knowledge about the wounding of the applicant. 10. On 12 May 2006 the police interviewed M.D., who said that on 4 August 1995 she had been in a convoy of tractors and that while they had been passing through the forest of Zelenik, Croatian soldiers had started to fire at them and several people had been killed or wounded. 11. On 23 October 2012 the Ministry of Defence sent the daily log of I.Š.’s unit for 4 August 1995 to the Sisak Police. This log confirmed the events described by I.Š. in his statement of 31 January 2005. 12. On 27 November 2012 the applicant lodged a criminal complaint with the State Attorney’s Office against I.Š. on charges of war crimes against the civilian population. On 30 November 2012 she extended her complaint to M.L. 13. Between 8 and 19 February 2013 the police interviewed A.V., Z.D., the applicant and P.T. They all repeated their prior statements.