Geografija zločina: prirodne jame u službi masovnih zločina u Bosni i Hercegovini 1992–1995.
Geography of Crime: Natural Pits used for Mass Atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992–1995

Summary/Abstract: Natural pits in Bosnia and Herzegovina, formed through geological processes,were turned into sites of mass crimes and graves. This practice has continuity dating back to the Second World War, when Ustaša, Chetnik and Partisan units used pits to conceal victims, and it reappeared during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. According to the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, exhumations have so far been carried out at more than fifty locations across the country, with the regions of Krajina, eastern, and southern Herzegovina standing out in particular. The most well-known mass graves, such as Lanište near Ključ, Bezdana near Bihać, and Hrastova Glavica near Sanski Most, testify to the systematic nature of the crimes and to the attempts to completely conceal the evidence. Post-war exhumations revealed hundreds of human remains, including men, women, children, and the elderly. The process of identifying the victims has remained difficult due to the relocation of bodies, sample degradation, and the lack of DNA matches. Although certain court verdicts have been issued, for a large number of cases no proceedings have ever been opened, nor are there complete records about the crimes themselves. This hampers both the prosecution of perpetrators and scientific research aimed at establishing the facts objectively. This study clearly confirms that pits, as specific sites of suffering, stand out from other locations by their particular brutality.

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