KRIZNI ŠTABOVI SDS-A U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI (1991-1992): INSTRUMENT PARADRŽAVNE VLASTI I ULOGA U ZLOČINIMA NAD BOŠNJACIMA I HRVATIMA
CRISIS STAFFS OF THE SDS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (1991-1992): AN INSTRUMENT OF PARA-STATE AUTHORITY AND THEIR ROLE IN CRIMES AGAINST BOSNIAKS AND CROATS

Summary/Abstract: This study analyzes the role of the crisis staffs established by the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1991–1992, with particular emphasis on their function in establishing the para-state structure of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SrRBiH), later known as Republika Srpska (RS). The crisis staffs were set up as the main organs of authority at the local level and served as a key instrument for realizing the “strategic goals of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. Already in the first months of 1992, they violently usurped the executive functions of municipal bodies, coordinated the actions of political, military, police, and “paramilitary” structures, and oversaw mobilization, restrictions on movement, and the mass dismissal of Bosniak and Croat employees from their jobs. In practice, the crisis staffs functioned as the nucleus of the SDS para-state authority at the local level. Their role included coordinating arrests, deportations, forced relocations, and property confiscations, as well as organizing detention camps in schools, barracks, cultural centers, and factories. They also employed so-called real estate agencies and “apartment exchange commissions” to dispossess Bosniaks and Croats of their property, thereby institutionalizing discrimination and enabling crimes. They managed systems of detention that involved mass killings, torture, and sexual violence against civilians. Such activities were conducted across a wide area, demonstrating the coordinated and planned character of the crimes, which points to the institutionalized application of repressive measures and the execution of atrocities. A key role was played by the SDS’s “Instructions for the Organization and Activity of the Organs of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina under Extraordinary Circumstances” (December 19, 1991), which facilitated the establishment of crisis staffs at the municipal level and parallel structures of authority, the mobilization of the Territorial Defense (TO) and police, and their subordination to the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA). With the onset of aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the crisis staffs were formally renamed as wartime presidencies and commissioners, while retaining the same function—providing the local infrastructure for the implementation of RS’s political and military project. This transformation formally reinforced the link between local authorities, the SDS leadership, and the self-proclaimed RS, but in practice allowed the continued operation of para-state structures outside the legal framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although formally presented as “state” organs, they continued to operate according to the crisis staff model, with the same tasks and powers. As Dorothea Hanson, whose analyses are foundational for this study, notes, due to frequent changes in terminology and overlapping roles, it is not always possible to clearly distinguish between crisis staffs, wartime presidencies, and wartime commissioners. The crisis staffs translated political decisions into concrete measures of repression, forced displacement, and killings of Bosniak and Croat populations. Their activities are documented through primary sources, official documents, meeting minutes, as well as expert reports and findings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The research clearly shows that the mass crimes committed between April and June 1992 in the municipalities of Zvornik, Bratunac, Foča, Vlasenica, Višegrad, Bosanski Šamac, Doboj, Kotor Varoš, Bosanski Petrovac, Bosanska Krupa, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Rogatica, Sokolac, Ilijaš, Ilidža, Vogošća, Čajniče, Kalinovik, Pale, and others were the result of organized and institutionalized actions of the crisis staffs and their successors. The conclusion of this research is that the crisis staffs constituted the nucleus of the SDS para-state power, serving as the key instrument for implementing genocidal policies and as the operational channel for carrying out repressive measures, forced displacement, and mass killings of Bosniak and Croat civilians. They enabled the establishment and consolidation of Serbian rule over occupied territories, while their actions left lasting consequences on the demographic, political, and social fabric of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This study provides a basis for understanding the mechanisms of para-state institutions in the implementation of aggression and genocidal policy during the war in 1992.

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