The Role of the Serb Democratic Party in Preparing the Aggression Against and Occupation of Rogatica
The Role of the Serb Democratic Party in Preparing the Aggression Against and Occupation of Rogatica

Summary/Abstract: From its founding on July 12, 1990, the Serb Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDS BiH) held positions against the concept of a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina amid the rapid dissolution of Yugoslavia. Through its program, other documents, and its work in institutions, it argued exclusively for keeping Bosnia within the rump Yugoslavia. It had the support of a few other minor Serb-oriented parties, all of which held only a few seats in the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the first multi-party elections in November 1990, the SDS won near-unanimous support among the Serb people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Remaining in the rump Yugoslavia was the political option that the SDS represented in the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina during discussions on the future status of the state, given that Yugoslavia’s dissolution was underway. From its very beginning, the SDS embraced the strategy of explicit opposition, and even the prevention of any ideation and activities relating to the independent development of the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When it became clear that they could not stop the legal and legitimate steps toward an independent and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina, starting with the decision to hold an independence referendum, Serb political representatives in the Assembly, led by the SDS, left the Assembly and openly began creating parallel institutions. Even though before, they started certain steps to create Serb regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving state institutions accelerated the process. With the help of the JNA (Jugoslovenska narodna armija – Yugoslav People’s Army), the SDS began arming the Serb population and creating military formations. With this, they transitioned from political activism and carrying out political violence to carrying out military activity to break up Bosnia and Herzegovina from the inside. The fundamental goal of this paper, based on relevant sources and documentation, is to present the role of the municipal board of the SDS in Rogatica in the political and military preparation for the War of Aggression, and especially in the occupation of the town of Rogatica in 1992. The results demonstrate that the SDS in Rogatica was committed to carrying out political and military activities aiming at the occupation of the city, which resulted in mass and individual crimes against the Drina Basin (Podrinje) town’s Bosniak population. The research utilizes all the key methods of scientific research. The hypothetical-deductive and comparative general scientific methods were applied inevitably. At the same time, data were obtained through content analysis of relevant documentation from various sources and through the case study method, in the specific example of the city of Rogatica in eastern Bosnia.

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