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Serbia and Montenegro
1445. By letter dated 6 August 2004, the Special Rapporteur notified the Government that he has received allegations concerning:
1446. Mirko Vuletic, 23 years old, Cetinje, Montenegro. On 11 July 2003, he attempted to intervene in an altercation with three policemen of the Police Department in Cetinje (the names of whom are known to the Special Rapporteur). A short while later, Mirko Vuletic was getting into his car when a police car with the three policemen arrived. He was dragged out of his car but manage to escape to a nearby building. He was later found, punched and kicked, and dragged to the police car. On the way to the station one of the policemen punched him repeatedly in the stomach. The beatings continued in the stairwell of the police station and in an office. He was beaten on the chest, head and jaw. When Mirko Vuletic fell to the floor they continued to kick him all over the body and in the head. The physical abuse ceased when the police chief ordered them to stop. When Mirko Vuletic started vomiting and bleeding from the head, the head of Criminal Investigations ordered the policemen to take him to the hospital. Following his release from hospital, Mirko Vuletic was sent home. The medical certificate issued by the hospital stated that he suffered physical injuries consistent with being struck with a blunt instrument, and being punched and kicked.
1447. Milan Janoševic, age 23, and Dragan Jelenkovic, age 24, Raška, Sandžak region. On 9 June 2003 about midnight, Milan Janoševic was approached by two Raška policemen (whose names are know to the Special Rapporteur) outside a cafe and told to turn off his car stereo, present his ID card and accompany them. When he refused, he was struck on the forehead with a nightstick. Dragan Jelenkovic, who witnessed the beating, was hit twice on the head with a nightstick. Milan Janoševic escaped and hid under a bridge but was later found. The policemen ordered him to lie down and put his hands on his back, and held him down with their knees while they handcuffed him. Handcuffed, Milan Janoševic was hit on his back and chest with their nightstick then thrown into the stream. A policeman grabbed the back of his neck and held his head under water. He was then thrown against the retaining wall, and injured by steel reinforcement rods, which were sticking out. Milan Janoševic was taken back to the car and was hit at least 20 times, and thrown on the ground four times. He was held at the local police station for several hours, during which time he was taken twice to the Medical Centre for an anti-tetanus shot and to have his injuries treated. He was interviewed by the station commander in the presence of one of the policemen, who said to Milan Janoševic, "You owe me a drink for saving you." The station commander later excused his officers’ conduct because they had been transferred from Kosovo. When Dragan Jelenkovic went to the police station to complain, he met Milan Janoševic’s father there, and both men insisted that the two officers be subjected to a blood alcohol test. The Kraljevo Police Chief called Dragan Jelenkovic’s father the next day and apologized, saying that the Raška policeman admitted that he struck him in a moment of anger. Milan Janoševic and Dragan Jelenkovic have medical certificates and photographs of their injuries. A criminal complaint was previously filed against one of the policemen.
1448. Munir Muric, Tutin, Serbia. On 18 August 2003 around 7 p.m., on his way home from the market in Tutin, he stopped to urinate behind a police checkpoint hut. Munir Muric was stopped by a policeman, who threatened him, saying "Do you know I have the right to beat you up?" Muric responded that he had no such right. The policeman grabbed and twisted his arm behind his back and punched him. He led Munir Muric into the hut, swore at him and threatened him with imprisonment. Inside the hut, Munir Muric was ordered to face the wall, while the policeman hit him in the left leg and thigh and repeatedly punched him in his sides. The beating stopped when another policeman entered the room. The unknown policeman removed the handcuffs but did not respond to Munir Muric’s complaints. He has a medical certificate and photographs concerning the injuries he sustained.
1449. By letter dated 15 November 2004, the Special Rapporteur notified the Government that he had received allegations concerning:
1450. Zoran Todorovic, age 41, and Danijela Bogojevic, Kruševac. On the night of 22 January 2003, Zoran Todorovic was beaten and insulted and Danijela Bogojevic was sexually molested by a group of policemen, who forcibly entered their apartment without a warrant.
1451. Bojan Stojanovic. On 21 June 2003, Belgrade police raided a café in the Banovo Brdo area. When Bojan Stojanovic objected to the police action, he was hit in the throat, head and chest in the presence of a number of witnesses, and struck with truncheons after he fell to the ground. His lawyer took him for medical treatment. Following a complaint to the 29 November Street police station, the Second Municipal Public Prosecutor’s Office did not take action.
1452. Goran Petrovic, aged 37, and Igor Gajic, aged 30, Zoran Jotic, aged 48, Vladen Kojic, and Slavoljub Marinkovic, all from Kruševac. On 14 March 2003, all five men were arrested in Kruševac in connection with a crackdown on organized crime, code-named Operation Sabre. Goran Petrovic and Igor Gajic, after 15 days in detention, were transferred to Cuprija Prison. They were held incommunicado until 13 May. During this time, they were tortured by police officers in an attempt to extract confessions. The officers at the Cuprija Prison took Goran Petrovic to a nearby forest, taped a bag over his head and beat him, injuring his spine. When his wife visited him on 13 May, she reported that he had difficulty walking. He was taken to a detention centre in Varvarin for ten days to recover before being returned to the Cuprija Prison. Igor Gajic suffered similar treatment. He had also been tortured with electric shocks to his body after being doused with water while a bag was taped over his head. It is reported that both men were brought before a judge in Kruševac in May 2003. Zoran Jotic was taken to Niš after 15 days, where he was held incommunicado until 15 May. He was beaten and a bag was taped over his head. He was pistol-whipped and subjected to mock executions. When his wife saw him for the first time on 15 May, when he was brought before a judge in Kruševac, she reported that he had bruises on his body and complained of headaches due to the beatings. Goran Petrovic, Igor Gajic, and Zoran Jotic were transferred to Belgrade after their initial hearings, but their families were not informed until after almost a week, when their lawyers were able to obtain this information. They are held in the Central Prison, Belgrade. It is reported that Vladen Kojic was bruised all over his body, and has difficulty walking as a result of the beatings he suffered after his arrest. Slavoljub Marinkovic’s wife reported that when she saw him on 23 May 2003, he had lost 12,kg, his nose was broken, and his clothes were bloodied and torn. In the forest, he had been beaten with a bag covering his head, and forced to confess. Both men have reportedly attempted suicide following their treatment in custody.
1453. In connection with Operation Sabre, the Special Rapporteur has received further allegations, concerning:
1454. Milan Sarajlic, aged 44, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Serbia. On 19 March 2003, he was taken to the police station on 29 November Street, Belgrade. He was held incommunicado until 11 April. He was beaten over an extended period of time, electric shocks were applied to his temples, while a bag was taped over his head. He was taken on three occasions in the trunk of a car to an unknown location and subjected to mock executions by a firing squad. The interrogators threatened to kill his daughter. As a result of his treatment he lost 20kg, and he suffers from psychiatric problems.
1455. Desimir Grbic. On 11 April 2003, he was arrested on suspicion of arms trafficking. He was beaten by police officers immediately after his arrest, and taken to the police station on 29 November Street, Belgrade. He was held incommunicado for two months. He was tied to a radiator with a cloth sack tied over his head and punched and beaten with batons all over his body, and forced to confess.
1456. Josip Kruškovic, Sombor, Vojvodina. On 26 April 2003, he was arrested and taken to the Sombor police station. He was beaten, hooded, handcuffed, and kicked on his head and body over a two-day period. He was beaten on the soles of his feet and sustained a broken nose. He was released two months later.
1457. By letter dated 15 November 2004, sent jointly with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur notified the Government that he had received allegations concerning:
1458. Dejan Petrovic, aged 29, Belgrade. On 16 January 2002, he was arrested on suspicion of theft and spent the night in the lock-up in Božidara Adžije Street. At about 9 a.m. the next day, three police inspectors (whose names are known to the Special Rapporteur) brought him to his parents’ apartment with a warrant to search his room. His father reported, “They brought Dejan in with his hands cuffed. His lips were blue, as if something wasn’t right. I didn’t notice any injuries on his face. However, Dejan didn’t say a word the whole time.” At noon that day, the police informed his parents that he had leapt from a second floor window and that he was in a coma at the Emergency Treatment Centre. He sustained a ruptured spleen and gall bladder, a damaged liver and pancreas, broken ribs, a fractured left femur, and a large haematoma on his head. He was in a coma for two weeks and died on 15 February. On 18 February, an autopsy was performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The pathologists established that death was due to violence and caused by damage to vital brain centres and ensuing complications. They also found that the brain damage, fractures and other internal and external injuries sustained were due to blunt force trauma. A criminal complaint was first filed with the Third Municipal Prosecutor’s Office and, in April 2002, with the District Prosecutor’s Office. However, the prosecutor has not asked for an investigation, nor has he dismissed the complaint, which would have enabled the parents to proceed as private prosecutors. The medical records were transferred to the Belgrade Institute of Forensic Medicine on 12 September 2003 for an expert opinion on the injuries sustained.
Urgent appeals
1459. On 30 September 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders regarding Mrs.
Svetlana Djordjevic. According to the allegations received, in July 2003 Svetlana Djordjevic
published a book entitled Testimonies about Kosovo, in which she reportedly describes human
rights violations such as evictions, mistreatment and killing of Albanian civilians perpetrated
by the police in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999, till the end of the NATO intervention. The book
allegedly gives the full names of police officers, commanders and citizens who took part in
human rights violations in the province. Immediately after the publication of this book,
Svetlana Djordjevic began receiving anonymous phone calls at her home and threatening notes
stuck on the door of her flat in Vranje. On 27 June 2004, she was the victim of a physical
attack. An unidentified man burst into her apartment, grabbed her mouth and injected her in
the left upper arm with an unidentified liquid. While she was still conscious, he ordered her to
go out publicly on television and deny everything she had written. He then left, leaving a red
rose in her hand, a sign which suggest that the threats may come from members of the now
disbanded Special Operation Unit, which is described in the book. Svetlana Djordjevic was
found an hour after by her husband and transferred to hospital. An investigation was launched,
but no information has yet been revealed. Mrs. Djordjevic was then granted a special
protection from the police. However, the policemen who are supposed to ensure her protection
are reported to be the ones that she denounces in her book. Moreover, she and the people with
whom she lived have recently become subjected to repeated acts of harassment from the
police. As a consequence, she is now reported to live in hiding.
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Saudia Arabia
Sierra Leone
This report has been published by Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights on July 27, 2005.