Štrpci massacre

The Štrpci massacre was the massacre of 19 non-Serb citizens of Serbia and Montenegro (18 Bosniaks, one Croat) taken from the Belgrade-Bar train at Štrpci station, near Priboj in Serbia but outside Serbian territory, on 27 February 1993.

Background
The Belgrade to Bar railway crosses into Bosnia and Herzegovina for 9 km, between the stations at Zlatibor and Priboj, both in Serbia. There is one station, Štrpci, but there are no border crossing facilities and trains do not routinely call at the station. The abducted passengers were taken off the train, robbed and physically abused. They were then taken to the village of Visegradska banja near Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they were tortured and killed in a burned-out house near the river Drina. Their remains have not been found.

Members of the "Avengers" ("Osvetnici") military unit, commanded by Milan Lukić, with logistical support from the Republic of Serbia, were responsible for the abductions. Of approximately 30 suspects the only individual convicted for his role in the crime is Nebojša Ranisavljević who was sentenced by the Serbian Supreme Court in Bijelo Polje in 2002 to 15 years imprisonment. The Commander of the Republika Srpska Army's (VRS) Višegrad brigade, Luka Dragićević, admitted at Ranisavljević's trial that the “Avengers” unit was part of the VRS army. After the war Dragićević was transferred to a position in the FRY Army.

Amnesty International expressed concern that Ranisavljević had been made a scapegoat and that the trial was a token affair. It was alleged that Ranisavljević had been tortured in detention to force him to make incriminating statements.

Senior officials in the Serbian and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) governments were alerted to the plan to abduct citizens of the FRY but no action was were taken to prevent the crime. It is alleged that the Štrpci massacre and the Sjeverin massacre were part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing conducted against Bosniaks in the Sandžak area of Serbia that was organised and carried out under the cover of the Bosnian war. Police and judicial officials are alleged to have obstructed court proceedings against Milan Lukić.

The failure of Serbian officials to investigate the crime remains a significant political issue in Serbia.