## Facts

- Bosnian Croat forces (including HVO-associated units) attacked the village of Ahmići in the Lašva Valley, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on April 16, 1993.
- In a few hours, about 116 Bosnian Muslim civilians (including women and children) were killed, about 24 were wounded, 169 houses and two mosques were destroyed, and survivors were detained, deported, or expelled.
- The attack was found to be a planned operation targeting Muslim civilians rather than a combat engagement, aimed at terrorizing the population and preventing return.
- Six accused were tried for their alleged roles in the events: Zoran Kupreškić, Mirjan Kupreškić, Vlatko Kupreškić, Drago Josipović, Dragan Papić, and Vladimir Šantić.
- Charges included violations of the laws or customs of war (murder and cruel treatment) and crimes against humanity (murder, inhumane acts, and persecution).

## Issues

1. Whether the Ahmići operation constituted an attack on a civilian population within an armed conflict and formed part of a widespread or systematic attack for crimes against humanity.
2. Whether each accused bore individual criminal responsibility for persecution, murder, inhumane acts, and related offenses arising from the Ahmići events.
3. How “persecution” as a crime against humanity should be defined, including whether it can be committed through a range of discriminatory acts beyond physical violence.

## Decision

- The Trial Chamber found the Ahmići operation was directed against Muslim civilians and was part of a widespread or systematic attack, satisfying the contextual elements for crimes against humanity.
- The Chamber held that killings and mistreatment of civilians also constituted violations of the laws or customs of war.
- Zoran Kupreškić, Mirjan Kupreškić, and Vlatko Kupreškić were convicted of persecution as a crime against humanity.
- Drago Josipović and Vladimir Šantić were convicted of persecution and also of murder and inhumane acts as crimes against humanity.
- Dragan Papić was acquitted of persecution due to insufficient proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Sentences for those convicted ranged from 6 to 25 years’ imprisonment.

## Legal Principles

- Persecution as a crime against humanity requires a severe deprivation of fundamental rights inflicted on discriminatory grounds (such as ethnicity or religion) as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.
- Persecution is not limited to physical violence; it may consist of a combination of discriminatory acts, including killings, destruction of homes and religious sites, forced displacement, and measures intended to prevent a targeted group’s return.
- An operation nominally occurring during armed conflict may still be characterized as an unlawful attack on civilians where evidence shows planning and execution aimed at removing an ethnic or religious group rather than pursuing legitimate military objectives.
- Individual criminal responsibility turns on proof that the accused participated in, contributed to, or otherwise furthered the criminal conduct with the required intent or awareness, assessed separately for each accused under the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard.

## Conclusion

The Trial Chamber concluded that the Ahmići events were a planned, discriminatory attack on Muslim civilians designed to terrorize and permanently remove them, and it used the case to articulate a broad, rights-deprivation-based definition of persecution while differentiating convictions and acquittal based on individualized proof.


Prosecutor v. Kupreškić (Kupreškić Case), Case No. IT-95-16-T (Int’l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia Jan. 14, 2000)