Twin brothers, charged with war crimes in Bosnia, transferred to UN tribunal

Twin brothers were transferred today to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for acts committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the mid-1990s.

Nenad Banovic and brother Predrag Banovic were arrested on Thursday in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before being transferred to the court’s detention unit.

According to the indictment, the 32-year old Bosnian Serb brothers participated in abusing, beating, torturing and/or killing detainees in Keraterm camp, where they regularly performed guard duties.

“Severe beatings, torture, killings, sexual assault, and other forms of physical and psychological abuse were commonplace at Keraterm camp,” the indictment states. “The camp guards and others who came to the camps used all types of weapons and instruments to beat and otherwise physically abuse the detainees.” At a minimum, hundreds of detainees, whose identities were known and unknown, did not survive.

Nenad Banovic faces five counts of crimes against humanity, including persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, inhumane acts, murder and torture, as well as four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war, including outrages upon personal dignity, murder, torture and cruel treatment.

His brother Predrag is charged with 13 counts of crimes against humanity, including persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, inhumane acts, murder and torture, as well as 12 counts of violations of the laws or customs of war, including outrages upon personal dignity, murder, torture and cruel treatment.

Also today, the Tribunal announced that its indictment against former Bosnian Serb Commander Dragomir Milosevic had been unsealed on Sunday. Dragomir Milosevic faces four counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of violations of the laws or customs of war for his part as Commander of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps between 1994 and 1995.