Žepa
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Žepa ( sr-cyr, Жепа) is a village located in the municipality of
Rogatica Rogatica ( sr-cyrl, Рогатица) is a town and municipality located in eastern Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 10,723 inhabitants, while the town of Rogatica has a population of 6, ...
,
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Rogatica itself on the banks of short river with a same name, the Žepa river, which flows into the
Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps whic ...
river nearby, in a valley between the mountains Javor and Devetak.


History


Bosnian War

During the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
(1992–95), Žepa became one of three Bosniak
enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
s in eastern Bosnia surrounded by the
Army of the Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...
(VRS), along with
Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being Salt mine, salt mining a ...
, a short distance downstream, and
Goražde Goražde ( cyrl, Горажде, ) is a city and the administrative center of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Drina river. As of 2 ...
farther upstream, after other towns such as
Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and a municipality located in Republika Srpska in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 18 ...
,
Bratunac Bratunac ( sr-cyrl, Братунац) is a town and municipality located in easternmost part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 20,340 inhabitants, while the town of Bratunac has a population of 8,359 inhabitants. ...
and
Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in Republika Srpska, on the left bank of the Drina river. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. The town of Mali Zvornik ("Little Zvornik") lies ...
were taken by the VRS. In 1993, the town was declared a
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
'' safe area'' and had a small
Ukrainian Army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They we ...
unit of
UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...
peacekeepers stationed there. The Bosniak military commander of the enclave was Colonel
Avdo Palić Avdo Palić (4 April 1958 – 1995) was a Bosnian military officer during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Palić held the rank of colonel in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and commanded the Bosnian ...
, who disappeared soon after the town was captured by the VRS on 25 July 1995. According to eyewitness accounts, he was murdered at the orders of VRS General
Ratko Mladić Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal and colonel-general who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing ...
. Totten et al. (2008), p. 483 116
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
were killed in the takeover. Unlike in Srebrenica, a widespread slaughter of Bosniak men did not occur, as most Bosniak males had fled the enclave by the time Bosnian Serb forces arrived. Meanwhile, Bosniak women, children and the elderly were deported to
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
. In the trial of
Zdravko Tolimir Zdravko Tolimir (Serbian Cyrillic: Здравко Толимир; 27 November 1948 – 9 February 2016) was a Bosnian Serb military commander and war criminal, convicted of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutio ...
, who was implicated in the
Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Masakr u Srebrenici, Масакр у Сребреници), also known as the Srebrenica genocide ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Genocid u Srebrenici, Геноцид у Сребрен ...
, the trial chamber had found that the killings of the three top Bosniak civilian and military leaders of Žepa, and the conduct of the forcible transfer of the population, met the terms satisfying Genocide, in combination with the Srebrenica massacre. The appeals chamber of the ICTY however, reversed these convictions regarding the events in Žepa as qualifying as genocidal acts, however it was reaffirmed that the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica, Žepa, Goražde and "Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina in general", were members of the targeted group and thus "the ultimate victims of the genocidal enterprise against the Muslims, of Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina".ICTY conviction of Zdravko Tolimir
icty.org; accessed 18 November 2015.


Demographics

As of 1991 census, the village had a population of 462 inhabitants, of which 450 (97.4%) were
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
and 12 others. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants, majority of whom are Bosniaks (132; 99.2%).


Notes


References


Books

*


External links


Ivo Andrić Foundation - The Bridge on the Žepa




* ttp://www.icty.org/sid/11175ICTY: Zdravko Tolimir Judgement {{Authority control Villages in Republika Srpska