ETHNIC CLEANSING AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS: CONCENTRATION CAMPS DURING THE BALKAN WARS OF 1992–1995

Abstract

The Balkan War of 1991–1995 in the former Yugoslavia was the worst war-relatedcrisis in Europe since the Second World War. Clearly, ethnic cleansing, the forceddisplacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians, became the signature event of thisconfl ict. The main vehicle for ethnic cleansing was the forceful removal and internment ofsectarian rivals into facilities that were generally crowded and where torture, rape, starvation,and killings were commonplace events. All parties, Catholic Croats, Muslim Bosniaks,and Orthodox Christian Serbs, participated in these ethnic purges. This articlehighlights the nature of this unfortunate consequence of the Balkan Wars.