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-related
crisis in Europe since the Second World War. Clearly, ethnic cleansing, the forced
displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians, became the signature event of this
confl ict. The main vehicle for ethnic cleansing was the forceful removal and internment of
sectarian 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 article
highlights the nature of this unfortunate consequence of the Balkan Wars.