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War-related Deaths in the 1992–1995 Armed Conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Critique of Previous Estimates and Recent Results

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Abstract

In this article, we provide a critique of previous estimates of war-related deaths from Bosnia and Herzegovina and propose an analytical framework and a new estimate of such deaths. Our assessment is concentrated on civilian victims, whose death (or disappearance) can in a straightforward manner be linked with war operation. The estimate is based on carefully selected sources analysed jointly at the level of individual records, allowing for identity verification of victims, elimination of duplicates within the sources and exclusion of records overlapping between the sources. Although we can argue that our estimate is much better founded than any other estimate ever obtained, it is still incomplete and should be seen as work in progress.

Résumé

Cet article présente une analyse critique des estimations existantes sur les décès dus à la guerre en Bosnie-Hérzégovine et propose un cadre d’analyse et une nouvelle estimation de ces décès. Cette estimation porte sur les victimes civiles, dont la mort (ou la disparition) peut être reliée d’une façon directe aux opérations de guerre. Elle repose sur une sélection rigoureuse de sources, traitées conjointement au niveau des données individuelles, ce qui permet la vérification de l’identité des victimes, l’élimination des doublons au sein de chaque source et l’identification des cas présents dans plusieurs sources. Même si cette estimation est sans aucun doute meilleure que toutes celles déjà publiées, elle reste incomplète et doit être considérée comme une étape provisoire dans un travail encore en cours.

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Abbreviations

ABiH:

Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. armed forces of the BH government, pro-Muslim orientation

ARK:

Autonomous Region of Krajina; i.e. a West-Northern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina that Bosnian Serb leaders declared as one of the first Serbian autonomous regions in Bosnia in 1991

BH:

Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. since April 1992 an independent country, before this date one of six constituent republics of Yugoslavia

DU:

Demographic Unit (at OTP – ICTY)

FBH:

(Muslim-Croat) Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina

FIS:

Federal Institute of Statistics; i.e. Statistical Office of the (Muslim-Croat) Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

HIWG:

Humanitarian Issues Working Group of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

HSS-94:

Household Survey Sarajevo – 1994

HVO:

Army of the Croatian Defence Counsel; i.e. armed forces of the Bosnian Croats affiliated with the Bosnian branch of the Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ)

ICD-10:

International Classification of Diseases and Conditions Leading to Death, 10th edition

ICMP:

International Commission for Missing Persons

ICRC:

International Committee of Red Cross

ICTY:

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

IDP:

Internally displaced person; i.e. a person who involuntarily moved inside their own country; this movement may be due to a variety of reasons, including human made disasters, armed conflict, or a situation of generalized violence (Inter-Parliamentary Union and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2001); a related term is a refugee (see below)

IPU:

Inter-Parliamentary Union

IPH:

Institute for Public Health in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

IUSSP:

International Union for the Scientific Study of Population

JNA:

Yugoslav National Army

KNP:

Book of Missing from Prijedor; Prijedor as a municipality located in the ARK region in Bosnia and Herzegovina

MAG:

Muslims Against Genocide

OTP:

Office of the Prosecutor (at ICTY)

PHR:

Physicians for Human Rights

Refugee:

A person who has a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion nationality, membership in social groups, or political opinions; is outside his/her own country; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself to protection of that country, or to return there, for the fear of persecution (Inter-Parliamentary Union and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2001)

RS:

Republika Srpska

SIPRI:

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

TWRA:

Bosnia and Herzegovina news directory; available from the BosNet news bulletin complied by the Balkan Institute; accessible through the Hellenic Resources Institute from Cambridge: http://www.hri.org/news/balkans/bosnet/

UN:

United Nations

UNHCR:

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

VRS:

Army of the Republika Srpska

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Demographic Unit, Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Churchillplein 1, 2517, JW The Hague, The Netherlands

    Ewa Tabeau & Jakub Bijak

  2. Central European Forum for Migration Research, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland

    Jakub Bijak

Authors
  1. Ewa Tabeau
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  2. Jakub Bijak
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Correspondence to Ewa Tabeau.

Additional information

Tabeau, E. and J. Bijak, 2005, War-related Deaths in the 1992–1995 Armed Conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Critique of Previous Estimates and Recent Results, European Journal of Population, 21: 187--215.

Tabeau, E. et J. Bijak, 2005, Décès dus à la guerre durant le conflit armé en Bosnie-Herzégovine de 1992 à 1995 : critique des estimations existantes et nouveaux résultats. Revue Européenne de Démographie, 21: 187--215.

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Tabeau, E., Bijak, J. War-related Deaths in the 1992–1995 Armed Conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Critique of Previous Estimates and Recent Results. Eur J Population 21, 187–215 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-005-6852-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-005-6852-5

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