Gospić massacre

Gospić massacre
Part of the Croatian War of Independence
Gospić Gospić on the map of Croatia, Serb-held territories in late December 1991 are highlighted in red.
Location	Gospić, Croatia
Date	17–25 October 1991
Target	Mostly Serb and some Croat civilians
Attack type	Summary executions
Deaths	100–120
Perpetrators	Elements of the 118th Brigade of the Croatian National Guard, Gospić city police, Croat paramilitaries

The Gospić massacre was the killing of 100–120 civilians in Gospić, Croatia during the last two weeks of October 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The majority of the victims were ethnic Serbs, arrested in Gospić and the nearby coastal town of Karlobag. Most of them were arrested on 16–17 October. Some of the detainees were taken to the Perušić barracks and executed in Lipova Glavica near the town, while others were shot in the Pazarište area of Gospić. The killings were ordered by the Secretary of Lika Crisis Headquarters, Tihomir Orešković, and the commander of the 118th Infantry Brigade of the Croatian National Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Mirko Norac.

The killings were publicised in 1997, when a wartime member of Autumn Rains paramilitary spoke about the unit's involvement in killings of civilians in Gospić in an interview to the Feral Tribune. No formal investigation was launched until 2000, after three former Croatian intelligence and military police officers informed the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia about the killings. Five, including Orešković and Norac, were arrested in 2001 and tried. Orešković, Norac and Stjepan Grandić were found guilty of the crime and sentenced to 14, 12 and 10 years in prison respectively in 2004.

In August 1990, an insurrection took place in Croatia centred in predominantly Serb-populated areas, including parts of Lika, near the city of Gospić, which also had a significant ethnic Serb population. The areas were subsequently named SAO Krajina and, after declaring its intention to integrate with Serbia, the Government of Croatia declared it to be a rebellion. By March 1991, the conflict escalated into the Croatian War of Independence. In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated. A three-month moratorium followed, after which the decision came into effect on 8 October.