Penitentiary (KP Dom)

Before the war, Penitentiary (“KP Dom”) in Foča was a prison where men of different ethnicities, convicted of criminal offences, served their sentences. On 17 April 1992, Serb forces established “KP Dom” as a camp for detained Bosniaks. Although Bosniaks were being transferred to the facility from mid-April 1992, “KP Dom” was not officially established until 4 July 1992, by a decision of the Government of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until October 1994, “KP Dom” was the main detention facility for Bosniak men in the Foča municipality.

During the summer of 1992, there were between 500 and 600 detainees in “KP Dom”, and their number began declining from then onwards. The length of detention varied from four months to two and a half years. The Bosniaks detained in “KP Dom” were not charged with any crime, so there was no legal basis for their detention.

The living conditions in the camp were inhumane, and the detainees would be starved, forced to work, mentally and physically tortured, beaten and killed. Between June and December 1992, Serb forces killed over 200 detainees at “KP Dom”.

The warden of “KP Dom” from 18 April 1992 to 1 July 1993 was Milorad Krnojelac. He was appointed acting warden of “KP Dom” on 18 April by the Executive Board of the Foča Municipal Assembly, and on 17 July 1992, Momčilo Mandić, the Minister of Justice of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, officially appointed him Warden. Krnojelac was accountable to the Ministry of Justice and, to some extent, to the Military Command, i.e., to the Serbian Crisis Unit and Foča Tactical Group. After Krnojelac, Zoran Sekulović assumed the position of Warden of “KP Dom”. The deputy warden of “KP Dom” was Savo Todović, and the commander of the guard was Mitar Rašević.