Žepa

Žepa (Serbian Cyrillic: Жепа) is a village located in the municipality of Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Rogatica itself on the banks of short river with a same name, the Žepa river, which flows into the Drina river nearby, in a valley between the mountains Javor and Devetak.

Žepa Жепа
Village
Žepa Mosque
Žepa Location of Žepa
Coordinates: 43°57′N 19°07′E
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity	Republika Srpska
Municipality	Rogatica
Area [1]
• Total	4.85 km^2 (1.87 sq mi)
Elevation	467 m (1,532 ft)
Population  (2013)[1]
• Total	133
• Density	27/km^2 (71/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code(s)	+387 38

Not to be confused with Rzepa.

History

The tower of Redžep Paša in Žepa

Bosnian War

During the Bosnian War (1992–95), Žepa became one of three Bosniak enclaves in eastern Bosnia surrounded by the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), along with Srebrenica, a short distance downstream, and Goražde farther upstream, after other towns such as Foča, Bratunac and Zvornik were taken by the VRS. In 1993, the town was declared a United Nations safe area and had a small Ukrainian Army unit of UNPROFOR peacekeepers stationed there. The Bosniak military commander of the enclave was Colonel Avdo Palić, who disappeared soon after the town was captured by the VRS on 25 July 1995. According to eyewitness accounts, he was murdered at the orders of VRS General Ratko Mladić.[2] 116 Bosniaks were killed in the takeover.[3]

Unlike in Srebrenica, a widespread slaughter of Bosniak men did not occur, as most Bosniak fighters had fled the enclave by the time Bosnian Serb forces arrived. Meanwhile, Bosniak women, children and the elderly were evacuated to Sarajevo.[2] In the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, who was implicated in the Srebrenica massacre, the trial chamber found that the killings of the three top Bosniak civilian and military leaders of Žepa, and the consistent attacks on the population followed by the forceful transfer amounted to genocide. The appeals chamber of the ICTY, reversed these convictions regarding the events in Žepa as qualifying as genocidal acts, however it was reaffirmed that the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica, Žepa, Goražde and "Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina in general", were members of the targeted group and thus "the ultimate victims of the genocidal enterprise against the Muslims, of Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina".[4][5]

Demographics

As of 1991 census, the village had a population of 462 inhabitants, of which 450 (97.4%) were Bosniaks and 12 others.[1] As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants, majority of whom are Bosniaks (132; 99.2%).[1]

Notes

1. "Naseljena mesta 1991/2013 – Rogatica". statistika.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 1 January 2020.
2. Totten et al. (2008), p. 483
3. Velma Šarić (4 May 2012). "Demographics of Bosnian War Set Out". Institute for War & Peace Reporting. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
4. Marlise Simons (12 December 2012). "Court Convicts a Bosnian Serb General of Genocide". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
5. ICTY conviction of Zdravko Tolimir, icty.org; accessed 18 November 2015.

References

Books

• Totten, Samuel; Bartrop, Paul Robert; Jacobs, Steven Leonard (2008). Dictionary of Genocide: M–Z. Greenwood Press. Retrieved 22 March 2013.

External links

• Ivo Andrić Foundation - The Bridge on the Žepa
• The long way back to Zepa
• Michael Sells - David Rohde's "Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica"
• ICTY: Zdravko Tolimir Judgement