Atif Dudaković (born December 2, 1953 (1953-12-02) (age 54) in Bosanska Dubica, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly Yugoslavia) is a former general in the Bosnian army, commanding the army's Fifth Corps before becoming the general commander of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina army. During the war he was in command of the Bihać enclave that was totally surrounded by Serbian, Serbian Krajina and renegade Bosniak forces from 1991 to 1995.
Biography
Dudaković had served in the Yugoslav People's Army, teaching at an artillery school in Zadar and a military academy in Belgrade. In the beginning of war in Croatia he served as the artillery superintendant of the 9th Corpus of Yugoslav People's Army with headquarters in Knin, and was directly subordinated to general Ratko Mladić. At this point he was involved in the federal army's operations including attacks at Drniš and Šibenik.
After the outbreak of the war in Bosnia, Dudaković joined the newly established Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). Eventually he became commander of the 5th Corps in Bihać. The situation in Bihać was difficult as Bihać was surrounded on all sides by enemies of the ARBiH: the VRS (Bosnian Serbs); RSK (Croatia's Serbs); Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) forces loyal to Fikret Abdić). The 5th Corps successfully defended the enclave and in 1995 broke out from the encirclement and captured the towns of Bosanski Petrovac, Bosanska Krupa, Ključ, Sanski Most and were on the verge of entering Prijedor and Banja Luka before the United States forced an end to the war. After the war he continued to serve in the army and held several high ranking positions.
Today he is retired but it is speculated that he might be held responsible for war crimes committed against Serbs and followers of Fikret Abdic.
Controversy
In September 2006, the media reported that during Operation Sana in 1995,[2] in front of cameras, Dudaković gave an order to burn Serb villages in southern Bosnian Frontier.[2].\ The media claimed the video meant to set on fire as in burn homes of fleeing, Krajina Serb, refugees[3][4] where as Dudaković's supporters claimed that Dudaković, an artillery officer, was simply giving orders to his men to fire solely. After the video was released Dudaković gave a statement saying:
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The Army of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was never ordered to commit crimes. If such things happened, then there should be an investigation and the perpetrators punished. ... The film shows the front line. I was normally engaged on the front line directing the artillery. I am an artillery man. The film with its subtitles are the usual product of Serb propaganda which we came across throughout the war and later too. This is why I do not get excited. |
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However, the video also contains instructions, with Atif allegedly shouting to "kill" unarmed POWs and civilians. Bosnian state prosecutors launched an investigation. In 2006, the Chief Prosecutor Marinko Jurcevic was quoted as saying: "We have officially opened the investigation against Atif Dudakovic and other persons based on the grounds of suspicion they committed some criminal acts regarded as war crimes."[5]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia did not open a case because no indictment can be issued as under the the court's policy of, "completion strategy": all trials should be concluded by 2010, as such prosecutors in The Hague cannot launch new criminal inquiries[6].
Military Ranks
JNA
Bosnian army
External links
References
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