Pushed back with dogs

The respondent reports that the transit group was stopped by a group of uniformed people at the border before crossing. The respondent cannot report the exact number of people wearing uniforms nor provide a description of the uniforms, but he names them as Croatian police officers. He states that the police officers took the 8 members of the transit group to a police station that was located near the Slovenian border, but is unable to specify the location of it. According to the respondent, once at this police station, they stayed for approximately 1 hour, they were not asked to sign any documents nor were they asked to give fingerprints. He reports that they were not provided with any food, water, access to toilets, or a translator. Once at the police station, the respondent states that the members of the transit group were transferred into different units of Croatian police to be moved back to the Bosnian border. According to the respondent, there were 5 Croatian police officers, all wearing official uniforms, however 3 of these officers were wearing balaclavas, while the other 2 had their faces visible. The respondent reports that the police officers took the 8 members of the transit group in a van to the border of Croatia-Bosnia, where they subsequently beat them with batons. According to the respondent, once at the border one of the police officers crossed into the Bosnian side of the border (the other side of the river). The respondent had the impression that the officer crossed the other side of the border to check if there was any Bosnian border police nearby, which there was not. He also had the impression that the officer wanted to check for people before beginning to use excessive force against the members of the transit group, such as beating, kicking, and punching them with batons and fists. The respondent did not specify where on his body, all he said was that it was “all over”. The police also put the phones from the members of the transit group into the river and took away their backpack with their belongings such as phone chargers, clothing, and food. According to the respondent, the police officers also used dogs to force these individuals into the river, but he reports that the dogs did not bite them. The respondent states as well that the police officers used guns to intimidate and force the members of the transit group to cross the river. ​