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They burned his studies cerificate. “You are like animals”, they remarked.
The main respondent is a 29-year-old man from Syria. He reports that on Sunday, September 1st, he was apprehended along with two other individuals in the Croatian village of Slunj and pushed back to Bosnia near Siljkovaca. The group consisted of three men, all from Syria. In Slunj, they were stopped at a bus stop by two police officers in civilian clothing. The officers showed them their badges and asked for their passports, which they did not possess. The officers inquired about their nationality, and after the respondent answered, he clearly stated that he did not want to be sent back to Bosnia. The officers reassured them that they wanted to help, but they needed to go to the police station first.
The respondent and his companions were taken to the police station, walking alongside the officers for about five minutes. Once inside a small room, the respondent asserts that he was beaten for approximately 15 minutes. He was robbed of his mobile phone and 300 euros in cash.Afterward, the officers informed the group that they would be taken to the forest in a police car. The respondent recalls that the two officers who took them into the forest were wearing black masks and, based on his description, they could be identified as members of the EPZ police. In the forest, the officers burned his clothes, as well as those of his friend, including his certificate of studies from Syria. The respondents affirm that the officer threw one of the group members over the fire for 10 seconds. One of the officers remarked, “You are like animals.”Another officer threw the respondent to the ground and began beating him with thick pieces of wood found in the forest, kicking them with reinforced shoes. This lasts for about 15 minutes.The same treatment was inflicted on the other two members of the group. The respondent affirms that one of the officers pointed his gun at the head’s respondent and of his compatriot while laughing. After about 30 minutes of beatings with thick pieces of wood, one of the officers stopped to smoke a cigarette, extinguishing it on the bare sole of the respondent’s foot. Following this, he resumed beating the respondent for another 10 minutes. The respondent described curling up in a foetal position with his eyes closed in an attempt to endure the pain. The respondent affirmed that when the police officers saw the blood coming out caused by the beatings, they stated “We enjoy this sight so that you don’t return here, we hate you.” The respondent praised the officers to leave them and stop beating them, however they replied they would stop when their bodies would break.
Eventually, the police officers threw the respondent and his group into the river at the border and threatened them to return to Bosnia. They walked approximatly for 45 km and then managed to take a taxi that brought them to Lipa camp.
medical analysis
Reporters note that the day after the violence, the respondent was taken to the hospital in Bihac.
overview
3 people ,
from Syria,
aged 31, 35, and 29.