Editing Vukovar (section)

===Croatian War of Independence===
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The conflict between Serbs and Croats spread to eastern Slavonia in early 1991. On 1 April, Serb villagers around Vukovar and other towns in eastern Slavonia began to erect barricades across main roads.<ref name="O'Shea11">{{harvnb|O'Shea|2005|page=11}}</ref> The [[White Eagles (paramilitary)|White Eagles]], a Serbian paramilitary group led by [[Vojislav Šešelj]], moved into the Serb-populated village of [[Borovo Selo]] just north of Vukovar.<ref name="Annex III">[[#Bassiouni-AnnexIII|Bassiouni, Annex III. December 28, 1994]]</ref> On 2 May in [[Battle of Borovo Selo]], Serb paramilitaries ambushed two Croatian police buses in the centre of Borovo Selo, killing 12 policemen and injuring 22 more.<ref name="O'Shea11" /> One Serb paramilitary was also killed.<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|1999|p=30}}</ref>

On 19 May 1991, a [[1991 Croatian independence referendum|Croatian nationwide referendum on sovereignty]] was held in which 94% voted in favor. Violence in and around Vukovar worsened after the independence referendum, with gun and bomb attacks reported in the town and surrounding villages in June 1991.<ref>{{cite news | title=Tense situation in Vukovar|last=Stankovic | first=Mirko | publisher=BBC | work=Summary of World Broadcasts | date=20 June 1991}}</ref> [[Borovo Naselje]], the Croatian-held northern suburb of Vukovar, sustained a significant shelling on 4 July.<ref name="MrksicVerdict12-13">[[#ICTY-Mrksic|''Prosecutor v. Mrkšić, Radić & Šljivančanin – Judgement'', September 27, 2007]], pp. 12–13.</ref> Serb paramilitaries expelled thousands of non-Serbs from their homes in the municipality.<ref>[[#BBCMon09-07-1991|BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 9, 1991]]</ref>

In the summer of 1991, [[Tomislav Merčep]], at the time a leading official in the [[Croatian Democratic Union]] (HDZ) and Secretary of People's Defense, was put in charge of the town. Ethnic Serbs in Vukovar were subjected to [[1991 killings of Serbs in Vukovar|forced interrogations, kidnappings and summary executions]] in addition to having their homes and cafes blown up.<ref name="iwpr">{{cite news |last1=Hedl |first1=Drago |title=Regional Report: Vukovar Serb Killings Investigated |url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/regional-report-vukovar-serb-killings-investigated |work=Institute for War & Peace Reporting |date=29 April 2005}}</ref> NGOs in the city state that a total of 86 Serbs were killed or disappeared during Merčep's control of the town.<ref name="iwpr" /> Serbs have long voiced their concerns about the crimes committed against them in the months before the [[Yugoslav People's Army|JNA]] took over the town after its fall in November of that year and the lack of accountability for the perpetrators.<ref name="iwpr" /><ref name="tportal">{{cite web |last1=Polšak Palatinuš |first1=Vlatka |title=Vukovarski Srbi pitaju: Što je s našim ubijenima? Evo odgovora iz DORH-a |url=https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/vukovarski-srbi-pitaju-sto-je-s-nasim-ubijenima-evo-odgovora-iz-dorh-a-foto-20181030 |website=tportal.hr |date=30 October 2018}}</ref> The matter has remained unresolved, with Merčep only being sentenced in 2017 for crimes committed by his units elsewhere. He died in November 2020.
[[File:Vukovar - Ovcara.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Ovčara camp|Ovčara Massacre Memorial]]'' to the murdered Croatian civilians at the site of the largest [[mass grave]] of the [[Croatian war of independence]], on the farm Ovčara near Vukovar, where  paramilitary units and members of the [[Yugoslav People's Army|JNA]] carried out a [[Vukovar massacre|mass slaughter]] of civilians from the [[Vukovar Hospital|"Dr Juraj Njavro" National Memorial Hospital]]]].

The [[Battle of Vukovar]] began on 25 August 1991, and lasted until 18 November 1991. During the battle for the town, 1,800 self-organised lightly armed defenders and civilian volunteers (the army of Croatia was still in its infancy at this time) defended the city for 87 days against approximately 36,000 troops of the Serb-dominated JNA equipped with heavy armour and artillery who lost 110 vehicles and tanks and dozens of planes during the battle. The city suffered heavy damage during the [[Battle of Vukovar|siege]] and was eventually overrun. It is estimated that 1,800 defenders of Vukovar and civilians were killed, 800 went missing and 22,000 civilians were forced into exile.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |year=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-1-85109-667-1 |page=2617}}</ref> Several war crimes were committed by Serb forces after the battle, including the [[Vukovar massacre]] of up to 264 wounded patients and medical staff, taken from the Vukovar hospital.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euronews.net/2010/11/04/serb-leader-apologises-for-croatian-massacre|title=Serb leader apologises for Croatian massacre|date=11 November 2010|publisher=Euronews|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref> According to the [[Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps]], a total of 8,000 Croatian civilians and [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] (many following the fall of Vukovar) went through Serb prison camps such as [[Sremska Mitrovica camp]], [[Velepromet camp]], [[Stajićevo camp]], [[Begejci camp]], [[Niš|Niš camp]] and many others where many were heavily abused and tortured. A total of 300 people never returned from them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VIII-10.htm|title=Annex VIII - Prison Camps|access-date=2020-05-06|archive-date=2011-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106010123/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VIII-10.htm}}</ref> A total of 4570 camp inmates have started [[legal action]] against the former [[Serbia & Montenegro|Republic of Serbia and Montenegro]] (now [[Serbia]]) for torture and abuse in the camps.<ref name="Vjesnik">{{cite news|url=http://www.vjesnik.hr/Html/2004/03/28/Clanak.asp?r=unu&c=6|language=hr|newspaper=[[Vjesnik]]|title=Danijel Rehak ponovno izabran za predsjednika Hrvatskog društva logoraša|date=28 March 2004|access-date=5 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040430144947/http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2004/03/28/Clanak.asp?r=unu&c=6|archive-date=30 April 2004}}</ref>

The damage to Vukovar during the siege has been called the worst in Europe since [[World War II]], drawing comparisons with [[Stalingrad]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=367100|title=Mesić nakon sastanka s Del Ponte: Netko mora odgovarati što je Vukovar pretvoren u Staljingrad|website=www.index.hr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Helen |last=Seeney |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2129420,00.html |title=Croatia: Vukovar is Still Haunted by the Shadow of its Past |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117004539/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2129420,00.html |archive-date=17 November 2010 |website=Deutsche Welle |date=22 August 2006 |access-date=6 May 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The [[Vukovar water tower|city's water tower]], riddled with bullet holes, was retained by city planners to serve as a testimony to the events of the early 1990s.

On 18 November 2006, approximately 25,000 people from all over the country gathered in Vukovar for the 15th anniversary of the fall of the city to commemorate those who were killed during the siege. A museum dedicated to the siege was opened in the basement of a now rebuilt hospital that had been damaged during the battle.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/8823/1/Tens-of-thousands-gather-for-15th-anniversary-of-Vukovar-siege-1991---2006.html |title=Tens of thousands gather for 15th anniversary of Vukovar siege 1991 – 2006 |publisher=Croatian World Network |agency=AFP |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719001620/http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/8823/1/Tens-of-thousands-gather-for-15th-anniversary-of-Vukovar-siege-1991---2006.html |archive-date=19 July 2011 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

On 27 September 2007, the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] convicted two former JNA officers, [[Mile Mrkšić]] and [[Veselin Šljivančanin]], for their involvement in the [[Vukovar massacre]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7016290.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Two jailed over Croatia massacre |access-date=18 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013104849/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7016290.stm |archive-date=13 October 2010 |work=news.bbc.co.uk |date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia's last remaining fugitive,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/serbia/8538468/Ratko-Mladic-arrested-Goran-Hadzic-last-remaining-major-figure-at-large.html|title=Ratko Mladic arrested: Goran Hadzic last remaining major figure at large|last=McElroy|first=Damien|date=26 May 2011|work=The Telegraph|access-date=29 May 2011|location=London}}</ref> Goran Hadžić, was captured by Serbian authorities in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |title=Serbia arrests its last war crimes fugitive |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43820382 |work=NBC News |date=20 July 2011}}</ref> Hadžić was indicted on 14 counts, including multiple related to Vukovar.<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite web |agency=Agence France-Presse |title=Goran Hadžić, last Yugoslav war fugitive arrested, dies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/jul/13/goran-hadzic-last-yugoslav-war-fugitive-arrested-dies |website=The Guardian |language=en |date=13 July 2016}}</ref> The charges included criminal involvement in the "deportation or forcible transfer of tens of thousands of Croat and other non-Serb civilians" from Croatian territory between June 1991 and December 1993, including 20,000 from Vukovar; the [[forced labour]] of detainees; the "extermination or murder of hundreds of Croat and other non-Serb civilians" in ten Croatian towns and villages including Vukovar; and the "torture, beatings and killings of detainees", including 264 victims seized from Vukovar Hospital.<ref name="icty indictment">{{cite web|last1=Del Ponte|first1=Carla|title=The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Goran Hadžić – Indictment|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzic/ind/en/had-ii040716e.htm|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia|access-date=14 July 2016|location=The Hague, The Netherlands|date=21 May 2004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/uhicen-goran-hadzic.html|title=U bijegu su Goranu Hadžiću najviše pomagali crkveni krugovi|website=Dnevnik.hr}}</ref> His trial was abandoned in 2014 after being diagnosed with terminal [[brain cancer]]; he died two years later at the age of 57.