Death-camp architect

last updated 8 January 2015

The Hague, Netherlands

The Bosnian Serb doctor responsible for setting up the first concentration camps seen in Europe since World War II has been jailed for life by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Milomir Stakic, a psychiatrist and politician, was found guilty of masterminding a program of “persecution, deportation, and extermination.” He established two camps, at Omarksa and Keraterm, where thousands of Croatian and Muslim inmates were raped, tortured, and murdered. Stakic claimed that the camps were holding centers for the protection of refugees, but the court heard overwhelming evidence of horrific abuse. Prisoners were beaten to death with lead pipes, and in some cases doused with gasoline and burnt alive. Stakic is the first defendant to receive a life sentence, the harshest penalty the tribunal can hand down.