Photos of Bosnian refugees used in articles about “Storm”

Photo: Raskrinkavanje.ba On August 4, 2023, a gathering was held in Projedor to commemorate the anniversary of the suffering of the Serbian population in the “Storm” operation, which was carried out by the Croatian army in 1995. During the commemoration, at which officials of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska spoke, a photo of a Bosniak woman who was expelled from Zepa in eastern Bosnia by Serbian forces in 1995 was shown on the screen. After the violent reaction of the public, the Belgrade agency that prepared the video material took responsibility for showing it at the commemoration in Prijedor, claiming that it was a mistake. Users of the social network X (formerly Twitter), however, soon noticed that it was not an isolated incident, but that photos taken in other places and in other periods were repeatedly presented as being taken during the operation “Storm”.

What is “Storm”?

“Storm” is the name of the military operation that was carried out by the Croatian army from August 4 to 8, 1995, to establish control over the territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska Krajina during the four-year conflict on the territory of Croatia. During and after the operation, crimes were committed against the civilian population of Serbian nationality and their property. Hundreds of civilians were killed, and over 200,000 were displaced (link, link, link).

Photos of Bosniak refugees

On August 4, 2019, the web portal Telegraf published an article on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of “Storm”. As an illustration, a collage of photographs was used that allegedly show the suffering of civilians of Serbian nationality in Croatia. Photo: Screenshot, Telegraf However, the photo showing the boy crying in the blue T-shirt was taken elsewhere. The photo was taken in August 1992 by photographer Pascal Le Segretain and shows “Bosnian refugees”. Photo: Screenshot/Getty Images For years, this photo has been presented in the media as being taken during operation “Storm” and was used as an illustration in several articles about the persecution of the Serbian civilian population during this operation (1, 2, 3, 4). On August 4 of this year, the Belgrade editorial office of the Russian state media Sputnik published an article about the anniversary of “Storm” and the suffering of the Serbian population. The article, on the other hand, was illustrated with a photo that does not show this. The photo used was taken in August 1995, not in Croatia, but in the Srebrenica enclave. It shows Bosniak refugees getting on the bus that is to transport them to Tuzla. In the article, Sputnik cited the AP as the source of the photo. Although the AP website clearly states where and when the photo was taken, Sputnik has repeatedly used this photo as an illustration in articles about the operation “Storm” (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The photo was used for the same purpose on other web portals, almost always citing AP as the source (1, 2, 3). In recent years, the media have illustrated articles about “Storm” with photographs taken during other military operations in Croatia, such as the operation “Flash”, which began on May 1, 1995 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Given all the facts, illustrating articles about operation “Storm” with photographs of refugees and exiles from Bosnia and Herzegovina, without mentioning that these are not photographs taken during this operation in 1995, is considered to be a manipulation of facts. Author: Nerma Šehović, Raskrinkavanje.ba