The United States Department of Justice has initiated civil proceedings to strip American citizenship from Kemal Mrndzic, a man convicted of concealing his role as a guard at Bosnia’s notorious Čelebići prison camp during his immigration process. This legal action represents the latest development in a case exposing wartime atrocities committed during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.
According to court documents, Mrndzic deliberately failed to disclose his military service and involvement in persecuting Bosnian-Serb inmates at the camp, where United Nations tribunals documented systematic killings, torture, sexual violence, and cruel treatment of detainees. The Justice Department emphasized that such omissions constitute criminal fraud within immigration proceedings.
The case culminated in Mrndzic’s October 2024 conviction on multiple counts of fraud and misrepresentation related to his passport and naturalization applications. He received a five-year prison sentence in January 2025 following jury deliberations.
Brett Shumate, Assistant Attorney General, stated the administration’s position clearly: “Those who engage in persecution cannot enjoy the privileges of American refuge.” He further emphasized the government’s commitment to preserving the integrity of the naturalization process.
Historical context reveals the gravity of these proceedings. The Čelebići camp operated under Bosniak and Bosnian-Croat forces during the bloody ethnic conflicts that followed Yugoslavia’s dissolution. These events culminated in the Srebrenica genocide—recognized by the UN as the worst European atrocity since World War II—where over 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were systematically murdered by Bosnian-Serb forces.
The broader conflict eventually concluded with the Dayton Peace Agreement, brokered by the United States in December 1995. Mrndzic’s case demonstrates the ongoing efforts to address war crimes committed during this turbulent period through both international and domestic legal channels.