Through the years I have dedicated to investigating war crimes and to efforts to one day see the perpetrators brought to justice, I increasingly feel that I am running out of strength. The strength to record, publish, plead with, and provide assistance to the prosecution to investigate and decide on the criminal prosecution of those who, in the name of a time and often in the name of this state, decided to kill people simply because of their religion, name, and nationality.
In recent years, especially in 2021, I feel that the fight for justice has been defeated. At a public meeting, in front of cameras and the professional public, we heard a statement from a representative of the highest prosecutorial institution. I paraphrase: "So far, there has not been enough political will to investigate war crimes." Comment on this statement is superfluous. How many more years do we have to wait to see concrete action?
On the other hand, there is the fact, which the public has been informed about several times, that the State Prosecutor's Office has begun a new review of completed and other war crimes investigation cases. Following such an encouraging stance, we will nevertheless agree that over the years that are behind us, and even more recently, nothing concrete has been done to encourage the public and, above all, the families of the victims, which ultimately dulls the hope that something new will happen in the foreseeable future.
The question that arises in relation to the Montenegrin regions is: why is the investigation of war crimes in Montenegro so slow and inefficient? Unfortunately, war crimes in Montenegro have mainly occurred to the detriment of one confessional community, which in itself raises additional questions about how the investigation is approached, because it is clear that there is a serious institutional problem in this process.
One of the most important questions that remains unanswered is why the same principles of accountability for war crimes that occurred in Montenegro are not applied as in other countries of the former Yugoslavia. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, wartime commanders, declared genocidal war criminals, were held accountable for crimes they did not physically commit directly, while in Montenegro a passive atmosphere has been created towards the accountability of those who held state command. Why is the same legal logic not applied here?
The first specific question I am seeking an answer to is: is it possible that the crime of genocide in the area of Bukovica in Pljevlja has still not been investigated, and will this happen now? We have organized and forced displacement of the Muslim population, killing and abuse of innocent people, destruction of property and religious buildings, all under the patronage of Montenegrin government institutions, the police and the army. Why has the prosecution not investigated these crimes, and will it at least deal with the case of abuse by the police, such as the one from the police station in which the ears of a Bosniak from Bukovica were staged?
I wonder: why is the prosecution still hiding the names of the state's abusers of political leaders from the then SDA, who were innocently accused and ultimately received financial compensation from the state? Why do these people continue to enjoy protection, while justice is not served?
In addition, there is a question that is also of great importance: why did the prosecution not investigate the case of the killing of innocent Albanian civilians in Kaludjerski Laz and will it be done? The six victims of that crime were deported and buried in a mass grave in the cemetery in Novo Selo, Kosovo, all on the orders or negligence of military investigators. Is it possible that this was a cover-up of the crime?
Also, another important question relates to the case of the death of the boy Dacić in Besnik in 1999, where pilots of the then Yugoslav army dropped illegal explosives. Why did the prosecutor's office not accept the report and not conduct a proper investigation? It is clear that this is a matter of endangering lives, and the obviously illegal dismissal of the report for this tragedy indicates a lack of political will.
We cannot forget the case of the deportation of Bosniaks from the Montenegrin coast. The then Montenegrin ministry and the very top of the government are responsible for this crime, which was later confirmed by the then President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatović. Why did the prosecution not call those responsible to account for more than 80 killed Bosniaks?
In conclusion, Morinj, as a crime that did not originate in Croatia, nevertheless happened to Croatian Croats, and not by paramilitary or parapolice formations, but by state formations of Montenegro, which were behind it all. Although public calls for warmongers, such as Đaković and Labudović, came from the state-run Montenegrin media, they were never held accountable, even though they fired more shots from there than from cannons.
Finally, I publicly ask the question: why is the ministry obstructing the granting of consent for the erection of a memorial to the civilian victims of Kaluđerski Laz? Why is there still political obstruction when it comes to recognizing the victims?
Finally, I would like to express serious criticism to the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which failed to investigate the deportation and killing of its citizens, as well as to the Kosovo Prosecutor's Office, which, despite the evidence, failed to initiate an investigation into the suffering of its citizens. In both cases, jurisdiction is clear, especially given the domicile of the victims.
This column raises questions that demand answers, reflects deep dissatisfaction with institutions that have failed to fulfill their duty, and calls for accountability, not only at the national, but also at the regional level.
The author is a lawyer; he is the executive director of the Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights.
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