"What a black culture of memory in Montenegro, the Montenegrin government for three decades only developed a culture of forgetting war crimes. Because the most responsible for all war crimes is that government, which sent the Montenegrin reservists to the war of occupation, the first after four hundred years of the war of liberation", said the journalist and columnist for "Vijesti". Ratka Vukotić Jovanović.
She states that, nevertheless, Montenegrin citizens bear the greatest "moral guilt for such a collective aMNEsia".
"There are fewer and fewer of us who remember that almost 80 percent of adults voted for the perpetrators of war crimes. Unfortunately, a third of Montenegro still thinks the same as the overwhelming majority in the early nineties. And not only what he thinks, but now he is also erecting monuments to the "heroes" of the war of occupation", says Vukotić Jovanović.
And legal advisor of the NGO Action for Human Rights (HRA) Bojana Malović she stated for "Vijesti" that the citizens of Montenegro do not know enough about its participation in the wars on the territory of the former SFRY, and that this fact is confirmed by public opinion surveys year after year.
"The lack of knowledge is precisely the consequence of the absence of a policy of dealing with the past in Montenegro, of pushing these topics under the carpet, but also of the fact that they are inadequately treated in formal education," says Malović.
The majority of the 30 respondents, who left answers to the "Vijesti" questionnaire, believe that in Montenegro, even 300 years after the events of the war and the crimes committed on our territory, there is no culture of memory, but the system is working to relativize the past.
When asked if you think that the culture of remembering war crimes in Montenegro is sufficiently developed - 186 or 62 percent of the survey respondents answered no, not enough, and 73 or 24 percent of the total number of those who agreed to the survey answered with a partial answer. .
About 6,3 out of the total number of respondents or 19 of them answered "that we are fully working to ensure that the war crimes committed in Montenegro are not forgotten"...
Only judgments can remove the stain
Journalist Vukotić Jovanović, who during her career was also a participant in the events of the 90s, states that the culture of forgetting has caused the foundations of today's disputes to be forgotten, or rather the disputes of some ethnic and religious communities.
Preparations for war crimes, as she explained, began in Montenegro in August 1988, the so-called rally of solidarity with the Serbs in Kosovo, with slogans "We will kill Azem Vlasi, let's... let's go to Kaćuša Jašari"...
"It was an introduction to integration with Serbian nationalists and chauvinists. A kind of fitness training for the so-called AB revolution, which was essentially a replay of the Podgorica Assembly. And the so-called solidarity rally and the so-called revolution were part of the three-year conditioning preparations of Montenegro for the occupation of parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina", she reminded.
The columnist believes that even three decades after performing: "Muslim black crows, black days have come to you" and "Freemen, send salads, there will be meat, we are slaughtering Croats", hate speech is not weakening, but getting stronger.
"Because three truths about the events in Montenegro at the end of the last century are still on the public stage. And only one thing is true: that war crimes were committed in the name of Montenegro and that this collective stain can only be removed by the judgments of the individuals who committed them. The problem is precisely that the anniversaries of crimes are only commemorated, the commemorations come and go. It is the duty of the media and the civil sector to constantly warn the prosecution and the judiciary, especially the educational authorities. The facts about Montenegro from the war nineties must finally be found in the history textbooks, so that they do not repeat themselves", said Vukotić Jovanović.
From 1995 to the end of 2015, a total of six criminal trials were conducted in Montenegro for war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia during the 90s.
In those court proceedings, 36 persons were accused, and 10 were convicted by final judgment.
According to the War Crimes Investigation Strategy, the Special State Prosecutor's Office should soon reopen the investigations in the four most significant cases - Deportacije, Morinj, Kaluđerski laz and Bukovica.
And the representative of HRA states that the ways in which the war past is interpreted and commemorated often encourage divisions and cause tensions between different ethnic and religious communities, because the same events are perceived differently.
"Without a comprehensive culture of remembrance based on facts and official recognition of all victims, war events will remain a trigger for political fights, but also increase tension and intolerance among the population of Montenegro (in crisis situations). A constructive confrontation with the past could contribute to the strengthening of reconciliation and mutual understanding between different communities, but this requires consistent support from state institutions and responsible behavior of politicians, which is still lacking," says Malović.
And the vast majority of "Vijesti" respondents, 232 of them out of 300, answered during the survey that the influence of memories of war events during the 90s had a negative impact on relations between different ethnic and religious communities in Montenegro.
Monumental relativization of crime
Vukotić Jovanović believes that Montenegro was the first in the region to start relativizing war events from the past.
"Tires are burning around Dubrovnik", explains the journalist, as the state media reported on the beginning of the bombing of that city in the early 90s.
"The biggest step forward in developing the culture of forgetting was made in 1992 by forcing Montenegro into the so-called SR Yugoslavia. After the collapse of that - based on blood - state-like creation, Montenegro escaped the judgment of the international court only because Serbia, as the successor of the FRY, also became the successor of all crimes. In detail, the culture of forgetting has been promoted, even with such details as the destruction of RTCG recordings and photographs of Pobjeda from the occupied territory", she recalled, stressing that Montenegro can only apologize to the victims through a final judgment and payment of compensation to the relatives of those killed.
"It goes without saying that he must pay compensation to all those who survived torture in Montenegro, as well as to all residents of the Dubrovnik-Neretva region who were robbed by Montenegrin reservists."
HRA legal advisor Bojana Malović explained that the initiators of all initiatives for memorialization are, as a rule, members of the victims' families and the civil sector.
She states that the state should mark every place where a war crime was committed in Montenegro, because these marks could contribute to collective memory, education of young people, and support for victims and their families.
"After all, that's what the citizens expect. HRA conducted a public opinion survey in 2023, which showed that more than two-thirds of respondents (68%) agreed that the site of every war crime should be marked with a memorial plaque or a monument in honor of the victims. It suggests that there is a broad social consensus on this issue, although not a political one," she stated.
What the state honoring of the victims should look like, as stated by Malović, would require a systemic approach, which is why the HRA has repeatedly asked the Government of Montenegro to adopt the Strategy of Transitional Justice and the Politics of Remembrance in order to face the past, respect the rights of victims to reparations and provided guarantees against the repetition of crimes and violations of human rights.
"This implies not only the establishment of a day of remembrance for the victims and the construction of memorials, but also the need for the state to demonstrate its willingness and ability to achieve criminal justice in cases of war crimes, punish the perpetrators, compensate the victims and their families, and recognize them with the appropriate status. Also, it is important to provide social services and the truth. The families of the victims must have information about the circumstances of the suffering of their loved ones, while the entire public must have access to the truth about the events of the past, which must be preserved from oblivion and must not be relativized," explains Malović.
The culture of memory is "cultivated" by erecting monuments and renaming streets in honor of "heroes" of wars
In a poll on the "Vijesti" portal, the majority of respondents stated that the anniversaries of the war in the former Yugoslavia and the crimes committed in Montenegro are marked without real emotions.
"Ceremonically and disingenuously, political structures use past events to score political points. They are not commemorated in our country because we do not want to face the fact that in the 90s, under the pretext of defending the SFRY and under the influence of the Serbian Church, we committed crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Montenegro...", are just some of the respondents' answers. .
Bojana Malović believes that before the change of government in 2020, there was no political will to face the past in Montenegro, which, as she stated, was expected because the structures that participated in the war in the XNUMXs were in power. "However, the current approach to the culture of remembrance is additionally problematic - we still do not have days of remembrance, war crimes are openly and often relativized at a high level, victims are used for daily political purposes. By erecting monuments and renaming streets in honor of the "heroes" of the wars of the XNUMXs, the responsibility for crimes, that is, the political irresponsibility of those who sent them to senseless, unjustified wars, is concealed, while the long-standing initiatives of civil society and the victims' families continue to be ignored", according to HRA's legal adviser. .
When "Vijesti" asked what measures should be recommended to improve the culture of memory in Montenegro, the majority of respondents in the survey answered that war crimes should be studied and should be part of the education system...
Several of them wrote that political resolutions should be avoided, and that state institutions treat all crimes equally...
"The culture of memory should be based on truth. Politics should be excluded from the interpretation of history. This crucial role should be played by education, which is currently deprived of an objective approach", wrote one respondent in the survey.
"On the board in Morinje - the name and spirit of Montenegro are disgraced"
The inscription on the memorial plaque is one of the consequences of the development of the culture of forgetting, believes journalist Ratka Vukotić Jovanović and adds:
"It is not the most difficult, but it is the most shameful because the mention of "Greater Serbian aggression" and "crimes committed to disgrace the name and spirit of Montenegro" is associated with the guilt of Serbia. And only Montenegro is to blame for the crimes against the captured Croats. First, because without her participation there would not have been an occupation during which Croatian citizens were captured. And secondly, even more important, the fact that the President of Montenegro sat in the Supreme Defense Council and did not even try to oppose the creation of a camp for captured Croats", she states.
Vukotić Jovanović emphasizes that "the only truth is that the name and spirit of Montenegro were disgraced with that plaque in Morinje".
HRA adviser also believes that the inscription on the plaque in Morinja is not ideal and can be interpreted as "washing" the Montenegrin authorities of responsibility for everything that happened during the siege of Dubrovnik, since it is pointed out that the crimes were committed "during the Great Serbian aggression against Croatia", and " to disgrace the name and spirit of Montenegro".
"Similarly, in the school textbook it is written that the JNA attacked Dubrovnik and its surroundings, but it is not explained that in the ranks of that army there were mostly soldiers and reservists from Montenegro. The decision on the use of the JNA in war operations on the Dubrovnik battlefield was agreed by the then leadership of Montenegro headed by Branko Kostić, as well as Momir Bulatović and Milo Đukanović. War hysteria followed, more people from Montenegro responded to the mobilization than from Serbia, so all the "shame" and bad political decisions are our own fault and we have to face it. Secondly, the plaque is located at the Ministry of Defense facility, which is not in a public place and which no one can approach, and therefore has no memorial purpose, it does not serve as a reminder of tragic events, nor as a warning to future generations. This is contrary to what HRA, CGO and ANIMA have been advocating since 2019," explained Malović.
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