The Croatian Prosecutor's Office has been investigating the case of the deaths of 18 Montenegrin reservists who were captured in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) during the war in the 14s and then taken to the "Lora" camp in Split for XNUMX years.
As members of the Yugoslav People's Army, they had the status of prisoners of war in 1992 and were to be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law, which prohibits torture and killing.
The remains of almost all of them were found in various locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including around Mostar and Trebinje.
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Split is about 150 kilometers from Mostar, and about 250 kilometers from Trebinje.
The body of one of them has not yet been found.
When asked by Radio Free Europe about the "Lora 3" case, which was initiated in 2007, the spokesperson for the Split County Prosecutor's Office, Rene Laura, said that they are still conducting an investigation in cooperation with the police and that the proceedings are secret.
The Montenegrin Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) submitted documentation concerning Montenegrin citizens upon a request from its Split colleagues in 2009.
Fifteen years later, additional data was requested from Split, SDT spokesperson Vukas Radonjić confirmed to Radio Free Europe (RFE).
Last year, prosecutors from Split sent them a letter of request for additional evidence and data. As he stated, the Montenegrin prosecutor's office is currently preparing that documentation.
For Bojana Malović from the Montenegrin NGO Human Rights Action (HRA), the lengthy proceedings of the Split prosecutor's office indicate "that there is a serious lack of both political and prosecutorial will to bring this case to a close."
Pouka from "Lore 1" and "Lore 2"
In previous years, several Croatian citizens were prosecuted in the "Lora 1" and "Lora 2" cases for the torture and suffering of civilians and prisoners of war in that camp in the 1990s.
"Lora 1" - refers to a war crime against the civilian population. The perpetrators were convicted of unlawfully detaining 12 civilians, mostly of Serbian nationality, whom they suspected of hostile activities against Croatia. Two died as a result of the abuse.
"Lora 2" - refers to a war crime against prisoners of war. The perpetrators were charged with humiliating, physically, psychologically and sexually abusing and torturing 37 prisoners of war. Three died as a result.
The then director of the Military Investigation Center "Lora", Tomislav Duić, was found guilty in both cases on the basis of command responsibility and sentenced to a single prison sentence of eight and a half years.
Malović believes that Duić's command responsibility could have been applied in the "Lora 3" case.
"Because numerous testimonies speak of the cruel torture of prisoners from Montenegro in block 'C'."
And it was Duić who was cited as one of the abusers of Montenegrin citizens captured in "Lora", as testified by former camp inmates in a 2022 documentary by Nikšić Television, which was submitted to the Split prosecutor's office.
Even that, according to Malović, did not yield results.
"The public still has no information about the status of the case or what is holding up its processing. That is why now, when Croatia and Montenegro are officially due to begin negotiations on open issues, is an opportunity to put the issue of 'Lora 3' on the agenda."
Bilateral consultations on resolving open issues between official Podgorica and Zagreb are set to begin at the end of the month, it was announced after the meeting of Montenegrin and Croatian foreign ministers Ervin Ibrahimović and Gordan Grlić Radman on January 13.
Among them are the demarcation in the area of the Prevlaka peninsula, ownership of the training ship "Jadran", compensation for camp inmates, as well as missing persons.
Agreement on the side of the Croats
Can the topic of "Lore 3" be treated as an 'open issue' in the announced talks between the Montenegrin and Croatian sides?
Since 2006, the Montenegrin and Croatian prosecutors have signed an Agreement on Cooperation and Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide.
It applies only to war crimes committed on the territory of Croatia by Montenegrin citizens. It does not apply to war crimes committed by Croatian citizens.
The Ministry of Justice, whose competence includes the area of war crimes, assessed that the Agreement is not based on the principle of equality, meaning that Montenegro is in an inferior position.
Therefore, in 2023, it asked the Montenegrin Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (VDT) to initiate the process of its revision with the Croatian side.
The prosecutors' offices of the two countries held a meeting in Podgorica in September last year, among other things, on this occasion.
The office of the Supreme State Prosecutor of Montenegro, Milorad Marković, told RFE/RL that the two prosecutors' offices are continuing communication "with the aim of harmonizing" the Agreement.
Another agreement with Croatia is in preparation
In addition to this Agreement, which is controversial for the Montenegrin side, the two prosecutors' offices are also working on an Agreement relating to support for witnesses, injured parties and victims in war crimes proceedings.
Montenegro already has such an agreement with the prosecutors' offices of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
"The conclusion of both agreements with the Croatian State Attorney's Office will occur after the necessary procedures have been carried out in Croatia," the VDP's response states.
The State Attorney's Office did not respond to questions about the agreement sent in late December.
Bojana Malović from HRA believes that Croatia's willingness to revise the already adopted Agreement, which would impose obligations on them that they currently do not have, will pose a challenge.
Especially with regard to cooperation in cases involving suspected Croatian citizens, Malović emphasizes.
"Croatian authorities consider the investigation and prosecution of their citizens a matter of national security, which is why their cooperation with prosecutors in the region, including Montenegro, is often inadequate."
If the Agreement is revised, Montenegro could request information on the status of cases related to the deaths of its citizens in Croatia, such as the "Lora 3" case.
"Such active participation of the Montenegrin Prosecutor's Office in the case would be particularly significant from the perspective of the families of the victims, because even they have not known for all these years what is really happening in this case," Malović said.
In its latest report on Montenegro, the European Commission said that Podgorica needs to improve the speed and efficiency of international judicial cooperation.
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