Compensate those who have suffered unjustly: The Head of State will initiate the adoption of a law on the rehabilitation of Goloto residents today

Head of State Jakov Milatovic should submit today to the Parliament of Montenegro an initiative for the adoption of a law on the rehabilitation and compensation of political prisoners on Goli Otok, suspected of supporting the Informbiro Resolution - "Vijesti" has learned unofficially.

The initiative of the President of Montenegro will refer to those who, without a (fair) trial and valid evidence, either by administrative decisions or without them, were imprisoned and subjected to inhumane conditions on Goli Otok, Sveti Grgur and other prisons, due to alleged or presumed support for the Informburo Resolution of 1948.

The Informburo was the successor to the Comintern (Communist International), an organization of communist parties, and its resolution criticized the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, headed by Josip Broz Tito, for deviating from Marxist-Leninist policies, carrying out hostile moves towards the Soviet Union led by Joseph Visarionovich Stalin, abandoning the working class position...

This resulted in the breakup of relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, after which the Yugoslav authorities began a crackdown on those they considered to be Stalinist supporters. A system of prisons was set up for these people, the so-called informers, the largest of which was on Goli Otok, an island off Rab, Croatia.

According to data from the former Federal Secretariat for Internal Affairs of the SFRY, there were 16.101 prisoners on Goli Otok and other prisons from that system, of which 3.390 were from Montenegro.

According to information from "Vijesti", Milatović believes that the adoption of a law on the rehabilitation and compensation of the Goloto residents would not only mean a legal act, but also a moral responsibility of Montenegro to recognize and compensate people who have suffered unjustly because of their real or presumed beliefs. In his opinion, Montenegro would thus join neighboring countries that have taken similar steps in the field of human rights protection.

The head of state, according to the newspaper's findings, believes that the fact that the state has so far taken no action in terms of rehabilitating the victims of Goli Otok, even though it had by far the largest number of prisoners in relation to the population, represents its legal and moral failure, as well as a deviation from basic human rights. Therefore, he believes that passing the law would be a correction of a historical injustice. According to information from "Vijesti", he believes that, bearing in mind that many victims have passed away, it is necessary to ensure not only their posthumous rehabilitation, but also appropriate satisfaction for their heirs, who suffered discrimination and were economically disadvantaged.

Milatović will propose that the Draft Law on the Annulment of Judgments, Decisions, Acts and Actions of State Bodies of the Republic of Montenegro and the FNRY pronounced against persons suspected of supporting the Informbiro Resolution of 1948, which was prepared in 2006 by the Citizens' Association "Goli Otok", be used as the basis for drafting the law.

In March last year, when he announced that he would initiate compensation for the Golog Otok victims, the President of Montenegro said that the camp represented "a black spot in our history and a symbol of suffering for thousands of citizens and their families", and that he supported the long-standing efforts of civil society and the "Golog Otok" Citizens' Association to resolve this issue, as has already been done in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

"Only a state that fulfills its moral debt to those whose rights have been grossly violated and whose suffering has been ignored for years can walk the path of true progress," he said at the time.

The only official act adopted in Montenegro so far that deals with the issue of compensation for political prisoners is the Declaration on the Condemnation of Violations of Human Rights and Abuse of Power, which was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro in January 1992.