Gorjanc Prelevic: We do not allow the war crime against deportation victims to be covered up

What we have been doing together for years is to fight against cover-up and forgetting. We do not allow the war crime against the victims of deportation to be covered up, despite the judges and prosecutors, who have worked hard to do so.

This was said by the executive director of Human Rights Action (HRA), Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, and added that they do not allow the victims to be forgotten, "because they are our warning and our hope that, as long as we remember them and sympathize with their families, we will be able to to save us and our families from such suffering and such sins in the future".

Yesterday, a memorial gathering in front of the Herceg Novi Security Center building, organized by Action for Human Rights, Center for Civic Education and ANIMA - Center for Peace and Women's Education and ministers from the Government of Montenegro, marked 30 years since the war crime of deportation of Bosnian refugees.

In a joint statement, HRA, CGO and ANIME stated that they were encouraged by the presence of government representatives, their apology to the families of the victims and their promise to advocate for a monument and a day of remembrance, even though they met the thirtieth anniversary of the crime without reopening the criminal investigation, without a monument and without a day of remembrance on victims.

In their statement, they state that they expect the Chief Special Prosecutor to reopen the investigation of that unpunished war crime, and that yesterday "was of historical importance for Montenegro, which, we hope, will have a positive impact on the region as well."

They expect, as they state, that next year we will gather at the same place next to the monument and officially declare the day of remembrance for the victims of this crime, with a move towards the realization of criminal justice.

They also stated that members of the victims' families attended the meeting: Alen Bajrović and Adisa Bajrović Tabaković, son and daughter of the victim Osman Bajrović, Sejd and Sanel Krdžalija, mother and sister of the victim Sanin Krdžalija and Tamara Topalović, cousin of the victim Suad Topalović. Sejda Krdžalija, the mother of the deported and martyred Sanin Krdžalija, came to Herceg Novi for the first time after 30 years, to the place where she last saw her son before he was deported to the camp in Foč. His remains were found years later in a mass grave in the Piljak pit.

"On the other hand, the remains of Osman Bajrović and Suad Topalović, as well as many other deported refugees, have not been found to this day. For the first time this year, ministers in the Government of Montenegro, Minister of the Interior Filip Adžić, Minister of Justice Marko Kovač attended the commemoration of the anniversary of the deportation , Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Admir Adrović, Minister without Portfolio Adrijan Vuksanović, as well as Director of the Police Directorate Zoran Brđanin. This year, as last year, the head of the Herceg Novi Security Center, Predrag Žižić, attended the gathering. For the first time in 30 years, family members victims heard the long-awaited apology from the police and the Ministry of the Interior for the illegal arrest and handing over of refugees to the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina," the joint statement said.

Ervina Dabižinović from ANIMA - Center for Peace and Women's Education said that what they heard today was actually "the face of war, and everyone who is here today should remember that, when they make any decision, but especially the decision that there should be war".

Petar Đukanović from the Center for Civic Education told "those who think that time will take its course and that oblivion will prevail", that this must not and cannot happen.

"We have an obligation to remember the crime, to fight for justice, for the victims and their families. Montenegro, of course, must not allow itself to wait another thirty years for justice and a dignified memory of these victims," ​​said Đukanović.

Three non-governmental organizations announced that among the fifty participants of the meeting, which they assessed as significantly more numerous than in the previous 12 years, were also representatives of the Islamic Community, led by Reis Fejzić, representatives of the Bosniak Council, Mirsad Rastoder and Bejto Šahmanović, of the Council for Civil Control of police work, Milena Popović Samardžić, UNDP in Montenegro, Civic Initiative "May 21", political parties, non-governmental organizations, activists and citizens of Herceg Novi.

In the press release, they point out that "unofficial, civil, Montenegro" has been honoring the victims of this war crime every year for 18 years, and that this is the 13th memorial gathering in front of the police administration building in Herceg Novi, where the largest number of illegally arrested civilians from Bosnia came from. and Herzegovina handed over to the army of the Serbian Republic.

They add that they will not allow the victims of this war crime to be forgotten this year either, and that they demand the determination of criminal responsibility and a worthy memorial for the victims.

They recalled that in May 1992, the Montenegrin police illegally arrested at least 66 civilians aged 18 to 66, who fled to Montenegro from the war that was already raging in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and handed them over as hostages to the Bosnian Serb army under under the leadership of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić to serve them for the exchange of prisoners of war.

This fact, they say, is evidenced by written documents and the final judgment of the criminal court. "All those extradited from Herceg-Novi on May 27, 1992 were killed immediately afterwards, while another group was sent to the concentration camp in Foč (KPD) on May 25, 1992, and only a few of them survived. No bodies have been found yet of all the victims deported from Herceg-Novi on May 27, 1992, nor is it known for certain the place where they died".

"During the police action, at least 33 civilians of Serbian nationality were arrested and deported for forced mobilization into the army of the then Republika Srpska. We have no information that any of them died. The victims of this crime are indisputable, Montenegro paid their families after a four-year trial based on a settlement compensation for damages due to the illegal actions of the Montenegrin police that led to fatal consequences and the most severe torture of the survivors. That they were illegally arrested and extradited as hostages was established by a final criminal judgment in Montenegro, as well as by a judgment of the Hague Tribunal in the case against Milorad Krnojelac, the warden of the camp in Foči", the announcement reads.

They point out that the court in Montenegro did not punish this crime.

"The decision of the European Court of Human Rights is awaited in the dispute with Montenegro, which was initiated by the executive director of HRA, Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, on behalf of a group of mothers, daughters and sisters of victims, because the state did not respect the human right to life and the prohibition of torture, because it did not ensured an effective investigation and adequate criminal prosecution. HRA, CGO, ANIMA and the former member of the Council for Citizen Control of Police Work, Aleksandar Saša Zeković, ten years ago (in 2011) sent three initiatives to the then authorities, of which only one has been accepted and that public apology of the Montenegrin police for illegally arresting and handing over refugees to the hostile army of the Serbian Republic of BiH"

"Still not accepted initiatives submitted:

"To the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ranko Krivokapić, and all heads of parliamentary clubs to declare the Day of Remembrance for the victims of the crime of deportation of refugees in 1992"

"To the President of the Government of Montenegro Igor Lukšić, the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Brajović and the Minister of Culture Branislav Mićunović, as well as the then President of the Herceg-Novi Municipality Assembly, Dejan Mandić - to erect a memorial to the victims of the deportation of refugees in 1992 in front of the building of the Police Administration in Herceg Novi , and thus support the wishes of the families of the victims"

They add that on May 19, 2021, they also sent the initiative to the new President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Aleksa Bečić, that the Parliament declare the Day of Remembrance.

"He replied that the law should be changed for that, but he did not initiate the change. We sent the initiative to erect a memorial to the victims of refugee deportation to the councilor clubs of the Herceg-Novi Municipal Assembly after the formation of the government in that municipality, as well as to the president of the Herceg-Novi Municipal Assembly, Ivan Otović, who did not respond to it. Last Sunday, we also informed the president of Herceg-Novi municipality, Stevan Katić, about the initiative, who also did not respond to us," the joint statement concludes.