HRA and CGO on the installation of a memorial plaque in Morinje: We regret that such important events are carried out on a shortcut

Action for Human Rights (HRA) and the Center for Civic Education (CGO) announced that they welcome the installation of a memorial plaque on the site of the JNA military camp in Morinje, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Government of Montenegro, in the presence of high-ranking officials of these Montenegrin ministries, as well as the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Ministry of Croatian Veterans of the Republic of Croatia.

In Morinje, despite the protests of a few citizens, a memorial plaque was unveiled.

Citizens, a dozen of them, blocked the road to the former camp earlier today to try to prevent the unveiling of the memorial plaque.

The plaque says that "during the Great Serbian aggression against Croatia" there was a camp at that place, the so-called Morinj Center (October 3.10, 1991 - August 18.8, 1992) and that it was dedicated to detained Croatian civilians and defenders.

"Last year too, we welcomed the laying of wreaths at the entrance of the Morinj camp by high-ranking delegations from the ministries of foreign affairs of Montenegro and Serbia. We believe that such steps make an important contribution to the establishment of reconciliation in the region. We expect that all the places where they are in Montenegro will be marked with memorials. committed war crimes," states the joint statement of CGE and HRA signed by Tea Gorjanc Prelević, executive director of HRA, and Daliborka Uljarević, executive director of CGE.

The two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) added that the prisoners of the Morinj camp from Croatia had previously requested a memorial plaque, and that they had the support and support of other NGOs from Montenegro, which have been dedicated to dealing with issues of dealing with the past for decades.

"We especially welcome the efforts of our colleagues from the Center for Women's and Peace Education ANIMA, who in 2019 submitted an initiative to the authorities in the municipality of Kotor to erect a memorial on the site of the former camp. However, we regret that such important events are carried out in a shortcut, without timely informing the public, inviting representatives of civil society organizations and peace activists, who would show that there is significant support for this form of building a culture of memory in Montenegro. their sufferings, while the authorities, both local and national, were silent about it," the HRA and CGO press release reads.

They said that the final criminal verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica established that war crimes were committed against prisoners of war in the form of physical abuse in the JNA collection center in Morinje, and that four people were sentenced to prison for that - Ivo Gojnić for two years, Boro Gligić to three years, Spiro Lučić to three years and Ivo Menzalin to a prison sentence of four years.

"We remind you that in the judgment it was determined that "at the Morinj Collection Center there was an atmosphere of terror and fear for the bare lives to which the victims were constantly exposed." Zoran Dragović, one of the investigators who were in charge of prisoners: "The head of one guard division was BP, who beat the prisoners, ... and one of them suffered terrible beatings in Morinje from which he barely survived, and after leaving Morinje he had to perform several operations ... he knows that B. took the prisoners out and trained boxing on them... the worst were the groups of guards from Herceg Novi, because they identified themselves with characters from movies such as Rambo, Sandokan, and were proud of their thug attitude, without attaching importance to honor and the uniforms they wear ...". We regret that this event was marked by the protests of enraged individuals, we expect that the parties in which these individuals are officials and activists at the local level will distance themselves from this act," the CGO statement concludes.