Action for Human Rights (HRA), the Center for Civic Education (CGO) and ANIMA - the Center for the Center for Peace and Women's Education indicated that the 31st anniversary of the war crime of the deportation of Bosnian refugees is being celebrated without reopening the criminal investigation. without a monument and without a memorial day for the victims.
Today at noon, the 31st anniversary of the war crime of deportation was marked with a memorial gathering in front of the police building, Herceg Novi Security Department, organized by the aforementioned NGOs, and in the presence of the families of the crime victims and government officials.
The gathering was attended by the son of the victim Osman Bajrović, Alen Bajrović, as well as representatives of the Government, namely Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and his advisor Đorđe Radulović, Minister of Justice Marko Kovač, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Admir Adrović, Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Development and Minister of Capital Investments - President Bosniak Party Ervin Ibrahimović, State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs Mersudin Gredić, Acting Head of the Security Department in Herceg Novi Slobodan Đokić, and State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense Krsto Perović.
In the joint statement of the three NGOs, it is emphasized that, apart from Minister Ibrahimović, no other Government officials addressed the gathering.
Among the fifty participants of the meeting were the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Montenegro Branimir Jukić, representatives of the Islamic Community, the Bosniak Council, UNDP in Montenegro, political parties (Civil Movement URA, Social Democratic Party, Social Democrats, Bosniak Party, Liberal Party), non-governmental organizations, activists and citizens of Herceg Novi.
"For years, we have been advocating for criminal justice, for a memorial for the victims, Memorial Day and an apology from the Montenegrin police. We experienced that apology last year. Second, we are not. We are doing all this so that nothing like this happens again - and it won't happen again if the authorities decide through their actions that it won't happen again. Then when they move from words to actions - when they build a monument, declare a day of remembrance and make additional efforts to punish this crime," said HRA executive director Tea Gorjanc Prelević.
As it was announced, at the end, she reminded those present of those who attended the memorial gatherings and "kept the memory of the victims of this crime", and who have since passed away - Zorica Jovetić, Blaž Krivokapić, Mirsad Kurgaš, Slobodan Pejović, Radomir Prelević and Rifat Rastoder.
"I stand today with a great degree of discomfort. I don't know if the uneasiness was greater when we were alone, coming and subversively leaving flowers here, or if the uneasiness is now when I stand in front of these people from the Montenegrin government and speak, and most of them could have done much more than what they did specifically for this crime and all other crimes. All those who stand behind us, and are not the first who came to take pictures, have an obligation to do, at least for this crime that happened here, that there is a memorial, that there be a criminal prosecution, that the instigators and inspirers be found and that they respect the victims in such a way that everything is always public. In the education system, there should be a lesson about the war crimes that happened in Montenegro, so that the generations to come know that there are at least three sentences about what Deportation means," said ANIMA coordinator Ljupka Kovačević.
Tamara Milaš, coordinator in the CGO, said that in the civil sector, they are extremely disappointed with the attitude of the institutions towards this war crime.
"We have seen that nothing has been done even in the eight years since the Strategy on the Investigation of War Crimes was adopted, by which the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SST) undertook to review all cases of war crimes prosecuted before Montenegrin judicial instances. Unfortunately, despite the changes in SDT does not have the impression that there is a different treatment of these cases," she said, according to the statement.
Alen Bajrović, the son of Osman Bajrović, one of the victims, addressed those present.
"I am Alen Bajrović, the son of Osmo Bajrović, whom the Montenegrin police, more specifically CB Herceg Novi, in front of which we are now, captured in our family home in Bjela and violently tore him from our embrace, mine and my sister's, and brought him to this execution ground , to the "camp" that is in front of us. After that we didn't find out anything more. I believe that this is my father's camp, that it is the killing ground where he most likely ended up. I am asking the institutions of Montenegro, what did she do with my father, where did she kill him and how was he killed?! I ask the competent institutions to conduct a proper investigation, a fair investigation and to bring to justice the perpetrators, the perpetrators and all those who participated in this war crime that took place on the territory of the state of Montenegro. I must express my indignation at the institutions that did not give even an iota of energy to bring this crime to light. "I still haven't found my father's remains, so this year, like last year, we will lay a wreath on the CB building, because I think it is the only tombstone of my father," Bajrović said.
Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Bosniak Party, Ervin Ibrahimović, said that he would not allow this crime to be forgotten.
"I call on everyone to do our best to leave this mark that everyone needs - to warn us, so that we don't forget, so that it doesn't happen again, and that we are all aware of how dangerous dark times and dark policies are and that they bring no good to anyone. That is why, as the Vice-President of the Government and the President of the Bosniak Party, I say that I will not allow this crime to be forgotten, that I will fight by all means so that the families are finally satisfied in one way, but also that all the conspirators of this terrible crime, indirect and direct, be brought to justice. the face of justice and that justice in the true sense prevails in Montenegro. And in the end, serving justice is healing for our entire society, because otherwise we send a terrible message that crimes in Montenegro pay off," said Ibrahimović.
The president of the Liberal Party, Vido Drašković, appealed to erect a monument that "will remind of those shameful days".
"This time I want to say that it is necessary to discover the perpetrators and the perpetrators and to punish them so that the souls of the deceased may rest in peace. I once again appeal to the local authorities to finally put themselves in a position to do their job and to erect a memorial in this place a mark that will remind of that shameful day. Days pass and years pass, but the pain does not stop, the pain is getting worse. Every sob of the bereaved is a slap to Montenegro, and every tear is a stain on Montenegro's past. The image of the Montenegrin people, who have their own he protected and built his glory, his pride and dignity through the ages, paying for it with the lives of his best sons, and one group of people, small people in high government positions, made it all shake up and put a stain on it," said Drašković.
HRA, CGO and ANIMA remind in the press release that "unofficial, civil, Montenegro" has been honoring the victims of war crimes every year for 19 years, and that today's gathering is the 14th memorial gathering in front of the police building in Herceg Novi, where the largest number of of illegally arrested civilians from Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to the army of Republika Srpska.
"And this year, we will not allow the victims of this war crime to be forgotten, we demand the determination of criminal responsibility and a worthy memorial for the victims," the announcement states.
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