CKP: SDT to initiate pre-investigation proceedings regarding the crime against Albanian recruits in Bar in 1945.

The non-governmental human rights organization "Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights" (CKP) appealed to the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) to initiate a pre-investigation procedure regarding the crime against Albanian recruits in Bar, on April 1, 1945.

The CKP gave full support and joined the criminal complaint previously filed by human rights activist Aleksandar Zeković, based on documents and testimonies that indicate the scale and seriousness of the crime.

"On April 1, 1945, hundreds, and according to some estimates, thousands, of unarmed recruits from Kosovo, of Albanian and Bosniak nationality, were brutally liquidated in Bar by members of the then Partisan unit. The crime was committed without trial, without resistance and without military necessity, and to this day has not received either a legal or historical epilogue. That event, also known as the Tivari massacre, remains a dark stain on the state integrity of Montenegro and the legacy of the anti-fascist struggle," reads the statement signed by the executive director of the CKP Velija Murić.

It is added that the crime was kept quiet for decades.

"In the official histories of the former Yugoslavia, the crime was not mentioned. The archives were closed, and the families of the victims were condemned to silence and oblivion. Today, 80 years later, Montenegro no longer has an excuse to remain silent. This crime, according to modern standards of international law, has the characteristics of a war crime and as such does not expire. Although the direct perpetrators and order-givers are probably deceased, the moral, political and legal obligation of the state to establish the facts, acknowledge the crime and pay respect to the victims remains in force."

They called on the Special State Prosecutor's Office to initiate proceedings in accordance with the norms on the non-existence of statutes of limitations for war crimes.

They are demanding that military and state archives from 1945 be opened, that the responsibility of superiors and the command structure of the units at that time be examined, and that the truth be legally documented in cooperation with historians, the non-governmental sector, and international partners.

They add that initiating this process is not an act of condemnation of the past, but an act of conscience of a modern, European-oriented state.

"We call on the Government of Montenegro, the President of the state and all political actors to make a clear and unambiguous statement about this event. We demand that the Parliament of Montenegro adopt a resolution condemning the crime in Bar, that a dignified memorial be erected in Bar and that the victims be finally named, recognized and inscribed in the collective history of the state they served."

Silence about such a crime, the statement added, is not neutral, but "prolonged complicity in an injustice that has lasted for eight decades."

"If Montenegro wants to be a society of justice and reconciliation, it must pass this test. In the name of law, in the name of justice: We, the members of the organization 'Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms', stand with the families of the victims, with all those who have been carrying the truth without recognition for decades, and with all those who believe that facing the past is a prerequisite for a free and honorable future. Facing the Tivar massacre today is more than historical, it is a test of contemporary human dignity in Montenegro," the statement reads.