30/6/2015 – REACTION TO DENIAL OF MONUMENT TO THE VICTIMS OF DEPORTATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA REFUGEES

NGOs Anima, Human Rights Action, Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and Aleksandar Saša Zeković, president of the Council for Civic control of the police work, express their dissatisfaction and regret due to the decision of the majority of councillors of Municipal Assembly of Herceg Novi to be absent (SNP and Clubs of Democrats) or sustained (DPS, Izbor, New Serbian Democracy) during the voting on the initiative to build a monument in honour of victims of crime of deportation, in front of the Security centre in Herceg Novi where Bosnian refugees were illegally detained in 1992, and in an organised manner deported to enemy army of Bosnian Serbs as hostages.

Victims of this crime are undisputed, and that they were detained and deported as hostages in an illegal manner was determined with the final verdict. The only disputable issue is that the court failed to recognise the war crime in that.

Absence or sustained attitude on paying the tribute to innocent victims, for majority of which we still do not know the whereabouts of their graves, is a measure of humanity of councillors of Municipal Assembly of Herceg Novi and the will of Montenegro to face the truth and prevent anything similar from happening again.

On the other hand, we welcome the decision of Dragan Šimrak and Milica Berberović from SDP and of Jovana Šijaković from Izbor who voted for this initiative.

Ljupka Kovačević, coordinator, ANIMA
Tea Gorjanc Prelević, executive director, Human Rights Action
Daliborka Uljarević, executive director, CCE
Aleksandar Saša Zeković, president, Council for Civic control of the police work