Human Rights Action (HRA), Centre for Civic Education (CCE), and ANIMA – Center for Women and Peace Education, invite to memorial gathering on Saturday, 25 May 2024, at noon, in front of the Security Center in Herceg Novi, to mark the anniversary of the war crime of Deportation of Bosnian-Herzegovinian refugees from Montenegro in 1992.

We organize the gathering as an expression of Montenegrin society’s conscience, in memory of the victims of this war crime and in support of their families. For years, we have been advocating for a monument to be erected for the victims and for the state to establish 25 May as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Crime of Deportation of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Refugees.

In May 1992, according to available official documentation, the Montenegrin police illegally arrested at least 66, and according to unofficial data, over a hundred civilians aged 18 to 66, who fled to Montenegro from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as hostages handed them over to the Bosnian Serb army under the leadership of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić to serve them for the exchange of prisoners of war. At least 54 people died, while 12 survived severe forms of torture in the camps of Republika Srpska. The bodies of all the victims have not yet been found.

Montenegro paid compensation for 200 members of the victims’ families after a four-year trial on the basis of a settlement due to the illegal actions of the Montenegrin police that led to tragic consequences. That they were illegally arrested and extradited as hostages was established by a final criminal judgment in Montenegro, as well as by the judgment of the Hague Tribunal in the case of Krnojelac (camp principal in Foča). However, in the criminal proceedings conducted in Montenegro, all the defendants were acquitted, because the court arbitrarily introduced the requirement that the accused “had to belong to the organization of a party to the conflict or act in the service of a party to the conflict in order to be responsible for a war crime”, whereby concluded that Montenegro was not a party to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (verdict Ks. 6/12).

This is the twentieth year that civil society has organized a memorial gathering, and the fifteenth year that it has been held in front of the Police Administration building in Herceg-Novi, from where most of the refugees were forcibly taken and handed over to the army of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We invite you to join us tomorrow.

Among the representatives of the highest state authorities, the gathering will be attended by the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, Siniša Bjeković.

The President of the State, Jakov Milatović, and the Prime Minister, Milojko Spajić, although invited in a timely manner, replied that they were prevented from attending. Associate Marija Vesković will attend the gathering in front of the Cabinet of the President of Montenegro.

On behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the state secretary of the ministry, Petar Koprivica, and the head of the Security Department in Herceg Novi, Dragan Kontić, will attend.

On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting acting General Director in the General Directorate for Bilateral Affairs, Aleksandar Drljević.

On behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister for Labour, Education, Health and Social Policy, Srđan Pavićević, Ph.D., adviser Mirjana Maslovar.

On behalf of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, the manager of the Municipality, Dušan Vukić, from the political party URA.

The presence of the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Montenegro, Branimir Jukić, representatives of the Bosniak Council, representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as well as the Liberal Party, the Social Democrats, and non-governmental organizations have so far confirmed the presence of the meeting.

At the memorial gathering Last year in 2023, Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, Advisor to the Prime Minister Đorđe Radulović, Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Development and Minister of Capital Investments Ervin Ibrahimović, Minister of Justice Marko Kovač, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Admir Adrović, State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Krsto Perović and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Mersudin Gredić were present. In front of the Municipality of Herceg-Novi, the manager of the Municipality, Dušan Vukić, from the political party URA was present.

Two years ago, in 2022, the gathering was attended by four ministers in the Government of Montenegro (Minister of Internal Affairs Filip Adžić, Minister of Justice Marko Kovač, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Admir Adrović, now former minister without portfolio Adrijan Vuksanović) and director of the Police Administration Zoran Brđanin. The meeting was also attended by the head of CB Herceg Novi, Predrag Žižić.

THREE INITIATIVES

HRA, CCE, ANIMA and then a member of the Council for Citizen Control of Police Work, Aleksandar Saša Zeković, thirteen years ago, in 2011, submitted three initiatives:

• To the former President of the Montenegrin Parliament, Ranko Krivokapić, and all the heads of parliamentary clubs, to declare a Remembrance Day for the victims of the deportation crime in 1992;
• To the former Prime Minister of Montenegro, Igor Lukšić, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivan Brajović, the Minister of Culture, Branislav Mićunović, and the former President of the Municipal Assembly of Herceg Novi, Dejan Mandić, to erect a memorial monument to the victims of the deportation of refugees in 1992 in front of the Police Administration Station in Herceg Novi, thus supporting the wishes of the families of the deceased victims;
• Fot the Montenegrin police to issue an apology for the illegal arrest and extradition of refugees to the hostile army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We have been repeating these initiatives for years, so in May 2021, we repeated the first initiative to the then President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Aleksa Bečić, who replied that the Law on State and Other Holidays should be changed for this purpose, but he did nothing to initiate its change.

We repeated the second initiative in September 2021 to the President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, the President of the Municipality Assembly Herceg Novi, Ivan Otović, the committee clubs of the Municipality Assembly Herceg Novi and the then Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Vesna Bratić. We have not received any response from them. This year, together with the Bosniak Council, we sent the same initiative to the President of the Municipality Herceg Novi, Stevan Katić, and the President of the Municipal Assembly, Ivan Otović, and to all councilors in the local parliament of Herceg Novi, from whom we have not received any response to date.

The third initiative was the only one accepted in 2022, when the Director of the Police Directorate Zoran Brđanin and Minister Filip Adžić attended a memorial gathering in Herceg Novi on the occasion of thirty years since the crime and issued a public apology to the victims and victims’ families for the actions of the Montenegrin police.

Human Rights Action (HRA)
Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
ANIMA – Center for Women and Peace Education