On Monday, August 21st, the 31st anniversary of the murders of more than 200 inmates will be marked with an event and the throwing of roses down the Koricani Cliffs, and the families and associations are trying to preserve the memories of those killed from being forgotten with the annual commemoration, but also indicate the need to build a memorial at this location.
The president of the Association of Inmates Kozarac, Jusuf Arifagic, says that it is sad that in three decades this area at the Koricani Cliffs, and all the execution sites throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), has not been marked in a dignified way, nor has certain infrastructure been built.
Mirsad Duratovic, president of the Head of the Regional Union of Association of War Prisoners in the Banja Luka region, recalled that a memorial plaque had already been placed at this location, which was immediately removed, and hopes for a future in which people’s consciousness will change so that a memorial would not bother anyone, but rather warn that what happened on Koricani Cliffs would never happen again.
Among the exhumed camp inmates who were killed on Koricani Cliffs, there are also five from Kotor-Varos, namely three Croats and two Bosniaks, emphasized Munevera Avdic, president of the Association of Families of Martyrs, Fallen Fighters and Missing Persons “Vrbanja” Kotor-Varos.
“This must never be forgotten, we must pass it on to our younger generations, and it should be known that a memorial should have been made. It is very important that it must never be forgotten, that it must be reminded and commemorated,” she adds.
In addition to representatives of these three associations, others will attend the commemoration, such as the Former Prison Camp Inmate Association ‘Prijedor 92’ and the BiH Association of Former Prison Camp Inmates, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
