Although they encountered closed doors at the former detention sites of Heliodrom in Mostar and the Museum in Jablanica, former detainees and peace activists, during the two-day peace action organized by the Center for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo-Belgrade (CNA), visited and commemorated detention sites in Herzegovina. With an understanding of each other’s suffering, they emphasized that crimes must not be repeated or forgotten.
Closed doors and roses at the gate
In the early Sunday morning, participants set off to Rodoc, south of Mostar, to the Heliodrom. There are facilities of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) barracks, which served as a prison for non-Croats from this area during the war. Today, part of the buildings belong to the University of Mostar.
Although they would like to visit the premises where the detainees were held, participants do not have permission to move beyond the gate and enter the part belonging to the University.
“We have not received any response from the University. Absolute silence. Then we tried by registered mail, to have proof that someone received that documentation,” explains Nedzad Novalic, who is part of the CNA team.
Emir Hajdarovic passed through several Herzegovinian camps during the war. In front of the Heliodrom, he explains part of what happened in this camp.
“You were constantly under pressure – with very little food, regular work outings, entries, and daily mistreatment, especially people who were regularly taken to work in the city of Mostar, where they were on the front lines,” he says, adding that, according to available data, more than 70 people associated with Heliodrom were killed.
“What we are fighting against today is what we encountered – we are fighting against closed doors. We are fighting against a museum that glorifies those who tortured us,” says Hajdarovic.
The participants paid their respects, laid white roses, and continued the action, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
