In the barracks of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) “Bozan Simovic” in the village of Grabovine near Capljina, in the organization of the Association of Stolac War Camp Detainees, for the first time after 30 years, a tribute was paid to the camp prisoners of Stolac and Capljina.
“We are entering this barracks for the first time in 30 years. On this day, April 15th, 1993, mass arrests of Bosniaks from Stolac and Capljina municipalities began, mostly members of the Army of the Republic of BiH (ARBiH) and intellectuals from Stolac and Capljina, i.e. people who, as they imagined, could organize some action or rebellion at that time. The first prisoners were imprisoned in this barracks,” the president of the Association of Stolac War Camp Detainess, Amer Djulic, stated.
He pointed out that they are not coming with any revenge or anything like that but with the aim of visiting places and paying tribute, expressing the hope that, in the near future, they will be able to make a memorial plaque that would remind of the suffering in that camp.
Moreover, Djulic notes that in the beginning, about a hundred prisoners were housed in this place, of which 62 were members of the ARBiH and 45 were civilians.
“A murder of one inmate from Stolac took place here, the perpetrator of which was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison by the Cantonal Court. It is very important that we cultivate a culture of memory because we must not forget what happened,” Djulic concluded.
One of the first prisoners of this place was Ibro Mahmutovic from Stolac, who says that on this day 30 years ago he was arrested and brought to this barracks.
“After 15 days, around 350 to 500 people were brought here. The first arrests were of people who meant something, either military or civilian. Mostly highly educated people and military experts were arrested. There was torture, beatings, hunger, and everything that should not be done to a person,” he explained.
Emir Hajdarovic, president of the Assembly of the Association of Detainees of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC), added that the main goal of their activities, especially recently, is to mark all the places where people suffered in the past war in order to serve new generations, with the message that it never happens or happens again.
E.Dz.
