Oblivion must not cover up innocent victims, because preserving the truth remains the foundation of lasting peace and the protection of future generations – this was stated today at a joint commemorative session of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, the Sarajevo City Council and municipal councils from the Canton area at the Sarajevo National Theatre, on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for the Killed and Wounded Citizens During the Siege and the 32nd anniversary of the Markale massacre.
The Chairman of the Canton Assembly, Elvedin Okerić, recalled that in 2007, the Sarajevo Canton Assembly declared February 5th the Day of Remembrance for all the Killed and Wounded Citizens of Sarajevo During the Siege. He pointed out that the presence of students from the First Gymnasium, the First Bosniak Gymnasium and the Obala Gymnasium at the session was of particular importance because it is precisely the young people who need to preserve the truth about what happened so that crimes do not happen again.
“Today, we cherish the culture of remembrance and do not allow oblivion to cover up innocent victims and crimes committed. Sarajevo does not forget its citizens who gave their lives for freedom. 32 years ago, in 1994, one of the most serious crimes was committed at the Markale market during the siege of the city of Sarajevo. At that time, 68 of our fellow citizens were killed and 142 were wounded. The massacre at Markale remained a permanent symbol of Sarajevo’s suffering during the 1,425-day siege in which more than 11,500 citizens, including 1,601 children, were killed, while more than 50,000 people were wounded,” said Okerić.
He added that behind every number there is an interrupted human story, pain and irreparable loss for families and society.
“Although more than three decades have passed since the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the search for complete justice is still ongoing. Insisting on the prosecution of all those responsible for war crimes is not only a moral and civilizational obligation, but also a fundamental guarantee of lasting peace,” emphasized Okerić.
He warned that evil ideologies, if they remain, become an alibi for new crimes.
“Today we are witnessing terrible destruction in Gaza, because aggression and terror are being perpetrated against these people. It is our duty to preserve, convey and defend the truth on behalf of the victims, future generations and in the name of peace. Oblivion must not cover the innocent victims,” said the Chairman of the Assembly of the Canton of Sarajevo.
Director of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity of the University of Sarajevo, Muamer Džananović, recalled that the massacre at Markale was one of the most documented crimes against civilians during the siege of Sarajevo.
“For me, this day is particularly emotional, as it is for everyone who survived the siege of this city. At the beginning of 1992, I was less than seven years old and I spent the aggression in Sarajevo. I am not saying this to personalize the facts, but to remind that behind the statistics are childhoods, families, streets, neighborhoods, memory, trauma, pain,” said Džananović.
He recalled the crime in the settlement of Otoka on November 10, 1993, when nine fellow citizens were killed, among them five children, the youngest of two and the oldest of nine.
“For that crime, as well as for numerous other mass crimes during the siege, no one has been held accountable by the Bosnia and Herzegovina judiciary to this day,” he said.
Džananović described the everyday life of the siege, recalling the explosion of a modified aerial bomb on June 28, 1995 near RTV dom.
“That was my everyday life, but also the everyday life of Sarajevo citizens of all ages, which many did not survive. We, who were children then, did not fully understand what was happening. In the basements and shelters where we spent our days and nights, there was sometimes a semblance of normality. We played, talked and tried to preserve fragments of childhood. What we were not aware of at the time was that our childhood was violently interrupted and that fear, loss and insecurity became the basis of our growing up,” he said.
He emphasized that contemporary research on trauma shows that war violence does not end with the end of the war, and that trauma acts as a permanent psychological record. He referred to the American theorist Marianne Hirsch, who talks about post-memory, that is, the experience of generations who bear the consequences of events they experienced as children or inherited through family and social memories.
“There is clear evidence in the judgments of the Hague Court that the 7th Battalion of the 1st Romanian Infantry Brigade of the Sarajevo-Romanian Corps had a 120 mm mortar in Mrkovići, which is northeast of Markal. For the sake of the victims, it is important to emphasize that denial is not a second opinion. Markale was not an isolated case, but part of a systemic pattern of terror against the civilian population of Sarajevo and mass crimes,” Džananović pointed out.
He reminded that the settlements of Alipašino Polje, Dobrinja, Čengić vila, Hrasno, Marijin Dvor, Sedrenik, Soukbunar and other locations were shelled, and that between the first and second massacre, Markala was shelled several times, as well as frequented parts of the center of Sarajevo.
“The inhabitants of Sarajevo, as well as the inhabitants of other so-called safe zones of the United Nations, in reality had no protection whatsoever. After Srebrenica was declared a safe zone on April 16, 1993, and then on May 6, Žepa, Goražde, Sarajevo, Tuzla and Bihać, it was under this status that the largest military operations of the self-proclaimed Army of Republika Srpska and the Army of Yugoslavia were carried out, as well as the most massive crimes against civilians, including Markale on February 5, 1994 and August 28, 1995,” he concluded.
As part of the commemorative session, the exhibition “Crimes at Markale: Killing and Wounding of Civilians – Trial of Criminals, Denial of Truth, Resistance to Forgetting” by the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law UNSA was opened in the National Theater.
After opening in the National Theater, the exhibition will be open to visitors in the Bosnian Cultural Center from February 6.
The siege of Sarajevo began on April 5, 1992, and ended on February 29, 1996. It is estimated that around 500,000 missiles were fired at the city during the siege. In March 2019, the former president of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadžić was sentenced to life imprisonment for wartime terror against the citizens of Sarajevo, including the two massacres in Markale, as well as the commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) Ratko Mladić.
For war crimes against the inhabitants of Sarajevo, the International Court in The Hague sentenced high-ranking officers of the VRS – Stanislav Galić to life imprisonment, and Dragomir Milošević to 29 years, Fena news agency writes.
