On Thursday, the Mostar camp inmates’ association marked the 32nd anniversary of the beginning of the dissolution of the Croatian Defense Council camp ‘Heliodrom’ in the Rodoč neighborhood near Mostar, where they were denied access to the building of the former camp, which is now part of the University of Mostar campus.
“Not allowing entry into the area of the former Heliodrom camp is a defeat of civilization in Mostar, and this has been proven for many years. The university, which is supposed to educate and create new people, is doing what no educational institution should do, which is preventing camp inmates from honoring their fellow prisoners,” said the president of the Association of Camp Campers in Mostar, Emir Hajdarević.
Camp inmates also expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
”Prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not conduct any high-quality investigation or trial. No verdict concerning the command staff has been implemented in Herzegovina. Everything that was tried was tried in individual cases, and the inmates are dissatisfied with the work of the prosecutor’s office, the court, from the state to the canton. As for the Heliodrom camp, there is one verdict, after the war, the verdict against Anto Buhovac and Miri Marjanović, based on a private lawsuit by one of the camp inmates,” stated Hajdarević.
As he stated, about ten thousand people passed through the Heliodrom camp.
“In the last exchange, about three thousand people were released from here, 77 people were killed, which was confirmed by name and surname, and we are dealing with another four or five names that we cannot confirm with certainty,” he reminds.
Today, the Mostar camp inmates association was not allowed to enter the site of the former camp, and the situation is similar with the Croatian Homeland War camp inmates association in HNK, who do not have permission to access the former camp “IV Elementary School in Mostar”.
“We invited them to commemorate the places of suffering together, but they did not agree to it,” said Hajdarević.
The president of the Association of Prisoners of the HNK, Amer Đulić, recalled that camp detainees were killed at work in the city and the surrounding area, and that many suffered serious physical injuries, with lasting health consequences. Đulić expressed his regret that the camp inmates have not been allowed to enter the site of the former camp for five years to pay their respects to the victims. He also criticized the planned construction of the HVO Museum at that location, stressing that it is unacceptable that the museum be built without a memorial room dedicated to the victims of the camp, Federalna writes.
