The key problems of family members of murdered missing persons from Kalinovik are the slow search and lack of information about missing persons in the area of Kalinovik and surrounding municipalities and the constant glorification of war criminals, it was said today at the commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the crime in Kalinovik.
Today, families of the murdered and missing, witnesses and citizens marked the 31st anniversary of the crime, by visiting the former camps and execution grounds, including the infamous “Barutni magacin” camp, and laid flowers and honored the murdered victims.
President of that association, Samir Vranović, said during the marking that the main perpetrators of the crime in Kalinovik have not yet been prosecuted and are in Serbia, but reminded that the places of suffering have not yet been marked due to the obstruction of the local authorities, Fena news agency reports.
“The lack of information is crucial for families looking for their murdered missing family members, because it is difficult, if not impossible, to find real information about finding primary and secondary graves. The families do not give up, they are waiting for the murderers to show mercy or honest neighbors who have a little conscience to show the locations of those killed from the death camp in Kalinovik,” said Vranović.
He also emphasized that an additional problem is the glorification of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, and that despite the changes to the Criminal Code, imposed by former High Representative Valentin Inzko, which also refer to the ban on glorifying war criminals, the mural dedicated to Ratko Mladić has never been removed.
Vranović said that he expects the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the High Representative to take concrete steps to implement the law and remove the mural of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.
He also reminded that the key perpetrators of the crime in Kalinovik are still at large in Serbia.
Vranović claims that some prosecutors, and now the management of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, are consciously obstructing the indictment against Grujo Lalović and Boško Govedarica, key war criminals from the Crisis Staff who planned and directly commanded the ethnic cleansing of Bosniak civilians and the establishment of camps.
He reminded that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed final prison sentences for a total of 57 years for the crimes in Kalinovik, but that no indictment was brought against the key culprits.
Vranović said that in Serbia, a member of the RS Army, Dalibor Krstović, known as Dado, was sentenced for rape to nine years.
The Hague Tribunal (ICTY) sentenced the commander of the special volunteer unit Dragoslav Kunarac Žaga to 28 years in prison for the crimes in Kalinovik and Foča.
Vranović also emphasized that the places where civilians were killed in Kalinovik were not marked.
A total of 122 Bosniaks were killed in Kalinovik. The remains of 80 people were found and identified, and the search for 42 people is still ongoing.
