Today, the 29th anniversary of the murder of ten Sarajevo citizens and injuring of eleven others will be marked by laying flowers and visiting the former “Tunnel of Hope”, with the hope that the crime will not be forgotten and never repeated and that the culture of remembrance of life in a city under siege will be nurtured.
Senida Karovic, president of the Union of Civilian War Victims of the Canton Sarajevo (CS), explained how the Union is the driving force behind activities commemorating the 46 sites of civilian war victims during the siege of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), including the tragedy at the entrance to the tunnel.
She notes that the Union will commemorate May 7th this year, the day in 1995 when ten Sarajevo citizens were killed at the entrance to the tunnel, with eleven others being seriously and lightly wounded.
“Unfortunately, interest in commemoration seems to be diminishing year by year. However, since we are the victims and the drivers of these activities, it is our duty, mission, and obligation to commemorate, remind, and warn so that it is never forgotten,” says Karovic.
She explains that the “Tunnel of Hope” was of exceptional importance after its opening in late July 1993—it was a window to the world, providing the citizens of Sarajevo with a supply of food, medicine, and information. In this way, in addition to remembering all the killed and wounded citizens, the memory of the difficult life of the citizens of Sarajevo under siege is also revived.
“Therefore, it is important to remember, warn, and nurture a culture of remembrance, all in the interest of ensuring it is never forgotten and never repeated,” she adds.
The Hague judgments sentenced former political and military leaders of Republika Srpska (RS) – Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic—to life imprisonment for campaigns of terror against civilians through sniper and artillery attacks.
Stanislav Galic and Dragomir Milosevic, former commanders of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of RS (VRS), were also sentenced in The Hague. Galic was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading a campaign of sniper and shelling attacks on Sarajevo primarily aimed at spreading terror among civilians. Milosevic was sentenced to 29 years in prison by the Hague Tribunal in 2009 for terrorizing civilians in Sarajevo.
The judgments of the Hague Tribunal established that the units of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the VRS deliberately targeted civilians, conducting a campaign of terror that lasted for three and a half years. The judgments related to Sarajevo and its surroundings in the database “Judicially Established Facts about the War in BiH” were analyzed, but to date, no direct perpetrators have been prosecuted.
During the 44 months of the siege of the capital of BiH, according to association data, more than 11,000 residents were killed, including around 1.601 children, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
