UDIK Udruženje za društvena istraživanja i komunikacije
The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) reminds the public of the 30th anniversary of the war crimes against the Bosniaks of Čajniče. During May 1992, Bosniak civilians previously captured in the town or surrounding villages, as well as on the road to Pljevlja (Montenegro) while trying to escape the war, were killed at the hunting lodge in Mostina near Čajniče.
Last year, UDIK published the book “War Crimes in Čajniče – Verdicts” which documents the verdicts of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for crimes committed against civilians in Čajniče and its surroundings. The Court has sentenced Milorad Živković, Milun Kornjača, Milosav Jovanović, Marijan Jovanović and Slavko Jovanović to six to eleven years in prison. Duško Tadić and Stevo Jovanović were acquitted. In 2015, the State Court confirmed the indictment against Duško Kornjača, charging him with the criminal offense of crimes against humanity, but he is inaccessible to the judicial authorities.
According to the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a total of 138 missing persons were reported in the area of Čajniče. To date, 90 victims have been found and identified. So far, the remains of 68 exhumed men and 22 women have been handed over to their families. The fate of another 48 people from Čajniče, who are still being searched for 18 years after the horrific crimes, is completely unknown. The largest grave with the bodies of Bosniaks from Čajniče was found in Mostina, from which the remains of 18 victims were exhumed in September 2002. The youngest victim in this mass grave was Zlatko Bukva. He was only 19 at the time he was killed. In addition to this, six more mass graves were found in Mostina, from which the bodies of a total of 60 victims were exhumed.
We urge all competent institutions to work more intensively on finding the remains and prosecuting those responsible for these crimes. Regional cooperation on war crimes issues should be a real example of dealing with the past, and Serbia will best show that by extraditing Duško Kornjača to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only in this way can we speak of a responsible culture of memory for all the victims of the wars of the 1990s.
