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[:en]By Saša Kulukčija
Sarajevo, 19 February 2021 –The mortal remains of four members of a high-profile group known as the “Bugojno 21” who disappeared 1993 in the Bugojno area during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been located by the BIH authorities with support from the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). With two of the group identified earlier, 15 remain missing.
In a sign of progress in the case, BIH’s authorities this week identified the four individuals as Zoran Galić, Dragan Miličević, Ante Markulj and Franjo Jezidžić. The identification by authorities was based on analysis and matching of DNA profiles conducted late last year at ICMP’s lab in The Hague. ICMP’s technical assistance was made possible with the financial support of the European Union.
Dijana Strujić, President of Bugojno Municipality Association of Families of Killed and Missing Soldiers of the Homeland War, said the case “showed families that they should not lose hope.”
The case, she said, also dispelled arguments by anyone who denies what happened: “They can no longer lie to us and tell us that the crimes did not happen and that we imagined them,” she said, adding: “I call on all those who have any information to share it with the competent institutions in order to finally resolve the fate of those forcibly taken from the camp in Bugojno. I believe that they are all at Rostovo, at the same place where these four bodies were found. The anonymous report is the last straw of salvation for our missing relatives we are still searching for, as well as for all those who were forcibly taken away and went missing in this war. We, on all three sides, have the same goal and that is to find our loved ones.”
Marko Jurisic, Member of the Board of Directors of the Missing Persons Institute, said additional efforts are needed to bring the process of accounting for the missing persons to an end.
“The state, through its institutions and in cooperation with international organizations (ICMP), provided an answer to family members about the fate of their loved ones after 27 years,” he said. “Without resolving the issue of missing persons, it is impossible to build a democratic and open society.”
Matthew Holliday, Head of ICMP’s Western Balkans Program, said: “Authorities and political leaders in BIH should unequivocally support the process of accounting for all missing persons and bring all perpetrators to justice in line with the rule of law.”
The four identified individuals were a part of group of 21 prominent Bosnian Croats from Bugojno who in November 1993 allegedly were transferred from the Stadion detention centre in Bugojno to an unknown destination after the Bosnian forces took over the town.
Their remains were found last July, when a resident in the village of Rostovo in the Bugojno municipality was preparing to build a holiday home. BIH authorities exhumed the remains in the same month with ICMP technical assistance. One of the victims who disappeared at Bugojno was identified in 1999 and another in 2011.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, assisted by ICMP, has accounted for 75 percent of the approximately 30,000 persons reported missing as a consequence of the 1990s conflict. Further progress is difficult due to the lack of information on possible locations of mass and clandestine graves. Anyone with information of such locations can report anonymously through ICMP.
About ICMP
ICMP is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization with Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Its mandate is to secure the cooperation of governments and others in locating missing persons from conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration and other causes and to assist them in doing so. It is the only international organization tasked exclusively to work on the issue of missing persons.
[:bs]Autor: Saša Kulukčija
Sarajevo, 19. februar 2021. godine – Nadležne institucije Bosne i Hercegovine, uz podršku Međunarodne komisije za nestale osobe (ICMP) pronašli su i identifikovale posmrtne ostatke četiri osobe iz grupe poznate kao “Bugojno 21”, koji su nestali tokom sukoba u Bosni i Hercegovini 1993. godine u okolini Bugojna. Uz dvije osobe koje su prethodno identifikovane, još uvijek se traga za 15 nestalih.
U prilog napretku ostvarenom na rješavanju ovog slučaja, tokom sedmice bh institucije su identifikovale četiri pronađene osobe kao Zorana Galića, Dragana Miličevića, Antu Markulja i Franju Jezidžića. Identifikacija se temeljila na testiranju i utvrđenim podudarnostima DNK koji su krajem prošle godine izvršeni u ICMP-ovoj laboratoriji u Hagu. Tehnička pomoć ICMP-a omogućena je uz financijsku podrišku Evropske unije.
Dijana Strujić, predsjednica Udruge obitelji hrvatskih branitelja poginulih i nestalih u Domovinskom ratu općine Bugojno, kazala je da slučaj “porodicama pokazuje da ne treba gubiti nadu”.
Rekla je i kako ovaj slučaj pobija tvdnje onih koji poriču šta se dogodilo: ”ne mogu nam dalje lagati i govoriti kako se zločini nisu dogodili i kako smo ih mi umislili” kazala je, dodavši: ”pozivam sve one koji imaju bilo kakve informacije da ih ustupe i podijele s nadležnim institucijama kako bi konačno saznali istinu o sudbini nasilno odvedenih iz logora u Bugojnu. Vjerujem da su svi na Rostovu, na istom mjestu gdje su pronađena i ova četiri tijela. Anonimne prijave su posljedna nada da ćemo pronaći naše nestale srodnike za kojima tragamo, ali i za sve ostale nasilno odvedene i nestale tokom ovog rata. Mi, na sve tri strane, imamo isti cilj, a on je pronaći naše voljene.”
Marko Jurišić, član Kolegija direktora Instituta za nestale osobe kazao je da su potrebni dodatni napori kako bi se proces pronalaženja i identifikacije nestalih doveo do kraja.
“Nakon 27 godina, država je, kroz svoje institucije i u saradnji s međunarodnim organizacijama (ICMP), odgovorila na pitanje koje postavljaju članovi porodica o sudbini svojih voljenih”, rekao je. “Ako se ne riješi pitanje nestalih osoba, nemoguće je stvarati demokratsko i otvoreno društvo.”
Matthew Holliday, šef Programa za zapadni Balkan, rekao je kako ” Vlasti BiH i njeni politički lideri trebaju dati nedvosmislenu podršku procesu rješavanja pitanja nestalih i privesti sve počinioce pred lice pravde u skladu s vladavinom zakona.”
Četiri identifikovane osobe dio su grupe od 21 istaknutog Hrvata iz Bugojna, koji su u novembru 1993. godine, nakon što su bosanske snage preuzele kontrolu nad gradom, navodno prebačeni iz pritvora na bugojanskom stadionu na nepoznatu lokaciju.
Njhovi posmrtni ostaci pronađeni su u julu prošle godine, kada je mještanin sela na Rostovu u općini Bugojno pripremao zemljište za gradnju vikendice. Vlasti BiH su istoga mjeseca, uz ICMP-ovu tehničku podršku, ekshumirale posmrtne ostatke. Jedna od žrtava nestalih u Bugojnu identifikovana je 1999. godine, a druga žrtva 2011. godine.
Bosna i Hercegovina je uz ICMP-ovu pomoć pronašla i identifikovala 75 procenata od oko 30.000 nestalih u sukobima 1990-ih. Dalji napredak u ovom procesu otežan je izostankom informacija o potencijalnim lokacijama masovnih i skrivenih grobnica. Svako ko posjeduje informacije o takvim lokacijama može ih anonimno prijaviti putem ICMP.
O ICMP-u
ICMP je sporazumom utemeljena međunarodna organizacija sa sjedištem u Hagu u Nizozemskoj. Njegov mandat je osigurati saradnju vlada i drugih organa vlasti u pronalaženju osoba nestalih usljed sukoba, kršenja ljudskih prava, nesreća, organiziranog kriminala, ilegalnih migracija i drugih razloga te pružiti im pomoć u tim procesima. Jedina je međunarodna organizacija koja radi isključivo na rješavanju pitanja nestalih osoba.
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