List of participants of Visegrad Public Security Station 1991-1996

For years victim families asked their pre-war Serb friends and neighbors  about the whereabouts of their loved ones. The most common answer was that they were not in Visegrad at that time or that they were cooks in the military and knew nothing. Below is a list of participants in the Visegrad Public Security Station ( Centar Javne Bezbjednosti) from 1991 – 1996. This list is available at the ICTY Legal Library and was used in the Lukic cases.

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Partisan heritage destroyed in Visegrad

Image: A commemorative plaque which was on the walls of the old high-school in Visegrad broken by workers. The old building is being destroyed to build a new HQ of the Visegrad dam. (Photo credits: visegrad.rs.ba)

The text read :„Jedinice Prve Krajiske brigade oslobodile su 24 oktobra 1943 prvi put Visegrad.U znak sjećanja i zahvalnosti oslobodiocima našeg grada opštinski odbor Saveza boraca NOR-a podiže ovu Spomen ploču. u Višegradu, 4. jula 1957. godine“.

Translation:

“Forces of the First Krajina Brigade liberated this town for the first time on 24 October 1943. As a token of our appreciation  to the liberators of our town, the municipality council of  Association of war veterans made this plaque on 4 July 1957”

Luckily, so neighbors quickly came and saved what was possible to save of this plaque. The Municipality showed no interest in saving this valuable piece of history.

Mustafa,Mensur and Smail Omerovic

Image: Mustafa Omerovic, 1941-14.06.1992, was murdered in the Paklenik massacre.

Image: Mensur Omerovic, son of Mustafa, 1972-14.06.1992, murdered in the Paklenik massacre.

Image: Smail Omerovic, son of Mustafa, 1969-14.06.1992, murdered in the Paklenik massacre.

Call for proposals – Pionirska Street and Bikavac massacre monuments

_____________________________________________________________

CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED 10.03.2012.

The results and best proposal will be published on VGM!

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Judge Patrick Robinson, President of the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia, passing sentence on two of the prime culprits, observed that:

“In the all too long, sad and wretched history of man’s inhumanity to man, the Pionirska Street and Bikavac fires must rank high. At the close of the twentieth century, a century marked by war and bloodshed on a colossal scale, these horrific events stand out for the viciousness of the incendiary attack, for the obvious premeditation and calculation that defined it, for the sheer callousness and brutality of herding, trapping and locking the victims in the two houses, thereby rendering them helpless in the ensuing inferno, and for the degree of pain and suffering inflicted on the victims as they were burnt alive.”

The two massacres, in which nearly 150 Bosniak civilians – women, children and elderly – were burned alive by Bosnian Serb Army soldiers, took place in June 1992 in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad.

The few survivors and relatives of the victims are anxious to have memorial monuments erected at the two localities to honour the memory of those who perished and to serve as a reminder to future generations.

Image: The house of Adem Omeragic in Pionirska Street where around 70 Bosniak civilians were burned alive by Bosnian Serb soldiers. (Photo credits: ICTY)

Image: The area where Meho Aljic’s house on Bikavac used to stand. Around 70 Bosniak civilians were burned alive by Bosnian Serb soldiers. The house was later bulldozed and evidence destroyed.(Photo credits: Prof. David Pettigrew)

The Pionirska Street and Bikavac Massacres Memorial Committee therefore wish to invite proposals from which architectural designs for two monuments will be chosen.

The monuments will be respectful, simple, robust and appropriate to their site.  The Committee has no revenues of its own and in the absence of external funds the monuments project is being proposed as a public interest scheme.

Interested applicants should bear this in mind and submit their designs on a pro bono publico basis, in the anticipation that no fee or expenses will be paid. It is hoped that the memorial monuments will be in place ahead of the twentieth anniversary commemoration events in 2012.

For general background information and details of the Committee’s specific requirements, architects interested in contributing to the remembrance of these two terrible crimes should initially contact

visegradgenocide(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

More:

– Bikavac Revisited 27.06.2010

– Visegrad, memory and justice by Peter Lipmann

– Visegrad: Remembering the Bikavac fire massacre by Sarah Correia

Milan Lukic’s sadistic humour

Image: Milan Lukic and Vidoje Andric leaning on the infamous red passat which belonged to Behija Zukic-one of Milan’s first victims.

While some Defence witnesses have described Sredoje and Milan LUKIC as

being disposed toward humour many of the victims recount sadistic humour at the expense of vulnerable people. Men who were killed by the Drina were sometimes asked if they could swim just before they were killed.84

Just prior to killing the two boys with VG-089 on the new bridge Milan LUKIC said “We’re out of petrol. We have to take the Drina river. It’s true, it’s a bit cold, but nevermind.”85

Once in the police station and upon seeing the father of a former schoolmate asking for LUKIC’s help, LUKIC said, “I won’t kill you – – I’ll slit your throat”.86

During the course of his many rapes Milan LUKIC would often joke about planning to marry the victims, or that they would now carry “little Milans”87

He laughed in the parking lot of the Visegrad Health Centre as Behija ZUKIC’s body was brought to the morgue while he was sitting in her car.88

VG-089 described a chilling scene when Milan LUKIC threw a 14-year-old boy off the new bridge in Visegrad and then shot him; another boy who was there began crying and frantically trying to find coins in his pocket to give to LUKIC. Some of the coins fell to the pavement and the little boy tried to pick them up to give LUKIC. LUKIC reached down toward the boy and told him not to worry – that he would do nothing. As soon as he said this he quickly tossed the boy over the rail and into the river.89

Source: Prosecution brief Milan Lukic Appeals Chamber (page 21)

Mujo Hecimovic

Image: Mujo Hecimovic,born on 13.05.1965, abducted from his home on 18.06.1992. He lived in Slavica Vajnera Cice Street. According to his son, he was abducted by Dragan Savic. His whereabouts are unknown.