The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK)reminds the public of the anniversaryof the war crimes that took place in Pionirska Street and Bikavac in Višegrad in June 1992. In the Pionirska Street Fire, on June 14, 1992, a group of Bosniak civilians were locked en masse in the house of Adem Omeragić in Višegrad. The house was set ablaze and the occupants were left to burn to death. About seventy Bosniak women, children and elderly men, most of them from the village of Koritnik, were confined in a house in Pionirska Street by cousins Milan and Sredoje Lukić, leaders of the unit called Avengers. The youngest victim was two days old.A similar scenario happened on June 27, when approximately seventy Bosniak civilians were forced into one room in the house of Meho Aljić in the settlement of Bikavac. After the captives were robbed, the house was set on fire and the occupants were burned alive. According to the testimony of Zehra Turjačanin before ICTY, there were many children in the house, the youngest less than one year old. Such crimes were repeated at several other locations in Višegrad.

The Hague Tribunal sentenced Milan Lukićto life imprisonment for crimes in Višegrad, including Pionirska and Bikavac. Sredoje Lukićwas sentenced to 27 years in prison for the Pionirska Street Fireand Uzamnica war camp.In 2019, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a verdict sentencing Radomir Šušnjar to 20 years in prison for participating in the attack, inhumane treatment and robbery of civilians from the village of Koritnik, who were detained in the house of Jusuf Memić in Pionirska Street in Višegrad. The civilians had to move to the house of Adem Omeragić, about thirty meters away, where they were detained on the ground floor.Milan Lukić threw an incendiary explosive device, and Radomir Šušnjar threw a hand grenade. They shot at civilians who tried to escape.

In order to bring the facts established by the courts closer to the public and to pay tribute to the victims, UDIK is actively working on documenting war crimes verdicts issued before the courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2017, the publication “War Crimes in Višegrad – Verdicts” was published, which documents nine cases of the State Court and the Supreme Court of FB&H that convicted Boban Šimšić, Dragan Šekarić, Miloš Pantelić, Momir Savić, Nenad Tanasković, Novo Rajak, Oliver Krsmanović, Predrag Milisavljević, Vitomir Racković and Željko Lelek for war crimes in Višegrad. In continuation of this series of verdicts, UDIK is presenting two new publications documenting trials for war crimes committed in Višegrad. While one publication contains four cases of the State Court in which Mirko Tasić, Momir Tasić, Petar Kovačević, Petar Tasić, Radomir Šušnjar and Vuk Ratković were tried, the other brings the case against Milomir Đuričić and Vukadin Spasojević, who were sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison for the Uzamnica camp. This publication also brings stories written by Edvin Kanka Ćudić that have been published in local and regional media. These are stories that commemorate the victims of Višegrad, but also appeal to the people of Višegrad not to remain silent but to speak the truth about the fates of their neighbors.

Although war crimes have been documented and the perpetrators have been convicted, there is still denial and relativization of crimes. Institutions that served as places of detention, torture, rape and other inhumane treatment during the war, and today are places of meeting, rest and rehabilitation, also play a significant role in this. Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and UDIK recently implemented an initiative calling on Montenegrin institutions not to give credence to the rehabilitation center “Vilina Vlas” in Višegrad, known as a place of detention and rape of Bosniak women and which today operates regularly as a spa resort. On this occasion, UDIK appeals to all institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region to pay more attention to moral principles in their business operations and not to cooperate with institutions that ignore and disrespect the pain and suffering of war victims.

On the occasion of the anniversary of the war crimes in Višegrad, we remember all the war victims of Višegrad and especially the victims of the PionirskaStreet and Bikavac Fire.