prijava
GRABOVICA, September 9 (FENA) - Marking of the 27th anniversary of the killing of 33 Croat civilians in the village of Grabovica, located between Mostar and Jablanica, on the night of September 8-9, 1993 by the members of the Army of RBiH took place today with laying wreaths and holding a Holy Mass for the victims of this war crime.
President of the association of Croat victims "Grabovica 93", Josip Drežnjak, said that since 1994, there has been nothing new related to the investigation and finding of the bodies of those killed.
“The last information I received about this crime was that General Vehbija Karić had died, a man who knew much more about everything than me and all of us, and some were probably just waiting for the moment when he would leave this world,” said Drežnjak.
He pointed out that it would be a shame for the entire society and Bosnia and Herzegovina for Grabovica to remain a crime without punishment.
“Of the 33 killed civilians, we have only two complete bodies, and in case of the others, if the DNA confirmed their identity, even if it was just one bone, we did the funeral. The very fact that we had to look for body parts from one end to the other speaks for itself what a crime this was. We, as peoples, cannot live without each other, we want coexistence and we want the institutions not to be so silent when it comes to prosecuting those responsible and finding the bodies of those killed,” said Drežnjak.
Marking of the 27th anniversary, which was attended by families and friends, representatives of all levels of government, church dignitaries, began with the laying of wreaths at the memorial to civilian victims of the Homeland War in Grabovica, followed by the laying of wreaths at the local cemetery.
Among the 33 civilians killed in the village in 1993, there were 17 women and four-year-old Mladenka Zadro, while the oldest victim was 87-year-old Marko Marić. Of the 33 civilians, we are still searching for 17 of them, and for the most part, only individual body parts had been found.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia acquitted the Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the Army of RBiH, Sefer Halilović, as the author of the "Neretva 93" operation as part of which the crime in Grabovica had been committed.
Former members of the RBiH Army were held accountable before the domestic courts in BiH, for individual killings, but no one for war crimes against civilians and/or for command responsibility.
To date, five members of the RBiH Army have been sentenced, Mustafa Hota has been sentenced to nine years in prison, Enes Šakrak has been sentenced to ten years in prison, while Nihad Vlahovljak, Sead Karagić and Haris Rajkić have been sentenced to 13 years in prison each.
(FENA) S. R.
