UDIK Udruženje za društvena istraživanja i komunikacije
The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) reminds the public of the anniversary of 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 paramilitary 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 Lukić to life imprisonment for crimes committed in Višegrad, including Pionirska Street and Bikavac. Sredoje Lukić was found guilty of beatings in the Uzamnica camp and of contributing to the killing of civilians trapped in the house of Adem Omeragić. He was sentenced to twenty-seven years in prison. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Radomir Šušnjar to twenty years in prison for crimes committed in Pionirska Street. Mitar Vasiljević was sentenced before the ICTY to fifteen years in prison for crimes committed in Višegrad, but was acquitted for the crime in Pionirska Street.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted the following for war crimes in Višegrad: Boban Šimšić, Dragan Šekarić, Mićo Jovićić, Miloš Pantelić, Momir Savić, Momir Tasić, Nenad Tanasković, Oliver Krsmanović, Petar Kovačević, Predrag Milisavljević, Petar Tasić, Vitomir Racković, Vuk Ratković and Željko Lelek. The Sarajevo Cantonal Court sentenced Novo Rajak to eight years in prison. Last year, the state court sentenced Milomir Đuričić to five years in prison and Vukadin Spasojević to eleven years in prison for crimes committed against the Bosniak population in the Uzamnica camp in 1992 and 1993.
In 2009, in his verdict against Milan and Sredoje Lukić, Judge Patrick Robinson characterized the crimes committed by Milan and Sredoje as “a callous and vicious disregard for human life.” “In the all too long, sad and wretched history of man’s inhumanity to man, the PionirskaStreet and BikavacFires must rank high”, Judge Robinson, presiding said.
Višegrad should definitely occupy a prominent place in commemorative practices because it tells the sad and painful truth about the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The population structure of this municipality has almost completely changed today. The Drina hides human remains just as all those who witnessed the horrors of war in Višegradhide the truth.
This year, we once again appeal to all those who remain silent about the fates of the people of Višegrad to finally speak out and ease the pain of the families of the murdered who have been waiting for the truth for more than three decades. Facing the monstrosities of the 1990s is a heavy burden for an individual, but together as a society we must find the strength to prosecute the criminals from our communities and thereby provide a better future for everyone.
We remember all the war victims of Višegrad, and especially during June when we pay homage to the civilians killed in the Pionirska Street and Bikavac Fire.