AHMIĆI - 30 YEARS LATER British Colonel: They told me they were killing women and children here, I didn't believe it was happening

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The 30th anniversary of the massacre of 116 Bosniaks, committed on this day in 1993 by units of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), is being marked today in Ahmići near Vitez.

The commemoration began this morning at 9 AM at the martyrs' cemetery in Vitez, where a Yaseen was recited for all the innocent victims.

After that, participants proceeded to Ahmići, where a commemoration was organized, attended by a large number of guests.

Photo: Patria

Among them are the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts Graciela Gatti Santana, former British officer and former commander of the British battalion within the UN peacekeeping forces in BiH Bob Stewart, member of the Presidency of BiH Denis Bećirović, leader of SDA Bakir Izetbegović, president of the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide Murat Tahirović, state parliamentarian Šemsudin Mehmedović, reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic Community in BiH Husein efendija Kavazović, Vice President of the Federation of BiH Refik Lendo...

Stewart: I couldn't believe what I saw

Among others, the man who was the first to enter Ahmići and witness what the mind cannot comprehend addressed the attendees - British Colonel Bob Stewart.

- I couldn't believe that in this country like BiH, they were killing men, women, and children. Members of the Army of RBiH who were on the hills told me that they were killing women and children in Ahmići.

I came here and I didn't believe it was happening. I couldn't believe what I saw. The translators who worked with me were from all sides. They are all here with us today.

Photo: Patria

Last night we gave them UN medals for their service. I hope this country will move forward as a united country, not as three separate parts.

This is a beautiful place. People here can achieve great things. When I was here, people who spent their time in uniform helped me - said Stewart.

Finally, he paid tribute to the survivors and those who lost their lives, and to the families who suffered. He also sent a message to politicians in BiH, asking them to stop the emigration of young people.

- That will happen if young people feel they have a future. We British truly value Bosnia and Herzegovina - added Stewart.

Zec: My childhood was forever lost

One of the surviving witnesses of the crimes in Ahmići, Adnan Zec, shared his experiences from April 16, 1993, when, as he said, he was a 13-year-old boy whose childhood was forever lost then.

- Ahmići, April 16, 1993, and the operation "48 hours of ash and blood" is where my 13-year-old childhood was forever lost. My family was killed there, and innocent Bosniak families were killed and burned with the intention of being forever exterminated. I was woken up by gunfire, my two sisters and I asked our parents what was happening.

The perpetrators set our house on fire, we tried to put out the fire but couldn't. We went outside and saw our neighbors killed and Croatian soldiers standing next to them. Just about 20 meters away, at the house of our neighbor Husein, stood three soldiers with Croatian insignia - said Zec.

He says he saw soldiers and ran towards them, unaware of what was happening, and they asked him: "Where are you going, little one? Where are you going?"

- I said I was running because of the shooting, and they told me I had to go back. As soon as I turned my back, they fired two bursts of automatic fire into my back. Out of two bursts, two bullets hit me. As I fell, I watched my parents run towards me, my father begging them to kill him instead of my mother and sisters. They didn't listen, but said three times: kill them! - are the poignant words of Adnan Zec.

Photo: Patria

He also points out that those same words still echo in his head today.

- I still see my parents falling as the bursts of automatic fire echo in my ears. At that moment, I was more unconscious than aware of the fact that I was completely alone at that moment. A light rain was still falling that day, as if trying to extinguish the flames from the houses that were systematically set on fire. Screams of children, moans, and tears could still be heard - he emphasizes.

He adds that he hid, wounded, for eight days afterwards.

- I hid, wounded, for eight days and witnessed the horrors and devastation of the village, and I thought I was the only survivor. I wondered if there was any point in living alone in this world. I bled for eight days and watched people, women, and children moan.

I couldn't help them. I fainted, and when I woke up, I was sad that I was the only survivor. This is just part of the horror that befell us residents of Ahmići - added Zec.

This year too, participants of the march called "Path of Truth and Remembrance" from Vitez arrived in Ahmići to pay tribute to the innocent victims who were brutally killed by HVO units in 1993.

 

Photo: Patria

The youngest victim was a three-month-old baby

In the early morning hours of April 16, 1993, HVO members attacked the village of Ahmići and killed 116 Bosniaks, burning their houses. The youngest victim of these crimes was a three-month-old baby.

Photo: Patria

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled that the killings in Ahmići were crimes against humanity.

One of the HVO commanders, Dario Kordić, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Zoran, Mirjan, and Vlatko Kupreškić were sentenced to prison terms of six to ten years for participating in the crime, but were acquitted in a new verdict in 2001.

Dario Kordić, who was serving a 25-year sentence in an Austrian prison for crimes in central Bosnia, including the crime in Ahmići, was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

The Hague Tribunal also sentenced Miroslav Cicko Bralo, a former member of the HVO special unit "Džokeri", to 20 years in prison.

Photo: Patria

Paško Ljubičić was sentenced to eight years in prison and was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Tihomir Blaškić was sentenced to nine years in prison and was released after serving eight years and four months of his sentence.