Appeal for Finding Missing Persons from Vogošća Area Continues for 34 Years

(Patria) - By throwing flowers into the Bosna River and with a commemorative program, the families of missing persons from the Vogošća municipality remembered their loved ones and appealed to all those who have information to come forward about where the bodies of nearly 60 missing persons from this area are located.

This year's event was held at the central memorial at the entrance to the village of Svrake near Semizovac at the symbolic time of 11:55 AM. Families of missing persons from the Vogošća municipality, along with numerous associations and guests, gathered to pay tribute to those they have searched for over the years or are still searching for.

The president of the Association of Families of Missing Persons of Vogošća Municipality, Ema Čekić, told Detektor that they mark June 16 every year as the Day of Missing Vogošća Residents because it was on that day in 1992 that 29 people were taken from the "Planjina kuća".

She emphasizes that searches are ongoing for another 58 missing persons in this municipality, but families have no information, nor is there any progress in finding them.

"It is sad and deplorable that after all these years, no one wants to speak up and tell the truth about where our loved ones are," she says.

Čekić says it has been 34 years since their loved ones were taken in an unknown direction, and many family members are dying. In the Association, as she says, only three mothers are still alive.

"Families are dwindling, but we have this youth who constantly follow us, so I hope that where we stop, they will continue – so that we do not forget. The most important thing that can happen is that we remember our loved ones, that we do not forget them because they are a part of us," she explains.

The hardship felt by families of the missing, as she says, no one can understand.

"I would urge everyone who has information to pass it on to us, let them tell us so we can calm both our souls and theirs," she appealed.

During the event, where besides Čekić, other guests also spoke and literary works by elementary school students were read, the families of missing Vogošća residents said they have been waiting for information about their loved ones for 34 years.

"We cannot wait, the years pass, but the sorrow and pain remain in the soul," said Čekić during the event.

The families of the missing stated that they had expected international instruments of coercion against those who obstruct the search for the truth, but that almost everyone except the Vogošća municipality has ignored their requests.

"Uncertainty prevents our wounds from healing. The truth, whatever it may be, is better than the uncertainty that follows us. We appeal to all those who know something about their fate to contact us, to help within their competence so that the truth finally sees the light of day," it was stated during the event.

After flowers were laid at the memorial, those present headed to the bridge at the entrance to Svrake, from which they threw flowers into the river in memory of the missing persons from the Vogošća area.

According to Detektor's database of judicially established facts about the war in BiH, after taking over villages in the Vogošća municipality, Serbian forces deprived Muslims and Croats of their liberty and held them in harsh conditions in ten detention centers in that municipality, including the barracks in Semizovac, "Planjina kuća" in Semizovac, the "Kod Sonje" bunker near the "Kon Tiki" guesthouse, the sports center, the "Krivoglavci" tunnel, the "Kisikana" company building, the UPI Distribution Center, "Nakina garaža", the "Park" hotel, and UNIS factories.

After separate attacks on several villages in the Vogošća and Ilijaš municipalities, around 600-700 civilians of Bosniak nationality were arrested, who were fleeing the attacks on the villages of Svrake, Uglješići, Gornja Bioča, and Lješevo, and were taken to the barracks in Semizovac, that is, to the Iskra warehouse in Podlugovi, the premises of the Jagomir hospital, and other locations such as the "Bunker" and "Nakina garaža".

According to court verdicts, a large number of detainees were taken from "Planjina kuća" in unknown directions, after which all trace of them was lost.