Jasmin Mešković: I still keep the shirt I wore during my days in the camp

The Museum of Suffering of Camp Inmates of BiH, which will be opened in early May at the site of the former notorious "Luka" camp in Brčko, will have two floors and will cover about 500 square meters. The museum will exhibit photographs and artifacts collected by the museum curators from camps during the last aggression against BiH.

Jasmin Mešković, president of camp inmates of BiH, explains in a statement to the BiH news agency Patria that the public has not had the opportunity to see many of the photographs that will be exhibited.

- These photographs will perhaps best show the tortures that camp inmates went through and what kind of crimes happened in our country - Mešković told NAP.

- It is something horrific. While some guards were slaughtering and killing, others were photographing them. The photographs show piles of clothes, taken off girls who were then taken for rape. We will show photographs depicting criminals resting after slaughtering and killing camp inmates - Mešković tells NAP.

He adds that these are authentic photographs, taken from '92 to '95, showing the real killers and real victims. The authenticity of the photographs has been verified multiple times, and many of them have been used in criminal proceedings before domestic and international courts.

- If you are wondering how it is possible that someone photographed rape and the slaughter of people, the answer is very simple. War itself is a crazy idea, so it is clear that crazy ideas are born in it - says Mešković.

In the photograph that Mešković provided to the editorial office of the BiH news agency Patria, which will also be exhibited in the museum, are abducted Bosniaks from Sjeverin, in the area of Serbia, municipality of Priboj. They were abducted by Milan Lukić and subjected to various forms of torture, after which they were taken to the banks of the Drina and executed. So far, the remains of only one person have been found in Perućac, identified as Mehredin Hodžić, who was buried in Sjeverin, while the other persons are considered missing. The photograph was taken on October 24, 1992, at the hotel "Vilina Vlas".

In addition to photographs, personal belongings of prisoners, which they carried or kept during their captivity, will also be exhibited in the Museum of Suffering of Camp Inmates of BiH.

- I saved the shirt I was wearing during my captivity in the camp in Sremska Mitrovica. It is a colorful shirt, like those Hawaiian shirts. It was spring when I was captured. I keep it to remind me of the hardest period of my life - says Mešković.

He explains that a large number of other prisoners have saved something from the camps they stayed in. Some even managed to make notes on paper about who beat them and when, the names of the guards, etc.

- This is very important evidence - says Mešković.

Around 200,000 prisoners passed through the camps in BiH, on all three warring sides. Around 30,000 were killed or are considered missing.

There were the most Serbian camps, in which Bosniaks were imprisoned and killed.

- The museum in Brčko will be a museum for all camp inmates, regardless of nationality. Simply, we want to say that no one should ever be imprisoned and tortured again - says Mešković.