Mehmedović receives answers: OSA has information about a mass grave of killed Bosniaks near Foča, micro-location being determined

(Patria) - State representative in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina Šemsudin Mehmedović has received answers from OSA and the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the existence of a mass grave in the village of Retinje, in the municipality of Foča, which is suspected to contain the remains of killed Bosniaks during 1992.

In his inquiry to these institutions, Mehmedović presented information that captured Bosniaks were first taken to pick plums in the village of Veselice, then treacherously killed, and their bodies were buried by construction machinery brought in at the time specifically for that purpose.

"According to publicly available information, between 35 and 60 captured Bosniaks were taken from the Foča Correctional Facility to pick plums," Mehmedović stated in his inquiries to the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, OSA, and the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the response provided to Mehmedović by OSA Director Almir Džuvo, it is confirmed that OSA has operational information about the possible existence of a mass grave.

"During the collection of information about committed war crimes, OSA has, among other things, gathered a number of witness statements and other information related to the taking of prisoners from the detention facility of the Foča Correctional Facility during 1992 to 'pick plums,' after which all trace of them is lost.

OSA has provided the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina with intelligence information about the possible existence of a mass grave at the Retinje site, and information about the committed war crime has been submitted to the competent prosecutor's offices within several cases related to war crimes in the municipality of Foča," the response states.

OSA's response to Mehmedović

Regarding the response from the Institute for Missing Persons, signed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors Nikola Perišić, it also confirms information about the mass grave.

"In the past period, we have visited the location in question, conducted interviews with associates and informants in the field, all with the aim of determining the micro-location of the potential mass grave," Perišić states, adding that once they have a "reasonable suspicion" about the micro-location of the mass grave, they will submit a request for exhumation to the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Perišić informs Mehmedović that he is not aware of information that a waste dump is being formed at that location, but that he will take all actions to find the missing persons being sought.

Response from the Institute for Missing Persons

Mehmedović has not yet received a response from the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or at least it has not been published on the website of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.