NOT IN OUR NAME Protests in Zagreb: Ahmici Must Never Happen Again, Call on Croatian Authorities to Distance Themselves from UZP

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Representatives of eight civil associations on Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb unfurled banners reading “Not in our name - 30 years since the war crime in Ahmici” and the names of the victims killed in the Ahmici crime to warn the Croatian state leadership and the public that this crime is being covered up and denied.

On behalf of about twenty protesters gathered at the main Zagreb square, Nela Pamuković from the Center for Women Victims of War – ROSA addressed the public, reminding that 30 years ago in Ahmici near Vitez, Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the most brutal war crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia was committed.

In the early morning hours of April 16, 1993, the attack on the village of Ahmici was carried out by local units of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague states that 116 people were killed in Ahmici, 24 were wounded, 169 houses and two mosques were destroyed, Pamuković recalled, adding that the ICTY tried 13 Croats from central Bosnia for crimes against humanity in Ahmici.

For participating in the decision to attack Ahmici, Vice President of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dario Kordić was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Drago Josipović, Vladimir Šantić, Miroslav Bralo and Paško Ljubičić were also convicted.

“The Hague Tribunal established that the crime was committed within the framework of an international armed conflict involving the Republic of Croatia, through its control over the HDZ BiH and the HVO. It was finally confirmed that ‘Croatia exercised overall control over the HVO’ and ‘directed the planning, coordination and organization of the HVO.’ The crime in Ahmici has been judicially processed. The organizers, commanders and direct perpetrators were tried, but it remains a permanent stain and shame on the Republic of Croatia. Croatia must show readiness to sincerely and fully confront the crimes committed and take responsibility for the past. Only through acts of solidarity through clear initiatives aimed at understanding the role of the Republic of Croatia in the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina will we be able to say that Croatia has finally distanced itself from the imperial policy of Franjo Tuđman,” said Pamuković and continued:

“Therefore, we demand that the President of the Republic of Croatia and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia publicly distance themselves from the war crimes committed in our name and stop the systematic policy of relativization, denial and minimization of war crimes. We demand a clearly formulated apology and the naming of a street or square in Zagreb after the victims of Ahmici. Only when the facts about the war crime in Ahmici become part of the Croatian education system will we be able to say that we are on the path to justice, responsibility and peacebuilding. Guilt for the crime is individual, but the truth about war crimes is a collective, our, responsibility.”

Today, at the Zagreb Cultural and Information Center (KIC), a screening of video documentation that is part of the interactive narrative “Ahmici – 48 Hours of Ash and Blood” will be organized, produced by SENSE – Center for Transitional Justice.

The gathering was organized by associations: Center for Women Victims of War – ROSA, Center for Civic Courage, Association for Social Research and Communications (UDIK) from Sarajevo, Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past, Regional Address for Nonviolent Action (RAND), SENSE – Center for Transitional Justice from Pula, Center for Women's Studies and Women's Network of Croatia, Anadolu Agency reports.