Marking the 24th anniversary of the Markale massacre, 68 killed and 144 wounded

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - On Monday, February 5, 2018, activists of the Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) will attend a commemoration and lay a wreath to pay tribute to the Sarajevo civilians who were killed on February 5, 1994, at the Markale market by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the siege of Sarajevo in the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the first Markale massacre on February 5, 1994, 68 Sarajevo civilians were killed and 144 wounded. The massacre occurred between 12:10 and 12:20 PM when a mortar shell fired from Serbian positions fell on the crowded Markale city market. Rescuers and other United Nations (UN) personnel quickly arrived to assist the numerous civilian victims, while footage of the event quickly became headline news worldwide.

In that tragic event, the following were killed: Senad Arnautović, Ibrahim Babić, Mehmed Baručija, Ćamil Begić, Emir Begović, Vahida Bešić, Gordana Bogdanović, Vaskrsije Bojinović, Muhamed Borovina, Faruk Brkanić, Sakib Bulbul, Jelena Čavriz, Almasa Čehajić, Zlatko Čosić, Alija Čukojević, Verica Ćilimdžić, Smilja Delić, Ifet Drugovac, Dževad Durmo, Fatima Durmo, Kemal Džebo, Ismet Fazlić, Vejsil Ferhatbegović, Dževdet Fetahović, Muhamed Fetahović, Ahmed
Fočo, Majda Ganović, Isma Gibović, Rasema Hasanović, Alija Hurko, Mirsada Ibrulj, Mustafa Imanić, Rasema Jažić, Razija Junuzović, Hasija Karavdić, Mladen Klačar, Marija Knežević, Selma Kovač, lbro Krajčin, Sejda Kunić,
Jozo Kvesić, Numo Lakača, Ruža Malović, Jadranka Minić, Safer Musić, Nura Odžak, Mejra Orman, Hajrija Oručević, Seid Prozorac, Smajo Rahić, Igor Rehar, Rizvo Sabit, Zahida Sablja, Nedžad Salihović, Hajrija Smajić, Emina
Srnja, Džemo Subašić, Šaćir Suljević, Hasib Šabanović, Ahmed Šehbajraktarević, Bejto Škrijelj, Junuz Švrakić, Pašaga Tihić, Munib Torlaković, Ruždija Trbić, Džemil Zečić, Muhamed Zubović and Senad Žunić.

The Markale massacre is a war crime that is yet another in a series of proofs of the inhumanity, brutality and absurdity of the entire war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This massacre, as well as the siege of Sarajevo itself, which occurred at the very end of the twentieth century, represent an act that deserves every condemnation.

Marking the suffering of civilians at Markale should be and remain a primordial act of struggle against inhumanity and the forgetting of all the evil that happened to Sarajevo in the not-so-distant past.

The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) helps post-Yugoslav societies establish the rule of law and accept the legacy of massive human rights violations, in order to establish criminal responsibility for perpetrators, satisfy justice and prevent the repetition of crimes. This is an affirmation of the values of an open civil society, with clearly defined priorities regarding the promotion and protection of human rights, and the inclusion of young people in socio-political processes through peace activism.