Commemoration of the anniversary of the suffering at the notorious "Sušica" camp

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Association of Camp Detainees of Vlasenica will, on Saturday, September 26th at 3:00 PM, in an appropriate manner, respecting the prescribed protection measures, this year too, commemorate the anniversary of the suffering at the Sušica camp from May to the end of September 1992.

During that period, approximately 8,000 detainees from the surrounding areas experienced unprecedented torture, rape, and killings through the Sušica camp. According to data from the International Committee of the Red Cross, more than 1,600 detainees lost their lives in these tortures, although testimonies indicate that more than 1,000 people from the Sušica camp were systematically taken and killed at the exit from Vlasenica towards Han Pijesak, at the location of the so-called "gulch" near Han Ploča. Direct evidence includes nearby discovered mass graves in Tugovo, Debelo Brdo, Jelovačka česma, and Ogradice.

The Alliance of Camp Detainees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as one of the co-organizers of the commemoration, points out that truth is absolutely necessary for reconciliation and happier coexistence in these wider areas of ours, a truth that will initially be bitter, but will certainly be relieving later, because only by facing the real and irrefutable past is a secure foundation for building a sincere and happier future on which all peoples must work together.

"Therefore, truth and facing it in these areas of ours absolutely have no alternative, and that is the only sure investment for the future, which the Alliance will insist on. This is also confirmed by the latest changes and directions towards revising strategies for prosecuting war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this is only confirmation that without truth and recognition in these areas, a better future cannot be expected," the Alliance states.

The Alliance sincerely hopes that the future results of such strategies and efforts will be more visible and faster than was the case before, and that the announced revision will not remain just "dead letter", it was announced from the Alliance of Camp Detainees in BiH.