The Beginning of Crimes in Prijedor: Bosniaks Forced to Mark Homes with White Cloths

Thousands of Bosniak families in Prijedor wanted to believe they would not face death, under the onslaught of the Serb army that occupied this city in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on April 30, 1992.

Bosniaks trusted their long-time Serb neighbors, as some of them were even related, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

Unfortunately, Prijedor would soon turn into one of the bloodiest cities in BiH, where, according to data from the Regional Association of Camp Detainees Banja Luka, 3,178 people were killed, mostly Bosniaks and a smaller number of Croats.

The images of the Keraterm, Omarska, and Trnopolje camps, located in this municipality, through which thousands of people passed, horrified the world.

Sorrow 23 Years Later

The president of the Regional Association of Camp Detainees Banja Luka, Sabahudin Garibović, says that 23 years later, nothing in Prijedor reminds of the crimes, except that people live very difficult lives, not only Bosniaks but also Serbs.

- There are no visible inter-ethnic problems, but there is no progress either. No one particularly cares about the people who survived the horrors and the camps – Garibović told the agency Patria, adding that camp detainee associations still regularly mark the anniversaries of the suffering in Prijedor, so that evil does not fall into oblivion. Camp detainees use May 9th as a day to visit former camps and revive memories of the hardest days of their lives.

Early in the morning, on April 30, 1992, a vehicle drove through the main street of Prijedor, and from it, via loudspeaker, citizens were warned to remain calm and not to cause panic. The next day, at 6 AM, announcer Jadranka Vejo-Rečević read an official statement:

- Citizens of the Prijedor municipality, remain calm in your homes. Last night, the SDS took power in our municipality and guarantees full equality and coexistence for other peoples living in these areas. It was no longer possible to wait; numerous problems that were leading this municipality and all the peoples living here to ruin forced the SDS to take matters into their own hands and, at this historic moment, to join this municipality to the Serbian Republic that is being created these days. The Serbian people have always lived in these areas, and we have an inalienable right to that.

After that, the anthem "Bože pravde" was played.

White Cloths on Bosniak Houses

After the "takeover of power," Serbs cut off all communications, and the municipality of Prijedor became completely cut off from the outside world, according to reports from the UN Commission for Establishing Genocide in Prijedor.

It became increasingly difficult to travel to Prijedor, and telephone lines were often interrupted. A curfew was imposed in the city. A permit was required to visit nearby villages. All bus connections were canceled. Most of the population became unemployed.

Key positions in the police and municipal administration were taken over by Serbs. Weapons held by Bosniaks were confiscated.

Local media, such as Radio Prijedor and the newspaper "Kozarski vjesnik," joined the propaganda campaign directed against the non-Serb population. They conducted a media hunt against former municipal leaders of Muslim and Croatian nationality, often misusing and falsifying details from their private lives. In addition, these media spread news that well-armed Muslim units were located in the vicinity of Prijedor, preparing genocide against the Serbian people.

The radio also announced that all non-Serb houses must hang a white cloth above their homes as a sign of loyalty to the Serbian authorities. Charles McLeod, who visited the municipality of Prijedor in August 1992, confirmed that all Bosniak houses were identified by a white flag on the roof.

One of the Prijedor Serbs told the agency Patria that he tried to flee Prijedor with his family when he saw what the police and army were doing to his Bosniak neighbors, but the police did not allow him to.

- I could choose: the death of my family and me, or to join the Army of Republika Srpska. After that, I stayed in Prijedor – recounted this Prijedor resident to Patria, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, for the safety of his family.

- There were still Serbs in Prijedor who did not want conflict; we were saving our Bosniak neighbors, but it was quite risky for us. Besides, the media propaganda was such that local Serbs really ended up believing that Prijedor was surrounded by some extremist Muslim troops who, if we didn't resist them, would enter Prijedor and kill all Serbs – he added.

Some of the most horrific crimes against Bosniaks were committed in Prijedor. Havi Tatarević from the village of Zecovi lost six sons and her husband. She found their mortal remains in the largest mass grave, Tomašica.

Many Perpetrators Still at Large

For the crimes in Prijedor, the International Court sentenced Radoslav Brđanin (32 years in prison), Zoran Žigić (25 years), Mlađo Rodić (20 years), Duško Tadić (20 years), Duško Sikirica (15 years), Predrag Banović (8 years), Miroslav Kvočka (7 years), Miroslav Kos (6 years), Dragoljub Prcać (5 years), Damir Došen (5 years), Dragan Kolundžija (3 years).

All convicted perpetrators have been released to freedom to date, after serving two-thirds of their sentences, with the exception of the perpetrator Stakić.

No one has yet been held accountable for the crimes in the Trnopolje camp.

For the crime in Prijedor, before the BiH judiciary, Drago Radaković (20 years in prison), Draško Krndija (20 years), Željko Bulatović (14 years), Siniša Teodorović (12 years), Radoslav Knežević (10 years), Zoran Gajić (10 years), O. D. (10 years), Ismet Žerić (7 years) were sentenced.

A number of investigations into crimes in Prijedor are currently underway before the domestic judiciary, reports NAP.