The story of H.S. whose four sons were killed: We cannot live underground, my son

H.S. spent almost two years in the "Rasadnik" camp in Rogatica. What she managed to survive, and what she saw happening to other prisoners, she told BIRN – Justice Report, the Patria News Agency reports. 

However, what broke her the most was when she learned that her four sons had been killed. Today, the 80-year-old H.S. is pained by the fact that there is no one to open the door for her.

H.S. lived in a village near Rogatica. Six months after the war began, as she recounted, they were told they had to leave the village because their neighbors could not provide them with protection. Together with her husband and several elderly and sick Bosniak people, she was taken to "Rasadnik" in Rogatica.

When they arrived in Rogatica, she said, Rajko, who was the same age as her son, entered the bus.

"He looked to see if there were any younger men or women on the bus, but there weren't. He said: 'Take them to Rasadnik,' and left," H.S. recalled, adding that they found other prisoners in the camp.

She described the conditions in the camp as inhumane, explaining that they slept on the floor, used a bucket for bodily functions, and did not have enough food.

"The camp commander came and said: 'Take off everything, jewelry, money, whatever anyone has.'

He took everything anyone had. Slavko from Pješevica, he was the commander until Vinko B. took over. When he took over, the dead heads started flying. Every evening – whoever he took, he didn't bring them back," said H.S.

Murder with a Chainsaw

She testified about the murder of prisoner Bećir Čutahija, who was disabled and whom the commander Vinko would take out and beat every day.

In the room where the slaughterhouse was, he cut Bećir Čutahija into pieces with a chainsaw. I didn't see him cut him, but I washed the blood and flesh," said H.S.

According to her, the commander told her to clean the room. When she went, as she recounted, she saw blood on the ceiling, the sideboard...

"I scrubbed up and down... but you can't wash it. You wash, and the blood, it seemed to me, spread even more," added H.S., recalling that the commander told her that if she didn't wash it, he would kill her.

"I barely washed anything, as much as I could," she said.

She recounted that prisoner Sinan Ćatić told her that Bećir's hands were placed on a block and cut with a chainsaw little by little until he lost consciousness. As H.S. recalled, Ćatić was ordered to take those body parts under a birch tree.

Based on information received from Ćatić – who was later also killed – after the war, as she said, she showed where Bećir Čutahija's body was located.

Former prisoner H.S. said that commander Vinko also killed Alija Parnica.

"I watched him beat him. He stripped him naked and tied him up in the middle of the room. His left arm to his right leg, and his right to his left. I was washing dishes in the hallway. He told me: 'Come in here, to see what I do to Ustaše.' He took out a baton, a police baton, and hit, and hit, and the man screamed: 'It hurts, it hurts...' until he breathed his last. He beat him to death," she recalled.

She recounted that Ibraga Karaman, who was 27 years old, was killed in a similar way. According to her account, prisoners Adil and Nail Mušević, Himzo Branković, Alija Tabaković, and others were also killed.

"He shot Alija Tabaković in the legs, then dragged him past our building. 'Don't kill me, dear brother!' Alija shouted. 'Who am I to you, a brother?!' and dragged him away. Then a burst of gunfire was heard. They threw him alive into a septic tank," said H.S.

Rape of Female Prisoners

Since she was free to move around the camp because she was washing, tidying, and making coffee for the commander, H.S. saw where the prisoners' bodies were buried. As she recounted, he beat the men all night, but not the women.

"We did everything, carried wood, whatever he told us, we did it," she explained.

Among the prisoners was a younger woman, whom H.S. claims the commander Vinko took out and raped multiple times. She also said he sexually abused other women.

"He took E. out many times, I know he raped her and gave her some pills. He also raped a woman who had just given birth. He also raped F.K. They also found a sick woman. (...) I only hear her groaning. She had scabies and lice," added the former prisoner.

The commander also tried to rape her, she said, but she told him she was sick. He also forced another prisoner to rape her.

"He told me to take off my scarf and took out (...) He put it in my mouth. I vomited. He told me: 'You did it dishonorably'", she described.

She was among the last to be exchanged from "Rasadnik" in 1994, she said. It was then that she learned her sons had died.

"Four of my own sons died... That's my sorrow, there are no more... We were also evicted. Now my husband is also ill. With each year, it gets worse. I rejoice when someone opens the door for me. We cannot live underground...", said H.S.