War Veterans from the Region at Commemoration in Ahmići: We Must Remember All Victims

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - At the invitation of the Organising Committee for the 26th anniversary of the suffering of Bosniaks in Ahmići and Vitez, war veterans from the region together with activists from the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo/Belgrade, a total of thirty-two of them, took part in the commemoration programme for the victims of Ahmići and Vitez.

In Ahmići, according to data from the Hague Tribunal in the Kordić and Čerkez case, 116 civilians were killed in the early morning of 16 April 1993, including 32 women and 11 children. The families of the victims are still searching for the bodies of 29 killed residents of Ahmići.

The peace organisation Centre for Nonviolent Action, with offices in Sarajevo and Belgrade, has been organising since 2008 visits by groups of war veterans from Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, former members of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian Defence Council, the Army of Republika Srpska, the Croatian Army and the Yugoslav Army, to sites where civilians and soldiers were killed during the last war, as well as to official commemorations for the victims organised by local and state authorities and victims' associations.

The group of thirty-two war veterans and peace activists was received on 15 April by Mahir ef. Husić and Nedžad Abdić on behalf of the commemoration organisers. In front of the memorial to the civilian victims of Ahmići, near the Donja Mosque, they were briefly informed about life in Ahmići before and after the war, as well as about details related to the war itself and the specific killing of civilians on 16 April 1993. The group also visited the memorial room, near the monument, and held a meeting with the commemoration organisers at the primary school, the Centre for Nonviolent Action announced.

At the meeting, the war veterans and peace activists expressed gratitude to the hosts for the invitation to participate in the commemoration, while the commemoration organisers thanked the group both for the visit and for the recognition of courage and the act of compassion shown simply by coming to the site of the suffering of such a mixed group.

“The idea is that war veterans, who were enemies yesterday, pay tribute to the victims, join the families of the victims, and together lay flowers at the memorial. We believe that such an act
creates a better atmosphere, that we work on rebuilding lost trust, and that we send different messages. Former fighters who have direct experience of war and are witnesses to that horror can also
be active participants, actors, in building peace and trust,” said Adnan Hasanbegović, a former member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a peace activist from CNA.

Today, the group joined a peaceful march called “The Path of Truth and Remembrance” from the martyr's cemetery in Vitez, laid wreaths and paid respects to the victims at the “Cisterna” memorial. After
that, at 12:00, together with other delegations, the mixed group of veterans laid a wreath at the memorial near the Donja Mosque.

“We are here precisely to show by our presence that we can and must sympathise with and respect not only our own victims but also those of others. That there is another way. Then we can lay some foundations for peace and coexistence in these areas, which is our goal. So that our children never experience what happened to us,” stated Krešimir Ivančić, a former member of the Croatian Army.

By attending the commemoration, the war veterans and peace activists paid tribute to the killed residents of Ahmići and showed that former fighters are a social group with a high degree of credibility and
potential for work in the field of peacebuilding precisely because they directly, often in a very harsh way, experienced war on their own skin. Also, by attending the commemoration, former members of the Croatian Army, the Croatian Defence Council, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Army of Republika Srpska, the Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav People's Army sent a call to the authorities to prosecute those still responsible for the committed crimes, and to make additional efforts to find the remains of the killed.

“It is necessary for ordinary people to try to seek common reconciliation, but also the truth. We must pay tribute to all victims, meet with people who have lost their loved ones and try to find a solution among people,” said Ivo Anđelović, a former member of the Croatian Defence Council from Brčko.

Veterans from the region, organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action, have so far attended commemorations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Gornji Vakuf, at Kota 715 near Zavidovići, Stog near Vozuća, Novi Grad/Bosanski Novi, Sanski Most (Hrastova Glavica), Sijekovac near Brod, Laništa near Brčko, Trusina near Konjic, Stupni Do near Vareš, in Serbia in the Grdelica Gorge near Leskovac, Varvarin near Kruševac, Aleksinac, and in Croatia in Pakrac, Varivode and Gošić near Knin.