Sanski Most: Anniversary of the massacre of Keraterm and Omarska camp inmates commemorated

(Patria) - The 33rd anniversary of the horrific crime in which 124 inmates of the Omarska and Keraterm camps were killed was commemorated at the Hrastova glavica site near Sanski Most.

Although more than three decades have passed, families are still searching for justice, and their messages full of sadness and pain remind us of the crimes committed in this region.

Hrastova glavica, three decades later, still gathers silence and memory. The families of the murdered inmates come to lay flowers, speak their names, and pay tribute to those whose lives were cut short.

- I lost my son, three brothers, my husband, neighbors, my brother was killed here. If I started talking, I would have a whole book to tell, what happened and how they took my children from the house, but I can't. I can't, it suffocates me - says Mevlida Salihović, a member of the family of murdered inmates.

- What is additionally saddening, worrying, and discouraging every year is the fact that not only has no one been held accountable for these 124 people, but no indictment has been filed against anyone responsible, neither for issuing the orders nor for carrying out the crime itself - stated Jasmin Musić, son of a murdered inmate.

- From this place, we want to send a clear message, and that is that we do not gather here out of hatred, but exclusively for the sake of truth, and we also call on the Prosecutor's Office to do its job responsibly, to prosecute and file indictments - said Mensur Seferović, son of a murdered inmate.

Memories also remain of the day the victims were found and transported to Sanski Most. Those images, say the interviewees, do not fade.

- We survived, but it's a difficult image when we loaded them here, as if I'm seeing it now when we were loading them onto the truck, we loaded them like firewood, 4-5 on top of each other, because everything had to fit into one truck - these are the words of Mesud Durmišević.

Although years have passed, justice, they say, is still awaited.

- The War Crimes Department of the BiH Prosecutor's Office is, in a way, an accomplice in this crime, to say the least, in that 33 years after it, and despite the fact that they have information, data, names of direct perpetrators, they have not filed indictments - said Mirsad Duratović, president of the Regional Association of Camp Inmates of the Banja Luka region.

- Testimonies of camp inmates, from The Hague to the Residual Mechanism in The Hague, with whom we cooperate, have contributed to many indictments being realized, meaning we have convictions. However, convictions to the extent that the crimes occurred in BiH are, of course, nowhere near the terror that the camp inmates endured - says Seid Omerović, president of the Association of Camp Inmates of BiH.

He also emphasized the need for a solution to the status of camp inmates at the state level.

- Today, we have a situation where 95 percent of that population has no rights, nor is it recognized as a marginalized category. Politicians, both from the position and the opposition, verbally support it, however, when we need to pass a law on the protection of victims of war torture, i.e., a law on camp inmates, we in the Association of Camp Inmates see no visible progress - adds Omerović.

Tomorrow, a commemoration will be held at the Omarska camp on the occasion of the anniversary, in memory of the fallen camp inmates.