Poster in Zagreb reminding of the victims of the Ahmići crime destroyed

(Patria) - In just one day, a poster on Zagreb's Slavonska Avenue, placed yesterday by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Croatia (YIHR) to remind of the victims of war crimes in Ahmići near Vitez, has been destroyed.

In just a few hours, on April 16, 1993, units of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) killed 116 Bosniak civilians in Ahmići and practically razed the village to the ground. Most of the victims were elderly people, women, and children, and the youngest victim was only a few months old.

Judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) proved the responsibility of Croatia's political and military leadership for this crime, although Croatia's role in the years following has been attempted to be concealed or relativized in every way.

Even today, this crime is rarely mentioned in the public sphere, and the current political and military leadership of Croatia is not prepared to take responsibility and cease the practice of denying war crimes committed in the name of Croatian citizens. This poster was placed in Zagreb to remind the current state leadership of this crime.

With this poster, the Initiative, ahead of the 31st anniversary of the war crime in Ahmići, reminded of the crimes in Ahmići and stated that Croatian citizens remember the victims and demand that Croatia take responsibility and apologize for its crimes.


The poster was placed yesterday

The destruction of this poster is another example of an attempt to erase topics from the public sphere that problematize and remind of the judicially established role of the Croatian state leadership and Croatian military forces in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the summer of 2023, the dialogue about the crime in Ahmići in the public sphere began again after convicted war criminal Dario Kordić, decorated for his merits in the war by Croatia, stated: "I said, I would repeat everything, I wouldn't change a single second. Every second was worth it".

We remind you that the ICTY sentenced Kordić to 25 years in prison for war crimes committed in central Bosnia, including the massacre in Ahmići, based on command responsibility.

He "as a responsible regional politician, planned and incited the crimes that occurred on April 16, 1993, in Ahmići and the neighboring villages of Šantići, Pirići, and Nadioci", which were aimed at "ethnic cleansing of that area (...)" (ICTY Appeals Chamber in the case of Kordić & Čerkez, IT-95-14/2).

In a series of cases, the ICTY established the commission of crimes by the HVO and Croatian forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the "Prlić et al." case, it also established the existence of a joint criminal enterprise led by the Croatian wartime leadership headed by Franjo Tuđman.

Kordić's statement last year was also condemned by the European Parliament through an amendment. However, let us recall how HDZ MEPs voted against that amendment, thus refusing to distance themselves from Kordić's statements.

Furthermore, Kordić's decorations have not been revoked. This shows that Croatia's political leadership does not see the commission of war crimes and the lack of remorse as actions "contrary to the legal order or moral principles in Croatia", which is the legal basis for revoking decorations.

"Given the prevailing nationalist narratives that present Croatia's role in the wars of the 90s exclusively through the prism of victory and victimhood, we are not surprised that the poster we placed was destroyed.

This shows how far Croatia still is from a country that can say it responsibly deals with the dark sides of its past, speaks about them, and educates new generations who must live with that past.

This act only further motivates us to continue to draw attention to Croatia's harmful attitude towards its own past, to encourage public debate on Croatia's role in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to work on informing Croatian citizens about the dark sides of Croatia's recent past.

Without this, it is impossible to build a democratic society based on equality, freedom, and human rights, as called for by the Constitution.

Accordingly, we are actively continuing the campaign to mark the anniversary of the Ahmići crime in the coming days and invite all citizens to follow it as closely as possible," stated YIHR Croatia.