Vogošća still remembers the most horrific crimes of UNPROFOR against Bosniaks

The Sarajevo municipality of Vogošća, after nearly four years of occupation by the Army of Republika Srpska and paramilitary units from Serbia from ’92. to ’95., was again assigned to the city of Sarajevo on this day 19 years ago, on 23 February 1996, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria. 

During the occupation, some of the most horrific crimes were committed in Vogošća, mostly against the Bosniak population. Many people were killed on their doorsteps.

The municipality, which houses one of the factories of the world's largest car manufacturer, German VW, will be remembered in the history of crimes for the “Sonja” camp, where a large number of Bosniak women were raped and killed, and crimes were also committed by Canadian General Lewis MacKenzie, then the head of UNPROFOR for Bosnia and Herzegovina. During his stay in Vogošća, he raped Bosniak women.

They took my baby

One of the statements given about the crimes of rape by General MacKenzie reads:

- In the evening, around 9 p.m., Major Vlado from Vogošća entered the room and ordered me to get ready and go with him. He brought me a bag containing clean but already worn women's underwear. When I got ready, they took my baby, and Vlado took me to his jeep, where, together with two other soldiers, he drove me to a larger weekend house.

He told me that if I wanted to see my baby, I had to be very smart, because a gentleman, a foreigner, would visit me at the weekend house, who could help me a lot if I was good to him. He locked me in the weekend house, which consisted of one very spacious room and sanitary facilities on the ground floor, and three smaller bedrooms in the attic. There was a TV and a radio in the weekend house. I was afraid of my situation, and I was much more worried about what was happening to my baby.

Soon after that, an older officer with two escorts entered the room. I recognized General Lewis MacKenzie, who approached me with an outstretched hand, addressing me as "miss" (in English). 

Criminal with a rose

In his right hand, he held a red rosebud, which he clumsily thrust into my frightened hands. While he was doing this, his escorts left the room and locked the door. General MacKenzie asked me what my name was, where I was from... I was silent and pretended not to understand anything. I shrugged my shoulders and slowly backed away, while General MacKenzie said to me in English:

"Miss, you speak English very well and you understand everything. I am here to help you. That is in your interest. Love driven by interest is the strongest love."

I realized the position I was in. Imprisoned, and separated from my nine-month-old baby. We were both helpless and imprisoned. Any resistance was insane. I would have resisted if I had been alone, if no one had depended on me.

Like this, I thought of my son and was ready to endure both suffering and humiliation, both physical and mental pain, just to be reunited with him, even under conditions of captivity and the uncertainty that captivity brings. To the sound of music from Serbia on the radio, the general confessed his passion, and I defended my imprisoned baby. With clenched teeth, a tight heart... This lasted, with short breaks, for more than twenty minutes. The general visited me seven or eight times. I begged him to influence the Chetniks to return my baby and free us.

He always said: "Tomorrow, tomorrow, be patient...".

After about twenty days, two soldiers drove me from the weekend house to Vogošća and handed me over to Major Vlado. General MacKenzie did not force me into a sexual relationship with his fists. He did not knock me down. I lay down myself. He did not beat me, force me, but he had me as a helpless prisoner. While he was playing the gentleman with a rose, the room was locked, and around the house there was a Chetnik military guard. I give this testimony without any coercion, to breathe, to feel lighter, in the hope that one day I will meet General Lewis MacKenzie, especially to publicly ask him a few questions on television and to look him straight in the eye, the great friend of Chetnik-Serb war criminals.“

The municipality of Vogošća is today one of the nine municipalities of the Sarajevo Canton, writes Patria.