Victims from Višegrad still being searched for after 30 years, 140 people killed in live bonfires in June 1992 alone

(Patria) - The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) reminds the public of the war crimes that occurred in Pionirska Street and Bikavac in Višegrad in June 1992.

The crimes known as the Live Bonfires took place on June 14 and 27, 1992, when members of the Avengers paramilitary formation, led by the most brutal criminals from Višegrad, Milan and Sredoje Lukić, burned alive civilians, mostly women and children. Around seventy Bosniak civilians, mainly from the village of Koritnik, were burned alive in the house of Adem Omeragić in Pionirska Street. The youngest victim was only two days old. A similar scenario occurred two weeks later when seventy Bosniak civilians were burned alive in the house of Meho Aljić in the Višegrad settlement of Bikavac. Zehra Turjačanin testified about the horrors at Bikavac before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The burning of civilians was carried out at about ten other locations.

Trials for the crimes in Višegrad have been held before the ICTY and courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Hague Tribunal sentenced Milan Lukić to life imprisonment, Sredoje Lukić to twenty-seven years, and Mitar Vasiljević to fifteen years in prison. With the publication "War Crimes in Višegrad – Verdicts" in 2017, UDIK documented nine cases of war crimes committed in Višegrad brought before the Court of BiH and the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH, which resulted in the convictions of Boban Šimšić, Dragan Šekarić, Miloš Pantelić, Momir Savić, Nenad Tanasković, Novo Rajak, Oliver Krsmanović, Predrag Milisavljević, Vitomir Racković, and Željko Lelek. In March 2020, the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH confirmed the verdict sentencing Radomir Šušnjar to twenty years in prison. Proceedings are currently underway before the Court of BiH against Milomir Đuričić and Vukadin Spasojević for crimes committed against the Bosniak population in the Uzamnica camp in 1992 and 1993.

Unfortunately, Višegrad is known today as a city of murderers of women and children, and as a place of monstrous crimes committed by members of various formations of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). According to data from the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH, 467 people are still being searched for in the area of Višegrad, while 453 individuals have been identified. Pionirska, Bikavac, Uzamnica, Vilina Vlas, and other locations tell us enough about the nature of the crimes in the Višegrad area. The results of the systematic extermination of the non-Serb population are clearly visible today in the almost ethnically homogeneous structure of Višegrad's population.

The process of genuine confrontation with the past is not possible without prosecuting those responsible for war crimes. An inevitable and important step forward is finding the mortal remains of the murdered. We hereby appeal to all competent institutions to show a little more conscience and will when it comes to the victims from Višegrad. The process of identifying persons missing in the Višegrad area needs to be accelerated, as families are still waiting for justice and truth thirty years later. We also appeal to all citizens of Višegrad who have any information about the fate of their neighbors to finally speak up so that the remains of the victims of the live bonfires and other execution sites in Višegrad can be buried with dignity.