Bugojno Croats marked the anniversary of the murder of seven civilians on Monday, October 30.
They were killed while attempting to escape the wartime horrors of Bugojno, which began in the summer of 1993. They were intercepted and shot in the head, temples, and mouth, and their bodies were discovered at the Gorica location. The question is raised as to why this war crime against the civilian population has never been prosecuted, even though a report was submitted to the relevant prosecutor’s office in 1995. Representatives of the Coordination of Associations Arising from the Homeland War of Bugojno stated that the lighting of seven candles at the city’s Catholic cemetery and a prayer for the souls of seven fellow citizens in Bugojno’s parish church pay tribute to a portion of the 70 civilian war victims in Bugojno, specifically seven who were killed while attempting to escape the wartime nightmare in Bugojno on October 30, 1993. This serves as a reminder of one of the many unpunished crimes against Croats in Bugojno.
The killed civilians were among those who found the terror of war, persecution, and mass crimes, which began in July ’93 when the Bosnian Army attacked Bugojno with the aim of expelling and ethnically cleansing Bugojno of its Croatian and Serbian population, unbearable. They tried to escape in order to find refuge from the hell they were in. The youngest of the victims was 50 years old, and the oldest was 63. They likely paid a high price for the deal to escape. It turns out that the promised freedom was never achieved. All seven of them were brutally executed with close-range gunfire at the Gorica location, where their bodies were found the next day. Croatian detainees were given the task of burying the bodies of Marijan Bekavac and Marijan Nosić, born in 1943, Jure Dusper and Blaž Ivić, born in 1939, Dominik Lučić and Josip Markić, born in 1933, and the oldest, Frane Lebe, born in 1930, who was 63 years old when he was killed. A criminal report against one or more unknown perpetrators was filed with the then Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Travnik in November 1995. However, the perpetrators and potential masterminds were never prosecuted, as stated by the associations of Bugojno war veterans.
Milka Šakić, the sister of the murdered Dominik Lučić, also testified about the murder of her brother. Her son Ivica was shot after being captured in Gračanica. According to her testimony, she had made an arrangement with her brother to meet at the Catholic cemetery in the Vesela neighborhood, from where a Muslim individual known to them was supposed to guide them. Milka, according to her testimony, was part of a group of civilians who tried to leave Bugojno. Her brother was in another group with six other men. While waiting for them to join on the way to Gorica, they heard gunshots. As time passed, no one appeared. Around 9 PM, two women from their group, Gordana and Antonija, went to see where the men they were waiting for were. They found them shot. – Time passed, and nobody appeared. Around 9 PM, two women from our group, Gordana and Antonija, went to see where the men we were waiting for were. They found them killed – this is part of the statement of Dominik Lučić’s sister. She also went to see if they were indeed killed and found her brother in a semi-lying position with blood running down his face. According to her knowledge, they were supposed to pay 50 German marks per person for their escape. After the murder of seven civilians, the rest returned to their homes in the morning, back to the war hell of Bugojno.
As we remember the seven murdered civilians, the 30th anniversary of the crime will also involve raising questions about accountability for this crime. Three decades after the brutal execution of seven Croatian civilian victims, we wonder how many more years must pass and whether numerous crimes against Bugojno Croats, including the persecution of 15,000 Croats, the operation of detention camps, and the brutal murder of civilian victims and prisoners, including violent abductions to unknown locations, will ever be fully clarified.
They await justice. Without prosecuting the creators and masterminds of these crimes, the web of crimes will not begin to unravel, as proceedings against a few lower-ranking and direct perpetrators have not led to a clarification and punishment of the massive scale of crimes. We have not found the bodies of 15 of our forcibly abducted prisoners; 70 civilian war victims are still awaiting justice. The execution of these seven individuals, which occurred 30 years ago, is just one part of the cruel mosaic of crimes against Bugojno Croats, who still await a court ruling without which it is difficult to build coexistence in this city because Croats who have returned to Bugojno encounter the perpetrators and masterminds of the crimes against their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and husbands every day. Among them are those who took money for the escape of the seven civilians and then cold-bloodedly executed them with close-range gunfire!
In the meantime, Wikileaks has released evidence of the involvement of the US Embassy in hiding criminals from Bugojno, and evidence that they are exerting pressure on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina not to prosecute some Jihadist members.
It is shameful that the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not allowed to write about it, and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not filing charges against the US Ambassador, even though this activity goes beyond the scope of diplomatic immunity and constitutes a criminal offense.
While Bugojno’s victims seek justice, Murphy, the protector of Bugojno’s murderers, the US Ambassador, is filming tourism-related videos in Travnik, emphasizing the importance of castles and the beauty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As far as we can see, he is avoiding the topic of pits and speleology.
At the same time, one of the court-protected members of the Jihadist group, Šerif Patković, who in 1993 predicted the downfall of the West, has offered his services to Hamas.
The US Embassy, which comments on various issues, has not reacted this time either.
We urge US citizens to send this text to their representatives in the US legislatures.