From almost concealed media reports, we have become aware that a two-day conference commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), its legacy, and challenges, is being held in Sarajevo.
We are also informed through semi-concealed media reports that this conference was attended by Graciela Gatti Santana, the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT), Serge Brammertz, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for United Nations Criminal Tribunals, Abubacarr M. Tabadou, the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, as well as numerous other distinguished legal professionals. The conference was organized, as marginal rather than mainstream media in Bosnia and Herzegovina noted, by the associations “Movement of Mothers of Enclaves of Srebrenica and Žepa” and the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide.
The question that arises is as follows: Why do these champions of justice hide while they are in Bosnia and Herzegovina? What are they afraid of?
We must emphasize that we are deeply disappointed by the fact that no association representing the victims of Croats in the last war, whether it be the families of those killed, the disappeared, or detainees, has been invited to this important event marking the 30 years of ICTY’s work. Not a single lawyer, not a single representative of the community of this nation.
We must also admit that we are profoundly shocked by the messages delivered by certain domestic and international participants in the conference, which gives us the right to claim that this is an extremely biased gathering that seems to believe that the victims in the last war were only on one side.
This perfectly fits the work of the Hague Tribunal, which, as its legacy shows, did not care at all about the Croatian victims or the serious and mass crimes committed against this nation. From the village of Bisevo, through Križančevo Selo, Buhin’s Houses, Maljine, Dusina, ‘Osmica’ in Vitez, Trusina, Doljani, Grabovica, or Uzdol, where the 30th anniversary of the massacre in which 41 Croats were killed was marked on the day the conference began in Sarajevo. Among them were 29 civilians, including three children, Stjepan Zelić, only ten years old, and his thirteen-year-old sister Marija, who were shot by a perpetrator, a member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on their family doorstep. They were killed along with their mother. Just like twelve-year-old Jadranka Zelenika. Moreover, just five days earlier, four-year-old Mladenka Zadro was killed in the village of Grabovica near Mostar. In her mother’s lap. And all of this as part of Operation Neretva ’93 by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Neither Anica Jurić from Kakanj nor Serafin Lauš from Travnik were invited to the conference in Sarajevo. In front of their eyes, members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina killed three sons and husbands. Soldiers of the same army did the same to Katica and Ilija Soldo from Doljani near Jablanica. Ilija spent a whole day with Hague investigators in 2004 on the Stipića Livada plateau, explaining every detail of the capture and shooting of three sons. He witnessed it with his own eyes. He died just like Kata Soldo, without ever seeing Hague or domestic justice. The Hague Tribunal did not consider their victims significant enough to confirm the stereotype it largely followed.
When considering that the Hague Tribunal has not convicted anyone for any mass crimes or criminal enterprises against the Croats of central Bosnia, parts of Posavina, and northern Herzegovina, it may even be better that we did not receive an invitation to the 30th anniversary of ICTY’s work. In our opinion, it has not passed the test. Partial justice has only been rectified by domestic judiciary, which has a much more significant legacy than the Hague Tribunal. This is confirmed by recent research showing that, so far, the lowest number of members of the HVO and Croats have been conclusively sentenced for war crimes, with around 1025 years of imprisonment. The Bosniak side received 1400 years, and the Serb side over 4000 years of imprisonment, along with seven life sentences.
Coordination of Associations of the Homeland War HVO
Iz medijskih izvješća smo upoznati da se u Sarajevu održava dvodnevna konferencija povodom 30 godina od osnivanja Međunarodnog kaznenog suda za bivšu Jugoslaviju njegovom nasljeđu i izazovima. Također smo iz medijskih izvješća upoznati o tome da su ovoj konferenciji nazočili predsjednica Međunarodnog rezidualnog mehanizma za kaznene sudove (MICT) Graciela Gatti Santana, glavni tužitelj Međunarodnog rezidualnog mehanizma Ujedinjenih nacija za kaznene sudove Serge Brammertz, pomoćnik glavnog tajnika UN-a i registrar Međunarodnog rezidualnog mehanizma za kaznene sudove Abubacarr M. Tabadou i niz drugih uglednih pravnika. Konferenciju su organizirala, također su naveli mediji, udruženja “Pokret Majke enklava Srebrenice i Žepe” te Udruženja žrtava i svjedoka genocida.
Moramo istaknuti kako smo teško razočarani činjenicom da na ovaj važni skup povodom 30 godina rada ICTY nije pozvana nijedna udruga žrtava Hrvata u posljednjem ratu, bilo da je riječ o obiteljima poginulih, ubijenih i nestalih, logoraša … nijedan pravnik, nijedan predstavnik zajednice ovoga naroda.
Također moramo priznati da smo teško šokirani porukama koje su izrekli pojedini domaći i međunarodni sudionici konferencije što nam daje za pravo tvrditi kako se radi o krajnje pristranom skupu koji valjda smatra kako su žrtve u posljednjem ratu bile samo na jednoj strani.
To se savršeno uklapa u rad Haaškoga tribunala koji, kako pokazuje njegova ostavština, nije uopće mario za hrvatske žrtve, za teške i masovne zločine počinjene nad ovim narodom. Od Briševa, preko Križančeva sela, Buhinih kuća, Maljina, Dusine, ‘Osmice’ u Vitezu, Trusine, Doljana, Grabovice ili pak Uzdola u kojemu je na dan početka konferencije u Sarajevu obilježena 30 godišnjica masakra u kojemu je ubijen 41 Hrvat. Među njima bilo je 29 civila, od kojih troje djece Stjepan Zelić sa samo deset godina i njegova trinaestogodišnja sestra Marija u koje je počinitelj, pripadnik Armije BiH pucao na obiteljskome pragu. Ubijeni su zajedno s majkom. Kao i dvanaestogodišnja Jadranka Zelenika. Uostalom, kao i četverogodišnja Mladenka Zadro samo pet dana ranije u selu Grabovici kod Mostara. U krilu majke. I sve to u sklopu operacije Neretva ’93. Armije BiH.
Da ne spominjemo ritualna ubojstva s odsijecanjima glaveu središnjoj Bosni koje su počinili ratnici mudžahedini iz muslimanskih zemalja, masovna stratišta u Bugojnu.
Na konferenciju u Sarajevo nisu pozvane ni Anica Jurić iz Kaknja ili Serafina Lauš iz Travnika. Njima su pripadnici Armije BiH pred očima ubili po trojicu sinova i muževe. Isto su vojnici iste vojske napravili i Kati i Iliji Soldo iz Doljana kod Jablanice. Ilija je cijeli jedan dan proveo s haaškim istražiteljima 2004. godine na proplanku Stipića livadi objašnjavajući svaki detalj zarobljavanja i strijeljanja trojice sinova. Čemu je svjedočio očima. Umro je kao i Kata Soldo ne dočekavši ni haašku, ni domaću pravdu. Haaški sud njihove žrtve nije smatrao dovoljno vrijednim kako bi potvrdio stereotip kojim se u značajnoj mjeri rukovodio.Kada se ima na umu da pred Haaškim tribunalom nije preesuđeno niti za jedno masovni zločin, odnosno prave zločinačke pothvate kojima su bili izloženi Hrvati središnje Bosne, dijela Posavine i sjeverne Hercegovine, onda je možda čak i bolje da nismo dobili pozivnicu za 30 godišnjicu rada Haaškoga tribunala. On po nama nije položio ispit. Pravdu su djelomično tek ispravili domaće pravosuđe čija je ostavština daleko važnija od one haaške. O tome govore i nedavno istraživanje koje je pokazalo da je do sada za ratne zločine prd svim sudovima, od haaškog do domaćih pravomoćno osuđeno najmanje pripadnika HVO-a i Hrvata. Oni su dobili nešto 1025 godina, bošnjačka strana 1400 a srpska preko 4000 godina zatvora uz sedam doživotnih kazni.