Bosnia bids farewell to 86 more war victims

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday bid farewell to the recently identified victims of as many as 86 people during the 1992 Prijedor massacre.

Every year in July, newly identified victims of the massacre are buried in their village cemeteries after a collective funeral ceremony.

This year’s ceremony saw relatives of the victims and a large number of citizens gathered at the Poljana Stadium near Prijedor, a northwestern Bosnian town.

Zijad Bacic, speaking on behalf of the relatives of the victims, said that he was also subjected to torture in Prijedor.

"I lost my mother, two brothers and two sisters in the war. Despite this, I send peace messages every year. In order to live a common life in Prijedor, they must tell us where the mass graves are,'' Bacic said.

Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina presidency, said the crime in Prijedor has all the elements of genocide.

"The crime in Prijedor has all the elements of genocide, and who knows what happened to people who were in the camps. Journalists and international organizations did not reveal these camps. How else could it qualify than genocide," Djaferovic said.

Samir Garibovic, Emin Djonlagic and Suad Klajic are the youngest victims among 86. They were 19-years-old when they were killed.

Becir Besic, on the other hand, is the oldest victim to be buried at Saturday’s funeral. He was 61-years-old when he was killed.

Prijedor was the site of numerous war crimes carried out against Bosniak civilians by Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. The Prijedor massacre claimed a total of 5,209 Bosniaks and Croats, including 4,093 civilians.

Also on May 31, 1992, the Serbian administration in Prijedor issued an order to the non-Serb population to wear white stripes on their arms when they leave their houses, an order followed by extermination, murder, and persecution.

Most of the killings took place in the period between May and August 1992.

Between April 1992 and December 1995, an estimated 100,000 people were killed and 2.2 million displaced in Bosnia. Up to 50,000 women, mostly Bosniak, were raped.

The Bosnian War was sparked by the break-up of Yugoslavia, which led Bosnia to declare its independence in February 1992.

Its capital Sarajevo came under attack from Bosnian Serb militias, backed by the Yugoslav army, in what became the longest siege in modern history.