Morinj concentration camp 1991/1992 Photo: ddrrh.com
For the people of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Morinj is a symbol of horrendous sufferings endured by the Dubrovnik’s residents who ended up in Morinj (near Kotor, Montenegro) concentration camp. From the total of 440 Croats from Dubrovnik who suffered torture at the hands of Serb and Montenegrin camps 300 of them endured the horrors of Morinj camp; some 200 of these suffered abuse of unimaginably cruel proportions. In Morinj camp most were tortured in the most horrible and insufferable ways, many are to this day suffering chronic Post Traumatic Disorder as one of the nightmarish consequences of utterly horrific tortures and trauma.
Pobjeda news portal (Montenegro) reports that four out of six men originally indicted and now retried on charges of war crimes (against Croatian civilian population between October 1991 and August 1992) and relating to concentration camp Morinj have been convicted Wednesday 31 July to a total of 12 years imprisonment. They are Ivo Menzalin (4 years), Boro Gligic and Spiro Lucic (3 years) and Ivo Gojnic (2 years). While the defence for these four men has announced that it will appeal the judgment, the special prosecutor Lidija Vukcevic said in the Podgorica supreme court that their guilt for the war crimes had been proven beyond any doubt.
The summary of the horror story behind these horrible crimes perpetrated in Morinj concentration camp against Croats from Dubrovnik goes like this:
In 1991, as part of Serbia’s war against Croatia, Yugoslav Army units led by Montenegrin officers and full of Montenegrin reservists ravaged many of the villages in the southernmost tip of Croatian Dalmatia and shelled the historic port and World Heritage city of Dubrovnik, causing millions of euros in damage and hundreds of civilian deaths. Throughout the duration of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro remained in a federal state with Serbia until 2003.
In 1997, Montenegro expressed regret for its part in the wars and the consequent atrocities. However, the process of coming to terms with the past has been selective and superficial.
“Rat za mir” (“war for peace”), was the cynical slogan under which Montenegrin politicians backed the Yugoslav Army’s campaign in southern Croatia.
Croat prisoners in Morinj concentration camp 1991/1992
Photo: rtcg.me
In 2004-05, the ICTY in The Hague found former Montenegrin admiral Miodrag Jokic and General Pavle Strugar guilty of war crimes and sentenced each of them to eight years’ imprisonment. Attacks on Dubrovnik’s civilians bore a special place in the verdicts.
The Morinj camp war crimes prosecution began in 1998 in Montenegro’s Podgorica city, adjourned several times and retried (with same verdicts both times) … a profile of criminal justice process akin to circumstances where denial of crimes and profound lack of will by Montenegrin authorities and politicians to get stuck into the business of delivering justice where justice must be done had littered and undermined any path for reconciliation. Whether this latest verdict will in fact contribute to some semblance of healing for the victims remains to be seen. The chances for that, though, seem very slim as a significant number of Montenegrin politicians look the other way, barely acknowledging that horrible crimes were perpetrated even though an “apology” for the same war crimes had trickled through albeit with muffled resolve some years ago. Perhaps it is due to this pathetic attitude towards crimes that the sentences received by the four men for Morinj concentration camp are so obscenely inadequate. I pray for the health of those victims whose horrific times spent in Morinj must be revisiting them right now as intensified nightmares and horrendous flashbacks – all because justice has betrayed them. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
SERB/MONTENEGRIN ATTACK ON DUBROVNIK 1991/1992
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Reblogged this on Eyes of the Mind.
From Facebook: Fantastic news however all too late and not enough . These people will get what is coming to them one way or another, it is just a shame that law enforcement can / will not deliver true justice. People will.
Indeed Maxim it has come to that: people must act in defence of justice, ditch the “bandages”
Oh, dear Lord – Dubrovnik and its people – heroes! Bless you all!
Thank you Ana Mendes
I was aware how Dubrovnik was ravaged and terrorized. I was not aware its civilians were taken to concentration camp during the siege. What an eye opener this story is for me. Thank you for sharing with us. And, as far as I know Montenegro, although beautiful site, is riddled with corruption and organized crime. No wonder justice is served there as if in a snake pit.
Yes Wilkinson, much suffering happened in Dubrovnik as in other places at the time. The verdicts in Montenegro don’t serve humanity at all. It’s a sad day after such a long and torturous road
“Shockingly,” no one from the sham human rights rackets – GOLJUP, HaHaOhhh, BaBe, Centar za Mir i Nenasilje, SAB, nor SUBNOR have expressed any outrage at the light sentencing.
“Shocking.”
Brown nosers the lot, I’d say; well spotted therealamericro. Just awful and shocking.
It took more then 20 years to have some people convicted.The architects of these crimes are all free and enjoying life with money they earned trough plundering and stealing.Noone writes about ethnicly cleansed Croats from Montenegro,Herceg Novi and Boka Kotorska.Noone writes about Croats that were forced to leave their homes in north or central Bosnia and Herzegovina or Croats that were cleansed from Serbia(Vojvodina).But everybody writes about Serbs that ordered themselfs out of Croatia in 1995.
Thank you No – at least I will write and write and write about that but yes when one looks at the international media space one concludes what you state here and it is such a shame that the world that boasts about itself as fair and compassionate acts so without care.
Please accept this Award AND song
“Shine on Award”
http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/shine-on-award-6/
Thank you.
Shaun
Thank you Shaun – will post it in as I get organised and learn how to do that. Much appreciated
If you need help, give me a shout…
Ta x
Thanks Shaun
No worries x
Interestingly, Croatian President in a recent interview with Serbian media said that “Serbia is entitled to have a different position on the Croatian liberation operation Storm because of a significant number of Serb casualties” (interview with the Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti daily). Seriously. Is it just me or is this statement blasphemy and insult to Croatian independence and all its struggles. Sure everyone is entitled to their opinion and point of view no matter how stupid or ill informed. But facts are facts and Croatia was attacked in a expansionist war by Serbia. Croatia suffered significantly more than Serbia. And what does the number casualties have to do with forming an opinion about the legitimacy of a legitimate defense and liberation victory. The aggressor simply got its just deserts. And to add insult to injury, Operation Storm had the least casualties of any operation in the war and especially any that Serbs ever mounted, and we should tolerate this kind of “difference of opinion” from Serbia and officially recognize it. No opinion is needed…the facts speak for themselves. This guy is an idiot! But tragically he officially speaks for Croatia. I guess we should apologize to Serbia for defending ourselves since we tolerate such opinions or should I say lies. This is crazy. I still stand by my earlier notes – we need to build a wall between Croatia and Serbia and completely disassociate ourselves from the Serbs; history has proven that association with Serbs have been disastrous for Croatia.
Oh Sunman – with that lot in power in Croatia nothing surprises me any more but just about most things they spin saddens and disappoints me. The idiocy in that comment by Josipovic is furthered by the fact that it’s to be expected that Serbia will continue to give itself the right to continue holding a different position (to Croatia) all the while persons like Croatia’s president behave like that. Perhaps Josipovic has confused the difference between the concepts of forgive and forget, to him both fall into the former it seems, which is idiocy and far removed from human entitlements. He may speak officially for Croatia when one digs deeper and into various public opinion outlets and media it is abundantly clear that he does not speak for Croatian people because he has and continues to fail reading their opinions and beliefs and facts.
49 Serb casualties the entirety of Oluja and the months after.
49.
That is not only insignificant, it is, considering the the size of the swath of territory liberated, and the systematic genocide that Serbs committed against Croats 1991-1995 there, and the fact that Serbs were voting for those genocidal policies en masse, it is an outright miracle that there were only 49 questionable Serb civilian or military deaths during and after Storm.
I like how our womanly president doesn’t fire back about unpunished “Krajina” and JNA war crimes, the fact that 400 sick and elderly Croatians were slaughtered by Serb civilians, police and or VRSK in front of the impotent UN Jan 15 1992 – August 4 1995 in the ethnically purified of 99.5% of non-Serb “Krajina,” and that alone – lest we even mention the four full years of excessive and indiscriminate shelling by the JNA / VRSK, as well as combined arms attacks, that killed over 10,000 Croats and non-Serbs, and maimed another 30,000 Croats and non-Serbs, civilians at that – was reason enough to launch Storm as the genocidal pigs in charge of genocidal SRAO “Krajina” refused any peaceful negotiations.
Sunman:
Unfortunately, Croatia’s effete president and ruling post-Yugoslav Socialist Yugoslav Socialist caste suffer from abused wife syndrome – the more Serbia craps on Croatia via media and diplomacy, the more they love Belgrade.
The horrible war………thank you form visiting ……..meo
Thank you meo….laura
Therealamericro, you couldn’t be more right. The most frustrating thing about all of this is that our voices are not heard, the voice of truth and justice is gagged in Croatia and subverted elsewhere. If nothing else Serbs are masters of deception and propaganda. They stick to their story no matter the that the truth gets in the way. Because of this political idiot who is President and the baffoons in government, Serbia’s point of view, their lies and their propaganda have been legitimized by Croatia. How sad and what a cruel tragedy for our people. Croatia needs a revolution of thought, values and principles. We need to reignite our pride and stand firm on the truth; enough of political correctness and bowing to the opinions of others whose only interest is our demise.
Unfortunately we are only a few, i totally agree…….
Thank you Ivan on comment
We are the silent overwhelming majority. The post-socialist socialist elites that illegally privatized industry and media and who play magical chairs every election in Sabor are a fraction of a fraction of the population. The problem is our election system and the voting against one evil for a percieved lesser (but in reality, just as if not greater) evil. That is the root of the problem.
With this government’s epic fail gaining momentum, I do see some change in the future.
So great to hear you see some change in the future therealamericro. That’s so good to hear.
unbelievable. It would be nice to think that times like this are changing, but it seems it just keeps spreading and titled differently. genocide happens daily and nobody hears about it.
Yes f4ischer it does happen daily … somewhere … it’s awful how tolerating crime for political reasons keep crawling in …