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Documents Series 

Bukovica 

Humanitarian Law Center



Table of Contents 

Introduction 5 

1. Political Situation in Montenegro 7 

2. Paramilitary Groups 11 

2.1. Disarming paramilitary groups 13 

3. Pljevlja 14 

3.1. Radical rebellion 16 

3.2. Explosions 18 

3.3. Dačević indictment 20 

3.3.1. Dačević trial 22 

4. Propaganda Against 

Montenegrin Muslims 25 

5. Bukovica at the Beginning of the War 

in Bosnia-Herzegovina 28 

5.1. Murders in Vitine 32 

5.2. Expulsion from Rosulje 36 

5.3. Physical and Mental Abuse 

of the Kaims 39 

5.4. The murder of Hajro and Ejub Muslić 42 

5.5. November house searches 43 

5.5.1.The death of Himzo Stovrag 43 

5.5.2The beating of Jakub Durgut 45 

5.5.3. Arrested and imprisoned 46 

5.5.3.1. Flight to Goražde 48 

5.5.3.2. Elderly couple beaten 50


Humanitarian Law Center 

6. Muslim Offensive on Čajniče 52 

7. Hostages Taken in Ravni Village 57 

7.1. Razija Bungur: ”They said they were 

Chetniks“ 57 

7.2. Zlatija Bungur: ”Alema started 

walking in prison“ 58 

7.3. Ramiza Bungur: ”They sent me to 

Goražde to parley.“ 62 

7.4. Mamko Bungur: ”Mother said 

we would soon be exchanged.“ 62 

7.5. Sevda Bungur: ”I heard a shot and 

immediately thought to myself that 

Latif had been killed.“ 65 

7.6. The murder of Latif Bungur 67 

8. The Terror Continues 71 

8.1. The death of Hilmo Drkenda 76 

8.2. Dekare 77 

9. Epilogue 80 

10. Homes Torched To Prevent Return 82 

11. Mosques Destroyed 84 

Appendix 1 

Bukovica Refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina 86 

Appendix 2 

HLC Spotlight Report No. 4, May 1993 102


Dedicated to the victims of ethnic and religious persecution


Introduction 


Bukovica is a rural area situated in Montenegro’s Pljevlja 

municipality. It spreads on 140 square kilometers of 

highland country covered with woods, orchards and 

meadows, cut by crystal clear streams, and is bounded 

on three sides, to a length of 104 kilometers, by the 

Yugoslav border with Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is sparsely 

populated, with 37 small hamlets and lone homesteads 

scattered on the mountain slopes. The community center 

is located in Kovačevići village on the edge of which 

are buildings housing the community office, elementary 

school, post office, medical clinic, the homes of the 

teachers and administrative workers and, since mid- 

1991, the local police station. Kovačevići is 75 kilometers 

from the town of Pljevlja, the administrative center 

of the municipality, and some of its outlying hamlets up 

to 85 kilometers away. Twenty-nine of the hamlets were 

all-Muslim: Tvrdakovići, Rosulje, Raščići, Hromac, Sirčići, 

Selišta, Gunjičići, Borišići, Klakorine, Borjanica, Kržava, 

Mrčići, Rujevica, Geuši, Budijevići, Madžari, Ograda, 

Vukšići, Čerjenci, Djenovići, Stražice, Brdo, Plansko, 

Močevići, Kruševci, Bunguri, Kava, Ravni and Hajlovine. 

Serbs and Montenegrins lived in Srečanje, Meljena, 

Rudići, Krčevina, Brda and Piperi while Kovačevići and 

Lugovi had populations from all these groups. According 

to the 1991 census, the municipality had 39,593 people, 

of whom 21,916 Montenegrins, 9,529 Serbs and 

6,964 Muslims, with Yugoslavs, Croats, Macedonians 

and others making up the remainder. The Bukovica 

hamlets had a total population of about 1,500 souls, 

with Muslims accounting for 65% to 70%. 

With the outbreak of armed conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina 

in 1992, Bukovica Serbs and Montenegrins, like 

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6 


those in the rest of Montenegro, were mobilized into 

the Yugoslav Army (VJ) and, for the first time, a military 

command post was set up in Kovačevići. Members of 

Bosnian Serb armed units easily crossed the porous 

border and both they and the VJ treated the Bukovica 

Muslims as the enemy. Muslim homes were searched for 

alleged illegal weapons, families were robbed of their 

money and valuables, men were beaten and threatened 

with death unless they moved out. All this and a number 

of murders forced the Bukovica Muslims to flee. In just 

two consecutive days, 15 and 16 February 1993, Bosnian 

Serb army members took hostage 11 members of the 

Bungur family to obtain from them information on the 

involvement of Montenegrin Muslims in the Bosnian 

Muslim military offensive at Čajniče (Bosnia) on 14 February, 

and to exchange them for Bosnian Serbs taken 

prisoner. Six elderly male members of the family 

returned on 21 March and five others, two women and 

three children, were exchanged for two Bosnian Serb 

civilians from Goražde on 23 May 1993. 

By March 1993, there were 152 displaced Bukovica Muslims 

in Pljevlja town. The remaining families left the 

area during that year and the next. Hoping that the situation 

would soon calm down and make it possible for 

them to go back home, some of them moved in with relatives 

in Pljevlja. Those who had passports left Montenegro 

for third countries. The majority, however, 

afraid for their lives and without passports, decided to 

go by foot through the woods and forests and cross into 

Bosnian Muslim-held territory. 

Reporting the abduction of the Bukovica villagers a 

few days after the event, the Montenegrin weekly Monitor 

strongly suggested that it was part of Belgrade’s 

policy of creating an ethnically pure strip of land along 

the Montenegrin-Bosnian border. The Montenegrin



Liberal Party accused the republic’s government of 

complicity in the expulsion of Muslims from the area 

by failing to prevent the terror against them. The 

Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) was subsequently 

able to locate an eyewitness of the 16 February kidnapping 

and to speak with some 20 displaced Bukovica 

Muslims in Pljevlja. The HLC report based on their testimony 

was carried in entirety by the Belgrade daily 

Naša Borba and is reprinted in this publication. With 

the help of their relatives and friends in Pljevlja, the 

HLC during 2000 and 2001 reached most of the victims 

and witnesses of the terror in Bukovica. The majority 

now live in Goražde or Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 

and some died soon after fleeing Bukovica of 

injuries due to severe beating. 

This publication is dedicated to the victims of persecution 

on ethnic and religious grounds in Bukovica. The 

aim of the HLC is to bring out the truth about events in 

the recent past, initiate a broad-based debate on 

accountability, and restore the human dignity of the victims. 

It is clear from what happened in Bukovica that 

there was a plan to create an ethnically pure territory, 

and that the Yugoslav Army and Serbian Radical Party 

(SRS) were directly involved in carrying it out. For its 

part, the Montenegrin government did nothing to prevent 

or stop the persecution and expulsion of the 

Bukovica Muslims. 

1. Political Situation in Montenegro 

Prior to and at the beginning of the war in Bosnia- 

Herzegovina, towns in northern Montenegro were 

rocked by explosions: Muslim-owned stores and houses 

were being blown up. The state media in Montenegro 

stayed silent on this but featured many an article alleg- 

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8 


ing that the Muslim population of Montenegro was illegally 

arming itself in preparation for a rebellion. 

Following a series of rallies in Serbia notable for his 

threats against Croats and other minorities, SRS leader 

Vojislav Šešelj took this same rhetoric into Montenegro. 

Speaking at an election rally on 25 April 1992 in Podgorica, 

he was cheered enthusiastically by about 10,000 

supporters. Security men at this rally were in camouflage 

fatigues and armed with automatic rifles. Šešelj 

explained to his audience that the concept of a rump 

Yugoslavia had been accepted in order to more easily 

ensure the primary goal - that of all Serbs living in one 

state. He accused the ”external enemies“ (Germany, the 

United States and European Community) and ”internal 

enemies“ (Serbian Renewal Movement, Democratic 

Party and Montenegro’s Liberal Alliance) of wanting 

first to declare the independence of Serbia and Montenegro 

and of now creating anarchy and chaos and 

preventing democratic consolidation. ”That’s why 

everyone who belongs to Serbdom must go to the 

polls,“ he exclaimed. 1 Šešelj lashed out again against the 

”traitorous generals“ (Veljko Kadijević, Milutin Kukanjac, 

Stane Brovet and others) for not ”liberating Serb 

lands by now“ and promised them courts-martial and 

shooting squads. Responding to cries from supporters 

that they would kill the Albanians, he said, obviously 

alluding to the some 10,000 ethnic Albanians who did 

not boycott the 1991 census, ”No, we like those Shiptars. 

2 They are our brothers and we shall take good care 

of them. But I predict for all disloyal Shiptars, Croats, 

Muslims and others a journey over the Prokletije.“ 3 

1 ”That’s Why Everyone Who Belongs to Serbdom Must Go to the 

Polls,“ Borba, Belgrade, 26 April 1992. 

2 Serbian derogatory for Albanian. 

3 Mountain range on the Yugoslav-Albanian border.



As the rally was drawing to its end, Adem Šabotić, a 60year-old 

Montenegrin Muslim, threw a hand grenade at 

Šešelj. Sixty-one people, including the SRS leader, were 

slightly injured in the explosion. Šabotić, who had several 

prior criminal convictions, was arrested and, admitting 

the act, said: ”I did it because I’m sick and tired of 

Šešelj.“ 4 Searching Šabotić’s house, police found three 

automatic rifles, a machine-gun, three hand grenades, 

and a large quantity of ammunition. 

The Liberal Alliance was the first Montenegrin political 

party to condemn the attempt on Šešelj’s life in spite of 

him having consistently labeled them ”traitors.“ But, at 

the same time, it said the act was the result of the Montenegrin 

authorities’ ”benevolent attitude toward the 

spreading of Chetnik 5 ideology in this republic.“ 6 The 

other Montenegrin parties denounced the assassination 

attempt as an act of terrorism. The Reformist 

Alliance of the Montenegrin Coastlands said in its press 

release that ”this, like any other act of terrorism, is a 

provocation and a call for all-out terrorism and civil war 

in Montenegro.“ 7 

„Is Šabotić the extended arm of the Green Berets 8 and 

does this incident confirm the increasing rumors that 

Alija’s 9 group has reached Montenegro too? Officials are 

unwilling to say anything specific. But from what is 

4 ”Would-be Assassin Adem Šabotić,“ Borba, Belgrade, 27 April 1992. 

5 Member of the Serbian Army during the Balkan Wars, later used to 

denote members of extremist paramilitary groups. 

6 ”Grenade Against Vojvoda,“ Borba, Belgrade, 27 April 1992. 

7 Ibid. 

8 Bosnian Muslim paramilitary group, later incorporated into the 

Bosnian Army. 

9 Alija Izetbegović, leader of the Bosnian Muslim Party of Democratic 

Action and later President of Bosnia-Herezegovina. 

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10 


known and what was discovered in Šabotić’s possession, 

it can be said that we have here a serious organization 

which is preparing acts of terrorism,“ the Belgrade 

daily Večernje Novosti wrote. 10 

In a call-in show on Montenegrin TV, the Montenegrin 

president of the day, Momir Bulatović, deplored ”the terrorist 

attack“ and said ”only madmen are prepared to do 

something like this.“ 11 Bulatović warned of the danger of 

the mounting speculations following the incident. With 

regard to opposition accusations that the republican government 

was turning a blind eye to Šešelj’s rhetoric and 

instigation of rebellion in Montenegro, Bulatović denied 

rumors that the Radical leader had threatened ”a terrible 

revenge“ against his assailants. He added that Šešelj had 

in a conversation with him ”paid tribute“ to the Montenegrin 

police for their quick arrest of the would-be assassin. 

12 Bulatović expressed strong support for the Montenegrin 

authorities, saying they were capable of maintaining 

peace in the republic. 

For his part, Šešelj continued in the same vein. At a rally 

in Raška, Serbia, he threatened Muslims: ”Should there 

be barricades or some kind of Muslim rebellion in the 

Sandžak, our volunteers, soldiers proven in combat, will 

be there right away and the Muslims will have to think 

hard what to do and where to go! They’ll run all the way 

to Anatolia. Let the Muslims know that the fiercest Islamic 

fanatics from Novi Pazar, Sjenica and Tutin have 

already been killed as Croatian mercenaries and Izetbegović’s 

soldiers in Bosnia.“ 13 

10 ”Šabotić Is Not Alone,“ Večernje Novosti, Belgrade, 27 April 1992. 

11 ”Grenade Against Vojvoda,“ Borba, Belgrade, 27 April 1992. 

12 Ibid. 

13 ”Šešelj: We Would Make Short Shrift of a Muslim Rebellion,“ 

Politika, Belgrade, 17 May 1992.


2. Paramilitary Groups 


As VJ troops and reservists and various paramilitary 

groups stormed into cafes, ill-treated the customers, 

especially if they were Muslims, torched Muslim-owned 

property, and shot off their guns in the streets, the 

atmosphere in northern Montenegro increasingly 

became one of war. In May 1992, leader of the Montenegrin 

Muslims’ Party of Democratic Action Harun Hadžić 

said Muslims were moving out under pressure by the VJ 

and paramilitary Chetnik groups. He cited as an example 

the Rožaje area from where 1,000 Muslims had fled 

in the span of only two months. Saying that the reporting 

of Serbian and Montenegrin media was turning 

Serbs against Muslims, Hadžić warned: ”The media are 

doing a lot of harm and a creating an atmosphere in 

which people might out of fear make some wrong 

moves. Stories that we are working hand in hand with 

Ugljanin 14 who will supposedly attack the Serb population 

have no foundation at all. No one wants any conflicts 

in this region - neither the Serbian nor the Montenegrin 

authorities, nor we Muslims. We would be 

defeated militarily and the Army, which already treats us 

mercilessly, would have no compassion toward us: it 

would be total annihilation.“ 15 

In May 1992, President Bulatović visited Pljevlja, which 

had become a center for Šešelj’s Radicals and Chetnik 

groups and, for the first time, publicly mentioned the 

existence of paramilitaries in Montenegro. Meeting 

with municipal officials, Bulatović said the presence of 

armed men other than police and the military in Mon- 

14 Sulejman Ugljanin, leader of the Muslim Party of Democratic 

Action in the Sandžak. 

15 ”Leaden Fear Bears Down,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 8 My 1992. 

11


12 


tenegrin towns was impermissible, and that they had to 

be disarmed. 16 

Up until then the Montenegrin government had 

claimed that there were no paramilitary groups in the 

republic. That there were became evident at the Pljevlja 

meeting when President Bulatović criticized the authorities 

for failing to disarm paramilitaries. The weekly 

Monitor reported that the republic’s Minister of Internal 

Affairs did not deny that some ”strange army“ had 

passed through the town under police escort. 17 He 

admitted it had been agreed that the passage through 

Pljevlja of this outfit would be swift. He further said it 

was impossible to completely ”disarm citizens who like 

guns, in fact it is dangerous because people, including 

paramilitaries, are reluctant to give up their weapons.“ 

The weekly noted that the minister avoided saying 

which outfit had been involved. 18 

Who made up these paramilitary groups was indirectly 

revealed by VJ General Milan Djokić, the commanding 

officer of the Pljevlja garrison. Saying that it was not the 

Army which had betrayed the people but vice versa, 19 

General Djokić announced that ”under great pressure 

by citizens,“ he would start ”handing out arms to those 

who are prepared to defend the country.“ 20 Although 

President Bulatović told the general that weapons could 

distributed only by a decision of the High Defense 

Council, Montenegrins wondered what were the criteria 

for being considered trustworthy enough to be 

issued with arms and whether their government was 

16 ”Security Without Protection,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 15 May 1992. 

17 Ibid. 

18 Ibid. 

19 Ibid. 

20 Ibid



really in control of the situation. The Muslim population 

became increasingly anxious and fearful. 

Reacting to a report in Monitor 21 on the lawlessness and 

rampaging of the paramilitaries, blowing up of Muslim 

property in Pljevlja, and the local authorities’ refusal to 

respond to questions by the press, Pljevlja Police Chief 

Milan Paunović and the security chief for Pljevlja and 

Žabljak municipalities, Radoman Purić, called a news conference 

to deny the ”allegations of some media.“ Paunović 

and Purić claimed that all citizens enjoyed equal protection 

and that the law enforcement agencies were investing 

maximum efforts to ensure the safety of all. 

2.1. Disarming paramilitary groups 

In late July 1992, the Yugoslav High Defense Council, 

Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Second 

Army Command took a decision to disarm all paramilitary 

groups. At a cafe in Pljevlja on 15 and 16 August, 

SRS member and Chetnik Vojvoda 22 Milika ”Čeko“ Dačević 

had his men turn over their weapons. A few old M- 

48 rifles and a number of trophy weapons were handed 

in, with TV cameras and photojournalists memorializing 

the ”spectacular arms surrender.“ 

The federal government and the High Defense Council 

dispatched the Special Forces of the Federal Ministry of 

Internal Affairs to Pljevlja in the summer of that year to 

disarm the paramilitaries and obviate inter-ethnic conflicts. 

Its commanding officer, Milorad Davidović, said 

that there were those in both the Montenegrin and Muslim 

communities who were not pleased with the pres- 

21 ”Investigation Is Underway,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 18 July 1992. 

22 Vojvoda, highest rank in the Serbian Army at the time of World War I. 

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14 


ence of these ”strangers, but when push came to shove 

people realized that these guys together with the VJ 

were ensuring peace for them.“ Davidović on several 

occasions said publicly that volunteers ”with extreme 

nationalistic sentiments and armed to the teeth“ were 

coming from the war zones in Bosnia. 23 Writing about 

the presence of the federal police force, Monitor reported: 

”People say that the situation went back to normal 

when one group of special police was there but worsened 

with the arrival of another. They noticed these 

new Special Forces men keeping company with those 

who spread fear in Pljevlja and even joining them in 

shooting off their weapons when drunk.“ 24 

3. Pljevlja 

The closest towns to Pljevlja municipality across the 

Bosnian border are Čajniče, Goražde and Foča. The 

atmosphere of war from Bosnia soon spilled over into 

this Montenegrin municipality and, as it had done earlier 

with the dominantly Serb Krajina region in Croatia 

and parts of Vojvodina populated by ethnic Croats and 

Hungarians, the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) left 

Montenegro to the SRS. The Radicals in border areas 

with Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina liked to describe 

themselves as ”guards of the frontiers of Serbdom and 

committed combatants for the Serb cause.“ 

The attacks on Pljevlja Muslims led the Montenegrin 

government to question the Serbian doctrine, which in 

turn raised the issue of Montenegro’s loyalty to Serbia. 

Following instructions from Belgrade, the Montenegrin 

authorities had participated in creating an irregular 

23 ”Investigation Is Underway,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 18 July 1992.. 

24 ”Agony Prolonged,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 24 July 1992.



political situation in the north of their republic. Thus 

Montenegrin Liberal Alliance election rallies in November 

1992 were banned in many places. As Monitor editor-in-chief 

Miodrag Perović wrote: ”The partial political 

isolation of northern Montenegro has increased the 

possibility of a civil war breaking out in that area. Chetnik 

gangs with the help of corrupt police and VJ soldiers 

will attempt to trigger it.“ 25 

This kind of atmosphere was generated mainly by the 

leaders of the SRS in Serbia and Montenegro, Vojislav 

Šešelj and Mirko Jović, who, on the pretext of opposing 

Montenegrin separatism and secession, exacerbated 

the problems between the two republics and encouraged 

the upsurge of nationalism. 

Soon after the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina broke out, 

armed Bosnian Serbs, wounded, and refugee women 

and children began arriving in Pljevlja. More and more 

Muslim-owned stores were blown up and the situation 

became so serious that the then Yugoslav President 

Dobrica Ćosić came to the town in late July together 

with President Bulatović. Speaking of the destruction of 

Muslim property, the municipality’s Mayor Momčilo 

Bojović said that ”a belated Serb national romanticism is 

at work and is being expressed in ways that no one 

likes.“ 26 In an attempt to evenly distribute the blame, 

Bulatović for the first time mentioned ”eighty or so 

young men from this area who are in the Green 

Berets.“ 27 Meeting with the President of the Pljevlja 

Islamic Community, Hakija Ajanović, President Ćosić 

said: ”There are different kinds of Chetnik groups, 

White Eagles, men whose motives are crime and plun- 

25 ”In Milošević’s Jaws,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 27 November 1992. 

26 ”Tell Us, Mr President,“ NIN, Belgrade, 21 August 1992. 

27 Ibid. 

15


16 


der, who are crossing the Drina. 28 But I want to assure 

you that we are doing everything possible to disarm 

them.“ Ćosić called on Ajanović to assume his share of 

responsibility ”for the wicked things the other side is 

doing here and on the other side of the Drina.“ 29 

The Serbian and Montenegrin media featured almost 

daily reports on the military and police finding illegal 

weapons cached by Muslims. But they failed to carry a 

press statement released by the Montenegrin Ministry 

of Internal Affairs on 24 criminal offenses committed in 

the 1 January-15 August 1992 period: property blown 

up, hand grenades thrown, and gunfire endangering 

the public. The owners of the destroyed property were 

”mainly Muslims with the exception of two cases involving 

mixed marriages.“ 30 

3.1. Radical rebellion 

Events in Pljevlja peaked on 6 August 1992 when traffic 

police stopped a white Mercedes which was being driven 

by one Vuković. Finding that the driver had no 

papers on the provenance of the vehicle apart from one 

issued by the mayor of Čajniče saying that it was a gift 

to Milika ”Čeko“ Dačević as a token of gratitude for his 

assistance in the war, the police took Vuković into custody. 

A closer look at the car brought out that its license 

plates were fake. When Dačević came to the Police 

Department the next morning demanding that the Mercedes 

be returned to him, he was detained for an investigatory 

interrogation in connection with the vehicle as 

well as a number of charges pressed against him earlier. 

28 Drina River, most of whose course constitutes the border between 

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. 

29 Tell Us, Mr President,“ NIN, Belgrade, 21 August 1992. 

30 Ibid.



These included the beating up of a Muslim, Muhamed 

Hrastovina, in a local cafe two days before, and several 

instances of disorderly behavior, resisting police officers 

in the performance of their duty, endangering the 

public with gunfire. Hearing that Dačević was being 

detained, people started gathering outside the Police 

Department, chanting slogans in his support. By the 

evening, the crowd was 500-strong and barricades 

manned by uniformed men had been erected around 

the town. About 20 wounded in the Pljevlja hospital 

stopped taking food and medication in protest against 

Dačević’s detention. 

Dačević was released around midnight. Addressing the 

cheering crowd amid the sound of celebratory gunfire, 

he said: ”If they hadn’t let me go, there would have been 

war in the Sandžak.“ 31 

The next day, Montenegro’s Minister of Internal Affairs 

Nikola Pejaković came to Pljevlja to call to account the 

police officers who had released Dačević and failed to disperse 

the Radical crowd. Some officers were given three 

days to choose a place in Montenegro to where they wanted 

to be reassigned or be dismissed. This measure was 

announced somewhat earlier by Montenegrin Premier 

Milo Djukanović to deal with the problem of unprofessional 

police in other cities. Djukanović said then that 

robust measures would be implemented since there were 

indications that the orders of the High Defense Council 

were not being carried out. 32 President Bulatović arrived 

in Pljevlja for the second time in ten days to discuss the 

unrest and measures that had to be taken with representatives 

of political parties and the police authorities. 

31 ”How Čeko Occupied Pljevlja,“ Politika, Belgrade, 30 December 

1994. 

32 ”The State Guarantees Security,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 8 August 1992. 

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18 


On 8 August, however, the suspended police officers 

staged a hunger strike outside the Police Department 

and were joined by some Pljevljans. Shortly afterwards, 

Dačević appeared and demanded that the suspended 

police be reinstated by 5 p.m. and threatened 

to come back with armed men unless this was done. 33 

When his ultimatum was not met by the deadline he 

had set, more and more Radicals began congregating 

in Pljevlja. Barricades were soon erected on access 

roads and the buildings of the post office, State 

Accounting Bureau, the Town Hall, radio station were 

blocked off and phone lines cut. One of Dačević’s 

men took over the local bakery and ordered the manager 

and staff to bake enough bread for 10,000 of his 

men. The bakery turned out 2,500 kilos of bread that 

night. Dačević’s Radicals, in camouflage fatigues and 

armed with automatic and semi-automatic weapons 

and hand grenades, kept Pljevlja under blockade for 

10 hours. According to eyewitnesses, there were about 

800 armed civilians in the town that night and tension 

was running very high. 

3.2. Explosions 

On the night of 26/27 August, a blaze ripped through a 

shopping center in which five Muslims and one Albanian 

had their stores. The Pljevlja Muslims accused Bosnian 

Serb refugees of setting the fire. Dačević had his 

own version: ”The Muslims, pardon me, Turks, are 

doing it themselves so as to keep the tension as high as 

possible.“ 34 Pljevlja was at the time flooded with 

refugees from Bosnia, Serbs as well as Muslims, mainly 

women, children and elderly men. Local Serbs and 

33 ”Grenade Thrown at Store,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 9 August 1992. 

34 ”Pljevlja on Fire,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 28 August 1992.



Montenegrins claimed that the husbands, brothers and 

fathers of these refugees were fighting in Bosnia together 

with the Green Berets. 

Gutted remains of Muslim-owned businesses in Pljevlja 

(photo: 1992) 

General Radomir Damjanović, Chief of Staff of the Second 

Military District, fanned suspicions as to the loyalty 

of the Muslim population. Saying he was speaking as an 

engineer by profession, the general expressed his conviction 

that the fire had been staged and said flames 

appeared first and set of a gas explosion. 35 He quoted 

eyewitnesses as saying a large quantity of goods, in particular 

expensive, had been removed from the stores 

the day before the fire, and said it was curious that most 

35 ”Accusations, Etc.,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 1 September 1992. 

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20 


explosions in cafes had occurred at about 5 p.m., a time 

when they could be expected to have customers, but 

that no one had been hurt. Farfetched rumors circulated, 

including that a fund had been set up in Novi Pazar 

to compensate shop-owners who torched their own 

businesses. 

In a report on the fire, Monitor quoted a citizen of Pljevlja 

as saying: ”About a dozen young men were working 

with explosives when a military patrol came along, but 

they didn’t prevent the arson even though they had 

been tipped off about it.“ Accusing General Damjanović 

of making absurd statements and Pobjeda of carrying 

them without any reservations, Monitor noted that the 

destruction of the stores had left more than 30 Pljevlja 

Muslims without a livelihood and the town without a 

watch repairman. 36 

The Montenegrin authorities finally realized that Čeko 

Dačević had become a major problem and the Prosecutor’s 

Office filed criminal charges against him. SRS 

leader Vojislav Šešelj promptly promoted Dačević to 

deputy in the Federal Parliament and thus provided him 

with legislative immunity. 

3.3. Dačević indictment 

On 18 January 1993, an indictment containing a number 

of counts was filed with the High Court in Bijelo 

Polje against Dačević and his fellow Radicals Branko 

Vujašević, Jovica Laketić, Ljubomir Odović and Tihomir 

Vujadinović. The prosecutor accused them of acts of 

terrorism, violence, assaulting police officers, obstructing 

police officers in the performance of their duty, 

occupying vital public facilities, erecting barricades on 

36 ”Agreement on Terror,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 4 September 1992.



access roads to Pljevlja, threatening to blow up the Djurdjevića 

Tara bridge, and other acts committed on 8 and 

9 August 1992. All these acts, the prosecutor said, constituted 

massive and organized resistance to law enforcement 

and other state agencies and their measures, created 

a feeling of insecurity in the public, and were 

directed against the constitutional order. The counts of 

violent behavior included the harassment and beating 

of Muhamed Hrastovina on 27 July 1992 by Dačević and 

a group of armed and uniformed men, and the death 

threats made against a police inspector, Milan Cvijović. 

The prosecutor also alleged that at an SRS meeting on 

17 August, Dačević urged about 200 people to use force 

to release about 10 persons who were at the time up 

before the Magistrates Court for inciting disorders during 

the Radical protests in Pljevlja. Heeding his words, 

those present at the meeting proceeded immediately to 

the Pljevlja courthouse and brought out the persons 

charged. 

Speaking of the incident, Magistrates Court President 

Šerif Čengić said police had filed misdemeanor charges 

against 10 persons who had been inciting the rioting in 

Pljevlja. He was waiting for the suspects to be brought 

into the courtroom when he heard a commotion outside 

the building. ”Security was tight but, in my opinion, 

not tight enough. There were about 1,000 people in 

front of the building. There was nothing the police 

could do. The crowd was exerting pressure, shouting 

‘Ustashe’ 37 and ‘Red gangsters’ and booing. I was on the 

phone with the republican Magistrates Court when one 

of my staff informed me that the suspects were gone.“ 38 

37 Ustashe, extreme Croatian nationalists during World War II. 

38 ”Invisible Liberators,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 19 August 1992. 

21


22 


Together with the suspects they had ”liberated,“ the 

crowd went to the local hotel where Dačević told them: 

”The police have made another mistake. They came to 

help us but in fact did the opposite. Those who are to 

blame for this must leave town.“ 39 

3.3.1. Dačević trial 

Montenegrin Radicals staged yet more protests when 

the trial of Dačević and the other Radicals opened 

before the High Court in Bijelo Polje on 18 January 

1993. Shouting their support for the accused, they 

demanded that the court deliberate and rule independently, 

meaning without ”anti-Serb“ influences, and 

insisted that Dačević could not be tried because of his 

legislative immunity. The judicial authorities pointed 

out that immunity was not applicable in Dačević’s case 

since the criminal charges against him had been 

brought before he became a deputy. Furthermore, the 

offenses with which he was charged carry a penalty of 

over five years in prison, which ruled out the possibility 

of his invoking parliamentary immunity. 

The trial deeply divided the Montenegrin public. On one 

side were members and supporters of the Radical and 

Serb National Renewal parties and those Serbs and Montenegrins 

who believed the trial was staged and that it 

marked the beginning of a settling of scores between the 

republic’s leaders and refractory Serbs in northern Montenegro. 

On the other were the Liberals, Muslims in Bijelo 

Polje and a proportion of the membership of the ruling 

Democratic Party of Socialists, who considered that the 

trial was a victory for justice and denoted that the rule of 

law was finally being established in Montenegro. 

39 Ibid.



Hindered frequently by chanting crowds outside the 

courthouse, disorder in the public in the courtroom 

itself, and the persistence of one of the defense counsel 

in regularly appearing in camouflage fatigues even 

after being cautioned by the judge, the proceedings 

ended with the acquittal of the defendants of the count 

of terrorism. The presiding judge, Zoran Smolović, said 

the court had handed down this decision ”as, even 

though some of the acts that occurred in Pljevlja could 

be considered acts of violence that disturbed the public, 

no evidence was presented that the aim was to take 

power.“ 40 

Dačević was sentenced to one year in prison for violent 

and disorderly conduct and obstructing police officers 

in the performance of their duty. The seven attorneys 

who defended the accused pro bono repeatedly alleged 

that the trial of Dačević and his party colleagues was 

used to settle scores between the pro-Serb and the liberal 

wings in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Witnesses 

routinely changed their testimony and one, when the 

judge warned him against perjuring himself, replied: ”I 

didn’t know back then that there would be a trial and 

spoke like I would have talked to a neighbor.“ 41 

The Serbian Radical Party defended its members and 

strongly protested ”against the arbitrary behavior of the 

Montenegrin regime which, in collusion with the government 

of Milan Panić 42 on 21 September arrested 

Čeko Dačević and several other patriots from Pljevlja.“ 43 

40 ”Čeko Sentenced,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 21 June 1994. 

41 ”Witnesses Change Testimony,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 21 January 

1993. 

42 Milan Panić, Yugoslav Prime Minister 1992-1993. 

43 ”Parliament or Prison,“ Večernje Novosti, Belgrade, 18 January 1993. 

23


24 


Vojislav Šešelj apprized the public of his version of the 

Pljevlja events: ”The Montenegrin regime is trying to 

confuse the issue, that is, attempting to draw the people’s 

attention away from its treachery by inciting disorder 

and incidents.“ 44 He said the purpose of the measures 

taken by the Prosecutor’s Office and police was to 

effect Montenegro’s secession from Yugoslavia and 

provoke a conflict between the local population and JA 

troops in Pljevlja. In June 1993, the Montenegrin State 

Prosecutor, Vladimir Šušović, said all the acts of violence 

perpetrated around the republic and, in particular, 

in Pljevlja, Nikšić and Bijelo Polje, were attempts by 

certain groups to destabilize the situation in Montenegro 

and make people doubt the legal order and functioning 

of the state. Noting that all those accused of the 

criminal offenses in Pljevlja were Radicals and none of 

them denied committing them, he openly accused the 

SRS of destabilizing Montenegro, and said it was ludicrous 

that Dačević, the organizer of the violence, was a 

deputy to the Federal Parliament and served on the 

Defense and Security Committee of the Chamber of Citizens. 

Perceiving that Dačević was doing the SRS more harm 

than good, Šešelj in late June 1993 declared that he was 

no long a deputy since he had broken party discipline. 

Later on, when a split occurred in the Montenegrin 

chapter of the SRS in which Dačević played a part, Šešelj 

announced that Dačević had been expelled from the 

party: ”When they arrested him, we put him on our list 

of candidates for deputies and he was elected. I went to 

Bijelo Polje for the sentencing. The judge was one hour 

late because of the consultations he was having. They 

gave Čeko only one year though they had prepared a 

44 Ibid.



much harsher sentence. We arranged for him to be allocated 

an apartment in Belgrade as a combatant with 

merit but Čeko thought he could be a brigand in Serbia 

and Montenegro. Well, he can’t!“ 45 When he belatedly 

became aware that Dačević was involved in ”criminal 

and police affairs,“ Šešelj also stripped his protege of 

the title of Chetnik vojvoda. 

Reviewing the case, the Montenegrin Supreme Court 

on 21 June 1994 set aside the lower court ruling and 

sentenced Dačević to two years’ imprisonment. Dačević 

was subsequently among 82 convicts who were pardoned 

by President Bulatović. He was in prison from 1 

April 1996 to early 1998. 

4. Propaganda Against Montenegrin 

Muslims 

Dačević, the Radicals and the Chetniks cannot, however, 

be blamed for everything that happened in Pljevlja 

municipality. There were other contributing factors: villages 

along the Bosnian border were full of Bosnian 

Serb troops and paramilitaries, the JA began enlisting 

soldiers but only Serbs and Montenegrins, and massing 

troops in the area. All this made the local Muslim population 

apprehensive. JA troops would come to Muslim 

villages and search the houses for weapons, accusing 

the villagers of aiding the Green Berets and saying that 

their young men were in large number joining the 

Bosnian Muslim army. Speaking of incidents against 

Montenegrin Muslims in border villages, Minister of 

Internal Affairs Nikola Pejaković laid some of the blame 

on them: ”We have information that a certain number of 

45 ”Šešelj: First Steps in Resolving Bosnian Crisis,“ Politika, Belgrade, 

23 June 1993. 

25


26 


citizens took part or are now taking part in the Bosnian 

war on all sides. Individuals have suffered and this has 

triggered a destructive process to which the intensive 

border crossing contributes.“ 46 

Unproven accusations against Bukovica Muslims were 

set out also by the head of the community office in 

Kovačevići, Branko Stevanović. In late August, the Montenegrin 

daily Pobjeda quoted him as saying: ”According 

to some information, 98 young men from Bukovica 

are fighting with the Green Berets in Sarajevo and 

Goražde. Their parents say that they are in Germany, 

Turkey... The Serb villagers are afraid that they will come 

one night and slaughter them all.“ 47 In the same report, 

Pobjeda recalled that during his visit to Pljevlja, President 

Bulatović told the leader of the local organization 

of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) that he 

had been informed that local Muslims had 350 rifles. 

The attempts of officials to balance out the blame were 

backed by the paper’s reporter who wrote that ”Illegal 

weapons were found in every single Muslim house that 

was searched.“ 48 

Commenting on the reporting of the state media, leader 

of the Pljevlja SDA organization Šefket Brković told 

Monitor many of them ”want to present the Pljevlja Muslims 

as a destabilizing factor in this region. I maintain 

that no Muslim has committed even a major traffic 

offense, still less anything more serious. The ambiguous 

statements of some people could lead an observer without 

knowledge of the situation to believe there is a kind 

of symmetry: that ultra-nationalism exists on both sides. 

That simply is not true, and nor are statements that what 

46 ”We May Have Been Wrong,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 17 August 1992. 

47 ”Is Bukovica Armed?“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 25 August 1992. 

48 Ibid.



is happening here is merely a reflection of the war in 

Bosnia. Muslim stores were being blown up long before 

the war in Bosnia broke out.“ 49 

Brković expressed his concern at the failure of the 

authorities to take effective measures to protect the life 

and property of Muslims in Pljevlja and the villages 

around it. ”The situation is alarming, especially in the 

villages. Families are arriving here every day because 

after being ‘visited’ by groups wearing the same uniforms 

and armed with the same weapons as military 

and police border units. At times they storm into houses 

with German shepherds and goad the dogs to attack 

people. Old women of 70 to 80 have walked through 

the woods to get to Pljevlja to seek protection. When 

these people turn to the authorities, they are promised 

safety but that lasts only as long as they are there. There 

is a real danger of Šešelj’s threat that there will be no 

Muslims in a 30-kilometer zone along the Bosnian border 

coming true. The people who have fled some villages 

in Pljevlja municipality are proof that this idea is 

already being carried out.“ 50 

Some Montenegrin state media on occasion came out 

against the advocacy of war, viewing of the Pljevlja case 

in the context of Šešelj’s ”defense of Serbdom,“ justifying 

the terror to which the Muslim population was subjected 

to because of its supposed disloyalty, and the 

claims that Muslims were arming themselves in preparation 

for rebellion. On 10 August, Pobjeda said in an editorial: 

”There certainly are some extremists among the 

local Muslims there who bear part of the responsibility 

and who should be dealt with by the legitimate authorities. 

But the fact that Muslims are only 17% percent of 

49 ”Country With Surplus People,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 28 May 1993. 

50 Ibid. 

27


28 


the population according to the census is disregarded. 

Is it logical to believe that such a small percentage of a 

population can really pose a danger to the numerically 

much stronger Montenegrins and Serbs and be the sole 

cause of instability? What about the responsibility of the 

majority nation?“ 51 

For its part, Monitor wrote that there would be no peace 

in northern Montenegro until Belgrade took a decision 

to that effect and the war in Bosnia ended. 

5. Bukovica at the Beginning of the 

War in Bosnia-Herzegovina 

JA troops came to Kovačevići in April 1992. Šaban Rizvanović, 

the chairman of the Bukovica neighborhood 

community at the time, told the HLC that shortly before 

a local official, Branko Stevanović, suggested to him that 

they, ”as representatives of the community, should ask 

the JA to come to Bukovica to protect the population 

from war and to maintain peace in this multi-ethnic 

area.“ 52 Rizvanović was against the idea. He told Stevanović 

the police presence was sufficient and that the 

arrival of military troops would threaten peace. 

Nonetheless, the troops soon came. Not long afterwards, 

many Bosnian Muslim refugees from Foča 

arrived and were taken in by Rizvanović and other local 

Muslims. During April and May, the Rizvanovićs had 

about 20 refugees from Foča in their home, and he was 

ordered make a list of their names. Stevanović also 

made a list of his own on which he circled the names of 

men aged between 18 and 45. Rizvanović was told these 

51 ”It’s the State’s Move,“ Pobjeda, Podgorica, 10 August 1992. 

52 Statement by Šaban Rizvanović, Sarajevo, 15 October 2001, HLC 

documentation.


Map of Bukovica


30 


men would make up a work unit. Rizvanović sent his list 

to the social welfare center in Pljevlja. He described to 

the HLC what happened next: 

Unfortunately, that list caused us a lot of trouble. I 

noticed that some men whose names were on it disappeared 

and then turned up in prison in Pljevlja. I know 

that the following refugees from Foča villages whose 

names were on it were ill-treated and beaten: Abdulah 

Moči from Papratno, Safet Ćelo from Veselice, Ibro and 

Mujo Kafedžić from Potpeći, Muradin Čaušević from 

Vikoći, and some others whose names I no longer recall. 

In late May, the Bosnian Muslim refugees were told they 

could return to their villages around Foča but, according 

to Rizvanović’s information, three months later they 

were forced to flee again to other places in Bosnia- 

Herzegovina. 

Jakub Durgut, born in 1959 in Čerjenci village, kept a journal 

on the events in Bukovica which led Muslims to move 

out. 53 In his statement to the HLC, he began by explaining 

that although administratively a part of Pljevlja municipality 

and Montenegro, Bukovica gravitated toward Foča, 

Goražde and Čajniče in Bosnia where its people had relatives, 

went to school and worked. He enumerated the 

once all-Muslim villages in which there were no Muslims 

left: Madžari, Vukšići, Budijevići, Ograde, Čerjenci, Brdo, 

Stražice, Plansko, Močevići, Kruševci, Kava, Bunguri, 

Ravni, Klakorine, Djenovići. These villages were abandoned 

before the signing of the Dayton Agreement 54, 

53 Statement by Jakub Durgut, 21 June 2002, HLC documentation. 

54 Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina, signed in Paris 

on 15 December 1995 by the Presidents of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina 

and Croatia - Slobodan Milošević, Alija Izetbegović and Franjo 

Tudjman.



while Muslims left Mrčići, Rujevica, Hajlovine, Kržava and 

Lugovi afterwards. Durgut recalls: 

The police in Pljevlja arrested Mujo Koror from Kava on 

19 May and handed him over to the Republika Srpska 55 

army in Čajniče where Mujo owned a house. I know 

that he was killed later on. In June of that year - I don’t 

remember the exact date - while searching his house, the 

police beat up Ibro Močević, who was about 45, took 

him to Pljevlja where they continued beating and illtreating 

him. They let him go the next day. Ibro went 

abroad after that. The police beat his relative Nazif, who 

was about 75, that same day. 56 

The HLC was able to learn more about the 70-year-old 

Osman Bungur 57 from Jakub Durgut. Bungur was 

severely beaten by JA reservists Stevo Danilović, Mirko 

Srndić and Simo Barac from Meljena village and as a 

result lost his hearing. On 16 February 1993, Bungur, his 

wife Almasa and another nine members of the family 

were abducted and taken to Čajniče. Osman and 

Almasa were subsequently returned, spent some time in 

Pljevlja and were then transferred by an international 

humanitarian organization to Olovo in Bosnia where 

they both died within a short span of each other. 

Durgut told the HLC about other cases of physical abuse 

of Bukovica Muslims in the summer of 1992. Ibro Bungur, 

his sons Hasan, Husein and Ešref, their relatives Džafer 

and Vejsil, and Enver and Munever Kaim were beaten first 

on 11 July and then again a week later, on 17 July: 

55 Bosnian Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

56 Statement by Jakub Durgut, 21 June 2002, HLC documentation. 

57 Spotlight Report No. 4, Human Rights in Serbia and Montenegro, 

HLC, Belgrade, May 1993; Spotlight Series - Human Rights 1991- 

1995, HLC, Belgrade, 1997. 

31


32 


Besides physically abusing them in their homes, the 

reservists forced them to beat each other so that Ešref 

beat his brother Hasan and vice versa. They had to do it 

or risk being beaten with wooden stakes. After this incident, 

the beaten men fled on foot over the hills and 

through the woods to Pljevlja. They left a good deal of 

property - a grain mill, truck, car, a store full of goods, a 

flock of sheep, cattle, horses, furniture. I think this property 

was the reason for the ill-treatment because it was 

all stolen afterwards. They all moved to Turkey later. 

The oldest one, Ibro, died in the summer of 1994. 

Another incident also resulted in Muslims fleeing 

Bukovica: 

The police beat up Suada and Salem Bičić, Omer 

Hodžić, and Enes Imamović on the road near Guničići 

village on 16 June. They were all between 25 and 30. 

They moved out immediately, going first to Pljevlja and 

then to other countries. 

5. 1. Murders in Vitine 

Eight families lived in the all-Muslim village of Vitine 

before the Bosnian war, seven with the last name 

Ramović and the family of Omer Durak. Šaćir Ramović 

and Omer Durak were killed on 4 July 1992. Their 

wives, the last people left in the village, fled the same 

day. Vitine remains uninhabited to this day. 

HLC field researchers spoke with Salim Šljuka about the 

conduct of VJ reservists and the atmosphere in Vitine in 

April 1992. In the early morning of 27 April, Šljuka left 

his home in Pljevlja for Vitine. His aunt and uncle lived 

in the village and, having heard that ”all sorts of things 

were going on there and that some people had been 

killed,“ he decided to bring them to Pljevlja to stay with



him. 58 His friends Momir Matović and Osman and Edin 

Ramović, all from Pljevlja, accompanied him. Montenegrin 

police stopped them at Šula, searched them, and 

allowed them to proceed. On the road, they met two 

men, Mićo Sekulović and a Montenegrin nicknamed 

”Caco,“ who were on their way to Pljevlja from Čelebići 

in Bosnia, and asked them about the situation in Vitine. 

The reply was: ”It’s all being cleared out.“ 

Certificate on destroyed property of Osman Ramović of Vitine 59 

58 Statement by Salim Šljuka, Pljevlja, 15 March 2002, HLC documentation. 

59 Certificate on the destruction of property owned by Osman 

Ramović of Vitine (translation): 

Republic of Montenegro 

Municipality of Pljevlja 

Šula Neighborhood Community 

At the request of Osman Ramović and on the basis of established facts, I 

hearby issue this 

CERTIFICATE 

33


34 


Describing the journey, Šljuka mentioned an event 

which clearly illustrates the Muslims’ fear of the JA. As 

they approached the all-Serb village of Kolibe, they 

noticed a military vehicle; Osman Ramović immediately 

opened the car door and ”ran away as fast as he could.“ 

Šljuka and Matović continued to the house of Petar 

Radović, Matović’s father-in-law who, alluding to the Muslims 

in the party, asked his son-in-law why he had 

brought them. Nonetheless, they sat down and had coffee 

and plum brandy. The JA had a camp near by and 

often passed by the Radović house. That day, the soldiers 

came twice while Šljuka and his companions were there: 

They carried out the search by pointing their weapons at 

us and ordering us to raise our hands and keep them up 

until they said we could put them down. I don’t know the 

whereabouts of Edin Ramović, who had come with me 

and was, I think, under age, while this browbeating was 

going on but, at one point, I saw him running out of 

Petar Radović’s house toward the nearby woods. The soldiers 

fired after him but he was lucky and they missed. 

Among the soldiers, Šljuka recognized Slobodan Lečić 

who struck him several times in the chest with the butt 

of his rifle and knocked him down. He described what 

happened next: 

In which NC Šula confirms that the house, three stables, barn and two 

shacks of Osman Ramović, born in Vitine village and currently residing 

in Sarajevo, were burned in 1992. All the above buildings were located 

in the territory of the Republic of Montenegro. 

This certificate has been issued at the request of the above in order that 

he could regulate the issue of his housing in Sarajevo where he now 

resides, and cannot be used for other purposes. 

Šula, 1 February 2002 Chairman NC Šula 

Novica Despotović



The other soldiers went on beating me. All of a sudden, 

shooting broke out between the soldiers dealing with me 

and another group. When things calmed down I heard 

some soldiers say they were going to take me to Foča. Petar 

Radović came out against that. As far as I can remember, 

he said: ‘If you take him, then you have to take me too.’ I 

also heard someone say: ‘Vitine will burn tomorrow.’ I saw 

them giving a villager, Halim Ramović, a bad time, brandishing 

a knife at him and saying something to him. 

When Radović remonstrated with them, the soldiers 

released Šljuka and he returned to Pljevlja, picking up 

Edin and Osman Ramović on the way back. Following 

this incident, Iza and Hasan Ramović fled through the 

woods to Pljevlja. They subsequently left for Turkey but 

shortly afterwards went to Sarajevo where they both 

died in 2001. 

Šljuka heard that all the Muslims left Vitine after this 

incident, with the exception of Šaćir Ramović, his wife 

Fatima, Omer Durak and his wife Hasiba. All four were 

over 70 years old. Ramović and Durak were brutally 

killed on 4 July 1992. 

The HLC learned how they died from Šaćir Ramović’s 

son-in-law Izet Kordić: 60 

Fatima Ramović came to us in Pljevlja on 4 July 1992 

and said she had barely escaped with her life from her 

home in Vitine. She said her husband had stayed and 

had probably been killed, and their neighbor Omer 

Durak too. She said JA reservists barged into her house 

that day, started giving her and her husband a hard 

time, and that she managed somehow to get away. 

60 Statement by Izet Kordić, Pljevlja, 28 March 2002, HLC documentation. 

35


36 


To find out what had happened to the old men, Kordić 

contacted the JA in Pljevlja. On 7 July 1992, Lt. Col. 

Živković informed him that he could go to Vitine to 

bury Šaćir Ramović and Omer Durak and secured a car 

to drive him there. Ramović was accompanied by Lt. 

Col. Slavko Kovačević, who now resides in Pljevlja. 

When we got to Vitine, I found the dead body of my 

father-in-law Saćir Ramović in his house. I took a good 

look at him and was able to see that he had died from 

two gunshot wounds. Before we buried him, the military 

advised me to put on a uniform for my own safety 

and wear it when I buried him, so I did. Afterward, I 

went to the house of Omer Durak and found him dead 

too. I saw wounds on his body and stomach, probably 

from a knife or some kind of sharp object. I think he bled 

to death. Some of the reservists there told me Omer 

Durak was alive when they found him but that no one 

dared take him to a doctor. 

Kordić quickly dug graves near the house and buried 

the two old men. The reservists told him they did not 

know who had killed them or why. When she told 

Kordić what had happened, Fatima Ramović said she 

believed the killer was one Radović from Rijeka village 

near Čelebići in Bosnia’s Foča municipality. 

The widowed Fatima Ramović and Hasiba Durak now 

live in the Sarajevo suburb Butmir with their children. 

5.2. Expulsion from Rosulje 

Osman Tahirbegović (born 1949) from the Bukovica village 

of Rosulje recounted 61 to the HLC that a large group 

61 Statement by Osman Tahirbegović, August 2001, HLC documentation.



of heavily armed police and soldiers came to his house 

for the first time on 4 May 1992. Their leader was Milan 

Sokolović of Pljevlja and his deputy was Slaviša Svrkota. 

Tahirbegović also recognized VJ reservists Slavko 

Popadić from Pljevlja who had worked at the local 

sawmill, and Slobodan Miletić from Tvrdakovići village 

who later became a police officer. Božidar Radović from 

Piperi and one Džogaza, a VJ reservist, were in the group. 

Svrkota and two police came in and, shouting that they 

would kill the whole family and burn down the house, 

locked Tahirbegović in one room and drove his wife 

Zlatija (43), mother Zećira (90), sons Mustafa (19) and 

Haris (17), and daughter Emina (4.5) into the yard. 

Džogaz fired his sniper rifle over the heads of the family 

and then the group proceeded to search the house. 

After the search, they put Haris and Mustafa into their 

Pinzguaer vehicle, saying they were taking them to 

”Vojvoda Dušan Kornjača“ in Čajniče for exchange purposes. 

Haris and Mustafa soon returned and told the 

family that, as they were being driven by the house of 

Mladen Dajović, a Montenegrin, Dajović and his five 

sons stopped the vehicle, pulled them out and told 

them to go home. 

Tahirbegović found that the police and soldiers had 

taken about one kilogram of gold coins and jewelry 

when they searched his house. The next day he reported 

the theft to the Pljevlja police. On 6 May, JA reservists 

came and took him to the community office in Kovačevići 

for questioning. His interrogators demanded that 

he tell them where he was hiding weapons for the 

Green Berets and warned him to tell no one about his 

housing being searched and his gold stolen. He was 

held for several hours before being allowed to go. ”I 

think Miladin Klačar, a forester from Pljevlja, saved me 

then,“ Tahirbegović told the HLC. 

37


38 


The family was left alone until 18 July when a patrol 

made up of Montenegrin police and VJ soldiers came 

again to their home. The police officer in charge was 

Bane Borović, and the VJ was led by Lt. Aco Malinić and 

included the reservist Dragan ”Crni“ Ćurčić. They said 

they were going to search the house because they been 

informed about illegal weapons and that Tahirbegović 

was aiding the Green Berets. 

I was working on the circular saw with my sons at the 

time. They told us to step away from the saw or they 

would use it to cut off our heads. We turned off the saw 

and stopped working. Then they said to us: ‘If you don’t 

have weapons, do you want to buy some from us?’ At 

that moment, Dragan Ćurčić hit me and my sons with 

his rifle butt. They ordered one of my sons to go to Mitar 

Ćeranic in Jaković village and buy a pistol from him, 

probably to try to set him up. I think my wife Zlatija, 

who wasn’t at home, came at this point. We gathered 

together and, all of a sudden, Bane Borović ordered us 

to leave our home by 7 o’clock the next morning 

because there was a war going on. I asked him why and 

he said it was a war between Serbs and Muslims. This 

group of about 20 uniformed men gave us a hard time 

for about two hours before they left, saying they would 

kill us all if we weren’t gone by morning. 

Fearing for their lives, Tahirbegović and his family left 

their home on 19 July, leaving everything they owned - 

land, house, outbuildings, tools, six oxen, three cows, 30 

sheep and horses - and went to Pljevlja. Once there, they 

reported what had happened to Mayor Momčilo 

Bojović, JA garrison commander Lt. Col. Živković, Police 

Chief Radoman Purić, and gave a statement to police 

inspector Slavko Rončević. Tahirbegović said all of them 

promised to take action but that nothing was ever done.



The Tahirbegovićs had to rent an apartment in Pljevlja 

and never received any humanitarian aid. They tried to 

return to their farm on 25 April 1996 but at about 11 

o’clock that same night there was an armed attack on 

their house. None of the family was hurt. They went 

back to Pljevlja and were able to return to their home 

that summer. 

5.3. Physical and Mental Abuse of the Kaims 

Osam Kaim (born 1913) of Bunguri village recounted to 

the HLC what his sons Enver and Munever were put 

through: 

I can’t remember now how many times it happened. I 

know they were beaten twice by our neighbors who 

were in the VJ and Montenegrin police. Their names are 

Barac and Danilović from Srečanje, I don’t know their 

first names but I do know that they were in the police. 

Then there was a Ristanović and two with the last name 

Kovačević, who were VJ reservists. My sons live in Sarajevo 

now and they know the names of these men. One 

time in the summer of 1992 - I don’t know the exact date 

- they beat my son Enver and relative Husein Bungur, 

who is now in Sijovine near Goražde. They also made 

them punch and beat each other with wooden staffs. 

After that, they took them to the community center office 

in Kovačevići and continued to beat them. The second 

time, again I don’t remember the date, they beat my son 

Enver in Kržava village so hard that he passed out. It 

was the same men who beat him the first time. After that 

beating, Enver fled to Pljevlja and from there to Turkey. 

My son Munever was also beaten several times but he 

can tell you about it better. 62 

62 Statement by Osman Kaim, refugee center in Goražde, 22 October 

2002. 

39


40 


Osman Kaim was himself severely beaten in Kovačevići 

in the fall of 1992 when he went to the community 

office to obtain a certificate on the extension of his son 

Munever’s ID card. Such certificates were valid for only 

one month and every time Munever went to get one he 

was physically or verbally abused. 

I decided to go instead of Munever to spare him. Being 

an old man, I thought they wouldn’t make problems for 

me. I got to Kovačevići and saw a lot of soldiers and 

civilians outside the building housing the police station, 

post office, a store, and the Registry Office. They were 

wearing different kinds of uniforms - camouflage 

fatigues, ordinary military and police uniforms - so that 

you couldn’t tell who was police and who was army. A 

tall young man in uniform came up to me, grabbed the 

beret I always wear, and threw it up on the roof of the 

building. I kept cool and handed my son’s ID to a man 

in uniform, after which he gave it back to me together 

with the certificate. When he was giving me the papers, 

he suddenly hit me in the side, so hard that the spot is 

still painful. I found out later that his last name is 

Djerković and that he’s from Brdo village in Bukovica. 

Then I went home. It was about noon. About one kilometer 

from Kovačevići, near the edge of the woods, three 

uniformed men caught up with me, including the one 

called Djereković - a short man - who had hit me in 

Kovačevići. As soon as they came close, they started tripping 

me up to make me fall. I moved aside, thinking they 

would go on their way. But Djerković came up to me, 

threw a belt around my neck and pushed me over a tree 

stump. Then all three started kicking and punching me 

all over. Djerković kept me pinned down all the time 

with the belt around my neck. I passed out after that 

beating and lay there for three or four hours.



It was getting dark when I came to. I started off for 

home and didn’t fell too bad until I reached Marinjac 

village, about four kilometers farther on. When I got to 

the village I sat down by the fountain for a drink of 

water and a rest. I rested for about half an hour and 

when I got up again, I felt very weak and painful all 

over my body from the beating. I made a big effort and 

got home about 11 p.m. The next day, my family 

wrapped me in a raw sheepskin to bring down the big 

swellings I had. I lay wrapped in the sheepskin for about 

10 days. 

Osman Kaim was not physically abused after this incident, 

but his house was searched a number of times and 

he was sworn at and insulted. He said it was at this time 

that younger men began flee Bukovica. Those who had 

the necessary papers went to Macedonia, Turkey or 

other countries via Pljevlja. Those who did not trekked 

through the woods to Goražde or other places in 

Bosnia under Muslim-army control. 

Osman Kaim stayed and in the spring of 1993 saw 

Drago, Pero and Mišo Kovačević from the nearby village 

of Šapići in Bosnia’s Čajniče municipality destroying 

abandoned Muslim houses in the Bukovica villages 

Šapici, Kava and Bunguri. 

They took the furniture, household goods, roof beams 

and everything else that could be carried away. After 

what had happened to me and around me, I decided on 

5 May 1993 to leave my village Bunguri with my family. 

That night we walked through the woods and the mountains 

to Goražde. I still live here in a refugee center. 

41


42 


5.4. The murder of Hajro and Ejub Muslić 

Jakub Durgut 63 told the HLC that Hajro Muslić (80) and 

his son Ejub (about 30) were killed in their house in 

Madžari on 28 October 1992. Finding it strange that the 

livestock had not been put out to pasture, their neighbor 

Šemso went to check up on them. He found Hajro 

and Ejub shot dead in their house. There were no signs 

that the house had been searched or anything taken. 

Lying near the bodies was a metal flask half full of plum 

brandy, which did not belong to the dead men. 

Plevlje cemetery where Hajro and Ejub Muslić, killed in their house 

in Madžari in 1992, are buried 

63 Statement by Jakub Durgut, Pljevlja, June 2001, HLC documentation,


5.5. November house searches 

On 1 and 2 November, the Montenegrin police and VJ 

reservists mounted a major operation to search Muslim 

houses for concealed illegal weapons. Many people 

were beaten and threatened with death unless they left 

their homes. 

5.5.1 The death of Himzo Stovrag 


Up to 1992, eight Muslim families lived in Vukšići village: 

four with the last name Drkenda and four with the 

last name Stovrag. In the early morning of 1 November 

that year, a large group of police and military arrived. 

Zlatija Stovraga 64 told the HLC that they demanded to 

search the houses for weapons. She recognized among 

them three police: Goran Zindović, Slaviša Svrkota and 

one Šubarić, who was particularly brutal. 

I was in a panic and didn’t know where I was. Then I 

saw that they were beating my husband Himzo (born 

1932). They kicked and punched him and beat him on 

the head and all over with some kind of clubs. He fell to 

the ground after the first few blows and they went on 

beating him. I saw that he was covered in blood when 

he got up. Then they ordered him to run around. He 

tried but I think he couldn’t, and they beat him again. I 

don’t know how long it all lasted but it was a terrible 

thing they did to my husband. They started leaving after 

a time and one of the policemen, I think it was Goran 

Zindović, went to my husband and said: ‘If I find you 

here tomorrow, you’ll get worse than you did today.’ 

When they had gone, I went to help my husband, wiped 

the blood off him and helped him change. After a time 

64 Statement by Zlatija Stovrag, October 2001, HLC documentation. 

43


44 


he felt a bit better but kept saying, ‘I can’t take this any 

more.’ He was in very low spirits. Sometime before dusk 

he went off. When he left home, he kept saying something 

like he couldn’t wait for them to come back. He 

didn’t come home all night. I was worried about him 

and thought maybe he had gone into hiding. I let the 

sheep out to pasture in the morning and soon afterwards 

noticed that they had gathered under an apple 

tree. When I got close I saw my husband Himzo hanging 

from a branch. I was beside myself and don’t know how 

I managed to call the neighbors. I know Ismet Osmanagić 

was the first to come. He cut the rope and got my husband 

down. 

The ruins of Himzo Stovrag’s house in Vukšići 

(photo: 30 April 2002) 

Sejfo and Saćir Osmanagić helped Zlatija bury her husband 

in the afternoon. Imam Mehmed Durgut performed 

the rites. The next day, police from Pljevlja came 

and conducted an on-site investigation.


5.5.2. The beating of Jakub Durgut 

Jakub Durgut (born 1959) was grazing his sheep near 

his home in Ograde on 1 November when police from 

Pljevlja arrived. Among them Durgut recognized Goran 

Zindović, who said he was the patrol leader and that he 

had a warrant to search the house. Zindović added that 

the police had received a tip that Durgut was hiding a 

rifle in his house. 

Things were tense from the start so I wasn’t able to tell 

exactly how many police there were. I said right away 

that I didn’t have any guns. But they attacked me and 

started beating me - punching and kicking me and hitting 

me with rifle butts. I think the policeman whose last 

name is Šubarić was the worst. He took a grenade from 

his pocket and threatened to put it in my mouth. I fell 

down after the first few blows. They kept using the worst 

swear words and asking things like what did we need 

weapons for. 65 

Durgut told the HLC that Šubarić ripped a gold chain 

from his neck as he was beating him. After tormenting 

him for half an hour, the police led him in the direction 

of Pljevlja. They had traversed only some 200 meters 

when they met Radenko Danilović, a police reservist 

who was Durgut’s school friend. Danilović succeeded 

in persuading the police to let Durgut go, saying he 

knew he was a good man and had no weapons. 

5.5.3. Arrested and imprisoned 


Čerjenci, a village seven kilometers from Kovačevići, 

was home to 11 Muslim families until the war in Bosnia 

65 Statement by Jakub Durgut, June 2001, HLC documentation. 

45


46 


started. On 1 November 1992, police came from Pljevlja 

to search the village houses and beat Osman Durgut 

(born 1954), Šefko Osmanagić (born 1967), Sejfo 

Osmanagić (born 1970) and Rasim Tahirović (born 

1963). After this incident, the villagers left their homes 

and moved to Bosnia or other countries. Only two families 

went to Pljevlja and continue living there today. 

The house of Osman Durgut was torched and the others 

were looted and badly damaged. 

The ruins of Zajko Durgut’s house in Čerjenci 


In his statement to the HLC, Osman Durgut 66 identified 

among the police who came to his home Goran Zindović, 

Slaviša Svrkota, Lale Ostojić, one with the last 

name Šubarić. He did not know the names of the others. 

They demanded to search the house for weapons. 

Osman was told to come out, while his wife Fazila, son 

Edin (16), and daughter Edisa (14) stayed inside. 

66 Statement by Osman Durgut, Sarajevo, October 2001, HLC documentation.



I went out and wasn’t far from the house when some of 

them started to hit me with their rifle butts and to kick 

and punch me. I don’t know how long it lasted, and 

when they stopped I somehow got to my feet and, all 

beat-up, made my way back to the house. When my children 

saw me all battered and bloody they started to cry 

loudly. When the police searched the house, I told them I 

had a 7.65 mm Zastava pistol and a hunting rifle for 

which I had permits. I turned the guns over to them. 

The police then took Osman Durgut to Budijevci village, 

some two kilometers away, where they beat him 

again, handcuffed him and made him crawl to a brook 

to wash the blood off his face. 

Afterwards they pushed a police club into my mouth 

and made me keep it there until they said I could take it 

out. All this was done to me by the policeman Šubarić. 

Durgut recounted that Budijevci was an assembly point 

to which JA reservists brought other villagers, among 

whom he saw Idriz Durgut, Šemso Babić, Rasim Drkenda, 

Sejfo Osmanagić, Himzo Tahirović and others. 

Slaviša Svrkota came up to me, drew his pistol, pointed 

it at me and demanded that I tell him where Salko Močević 

was. He fired five shots over my head. I was deaf for 

five days afterwards. 

The Muslims were driven to the Pljevlja police station 

and locked up. At the station, Durgut saw all the men he 

named above and others whose names he does not 

know. While in custody, the Muslims were frequently 

beaten with clubs and kicked. 

A fat man with fair hair whose name I don’t know used 

to come into my cell and beat me. When he got so tired 

he couldn’t go on, he’d ask me: ‘Did you piss yourself?’ 

47


48 


Remains of Osman Durgut’s house in Čerjenci 


Durgut was subsequently transferred to the prison in 

Bijelo Polje were he was held for a month. He was not 

beaten there. After his release, he spent some time in 

Pljevlja and then went to prison to serve the six-month 

term to which he was sentenced by the Municipal Court 

in Pljevlja for illegal possession of firearms (Art. 204, 

Montenegrin Criminal Code). His wife and children had 

left for Turkey in the meantime and he joined them in 

late 1993. 

5.5.3.1. Flight to Goražde 

Police led by Lale Čavić came to the house of Šaćir 

Osmanagić at about 7 p.m. on 1 November 1992, and 

told his sons Šefko (born 1967) and Sejfo (born 1970) to 

go to the house of Rasim Drkenda in Madžare village. 

Šaćir, his wife Hajrija, daughters Šefka (15) and Šemsa 

(23), and 13-year-old son Ševal stayed at home. When 

Sejfo reached Drkenda’s house with his brother, he saw 

two vehicles and a large number of police, among 

whom he recognized Slaviša Svrkota and Radmilo



Danilović. Rasim Drkenda and two other villagers, 

Hamed Vukas and Šemso Babić, were also there. The 

police took the Muslims to Pljevlja via Kržava village. 

There were some other people gathered in Kržava when 

we got there. I saw Slaviša Svrkota kick Himzo Stovrag 

in the back, fire over his head and order him to run. On 

the way to Pljevlja, I heard VJ reservist Aco Malinić - I 

don’t remember if he was there all the time or came later 

- ask why they were bothering to take us to Pljevlja, that 

we should all be killed and our bodies thrown in the 

creek. 67 

The ruins of Salih Tahirović’s house in Čerjenci 


The Muslim men were held in custody in Pljevlja for 

eight days. They received no food nor were they 

allowed to go to the toilet for the first three days. They 

were often taken for questioning and kicked, punched 

and beaten with clubs. The policeman who meted out 

the worst treatment was Veselin Veljović. 

67 Statement by Sejfo Osmanagić, October 2001, HLC documentation. 

49


50 


He wanted to cut off my ears once. But I was saved from 

that by Inspector Debeljević who is from Goražde but 

worked in Pljevlja. 

Šefko Osmanagić was held for 12 days, and Himzo Tahirović, 

Sejfo Osmanagić, Hamed Vukas, Rasim Drkenda, 

and Šemso Babić for a month. Idriz Durgut was sentenced 

to a six-month term for illegal possession of 

firearms. His court-appointed attorney was Nada Šljivić 

from Pljevlja. Sejfo was taken in again by police the day 

after his release and soon afterwards allowed to go. He 

spent the night at the home of Redža Osmanagić in 

Pljevlja, and with several others, rented a van and 

returned to Bukovica. A few days later, in mid-December, 

the police once again came to the Osmanagić 

home. Sejfo and Šefko escaped through a window and 

fled on foot through the woods to Goražde in Bosnia. 

Šefko was killed in combat in Goražde and Sejfo still 

lives there. 

5.5.3.2. Elderly couple beaten 

After Šefko and Sejfo had fled, the military and police 

frequently came to their home in Čerjenci, questioning 

their mother Hajrija, father Šaćir and underage brother 

Ševal about their whereabouts and weapons. Hahrija 

recounted: 

I recognized the soldiers and police reservists who tormented 

us: Aco Malinić, Milorad Brković, Dragan 

Danilović, Radenko Ristanović, Savo Danilović, Goran 

Kovačević, and the policeman Slaviša Svrkota. Sometime 

in April 1993, after the mosque in Plansko village 

was torched, the army reservists Ristanović, who is from 

the Bukovica village Srećanje, and Milorad Brković, 

who is from Lugovi, came to our house and led my husband 

Šaćir to the stable. They kicked him and beat him



with clubs. Brković threw him down on his back and 

jumped up and down on him. They beat me and twisted 

my arm that day. Brane Vrećo from Selište, also an 

army reservist, was there too. He grabbed me by the hair 

and threw me on the ground, and made me sing Chetnik 

songs. As this was going on, Aco Malinić came with 

a dead and gutted fox, put it on our doorstep and said 

we were to leave it there. We took all this very hard, and 

me and my husband saw there was no life for us in 

Bukovica anymore. So we made up our minds to leave 

and, on 10 May 1993, went by foot to Goražde, leaving 

everything we owned behind. My husband Šaćir was 

always sick after what happened. He died in great pain 

in Goražde on 19 November 1995. 68 

A few days after being repaired, Ismet Osmanagić’s house 

was again destroyed in 1997 (photo: 30 April 2002) 

68 Statement by Hajrija Osmanagić, refugee center in Goražde, 11 

October 2001, HLC documentation 

51


52 


6. Muslim Offensive on Čajniče 

On 15 February 1993, the Belgrade daily Politika carried 

a state news agency Tanjug report on the military success 

of the Bosnian Serb army at Čajniče. 69 According to 

the report, Bosnian Serb forces repelled a threepronged 

attack by Muslim troops coming from 

Goražde and Rudo in Bosnia and from the Serb’s rear, 

that is, from Yugoslav territory. The agency added that 

250 of the Muslim combatants were from Montenegrin 

villages along the border with Bosnia. Carrying the 

report, Monitor commented: ”At the height of the offensive 

on Čajniče, which is some 55 kilometers from Pljevlja, 

the Belgrade media reported that about 250 Muslims, 

who are allegedly responsible for crimes committed 

in the area, are taking part in the attack. Reacting to 

this, Serb parties in Pljevlja, which are under the direct 

control of military intelligence, demanded from the 

Montenegrin authorities a list of these Muslims, laying 

the groundwork for even more fantastic accusations 

against Bulatović who is supposedly infiltrating Muslim 

irredentists into ‘Serb Bosnia.’“ 

That same day, Bosnian Serb soldiers kidnapped five 

members of the Bungur family from Kruševci village: 

two women and three children, of whom two very 

young. On 16 February, another six Bungurs were taken 

from Ravni, all over the age of 70. Latif Bungur (95) was 

killed in the course of this abduction. 

The Montenegrin authorities mentioned the Bukovica 

abductions for the first time on 6 March when the Minister 

of Internal Affairs said in Parliament, ”All we have 

are some indications that a number of persons from 

69 ”Attack From Montenegrin Side,“ Politika, Belgrade, 15 February 1993.



Bukovica have disappeared. 70 When Parliament convened 

again on 17 March, Minister Pejaković said: 

Thanks to the selfless activities of the security agencies 

of Montenegro and the VJ and, in particular, the intensive 

efforts of Presidents Bulatović, Ćosić and 

Karadžić 71, six of the 12 abducted persons of Muslim 

nationality have been returned. The remaining six, 

against whom the Republika Srpska police have filed 

criminal charges, will be returned and handed over to 

the Montenegrin police and judicial authorities within 

a day or two. 72 

Monitor reacted by pointing out that the Minister had neglected 

to give any details about the abducted Bukovica 

Muslims such as their sex and age, which would have 

uncovered the truth of the matter. It named the abductees 

who were returned to Montenegro on 23 March as Delva 

(76), Lamka (80), Vezira (81), Osmo (68), Almasa (68) and 

Sevda Bungur (62); and those detained on suspicion of 

”criminal acts against the Republika Srpska“ as Ramiza 

Bungur (49), her son Mamko (15), daughter-in-law Zlatija 

(25) and Zlatija’s two small children. 

A month after the abductions, Pljevlja Police Chief Radivoje 

Aranitović said the Bukovica Muslims had been 

abducted because their relatives were involved in the 

offensive on Čajniče on 14 February and the crimes in 

that area against Serbs: 

After perpetrating crimes against Serbs in the Čajniče 

area on 14 February 1993, a large group of armed Mus- 

70 ”When Neighbors Beat,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 2 April 1993. 

71 Radovan Karadžić, leader of the Serb Democratic Party in Bosnia- 

Herzegovina and President of the Republika Srpska. 

72 ”When Neighbors Beat,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 2 April 1993. 

53


54 


lims returned to Goražde through the border area of FR 

Yugoslavia. Among the Muslim combatants, inhabitants 

of Bukovica village recognized some people who once 

lived in Pljevlja municipality, including several who 

had moved to Goražde, Čajniče and other places in 

Bosnia 15 years ago, as well as those who had moved 

out and joined Muslim units five or six months ago. Two 

days after this Muslim army passed through, 11 Bukovica 

Muslims whose close and distant relatives were recognized 

as members of the Muslim unit which committed 

the crimes in villages around Čajniče, were taken 

away. 73 

The police chief also denied rumors that more than 11 

Muslims had been abducted: ”It is not true that 28 Muslims 

were taken, still less is it true that 39 Muslim citizens 

who reside in Pljevlja municipality were implicated 

in the crimes in the Čajniče area.“ 74 

In March 1993, the HLC was able to confirm the circulation 

in Pljevlja of a list of Muslim members of the Green 

Berets who allegedly took part in the offensive on 

Čajniče on that February. In a letter to the Pljevlja Police 

Department, the Bosnian Serb police authorities in 

Čajniče said there were ”grounds to believe that these 

committed genocide against the Serb population in 

Šapići, Trpinje and Ponikve villages. In the event that 

they are located, they are to be arrested and the Public 

Security Center in Čajniče informed, citing telegram No. 

50/93 of 19 February 1993.“ 75 

The names of 38 Muslims were on the list: Džafer, 

Džemail and Samir (father: Zaim) Bungur; Husein 

73 ”Pobjeda“, Podgorica, 19 March 1993. 

74 Ibid. 

75 HLC documentation.



(Hasan) Bungur; Husein, Haso and Ešef (Ibro) Bungur; 

Munever and Enver (Osman) Kaim; Rahmo (Osman) 

Kaim, all from Bunguri village; Ago (Hamdija) Bavčić 

from Plansko; Zijo (Derviš) Hodžić; Latif (Emin) 

Hodžić; Nermin and Halim (Latif) Hodžić, all from 

Brdo; Amko (Emin) Vukas from Vukšić; Šefko and Sejfo 

(Šaćir) Osmanagić; Himzo (Rasim) Tahirović; Ismet 

Osmanagić; Salem (Salih) Tahirović; Mujo (Himza) Tahirović, 

all from Čerjenci; Sejdo (Nazif) Močević, Sabit 

(Dedo) Močević; Almas (Ibro) Močević; Ibro (Meho) 

Močević, all from Močevići; Jakub (Latif) Krasić from 

Krasići; Mirsad (Huso) Bekan; Mujko (Mujo) Dedović, 

Šaban Rizvanović, Emin Rizvanović, all from Mrčići; Izet 

(Mašo) Dedović from Breznice; Hamed, Osman and 

Sulejman (Salih) Stovrag; Omer and Vehid (Zahid) 

Stovrag, all from Krzava. 

On the same occasion, Chief Aranitović said the police 

had established that the list consisted of ”the names of 

persons who were born here but no longer live in this 

area. Therefore, there is no official information that 

Muslims residing in Pljevlja municipality were involved 

in the crimes in the Čajniče area.“ 76 

These crimes against Serbs, which were followed by the 

abduction of the Bungur family, are mentioned in 

Miroslav Toholj’s Black Book - The Suffering of Serbs in 

Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-1995 in which he says: 

The advance on Čajniče referred to by Buljubašić 

(Ferid, former officer of the Yugoslav National Army, 

founded the First Sandžak and First Drina Brigades) 

was in fact an attack carried out by his forces on 15 February 

on Ponikve village in the territory of Čajniče 

76 ”Pobjeda“, Podgorica, 19 March 1 

55


56 


municipality. Units under the command of Ferid 

Buljubašić massacred five persons in Ponikve - two 

women and three children. 77 

Toholj noted that Serb combatants identified among others 

Samir Bungur from Pljevlja municipality as a member 

of the units under the command of Ferid Duraković, a 

senior officer of the Čajniče Brigade. 78 The attack on 

Čajniče became topical again two years later when the 

Belgrade weekly Telegraf interviewed Republika Srpska 

army commander Dragan ”Čaruga“ Mastilović who said: 

It was then that about 3,500 Muslims carried out an allout 

attack on Čajniče; even Staroniće village, which was 

at the time defended only by commander Milan Kornjača 

and a few villagers, was attacked. When we subsequently 

analyzed the event, we arrived at the conclusion that the 

Muslims entered the area by way of Montenegrin territory. 

Upon returning to Čajniče, we decided to burst into a 

Muslim border village in Montenegro and capture a few 

villagers to further investigate the whole case. We filmed 

the captured villagers so that we have a tape of them 

admitting that no less than 200 Muslim combatants infiltrated 

into Montenegrin territory before the attack on 

Čajniče, and that the villagers hid them in their homes. We 

informed the State Security of the Republika Srpska and 

sent copies of the video tape to the competent state and 

military authorities of FR Yugoslavia and Serbia. The then 

FR Yugoslavia President Dobrica Ćosić personally urged 

that we return the captured to Montenegro, which we did. 

But no one in authority in Montenegro ever said why that 

happened. 79 

77 Toholj, Miroslav, Black Book - The Suffering of Serbs in Bosnia- 

Herzegovina 1992-1995, Svetigora, 2000, pp. 168.169. 

78 Ibid, p. 169. 

79 Telegraf, Belgrade, 8 March 1995.



7. Hostages Taken in Ravni Village 

This is how Monitor described the border over which 

the Bukovica Muslims were taken: ”Who controls the 

Metaljka border crossing is unknown at this time. The 

place has become an assembly point for the following 

elements: military police, ordinary paramilitaries, men 

who get together to fight over the weekends, reservists 

and other ‘fighters for Serbia.’ The purpose of their 

massing is to carry out the horrendous order to ethnically 

cleanse the area of Muslims who have been 

accused in Belgrade of involvement in the attack on 

Čajniče. But few have anything to say about the total disarray 

of the Serb forces in the area, which was in fact the 

main reason for the Muslim offensive.“ 80 

Although roads to Serb villages in Bukovica were open 

and traffic was normal, no Montenegrin officials went 

to the area to determine the facts about the disappearance 

of 11 Muslims on 15 and 16 February. An attempt 

by an Organization for Security and Cooperation in 

Europe (OSCE) mission and a number of news 

reporters to reach Ravni village was thwarted by the JA 

command in Kovačevići on the grounds that it could 

not guarantee the mission’s safety. 

7.1. Razija Bungur: ”They said they were 

Chetniks“ 

On 5 March 1993, the HLC spoke in Pljevlja with Razija, 

the 40-year-old blind daughter of the abducted Devla 

Bungur. 81 When the soldiers took her mother, Razija 

80 ”Lighting the Fire,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 12 February 1993. 

81 Spotlight Report No. 4, Human Rights in Serbia and Montenegro, 

HLC, Belgrade, May 1993; Spotlight Series - Human Rights 1991- 

1995, HLC, Belgrade, 1997. 

57


58 


was left alone at home. During the night, she heard the 

dogs barking and noises from the houses her neighbors 

had abandoned. Serb neighbors took her to Bunguri 

where a family took her in. While she was there, soldiers 

came on two separate occasions, led out the father of 

the family and beat him. Afraid, she returned home and, 

a few days later, was transferred to Pljevlja by the VJ. 

There were 152 Bukovica villagers in Pljevlja at the time. 

The HLC interviewed about a dozen and asked what 

had forced them to leave their homes. The unanimous 

reply was that they fled to escape soldiers who were 

abusing and harassing them on a daily basis, and accusing 

them of working for Bosnian Muslim leader Alija 

Izetbegović and the establishment of an Islamic republic. 

They said the abuse became particularly severe after 

SRS leader Vojislav Šešelj declared that a 30-kilometerwide 

zone bordering on Bosnia had to be cleansed of 

Muslims. 82 

7.2. Zlatija Bungur: ”Alema started walking 

in prison“ 

A large group of soldiers came to the home of Ramiza 

Bungur at noon on 15 February 1993. Ramiza and her 

family were the only people left in Kruševci, a hamlet of 

Ravni, some 14 kilometers from Kovačevići. Her husband 

Zaim had died a few years before the war broke 

out and she lived with her younger son Mamko (15), 

Zlatija (37), the wife of her son Džafer, and their two 

small children, Amela (2) and Alema (eight months). 

Her elder son, Zlatija’s husband Džafer, had fled on foot 

to Goražde a few months earlier after being severely 

beaten. 

82 Ibid.


82 Ibid. 


Certificate on the exchange of Zlatija Bungur 83 

83 Certificate on the exchange of Zlatija Bungur (translation): 

Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina 

Bosnia-Drina Canton Goražde 

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60 


Zlatija Bungur recounted that the soldiers immediately 

ordered the family to go with them, not giving her time 

to dress the children properly for the cold weather. 

Some of the soldiers wanted to separate me from the rest 

of the family - maybe to rape me. But one, I think he was 

some kind of officer, didn’t let them. They swore at us 

and insulted us as we went along, and slapped and hit 

little Mamko. I don’t know what else went on because all 

I cared about was whether my children would get out of 

it alive. 

Government of Goražde Canton 

No. 02.389-361/96 

At the request of Bungur, Džafer of Čajniče and on the basis of Art. 171 

of the Law on General Administrative Procedure (Sl. List SFRJ No. 47/86) 

which has been taken over and is applied as a republican law, and data 

on record with the Commission for Exchange of Prisoners of War for 

Goražde District, the Government of the Bosnia-Drina Canton of 

Goražde issues this 

CERTIFICATE 

Certifying that the Commission for Exchange of Prisoners of War for 

Goražde District on 21 May 1993 conducted an exchange of prisoners 

of war with the Serb side in ?ajni?e. Among the exchanged prisoners, 

the following are recorded under the numbers three (3), five (5) and six 

(6): 

BUNGUR (Zaim) Džafer, born 1964 

BUNGUR (Glibo) Zlatija, daughter of Halil 

BUNGUR (Džafer) Alema, born 1992 

BUNGUR (Džafer) Amela, born 1998 

This certificate was issued for the purpose of regulating status issues. 

CC: Chairman 

1. Bungur, Džafer, 2x Hamid Pršeš, B.A. (Economics) 

2. Records, 3. a/a



On reaching Hanina village, the soldiers searched their 

captives and took Zlatija’s gold earrings, the only valuables 

she had on her. From Hanina, they were taken by 

bus to the police station in Čajniče. 

As soon as we got to the station, they took Mamko away 

from us. The first days were the worst of our time in 

prison in Čajniče. For the first three or four days I 

couldn’t change the children, who were wet through. 

After that, the Čajniče Red Cross came and brought 

everything the children needed. Men in different uniforms 

came while we were in prison and said all sorts 

of things: that they would kill us all, that they would cut 

the children’s throats, and things like that. As time 

passed, we were treated better. My elder daughter 

Amela wore a brace for her dislocated hip. They just 

tore it off her so that she now has to use crutches to 

move about. She had an operation in Sarajevo. The 

younger one, Alema, started walking in prison. All the 

time we were there, I was terribly afraid for my children 

and it was a great relief when we were exchanged 

on 21 May the same year. 

The name of Džafer Bungur, Zlatija’s husband, appears 

on the list of exchanged persons although he was not 

among the captives. Zlatija believes that she, her mother-in-law, 

and children were exchanged for two Serb 

women from Čajniče, Polka Mašić and her daughter. 

Aiša Zundja, a Muslim woman from Foča, and her four 

children were exchanged at the same time. 

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62 


7.3. Ramiza Bungur: ”They sent me to 

Goražde to parley.“ 

Zlatija’s mother-in-law Ramiza Bungur told the HLC 84 

she recognized Duško Popović, son of Lazo, and Brane 

Mašić, both of Trpinje, Čajniče municipality, among the 

soldiers who abducted her. She left behind all her livestock: 

50 sheep, seven cows and two horses. The soldiers 

questioned her about the whereabouts of her 

sons Džafer and Samir, who had fled earlier after being 

beaten by police and soldiers. Ramiza herself was not 

physically abused in Čajniče but her son Mamko was 

beaten and threatened. During her captivity, she was 

sent to Goražde to parley on an exchange, with her family 

members as surety that she would return to the 

prison. She said the food the prisoners received was not 

very good but that meals were regular. 

7.4. Mamko Bungur: ”Mother said we would 

soon be exchanged.“ 

Ramiza Bungur’s son Mamko also left home with only 

the clothes he had on when the soldiers came for them: 

I remember well that they slapped me several times on 

the way there, threatened me and swore at my mother. I 

remember that Savo and Radmilo Milkanović from 

Čajniče beat me the most. Radmilo once hit me so hard 

in the chest that I fell down right away. 85 

Once the party reached Čajniče, Mamko was separated 

from his mother and locked in a cell alone. In the beginning, 

meals were irregular but this improved later on. After 

one a half months, he was allowed to see his mother. 

84 Statement by Ramiza Bungur, Goražde, 27 October 2001, HLC documentation. 

85 Statement by Mamko Bungur, Goražde, 27 October 2001, HLC documentation.



Certificate on the exchange of Ramiza Bungur 86 

86 Certificate on the exchange of Ramiza Bungur (translation) 

Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina 

Bosnia-Drina Canton Goražde 

Government of Goražde Canton 

No. 02.389-361/96 

At the request of Bungur, Ramiza of Čajniče and on the basis of Art. 

171 of the Law on General Administrative Procedure (Sl. List SFRJ 

No. 47/86) which has been taken over and is applied as a republican 

law, and data on record with the Commission for Exchange of 

Prisoners of War for Goražde District, the Government of the 

63


64 


I recognized the policemen Danilo Maličević, Vule 

Perendija, Adrija Pečenica, and Desimir Djerić at the 

Čajniče police station. Groups of police and soldiers 

would come from time to time, threatening to kill us, 

make us move out, and things like that. I saw Duško 

Kornjača come to the police station. I heard later that he 

was the boss in Čajniče. He too threatened to slaughter 

us, drive us out and so on. While I was in prison, they 

kept asking me where the Green Berets were, where our 

weapons were, where my brothers Džafer and Samir 

were. My brothers had run away to Goražde after they 

were badly beaten. Things became better for us in 

prison the longer we were there, and mother said we 

would soon be exchanged. She went to Goražde a few 

times to set up an exchange. During that time we were 

given meals regularly and the torture, both physical and 

verbal, almost stopped. 

Mamko Bungur now lives in Sarajevo. His mother 

Ramiza and brothers Džafer and Samir are in Goražde. 

Bosnia-Drina Canton of Goražde issues this 

CERTIFICATE 

Certifying that the Commission for Exchange of Prisoners of War 

for Goražde District on 21 May 1993 conducted an exchange of 

prisoners of war with the Serb side in ?ajni?e. Among the 

exchanged prisoners, the following are recorded under the numbers 

one (1), and two (2): 

BUNGUR (nee Popovi?), daughter of Smajo, born 1944 

BUNGUR ((Zaim) Mamko, born 1978. 

This certificate was issued for the purpose of regulating status 

issues. 

CC: Chairman 

1. Bungur, Ramiza, 2x Hamid Pršeš, B.A. 

(Economics) 

2. Records a/a



7.5. Sevda Bungur: ”I heard a shot and 

immediately thought to myself that Latif 

had been killed.“ 

Sevda Bungur (born 1935) of Ravni was awoken about 

5 a.m. on 16 February by loud noises and shouting. She 

heard someone breaking down the front door and, running 

into the hallway, saw a soldier who ordered her to 

go outside and kicked her in the stomach. There were 

many soldiers outside, and she saw her neighbors Delva 

Bungur, Osman Bungur and his wife Almasa, and Vezira 

Bungur being led out of their homes. 

The ruins of Latif Bungur’s house in Ravni (photo: 30 April 2002) 

I was alone at home because my husband Mušan was 

working in Germany at the time. The soldiers said we 

had to go to Čajniče in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is 

about 15 kilometers from us. I heard then that all the sol- 

65


66 


diers were from Čajniče, and also that Latif Bungur, 

who was about 90, was too old to come with us. His wife 

Lamka was taken with us. I left home with bare feet and 

in my pajamas because they wouldn’t let me dress or 

put on shoes. We had gone about 200 or 300 meters 

when I heard a shot and immediately thought to myself 

that Latif had been killed. 

On the way to Čajniče I recognized among the soldiers 

Nedjo Mašić, who was our neighbor. ‘What are you 

doing to us?’ I asked him and he replied: ‘If it hadn’t 

been for me, you would have been killed.’ I also recognized 

Milorad Vasić from Brka near Čajniče. When we 

were being thrown out of our homes, he wore a stocking 

over his head. I know him because he used to be the janitor 

at the school in Čajniče. 

As we passed through Trpinje village, I saw Savo Mašić 

standing outside his house and heard him say: ‘That’s 

right, my sons, my falcons. Take care of your own and 

revenge them.’ When we were about half way to 

Čajniče, in Hanina village outside the house of Vlatko 

Mašić, they gave us a hard time for a short while and 

then took us into some rooms, all of us separately. It was 

then that I had to give them my gold rings, necklace and 

some money. When they had done those disgraceful 

searches, they put us in a bus and drove us to Čajniče. 87 

At the Čajniče police station, Sevda Bungur told inspectors 

everything that had happened to her and her 

group. She was held until 23 March 1993. As various 

groups of soldiers came back from the front-lines, they 

would come to the prison and threaten her and the others 

with death or mutilation. 

87 Statement by Sevda Bungur, 15 August 2001, HLC documentation.


The police most often told us that we were waiting to be 

exchanged for Serb soldiers and people who had been 

captured. The Čajniče mayor, Dr Dušan Kornjača came 

to see us once and said he would have us all killed if we 

didn’t help them get out of Goražde. When we complained 

that we were sick and didn’t have medicine, he 

sent a woman doctor, Dr Tadić, to us. She examined us 

and gave us medicines. 

Sevda Bungur recounted that her son Šefko, who lives 

in Bijelo Polje, went to see Montenegrin President Bulatović 

and Minister of Internal Affair Pejaković and urged 

them to use their influence to obtain the release of her 

group. Sevda now lives with her sons Dževad, Mirsad 

and Suljo in Sarajevo. She occasionally comes to Pljevlja 

and stays with friends there. The HLC has learned that 

Delva and her blind daughter Razija now live in 

Goražde, and Vezira Bungur with her son in Sarajevo. 

7.6. The murder of Latif Bungur 


It remains unclear whether or not the 95-year-old Latif 

Bungur refused to leave his home when the Bosnian 

Serb soldiers came and took six elderly members of the 

family, including Latif’s wife Lamka (80), away to 

Čajniče. In July 1993, activists of the Novi Pazar-based 

Sandžak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights 

and Freedoms 88 spoke in Pljevlja with an elderly 

woman who lived close to Latif and Lamka Bungur until 

she fled the village before the Bosnian Serb soldiers 

came. 

88 1995 Annual Report on the State of Human Rights and Freedoms 

and the Position of Bosniacs/Muslims in the Sandžak- Yugoslavia, 

Sandžak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, 

Novi Pazar, 1995. 

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68 


Latif-aga refused to leave Bukovica with his relatives. ‘I 

was born here and I want to die or be killed here,’ he said. 

He was killed with poles and sticks. His legs and arms were 

broken and his skull smashed in. I saw it all when I went 

back one day to check up on my house and belongings. 

His body was stuck to the carpet. His face was blue. All his 

bones were broken. They say his bones went to Belgrade 

and lots of other places. Latif-aga never hurt a fly... The second 

time I went to Ravni was when the plums were ripe. 

Latif-aga wasn’t in the house anymore, nor was the big 

blanket wrapped around him. I heard afterward that his 

bones came to Pljevlja nine months later... I went into my 

house in Ravni: no electricity, no roof, not a rope or a saw 

anywhere. No spoons, no forks. Every one of my belongings 

had been taken and what hadn’t was broken. My 

sheets, my fire grate, all taken. Not a window left, no doors 

on my house - none of my belongings. Latif-aga’s cow was 

stuck in the barn and died. His chained dogs died of 

hunger and thirst. We know who killed Latif-aga... 

The Islamic charity Merhamet attempted to send a mission 

to Ravni to bury Latif Bungur. Šukrija Burzanović, 

deputy chairman of the Pljevlja section of Merhamet, 

told the press: 

All our requests to the authorities to bury the unfortunate 

man were to no avail. We took advantage of a 

CSCE mission for the Sandžak visiting Pljevlja and on 

17 March, accompanied by Pljevlja municipal officials, 

Montenegrin police, and the late Latif’s nephew Rizah 

Burzanović, I proceeded to Ravni with the intent of 

burying his remains. However, when we reached 

Kovačevići village, some 10 kilometers from our destination, 

we were warned by the police and military that we 

could not go on as it was too dangerous. They claimed 

they couldn’t guarantee our safety if we went on, saying 

that they did not have control over that area, even



though it was a part of Montenegro and Yugoslavia. We 

turned back without having accomplished our purpose. 

89 

Pljevlja cementary where Latif Bungur is buried 

In early June, a CSCE mission again came to Pljevlja and 

it was agreed with Mayor Momčilo Bojović to go to 

Ravni to bury the remains of Latif Bungur on 9 June. 

However, just as they were leaving the mayor’s office, 

word came that no one could guarantee the party’s safety 

and they desisted. Monitor reported that it had 

learned from reliable sources close to the military that 

”the postponement of the CSCE mission’s trip by failing 

to provide safety guarantees was due to the fact that the 

VJ was at the time moving a large armored force 

(dozens of tanks), heavy artillery and troops to the territory 

of Bosnia-Herzegovina to help the Serb forces 

definitively to occupy first Trnovo and then Goražde. 

The weapons and tanks were from the Danilovgrad barracks.“ 

90 

89 ”Lighting the Fire,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 12 February 1993. 

69


70 


Jusuf, Latif Bungur’s brother-in-law, told the Sandžak 

Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and 

Freedoms that Bungur’s remains were in the Pljevlja 

morgue for two months. 

We heard that Latif’s bones had come to Pljevlja and 

immediately tried to locate them. We went to all the 

offices but no one was willing to tell us where they were. 

We searched the cemeteries, talked with the grave-diggers. 

But no one wanted to tell us. So we stopped looking, 

thinking they could not be found. Then a Serb came 

and said to me: ‘Latif’s bones are at the morgue.’ ... They 

gave me the keys to the morgue. I opened the door and 

took Latif’s bones, which were in a plastic bag. I carried 

the bag to the place of ritual laving of the dead. I stayed 

with Latif’s bones and examined them. Not all the bones 

were there, a lot were missing... Killed and left there, he 

was gnawed and torn by animals - cats, dogs, foxes, 

maybe even wolves... The mullah came and we scheduled 

the funeral for the next day. We buried him in the 

town cemetery, near the hospital. There were 80 people 

at Latif’s funeral. 91 

A judicial report of late August 1993 states that the 

bones of Latif Bungur were found scattered, with marks 

of canine teeth on them. His remains were buried on 30 

October, eight and a half months after he was murdered. 

90 Ibid. 

91 Sandžak Dossier: Pljevlja and Priboj, Sandžak Committee for the 

Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, Novi Pazar, 1996, p. 31.


8. The Terror Continues 


Ago Bavčić (born 1947) of Plansko village was beaten a 

number of times during 1992, and most severely on 18 

February 1993 when he was returning home from 

Kovačevići with a local Serb, Milovan Srndović. Bavčić was 

leading a pack horse loaded with provisions for his 

household: flour, salt, sugar, yeast, matches, pickled peppers. 

He parted with Srndović at Varošište village where 

the road forks. Srndović went to his own village and 

Bavčić stopped to adjust the load on his horse. A militarylooking 

vehicle pulled up beside him and about 10 uniformed 

men got out. He could not tell if they were soldiers 

or police. 

They ordered me to unload the horse, lay down weapons 

if I had them, and raise my hands in the air. I did everything 

they said and gave them the hunting knife I had on 

me. One asked where my brother was. I replied that he was 

in Peć and that I had received a letter from him a month 

ago. I showed them the letter. That’s when they started 

beating me. Others started spilling the flour and salt, saying 

I was taking it to the Green Berets. I tried to tell them 

the provisions were for my household and shouted out to 

Milovan. One of them put his hand over my mouth. They 

punched and kicked me, hit me with rifles on the head 

and whole body. After that they took the belt of my leather 

winter coat, tied me with it to the car and went on beating 

me. I think they beat me for about half an hour. 92 

With his hands tied, Bavčić was pushed into the vehicle 

and beaten all the way to Kovačevići where he was told 

he could go. Using two thick sticks as crutches, he set 

off for his village in the dark. Exhausted, he fell a num- 

92 Statement by Ago Bavčić, Goražde, March 2002, HLC documentation. 

71


72 


ber of times before he got to Hamed Stovrag’s house 

where he spent the night, and reached his village the 

next day. He spent days in bed, recovering from the 

beating. Zoran Čolović, who according to Bavčić was in 

command at the Kovačevići headquarters, came shortly 

afterward and brought the knife that had been taken 

from him. Afraid that he would again be ill-treated 

because of the knife, Bavčić refused to take it back. 

Tucking the knife into his belt, Čolović left, saying 

Bavčić could come to Kovačević to pick up his provisions 

which, he said, were all there although a little 

damp. 

Ago Bavčić’s destroyed house in Plansko 

(photo: 30 April 2002). 

The provisions were brought to Bavčić later on by the 

soldiers or police. He went to see a doctor in Pljevlja 

and was hospitalized there for 24 days. When he 

returned from the hospital, the soldiers or police who 

had beaten him came again. They pushed his wife Aiša 

against the wall and put a knife to her throat, and threw 

his daughter Bahra (born 1979) and twin sons Bahrudin 

and Sabahudin (born 1981) to the floor to demonstrate



to them how they would slit their throats. Bavčić identified 

Aco Malinić, related by marriage to Novak 

Danilović of Kržava village, as the leader of the group. 

Bavčić complained to Pljevlja Mayor Momčilo Bojović 

who referred him to the police. He went to the police 

station but was driven away and warned against lodging 

a complaint. 

After all that, I decided I had to leave my village and go 

somewhere else. I first thought of going to Turkey and 

applied for a passport - I didn’t get it to this day. We left 

our Plansko on 23 April 1993 and went by foot to 

Goražde. We took some of our livestock, three cows and 

50 sheep, but half of them didn’t get to Goražde. It’s a 

long way through the woods and there are dangers of 

all sorts. 

Soldiers and police came to Klakorine village in February 

1993, searched Muslim homes and abused the 

inhabitants. Ramiz Šabanović (born 1920) does not 

recall the exact date when they invaded his home. Some 

pulled his wife Hatidža by the hair and threw her to the 

floor as others beat him in another room and demanded 

money. Šabanović had recently sold two cows and 

two calves so that he had the equivalent of around 3,000 

deutsche marks in dinars in the dresser. A policeman 

examined the banknotes but did not take them. 

Then a soldier, I think his name was Aco Malinić, came 

up to me. He had a dog and goaded it to attack me. The 

dog jumped on my chest and tore my clothes to bits but 

he held it on a leash so that it wouldn’t hurt me really 

badly. I was terribly frightened by the dog. After that 

they made me and my wife cross ourselves and sing 

Chetnik songs. They also forced me to lick the blade of a 

knife. When we had done all that, they drove us out of 

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74 


the house and to a stream near by, threatening to cut 

our throats with barbed wire if we didn’t give them 

money. 

When I said I didn’t have any other money than what 

they had seen, one of them hit me so hard that I rolled 

down the slope and passed out. I came to and they 

picked me up and carried me to the road. They rubbed 

me with snow, ordered me to get up right away and, 

when I couldn’t, pulled me to my feet. When they left, I 

somehow gathered the strength to get home - it wasn’t 

far off. My wife had already run away to Borišići village 

and I went there to join her. 93 

In Borišići, Asim Hodžić took in the couple and advised 

Šabanović to complain to the military command in 

Kovačevići. He did and one of the officers there told 

him he approved of all that had happened. 

Pljevlja Mayor Milorad Bojović and some international 

representatives came to see me after that and asked if I 

could identify any of the attackers. I said I couldn’t but 

that my neighbor Omer Hodžić had told me he knew the 

man who had taken the lead in tormenting me - Milorad 

Brković, a VJ reservist from Lugovi near Kovačevići. 

Šabanović and his wife were not mistreated after this, 

but because of their age decided to go to Sarajevo to 

stay with their son Haso. Hatidža died in October 2001 

and Ramiz still lives there. 

Šaban Rizvanović (born 1922), who was the chairman of 

the Bukovica neighborhood community at the start of 

the war, remembers well the police and VJ reservists’ 

93 Statement by Ramiz Šabanović, Sarajevo, October 2001, HLC documentation.



onslaught on Bukovica villages in February 1993. On 22 

February, reservists Djoko Gogić, Radmilo Djuković, 

Slobodan Cvetković, Dragan Jelovac and Aco Malinić 

came to his home. 

One asked where I had been the last Thursday and I 

said I had been making plum brandy. ‘No, you weren’t. 

You were taking food to the Green Berets,’ he said. Gojko 

hit me in the chest with his rifle butt. It was a hard blow 

and I fell down. Then Djuković hit me on the back with 

the barrel of his rifle ... I think I passed out ... I lay in the 

snow ... When I tried to get up and go to my front door, 

Cvetković came up and poked me hard in the chest several 

times with the point of his rifle. 

Šabanović found his wife Arifa (born 1924) lying on the 

floor in a pool of blood from her injured head. He 

stayed in bed for seven weeks, recuperating from the 

beating, and Arifa somewhat less. Reservists who came 

to their house later told him not to go to the Pljevlja hospital. 

He nonetheless decided to go and was driven 

there by his neighbor Simo Barac. At the hospital, 

Šabanović was examined by Dr Vera Bojović who 

admitted him to the intensive care unit where he was 

treated by Dr Čabarkapa. One day, however, a Dr Cvijović 

was on duty instead. He immediately discharged 

Rizvanović and sent him home. 

When I left the hospital for home, I wasn’t let on the bus 

and had to spend the night in Pljevlja. Radoman 

Čolović drove me home to Bukovica the next day in a 

police Pinzgauer. As for my life after that in Bukovica, I 

can say I had no more trouble. Since I had four daughters 

and a son in Sarajevo, I asked the International 

Red Cross to transfer me there in August 1996. I live in 

Sarajevo now. 

75


76 


8.1 The death of Hilmo Drkenda 

Zlatija Stovrag of Vukšići believes that Hilmo Drkenda 

was beaten to death on 27 March 1993. 

I saw a large group of soldiers going from Kovačevići to 

the border with Bosnia at about four o’clock in the afternoon. 

I went out to drive the sheep in and met Zlatija, 

Hilmo Drkenda’s wife, who told me there were soldiers 

all over the place. After that I saw Hilmo Drkenda staggering 

along with the help of two sticks. 

Drkenda told Zlatija he was taking a sack of hay to his 

sheep when he was stopped by soldiers and beaten. 

One of the reservists accused him of carrying food to 

the Green Berets, and started kicking and beating him 

with a rifle butt, and was soon joined by another. A third 

reservist swore at his colleagues and shouted, ”Leave 

the man alone!“ Hilmo also told Zlatija that the two 

bursts of shots heard earlier had been fired by these soldiers. 

Hilmo’s wife Zlatija arrived then and, when she saw 

the state Hilmo was in, began crying out loud, ‘They’ve 

killed my husband,’ and things like that. I saw blood 

coming from Hilmo’s mouth and he couldn’t walk. Me, 

my daughter Šahza, and Zlatija carried him into the 

house in a blanket. I think he died that same night. 

Besides having been badly beaten, he was an old man, 

75 years old. His body lay in the house for about 10 

days because we couldn’t bury him. The graveyard is 

about one kilometer from the house and there were 

only a few old people left in the village. We - me, his wife 

and neighbors Emin Drkenda and Latif Stovrag, both 

over 75 who dug the grave - buried him in Sulejman 

Drkenda’s yard.


After Hilmo’s burial, Zlatija Stovrag and the remaining 

villagers left Vukšići. She and her daughter went first to 

Pljevlja and then to Sarajevo, where they now live. 

8.2. Dekare 


The village of Dekare lies near the meeting-point of the 

borders of Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

Somewhat closer to Bosnia, it gravitates toward 

Čajniče for it takes less time to reach Čajniče by foot 

than Pljevlja by bus. Before the war, the village had six 

Muslim families - five with the last name Duraković and 

one Tabaković - and three Serb households - the Tošićs, 

Cvijovićs and Jojovićs. Only two Serb families live in the 

village now. 

Mirsada (born 1971) and her sister Jasmina (born 1967) 

Duraković described what they experienced when VJ 

reservists barged into their home around 11 p.m. on 7 

April 1993. The sisters were in the house with their 

neighbors Snežana and Mirko Tošić and Slavko Cvijović 

at the time. Jasmina (married name Tarić) believes that 

Snežana and Mirko Tošić were responsible for the 

reservists coming and that they ”set us up.“ 94 The Tošićs 

left immediately while Cvijović remained with the sisters. 

As soon as they were in, I saw they were up to no good. 

One said they had orders to search the house for 

weapons. We sisters said we had none and that we were 

peaceful citizens. I know that one of them then asked 

Slavko Cvijović for his ID and checked it out. Then they 

took Slavko into another room and tied him to the bed. 

The reservists were armed with automatic rifles. 

94 Statement by Jasmina Tarić, Pljevlja, 20 October 2001, HLC documentation. 

77


78 


Two reservists, identified by Jasmina Tarić as Slaviša 

Petrović from Kosanica village, and the other also with 

the last name Petrović, ransacked the house, tearing 

apart the beds, moving furniture and lifting carpets. 

Mirsada (married name Kubur) recounted: 

We were very frightened while they searched the house. 

One of the reservists came up to me and slapped me 

hard a few times. I saw them beating my sister Jasmina 

and that they wanted to rape her. They tried to separate 

us. Another one came up to me, I thought he wanted to 

rape me. The other one pulled him back and said something. 

I was in shock and can’t remember all the details 

now. But I did see when the cap of one of them fell on 

the floor with two bullets in it. 95 

Jasmina continued the story: 

All the time they searched, I had the feeling they wanted 

to rape us. One of them, Slaviša Petrović, started hitting 

me on the head and pulling me but the other one 

stopped him and took his rifle. I had bruises and cuts on 

my head, face and arms. When the situation was very 

tense, I heard someone shout,’Run!’ Us two sisters and 

Slavko jumped out the window and ran away. 

Jasmina and Mirsada spent the night with their uncle 

Jusuf Duraković and joined their mother Hasnija in 

Pljevlja the next day. They complained to the police 

and were told the security situation was extremely 

complex because of the war, and that it would be in 

the best interests of their safety to tell no one about 

what had happened. The police also promised to do 

everything they could. Mirsada recounted that the 

95 Statement by Mirsada Kubur, Pljevlja, March 2002, HLC documentation.



remaining Muslim families in Dekare moved out after 

this incident. 

Nor did 1994 bring any relief to the Bukovica Muslims. A 

number of VJ reservists came to the home of Hajra (born 

1922) and Huso (born 1921) Bekan in Hajlovine village 

one night in June, looking for weapons. Hajra identified 

two of them as Milorad Brković and Drago ”Kalaja“ Kalajdžić. 

Her husband gave them his licensed TT pistol. 

They took me into the other room. I started screaming 

but Drago Kalajdžić put a scarf over my mouth and 

held a knife to my throat. He cut my forehead and the 

blood started pouring. Later on I saw them grab my husband 

by both arms and cut his head with the same 

knife. My husband called to our neighbor Božo Barac 

for help but no one replied. They beat him with whatever 

was at hand, their fists and feet and I don’t know 

what else. I heard the words:’Get him down on the floor, 

what are you waiting for? Kick him in the balls!’ I saw 

that he was all bloody and, as they held the knife at his 

throat, it looked like they wanted to slit it. It lasted about 

an hour and then they left. I went to my husband to see 

if he was alive. When I saw that he was, I tried to help 

him even though I was in shock. The house had been 

turned upside down, blood everywhere and with some 

things missing. The only thing I actually saw was Milorad 

Brković take the clock from the wall. 96 

A doctor came, established that Huso Bekan had a fractured 

skull, injured ribs and a broken hand, and prescribed 

medication. A few days later, police inspectors 

Nedjo Raonić and Radoman Čolović arrived and took 

statements from the Bekans. The couple were not both- 

96 Statement by Hajra Bekan, Goražde, June 2001, HLC documentation 

79


80 


ered after that but Huso Bekan continued suffering 

great pain. With the assistance of the Red Cross, the 

Bekans were in August 1996 transferred to Sarajevo 

where they stayed with relatives. When Huso died two 

months later at the age of 75, Hajra moved in with her 

son Mirsad in Goražde. 

9. Epilogue 

The villages of Bukovica remain deserted to this day. 

The houses - looted, damaged or torched - are uninhabitable. 

Another reason why people are not returning is 

the fact that although there were six murders only one 

man, Majoš Vrećo, has ever been charged and tried. 

Džafer Djogo (born 1936), an employee of the local 

forestry company, was killed at Piperi village on 16 June 

1993. His body, covered with branches and leaves, was 

found near the village road. The investigation brought 

out that Majoš Vrećo stopped Djogo, ordered him to lie 

down on the ground and shot him three times in the 

head. Dragomir Krvavac (36), a native of Rosulje village 

in Pljevlja municipality and a refugee from Sarajevo 

who was present when Djogo was killed, was arrested 

together with Vrećo. Pljevlja Police Chief Radivoje Aranitović 

said the killer was probably returning from the 

front-line in the Republika Srpska and that he was intoxicated 

when he committed the crime. Vrećo (37), a 

native of Leovo Brdo near Pljevlja and a resident of 

Čajniče, was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in 

prison; Krvavac was acquitted. 

In November 2002, the HLC learned at the Montenegrin 

Supreme Court that Majoš Vrećo was first sentenced to 

four and a half years by the Municipal Court in Belo 

Polje and that the term was subsequently increased to 

14 years by the Bijelo Polje High Court. The sentence 

became final on 7 November 1994. Vrećo was in the



penitentiary at Spuž near Podgorica until 19 April 1995 

when he was transferred to the Foča penitentiary in 

Bosnia-Herzegovina to serve out his term. The Republika 

Srpska president reduced his term by 10 months 24 

days on 30 December 1998 (Glasnik Republike Srpske, 

No. 40, 1998), and the Montenegrin president by a further 

two years, one month, 20 days on 12 December 

2001 (Službeni list RCG, No. 57/2000). Vrećo is due to be 

released on 17 November 2004. 97 

Memorial plaque at the scene of Džafer Djogo’s murder 

Jakub Durgut told the HLC that Džaka Bijela, a 70-year-old 

woman from Hromac village, disappeared in June 1995. 

I know that two men in uniform came to see her two 

days before she went missing, demanding money and 

97 Data obtained by HLC researcher at Montenegrin Supreme Court, 

Podgorica. 

81


82 


her husband’s pistol. Her husband had been dead for a 

year. She was afraid to be alone in the house after that 

and spent the next night with an Orthodox neighbor. 

She went home to feed the livestock the next day and has 

not been seen or heard from since. Her disappearance 

was immediately reported to the Pljevlja Police Department 

but the investigation produced no results. In 

November that year, some villagers found her about one 

kilometer from her house. Police from Pljevlja came to 

investigate and established that the body was headless. 

Some gold jewelry and money in deutsche marks was 

found beside her. 98 

10. Homes Torched To Prevent Return 

Ten empty Muslim-owned houses in Bunguri village 

were set on fire in May 1995. In its 1995 annual report, 

the Sandžak Committee on the Protection of Human 

Rights and Freedoms said: ”This latest burning of houses 

by Serbs and Montenegrins came after several persons 

belonging to the Bosniac community tried to 

return to their homes from which they were expelled in 

February and March 1993. Witnesses say that houses in 

Bukovica that were not torched or blown up were damaged, 

that even the windows and doors were stolen, as 

well as the household appliances, furniture and other 

belongings in them. It sounds incredible but, in parallel 

with this arson, the Pljevlja municipal authorities sent 

the expelled Bosniacs notifications to pay taxes on their 

property, land, etc.“ 99 

98 Statement by Jakub Durgut, June 2001, HLC documentation. 

99 1995 Annual Report on the State of Human Rights and Freedoms 

and the Position of Bosniacs/Muslims in the Sandžak- Yugoslavia, 

Sandžak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, 

Novi Pazar, 1995.



In an interview with Monitor, Jakub Durgut spoke of 

why Bukovica villagers have not been able to return to 

their homes. Like some others, Durgut’s house was 

repaired with donations from foreign humanitarian 

organizations and he was handed the keys in 1996: 

Only two weeks after our houses were repaired, 

‘unknown perpetrators’ destroyed them again. The 

state, the Army, and the police were all present. It has 

become an illusion to expect the people of Bukovica to 

return to their homes. This is our third pogrom in this 

century. We see the biggest extremists, men who have 

committed atrocities, walking freely in Pljevlja and the 

state is not doing anything to catch and punish them. 100 

The majority of the some 170 displaced Bukovica villagers 

continue living in Bosnia-Herzegovina or west 

European countries. Only a few families that sought 

refuge in Pljevlja have tried, without success, to return 

to their homes. The only exception is Osman Tahirbegović 

who, after two failed attempts, was finally able to 

return to his property. With the assistance of Swiss Disaster 

Relief, the Muslim charity Merhamet was able to 

repair six houses. 

The attitude of the Montenegrin state authorities 

towards the people of Bukovica is amply illustrated by a 

decision of the Office of the Commissioner for Displaced 

Persons that people forced to move to other 

places in their own municipality, as is the case of the 

Bukovica villagers now in Pljevlja, are not entitled to displaced 

person status. Commenting on this decision, 

Monitor wrote: ”Like all other displaced, these people 

need humanitarian relief, health care and other living 

100 ”Ethnic Cleansing by Neighbors,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 29 December 

2000/5 January 2002. 

83


84 


conditions in accordance with their requirements and 

the real possibilities.“ 101 

11. Mosques Destroyed 

The ruins of the Plansko mosque 


The minaret of the mosque in Raščići village was blown 

up on 20 May 1993. Somewhat earlier, on 19 April, the 

mosque in Plansko was set on fire and destroyed. Ago 

Bavčić recounted to the HLC 102 that he and Krsto 

Danilović from Meljene village went to Rudiće that day. 

After finishing their business, they made their way back 

and, passing by the Plansko mosque at about 3 p.m., 

they noticed the open wooden shutters on the windows 

and smoke billowing out. 

101 Ibid. 

102 Statement by Ago Bavčić, Goražde, March 2002, HLC documentation.


The ruins of the Plansko mosque 

photographed from different angle 


When we passed that way earlier in the day, we saw that 

the shutters were closed and nothing unusual going on. 

I suggested to Krsto that we try to put out the fire but he 

replied, ‘I don’t dare; you go if you want.’ I didn’t go 

either. It was dark by the time I reached home and the 

mosque was all in flames; the roof had caught on fire 

too. It burned all night. After that, me and my family 

were afraid to be in our house at night and slept in a 

nearby copse. 

85


86 


APPENDIX 

Bukovica Refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina 

The Montenegrin government’s Trade and Information 

Mission in Sarajevo contacted the inhabitants of Bukovica 

villages who left their homes during the war in 

Bosnia-Herzegovina and made a list of their property. 

This list, said the Mission head Novak Kilibarda, ”can 

serve as a basis for preparing a government decision 

that is expected to resolve this problem.“ Hoping to 

ensure full support for the return of these refugees, the 

Mission in early February 2002 addressed the Montenegrin 

President, Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry 

for Protection of the Rights of National and Ethnic 

Groups. 

Recalling the statements of the Bukovica refugees on 

the large presence of Yugoslav Army troops, including 

reservists, and police officers from Pljevlja in the area 

from the outbreak of the war in Bosnia, the Mission said 

in its letter: 

„The searches of homes on a daily basis, accompanied 

by verbal and physical abuse, killings, and looting of 

property in fact put Muslims under pressure to leave 

the area. The majority of Bukovica inhabitants had 

moved out by the end of 1992, first to Pljevlja and then 

to Turkey, Germany and other countries. Those who are 

in Bosnia-Herzegovina came mainly after the end of the 

war and continue living here without material means.“ 

In April 2002, Montenegrin Minister for Protection of 

the Rights of National and Ethnic Groups Šaim Hajdinaga 

informed the Sarajevo Mission that the setting up of 

a commission comprising officials of the Ministry of



Internal Affairs, Foreign Ministry and his own Ministry 

had been agreed with the Prime Minister and Minister 

of Internal Affairs. The commission, Hajdinaga said, 

would be charged with drawing up a report on the 

refugees from the Bukovica area. 

In a letter to the Montenegrin authorities, people from 

Bukovica now in Sarajevo and Goražde wrote that their 

only wish was to return to their homes. In order that this 

could be achieved, they said, it was necessary to ”arrest 

those who committed atrocities and bring them to justice; 

create appropriate safety and security conditions 

by hiring new police officers who would do their job in 

a professional manner, dismiss their predecessors and 

take action against them for what they did; repair or 

rebuild our houses and recompense us for our property 

which was plundered or destroyed during the ethnic 

cleansing.“ 

List of refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina and 

their property compiled by the Montenegrin 

Trade and Information Mission in Sarajevo: 

1. Durgut, Osman (born 2 July 1954), Čerjenci, fled in 

September 1992, now in Sarajevo; 

Durgut, Fazila (born 21 November 1956), his wife; 

Durgut, Edin (born 27 March 1976), son; 

Durgut, Edisa (born 16 September 1978), daughter. 

Property: House and outbuildings, furniture and all 

other household belongings. 

Present situation: House, outbuildings and all other 

belongings burnt and destroyed. 

* 

87


88 


2. Durgut, Zajko, Čerjenci, fled in September 1992, 

now in Sarajevo; 

Durgut, Hajra, his mother. 

Property: House and outbuildings, furniture and all 

other household belongings. 

Present situation: House, outbuildings and other household 

belongings badly damaged. 

* 

3. Tahirović, Himzo (born 26 June 1929), Čerjenci, 

fled in September 1992, now in Sarajevo; 

Tahirović, Hajra (born 12 June 1936), wife; 

Tahirović, Ferida (born 12 June 1963), daughter-inlaw, 

and her Two children. 

Property: House and outbuildings, furniture and other 

household belongings. 

Present situation: House and outbuildings destroyed, 

belongings plundered. 

* 

4. Hodžić, Vasvija (born 30 August 1950), Stražice, 


Hodžić, Nedžad (born 10 April 1972), her son. 

Property: House, outbuildings, furniture and all other 



other household belongings plundered.



* 

5. Stovrag, Zlatija (born 14 October 1933), Čerjenci, 


Stovrag, Šahza, her daughter. 




other belongings plundered. 

Note: Himzo Stovrag, Zlatija’s husband, committed suicide 

in 1992 after he was abused by police. 

* 

6. Močević, Hamid (born 5 January 1908) Stražice, 

fled in 1992, now in Sarajevo; 

Močević, Mulija, his wife. 





* 

7. Hodžić, Arif (born 28 November 1918), Stražice, 

fled in September 1992, now in Sarajevo. 





89


90 


* 

8. Močević, Nazif (born 30 March 1923), Močevići, 

now in Goražde; 

Močević, Zlata, his wife. 



Present situation: House destroyed, other belongings 

plundered. 

* 

9. Stovrag, Munir (born 5 February 1956), Kržava, fled 

in September 1992; 

Stovrag, Hajra, his mother. 




plundered. 

* 

10. Bavčić, Nura (born 12 February 1927), Plansko, fled 

in September 1992, now in Goražde; 

Bavčić, Jasmina, her daughter. 




plundered or destroyed. 

* 

11. Hodžić, Halim (born 4 May 1938), Stražice, fled in 

September 1992, now in Goražde







* 

12. Bavčić, Ago (born 8 March 1947), Plansko, fled in 

February 1993), now in Goražde; 

Bavčić, Aiša, his wife; 

Bavčić, Bahra, daughter; 

Bavčić, Bahrudin, son; 

Bavčić, Fahrudin, son; 

Bavčić, Hamdija, son. 





* 

13. Hodžić, Latif, Stražice, now in Goražde; 

Hodžić, Fadila, his wife, and 

Three children. 





Note: VJ reservists robbed this family of a large amount 

of currency. 

91


92 


* 

14. Osmanagić, Sejfo (born 3 October 1970), Čerjenci, 

fled in April 1993, now in Goražde; 

Osmanagić, Hajrija (born 4 April 1943), his mother; 

Osmanagić, Ševal (born 20 October 1978), brother; 

Osmanagić, Ševka, sister, 

Osmanagić, Šemsa, sister. 





Note: Šaćir Osmanagić, Sejfo’s father, was subjected to 

brutal verbal and physical abuse following which he 

died. 

* 

15. Šahman, Edhem (born 12 March 1964), Čerjenci, 


Šahman, Ibro, his brother; 

Šahman, Mehmed, brother. 





* 

16. Vukas, Hamed (born 16 September 1969), Čerjenci, 


Vukas, Alma, his mother. 


household belongings.





* 

17. Bavčić, Sabrija, Djenovići, now in Sarajevo; 

Bavčić, Emina, his wife; 

Bavčić, Halima, his mother. 




other belongings plundered or destroyed. 

* 

18. Drkenda, Enes, Vukšići, fled in 1993; now in 

Bosnia-Herzegovina 

Drkenda, Aziz, his brother. 


household belongings, livestock. 



Note: Hilmo Drkenda was killed in his house in 1993 

and his wife Zlatija subsequently died. 

* 

19. Šabanović, Ramiz (born 13 March 1921), Klakorine, 

now in Sarajevo. 





93


94 


* 

20. Stovrag, Hamed (born 25 November 1958), Kržava, 

fled in late 1992, now in Sarajevo; 

Stovrag, Džemila, his wife. 





* 

21. Kožo, Zaim (born 16 May 1956), Kovačevići, fled in 

early 1993, now in Visoko; 

Kožo, Hadžira (born 18 February 1956), his wife, 

and their three children; 

Kožo, Muša, Zaim’s mother. 





* 

22. Jusufović, Fatima (born 15 September 1929), Selišta, 

fled in late 1992, now in Goražde; 

Jusufović, Edhem, her son. 




plundered or destroyed.



* 

23. Rogo, Juso (born 8 July 1949), Kržava, now in 

Goražde; and four family members. 





* 

24. Vranj, Samija (born 5 March 1955), Kovačevići, now 

in Sarajevo; 

Vranj, Samir (born 12 March 1976), her son; 

Vranj, Kemo, son. 





* 

25. Čutuna, Hatidža (born 3 March 1935), Lugovi, now 

in Pazarić near Sarajevo; 

Čutuna, Mugdin (born 4 September 1975), her son. 





* 

26. Čutuna, Behka (born 29 June 1939), Lugovi, now in 

Sarajevo. 

95


96 






Note: Sakib Čutuna, Behka’s husband, was physically 

abused on several occasions in 1992 and 1993 and subsequently 

died. 

* 

27. Vukas, Nura (born 28 March 1920), Ljuta Bara, now 

in Sarajevo. 

Property: House, outbuildings, furniture, farm machinery, 

tools, livestock, etc. 

Present situation: House badly damaged, other belongings 


* 

28. Dedović, Meho (born 27 November 1926), Rujevica, 

now in Sarajevo. 

Property: House, outbuildings, furniture, livestock, and 

all other household belongings. 



Note: Dedović’s wife Šaćira died after the war. 

* 

29. Dedović, Nazif (born 1914), Rujevica, now in Sarajevo; 

Dedović, Kenda, his wife; 

Dedović, Hasan, son; 

Dedović, Ševal, son.





Present situation: House burnt and destroyed, other 

belongings plundered. 

* 

30. Rizvanović, Šaban (born 6 July 1922), Mrčići, now 

in Sarajevo; 

Rizvanović, Arifa (born 5 March 1924), his wife. 





* 

31. Rizvanović, Nedžiba (born 7 February 1940), Mrčići, 


Rizvanović, Enko, her son; 

Rizvanović, Sadeta, daughter; 

Rizvanović, Sabaheta, daughter; 

Rizvanović, Sabiha, daughter. 





Note: Nedžiba’s husband Emin died during the war. 

* 

32. Bungur, Ramiza (born 26 June 1944), Bunguri, now 

in Goražde; 

Bungur, Džafer, her son; 

97


98 


Bungur, Zlatija, Džafer’s wife, and their 

Four children; 

Bungur, Samir, Ramiza’s son, 

Bungur Samira, Samir’s wife, and their 

Two children; 

Bungur, Džemo, Ramiza’s son. 

Property: House, outbuildings, livestock, furniture and 

all other household belongings. 

Note: Ramiza Bungur, her daughter-in-law Zlatija and 

Zlatija’s two children were abducted by Bosnian Serb 

soldiers in February 1993 and taken to Čajniče. They 

were subsequently exchanged in Goražde. 

* 

33. Hošo, Ramiz (born 11 September 1931), Klakorine, 


Hošo, Džema, his wife. 





* 

34. Krako, Islam (born 14 May 1964), Klakorine, now in 

Sarajevo, 

Krako, Sedika, his mother. 




plundered or destroyed.



* 

35. Bungur, Vezira (born 1 March 1921) Bunguri, now 

in Sarajevo; 

Bungur, Husein, her son. 





* 

36. Mujanović, Hamdo (born 14 October 1965), Močevići, 


Mujanović, first name unknown, his wife, and 

Two children. 





Note: Hamdo Mujanović was verbally and physically 

abused by VJ soldiers for four days, after which he and 

his family fled. 

* 

37. Bekan, Hajra (born 5 January 1920), Hajlovine, now 

in Goražde. 





99


100 


Note: Hajra’s husband Huso Bekan died in consequence 

of severe physical abuse. 

* 

38. Muslić, Hasan, Madžari, now in Sarajevo; 

Muslić, Salko, his brother. 

Property: House, outbuildings, furniture, livestock, currency, 

and all other household belongings. 



Note: Hasan’s father Hajro and brother Ejub Muslić were 

killed in their own house in 1992. The police have not 

yet solved the case. 

* 

39. Hodžić, Hanka (born 18 January 1910), Kava, now 

in Sarajevo. 





Note: Hanka’s husband Latif Hodžić died after they fled 

their village. 

* 

40. Tahirbegović, Osman (born 12 February 1949), 

Rosulje, fled to Sarajevo on 19 July 1992 and subsequently 

returned to Rosulje; 

Tahirbegović, Zlatija, his wife, also now in Rosulje; 

Tahirbegović, Mustafa, his son, now in Sarajevo; 

Tahirbegović, Haris, son, now in Sarajevo;



Tahirbegović, Emina, daughter, now in Sarajevo. 

Property: House, outbuildings, furniture, other household 

belongings, sawing machine, large quantity of 

lumber, other tools. 



Note: On 4 May 1992, Slaviša Svrkota, a police officer, 

stole the Tahirovićs gold jewelry. The theft was immediately 

and on several other occasions reported to the 

Pljevlja Police Department and the Ministry of Internal 

Affairs in Podgorica but no action was taken against 

Svrkota. As soon as the war in Bosnia broke out, the 

Tahirović house was repeatedly searched, the family 

verbally abused and finally, on 18 July 1992, beaten by 

Pljevlja police officer Bane Borović and VJ reservist 

Dragan Čurić and ordered to leave their home by 7 a.m. 

the next day. 

101


102 


Spotlight Report No. 4 

May 1993 

MUSLIM-SLAVS 

IN SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 

PLJEVLJA, MONTENEGRO 

Tensions reached a high pitch in Pljevlja last year as a 

result of increasingly frequent attacks on shops owned by 

local Muslim-Slavs and the road blocks repeatedly raised 

by irregulars under the command of Chetnik Vojvoda 1 

Milika “Čeko“ Dačevic. Dačevic and members of his paramilitary 

group, ”Čeko’s Men“, were arrested and charged 

with terrorism. Although convicted, Dačević received a 

suspended sentence. The easing of tensions following the 

trial is perceived locally more as a result of Dačević’s subsequent 

election to the Assembly of the Federal Republic 

of Yugoslavia and his departure for Belgrade and less to 

more effective law enforcement. 

Persons interviewed in Pljevlja by Humanitarian Law 

Center researchers blame ”Čeko’s Men“ for the latest 

incidents of harassment and violence against members 

of Pljevlja’s Muslim-Slav community. They report it was 

several of these men who on March 27, 1993 burst into 

the local restaurant Stari Djeram, demanded at gun 

point that the Muslim-Slav proprietor immediately 

remove a picture of Tito, and ordered him to close the 

restaurant within the next few days since they planned 

to convert it into an Orthodox church. 

On April 22, S.G., a Muslim-Slav, was beaten up while 

riding to work to the Borovica mines. His attacker was 

1 A military commander in Serbian tradition


Jovica Laketić, one of the men tried and given a suspended 

sentence together with Dacevic. The incident 

occurred in front of the other bus passengers. The victim 

says he is sure he was beaten only because he is 

Muslim-Slav. He did not report the incident to the 

police, convinced they would not have done anything 

about it. 

In Pljevlja, not even medical facilities are safe from 

attack. Late in March, unidentified persons threw a 

hand grenade at the dental offices of an outpatient clinic. 

The director of the clinic is a doctor of Muslim-Slav 

origin. 

1. Bukovica Muslims-Slavs 


Displaced Muslim-Slavs from the Bukovica area and 

Bosnian-Muslim refugees from Bosnia who have not 

been able to leave for refugee centers in Turkey and 

Western European countries because of age or illness 

are staying with relatives and friends in Pljevlja. Bukovica 

encompasses several mountain villages, including 

Kovacevici, Borošići, Planjska, Bunguri, Ravni, Klakorina, 

Stražice, Čejrence, Rosulje and others. It accounts for 

nearly a third of Pljevlja Township. Its population, 

according to the 1991 census, was approximately 1,500, 

of whom some 65 to 70 per cent were Muslim-Slavs. 

This markedly underdeveloped mountainous area has 

no paved roads and borders on three townships in 

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Foča, Čajniče and Goražde. 

After the outbreak of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, local 

paramilitary groups and Serb army members from 

Bosnia began to raid these Montenegrin border villages 

and, at the same time, local Serb and ethnic-Montenegrin 

villagers began to be called up into reserve police 

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and army units. The Muslim-Slavs in the area looked on 

all this with great concern. Their feelings of insecurity 

grew when their homes became the more and more frequent 

targets of illegal searches and they themselves of 

accusations that they were financing and joining the 

Zelene beretke (Green Berets, a Bosnian-Muslim armed 

force in Bosnia). 

On July 1, 1992, in the village Bunguri, a group of uniformed 

and armed men beat up six Muslim-Slav villagers. 

Shortly after, several of the younger families 

decided to leave the Bukovica area, believing their 

departure was temporary. Early in September, Yugoslav 

Army reservists arrived in the village of Kovačevići, saying 

they were there to see to the safety of the people 

and their property in Bukovica. Nonetheless, there were 

constant incidents of illegal searches of Muslim-Slav 

homes, physical violence to individuals, the confiscation 

of licensed firearms, and open theft of foreign currency 

and jewelry, and villagers began leaving the area 

on a massive scale. Those who remained were mostly 

the elderly who stayed behind to look after the livestock 

and the abandoned property of relatives. By the end of 

1992, more than 600 Muslim-Slavs had fled the villages 

of Bukovica. 

The reorganization of the Yugoslav Army included the 

decisions to accept exclusively Serbs into its ranks and 

to pay them. These decisions deepened the mistrust 

among the Muslim-Slavs of Bukovica, especially among 

those who recognized former reservists who had mistreated 

them among the new regular Yugoslav Army 

soldiers. 

Yugoslav Army forces did nothing to stop a group of 

Serb army members from Bosnia from entering the 

hamlet of Selište on February 15, 1993 and abducting a



56-year-old woman, Ramiza, a 16-year-old boy, Mamko, a 

25-year old woman, Zlatija Bungur, and her two small 

children. The explanation given was that the police 

from Pljevlja were waiting for them on a nearby hill. The 

following day another six members of the Bungur family, 

all over 60 years of age, were taken in the same manner. 

The abduction of the Bukovica Muslim-Slavs became 

known only after the abduction on February 17, 1993 of 

a group of Muslim-Slav passengers from a Yugoslav regularly 

scheduled train which at one point crosses a 

small piece of Serb-held Bosnian territory. On March 6, 

the Minister of Interior of Montenegro told the Assembly 

of Montenegro, with reference to the train abduction, 

that there were indications that several persons 

from Bukovica had also disappeared. Several days later 

he announced that, thanks to the personal efforts of 

presidents Bulatović (Montenegro), Ćosić (FR 

Yugoslavia) and Karadžić (the Republika Srpska in 

Bosnia), six of the 12 abducted Bukovica Muslim-Slavs 

had been returned but that the Republika Srpska had 

brought criminal charges against the rest. Returned 

from Bosnian territory were six men and women over 

70 years of age. The two small children, of less than five 

years of age, their mother, the 16-year-old boy, and a 

middle-aged woman were not returned. 

Researchers of the Humanitarian Law Center spoke 

with the released victims in Pljevlja. According to the 

statements taken, ”some soldiers“ came and took the 

victims; a woman, Sevda Bungur, was beaten until she 

fell to the ground; and 95-year-old Latif was taken 

behind a house and was later seen lying there dead. 

These elderly people had difficulty describing the circumstances 

of their abduction. They recounted to the 

Center researchers that they had been told at the police 

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station in Čajniče, in Bosnia just across the border with 

Montenegro, that they were hostages, but did not know 

the exact meaning of the word. Also in Čajniče, they had 

heard two Serb army commanders, Duško and Milan 

Kornjača, talk about an exchange of ”Muslim“ civilians 

and Serbs but did not know anything about it. They said 

that the children and the two women had remained in 

Čajniče; that they all had been together for a while 

before being separated, and that no one had told them 

where they would be taken. The old people were afraid 

to return to the village: they said that there were bad soldiers 

in the village, that soldiers were coming there 

”from the war“. They spoke especially about their concern 

for the livestock left behind. 

In Pljevlja, the Humanitarian Law Center researchers also 

interviewed a blind woman who had remained alone in 

the house after the abduction of her 72-year-old mother. 

She said that the abductors had appeared one morning, 

saying they were Chetniks. They returned the following 

night. She heard dogs barking and noise coming from 

the abandoned houses of her neighbors. Then her Serb 

neighbors took her to the neighboring village of Bunguri. 

While she was staying with the people who looked 

after her, a group of soldiers came, took the father of the 

family out and beat him up for no reason. This frightened 

her and she returned home; after several days soldiers 

took her to Pljevlja. 

At present, there are 152 villagers from the Bukovica 

region living in Pljevlja. All of them say they fled their 

villages to escape soldiers who were being abusive and 

accusing them of working for Alija (Izetbegović) and 

the establishment of a Jamahiriya (Islamic republic). 

They say the paid Yugoslav Army troops, reservists and 

Chetniks had become particularly abusive after Serbian 

Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Še{elj declared that a


border zone with Bosnia 30 kilometers in width had to 

be cleansed of Muslim-Slavs. 

The latest information received by the Humanitarian 

Law Center indicates that the number of Bukovica Muslim-Slavs 

withdrawing into Pljevlja is growing. People 

who fled the village of Rosulje at the beginning of May 

say that an elderly man, Hilmo Drkenda, from the village 

of Ukšiće was beaten to death and that many in 

Bukovica have been harassed, beaten, or robbed by soldiers. 

2. A Delegation Visits Bukovica 


On March 17, a delegation of the CSCE Mission in the 

Sanjak, the SDA Serbian Muslim-Slav political party, the 

Merhamet Islamic relief organization, Pljevlja officials, a 

Montenegrin Parliament member, and a member of the 

extended Bungur family started out by car to visit villages 

in the Bukovica region. After traveling several 

hours, the delegation reached the village of Kovačevići 

where it talked to the village authorities and two Muslim-Slav 

residents - two very old men - who had been 

summoned for the occasion. One of them, who had 

been severely beaten, said he could not identify his 

attackers; the other said he could not explain why 14 

members of his family had gone to live in Pljevlja. The 

delegation gave up its original intention of visiting border 

villages after being told by Yugoslav Army officers 

that they were unable to guarantee the safety of the 

CSCE Mission, especially in the village of Ravni, in view 

of the possibility of attacks across the border by Bosnian-Muslim 

forces. No delegation or journalist has ever 

reached Ravni. Nonetheless, Pljevlja authorities and displaced 

persons from Ravni confirm that the body of 

Latif Bungur still lies unburied in the village. 

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3. Dekare 

The last three Muslim-Slav families have left the village 

of Dekare. The nine members of these last families fled 

to Pljevlja after an incident that occurred on April 7. 

According to an eyewitness, at around 11 p.m. on that 

date, two armed men in combat dress burst into the 

house of P.S., shouting that they were soldiers of the 

Army of Yugoslavia. When they discovered a Serb 

among the Muslim-Slavs, they verbally abused him and 

then took him into another room where they tied him 

to a bed. The attackers questioned the family about 

firearms, and one of them turned especially abusive 

towards a 22-year-old girl. The other soldier pushed him 

away from the girl, seized his rifle and shouted to the 

frightened householders to run. They and their Serb 

neighbor jumped out a window and dispersed through 

the village. The following morning, the scene of the 

incident was visited by soldiers from a Yugoslav Army 

command after a call from neighbors. The commanding 

officer took notes and told those present that he 

would notify the police in Pljevlja. Witnesses of this incident 

have been warned at the Pljevlja police station that 

in the interest of their own safety they should not speak 

about the incident. 

Yugoslav Army and civilian authorities say they are 

unable, because of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, to 

guarantee the safety of anybody in Bukovica, whether 

Serb or Muslim-Slav. They maintain, further, that there is 

no real reason for villagers to leave the region. 

4. The Abductions from Train No. 671 

On its regular, scheduled run between Belgrade (Serbia) 

and Bar (Montenegro), train No. 671 crosses territo-



ry in Serb-held Bosnia. On the day of the incident, February 

27, the train pulled out of the Belgrade railroad 

station behind schedule. The passengers included a 

group of armed men in combat fatigues with various 

Chetnik insignia. The train was forced to stop on Bosnian 

territory at the village of Štrpci, where a group of 

men, also in combat fatigues, were waiting for it. They 

boarded the train and, with the help of those already on 

board, took 19 identified Muslim-Slav passengers off 

the train at gun point. The fate of these passengers 

remains unknown. 

In view of the Muslim-Slav origin of all but one of the 

identified abducted passengers, it may be concluded 

that this was an ethnically motivated attack. Considering 

that the abductors deliberately by-passed a Muslim-Slav 

whose papers identified him as a resident of Priboj (Serbia), 

it may be assumed that the target was Muslim-Slavs 

from specific areas of Serbia and Montenegro. A Croat 

is among the abducted, in which case he was in all likelihood 

taken because of his non-Serb origin. Eight of 

the abducted carried identity cards issued in Prijepolje, 

Serbia, and the rest, identity cards issued in Bijelo Polje, 

Podgorica, Bar, Ivangrad, all Montenegrin townships. 

...Although none of the eyewitnesses recalls the abductors 

asking the victims where they worked, it is to be 

noted that the majority were employees of firms located 

in Belgrade. 

The following persons have been identified as abducted: 

1. Esad Kapetanović, 19, employee of Rad, Belgrade 

2. Iljaz Ličina, 43, employee of Ratko Mitrović, Belgrade 

3. Fehim Bakija, 43, employee of Planum, Belgrade 

4. Šećo Softić, 48, employee of ZGP, Belgrade 

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5. Rifet Husović, 26, employed in Bijelo Polje 

6. Senad Đečević, 16, from Bar 

7. Ismet Babačić, 30, employee of Val Strit, Podgorica 

8. Halil Zupčević, 49, refugee from Trebinje 

9. Adem Alomerović, 59, employee of Raketa, Prijepolje 

10. Rasim Ćorić, 40, employee of Limka, Prijepolje 

11. Fikret Memović, 40, employee of ŽTP, Belgrade 

12. Fevzija Zeković, 54, owner of shop in Kraljevo 

13. Nijazim Kajević, 30, postal employee in Priboj 

14. Muhedin Hanić, 27, employee of Zmaj, Belgrade 

15. Safet Preljević, 22, employee in a private shop, Belgrade 

16. Džafer Topuzović, 55, employee of Planum, Prijepolje 

17. Jusuf Rastoder, 45, employed in Belgrade 

18. Zvjezdan Zuličić, 23, university student, refugee 

from Sarajevo 

19. Tomo Buzov, (Serbian Croat) retired army officer, 

Belgrade 

20. man, name unknown, from Sjenica 

According to S.A., who was saved from being abducted 

thanks to resourceful friends, it all began with the train 

conductor behaving in a strange manner. As soon as the 

train left Belgrade, the conductor, accompanied by two 

policemen, went through the train checking the passengers’ 

tickets. Contrary to usual practice, he wrote the 

name of the passenger on each ticket, allegedly to prevent 

anybody from taking a free ride. There were many 

uniformed men standing in the corridors outside the 

compartments. Ten minutes before the train was 

stopped, these men became restless and began pacing 

up and down the corridors. When the train came to a 

halt, three stopped in front of S.A.’s compartment. One 

collected the passengers’ papers and called out the first 

Muslim-Slav. He handed the man over to a second man 

in combat fatigues. Suddenly, there was a commotion in



the corridor, and a friend of S.A.’s, reached out a hand 

and shouted, ”Give us back our identity cards.“ A 

woman screamed and there was the sound of blows 

from an adjacent compartment. This probably confused 

the man in uniform and he handed the identity 

cards back to the passengers in S.A.’s compartment. S.A. 

reports that he saw a truck parked along side the train 

and the abducted passengers being loaded on to it. 

Shortly after the incident, a senior district police official 

said that contacts had been established with Bosnian- 

Serb military and civilian authorities, asking their assistance 

in shedding light on the case. Within the next few 

days Prijepolje was visited repeatedly by high state officials. 

On one occasion they talked with relatives of the 

abducted and with other local persons, whereas on 

another occasion they met only with officials. They did, 

however, find the time to visit the Fontana pizza house. 

A nine-member, all Muslim-Slav, Committee for Coordination 

with the Authorities has been set up in Prijepolje. 

The Committee has organized several civic protests. 

A delegation of the Committee has been received by the 

presidents of Serbia and Montenegro. In mid-March, 

Serbian President Slobodan Milošević visited Prijepolje 

and promised the government would take all the measures 

necessary to solve the case and punish the perpetrators. 

Families of the abducted have repeatedly appealed to 

the highest authorities in Serbia and Montenegro, both 

in person and by petitions. At first, they were received 

by high officials; later they were received by top-ranking 

office staff and junior officials. Recently, however, all 

these have been too busy for such meetings. 

Asked about the fate of the Štrpci abducted, General 

Ratko Mladić, Bosnian- Serb Army Commander, said at a 

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news conference in Belgrade on April 9, ”The possibility 

exists of this, too, having been a ploy of destructive 

Muslim forces in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 

seeking to gain publicity in this manner. The problem is 

being investigated and the findings will be made public 

as soon as the investigation is completed.“ Bosnian-Serb 

political leader, Radovan Karadžić, has suggested to a 

relative of an abducted passenger that the abductors 

were members of a paramilitary group outside the control 

of the regular army. 

The Humanitarian Law Center has learned from several 

unofficial sources of the detention of Milan Lukić, a 

Bosnian-Serb paramilitary leader, in connection with 

the abductions. The sources say he was held for two 

days by the police but released when his men threatened 

to blow up the Belgrade-Bar railway. The Center’s 

information on the fate of the abducted is contradictory. 

It has reports that they are being held in a former 

Yugoslav Army warehouse in Bosnia, in the village of 

Musići between Rudo and Višegrad, allegedly for 

exchange for Serb prisoners of war. According to other 

reports, they were liquidated immediately. 

Who is Milan Lukić, the leader of the paramilitary 

group said to have carried out the abduction? Milan 

Lukić was also one of the arrested in connection with 

the abduction of the Sjeverin Muslim-Slavs. The Serbian 

Minister of the Interior confirmed the detention 

of Lukić ”in connection with the abduction of residents 

of Sjeverin“; ten days later the Ministry of the 

Interior announced there were no legal grounds for 

Lukić’s detention. It had been established, the Ministry 

said, that ”his armed presence on the territory of Serbia 

was as a person responsible for armaments in the 

army of another state.“


According to the information in possession of international 

human rights organizations and to eyewitness 

accounts, there is reason to believe the Lukić group was 

responsible for several crimes against the civilian population 

in Višegrad. Lukić, Jovan Planojević and a certain 

Momir are named as direct participants in the murder, on 

June 18, 1992, of twenty-two Bosnian-Muslim civilians on 

the bridge at Višegrad. The victims, allegedly, were first 

tortured, the men tied to cars and dragged through the 

street and several children thrown alive off the bridge and 

shot at as they dropped towards the river. The same 

sources report Lukić as a participant in the burning alive 

in Višegrad, on Pionirska St., of 60 civilians who had been 

promised safe passage to the town of Olovo, on Bosnian- 

Muslim-held territory. 

5. A Second Abduction in Sjeverin 


On April 6, 1993, Hasan Mujović and Mustafa Polimac 

arrived in Sjeverin from Priboj to inspect their houses 

which they had abandoned after the abduction of 17 of 

their neighbors. Mustafa was standing in front of his 

house when four armed men in combat fatigues and 

wearing knitted face hoods appeared and attacked him. 

He called for help, and his neighbor Hasan ran out of the 

house. The attackers turned on Hasan, and Mustafa ran 

into his house, jumped through a window and escaped 

into the woods. After hiding for a time, he went to a police 

checkpoint, waited for the arrival of the next shift and 

returned to Priboj in a police car. There has been no word 

of Hasan Mujović since. His wife is undergoing psychiatric 

treatment, and his seven children are staying with relatives 

and friends in Priboj. The Humanitarian Law Center, 

in contacts with the police in Serb-held Rudo, on the 

Bosnian border with Serbia, was told that they have information 

related to this case but are not responsible for the 

safety of citizens of another state and on the territory of 

that state. 

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6. An attack on Muslim-slavs in Nikšić 

At the beginning of May, unidentified persons assaulted 

three Muslim-Slav homes on Rada Knezevića Street, in 

the Montenegrin industrial town of Nikšić. The attack 

began with shots fired soon after midnight at the houses, 

next-door to each other, of Aljo Ćirković and Enver 

Kojić. The attackers then moved some 100 meters down 

the street to the house of Gane Ćirković. The houses inbetween 

are occupied by Serbs, and none showed bullet 

marks, in contrast to the attacked houses on which 

more than 50 bullet marks were counted. At the time of 

the attack, both Ćirković families and the Kojić family, 

with a total of eight small children, were inside their 

homes but nobody was hurt. An investigation is said to 

be under way. 

7. Conclusions 

The information collected by Humanitarian Law Center 

field researchers and analyzed at the Center indicates 

that more than 800 Bukovica Muslims-Slavs have been 

forced from their homes and villages by the violence of 

Yugoslav Army members and unopposed incursions by 

Bosnian-Serb armed forces in the border region with 

Bosnia of Montenegro. The Center is concerned by the 

widespread view among Yugoslav Army members stationed 

in the region, supposedly to guard the border, of 

Muslim-Slavs as members of a hostile nation at war with 

the Serbs. The Center deplores the attitude of the Montenegrin 

authorities and the public at large in Serbia 

and Montenegro towards Bosnian-Serb forces allowed 

to enter the territory of another state unopposed and 

the crimes committed during these incursions. The violence 

against and abduction of elderly people, women 

and small children goes virtually unobserved. The Cen-



ter’s concern is heightened by the absence, even after 

several months, of any official word on the fate of people 

taken from homes and from busses and trains, or on 

the identity of the abductors. 

The Humanitarian Law Center demands of the authorities 

in Serbia and Montenegro that they disclose the 

facts discovered with regard to the abductions of Muslim-Slavs. 

The families of the abducted men and the 

public at large have the right to know the facts in relation 

to the fate of the Sjeverin Muslim-Slavs and the passengers 

from train No. 671 and in connection with the 

arrest and release of Milan Lukić, the Bosnian-Serb paramilitary 

leader. 

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Publisher: 


For the Publisher: 

Nataša Kandić 

Prepared by: 

Biljana Mitrinović 

English Translation: 

Đ. Stanimirović 

Graphic Design: 

Dejana i Todor Cvetković 

Printed bz: 

Publikum 

Press Run: 

500 

Beograd, 2003 

Copyright © 2003 Fond za humanitarno pravo 

ISBN 86-82599-39-2 

CIP-�� 

�� , �� 

323.1::297(497.16) ”1992/1993”(093.2) 

Bukovica / [priredila Biljana 

Mitrinović]. - Beograd : Fond za 

humanitarno pravo, 2003 (Beograd : 

Publikum). - 116 str. : ilustr. ; 24 cm. 

- (Edicija Dokumenti o prošlosti / [Fond 

za humanitarno pravo, Beograd]) 

Tiraž 500. - Napomene i bibliografske 

reference uz tekst. 

ISBN 86-82599-39-2 

1. M��, �� 

�) �� - �� - �� - 

1993-1993 - �� 

COBISS-ID 104210700

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