Bukovica engleski.qxd - Fond za humanitarno pravo

Bukovica engleski.qxd 15.3.2003 13:53 Page 28
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Bukovica
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.