Twenty years after the first crimes committed at the concentration camp Dretelj, victims - both Bosniaks and Serbs, believe that their story remains untold.
Following withdrawal of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BaH), Dretelj was occupied by the Croatian Defense Forces (HOS), whose members were both Croats and Bosniaks from the area of Herzegovina. Starting in spring of 1992 until the end of that year, as stated in the documents of the prosecution, the members of HOS used the barracks as "the prison for Serb prisoners of war and civilians". The military forces of HOS were not active at Dretelj for long. Already at the end of 1992, the HOS members joined either the Army of the Republic of Bah (ABiH) or Croatian Defense Council (HVO). At the beginning of 1993, the tensions started between the ABiH and HVO, which later culminated into conflict between these two military forces. HVO took control over Dretelj and already in the summer, many Bosniaks were imprisoned there.
On Friday, 14 September (2012), the first judgement of the Court of BaH is expected for the crimes committed at the concentration camp Dretelj. The Court is scheduled to pronounce the judgement in the case of Drazen Mikulic, a former military police officer of HVO, indicted of torture of Bosniak prisoners in 1993.
Prior to 1992, this huge military complex, the size of two football stadiums, was used as the barracks and petrol warehouse of the JNA. During the 1992-95 war, Dretelj barracks in the vicinity of Čapljina, were turned into one of the most notorious concentration camps.
During the spring and summer of 1992, Dretelj was used as the imprisonment facility for Serbs from the area of Herzegovina.
A year later, HVO used it for imprisonment of Bosniaks.
Both of them, a total of 3000 people - were exposed to maltreatment, beating and rape.
"We were beaten by soldiers, civilians, just name it. I was also sexually abused. The prisoners were forced to take off their clothes and give oral sex to each other. They were also forcing us to kiss each other" - says Slavko Bogdanović, who was taken to Dretelj in 1992.
Just a bit more than a year later, Ramiz Šuta was taken to Dretelj and imprisoned with 68 men of Bosniak ethnicity, including several minors.
"They were beating us so much, that I counted on one occasion 16 kicks with a combat boot in one side, and then the same number in the other. If the ribs were made of steel, they would be broken", Šuta remembers.
Majority of the former prisoners, both of Serb and Bosniak ethnicity, hopes that the crimes committed at Dretelj will be prosecuted, so what happened there would never happen again. Some of the former prisoners are not eager to talk about their experiences; they simply say that they are not able to talk about that, as it is difficult for them to go through their trauma again, but they want the perpetrators to be punished.
The judicial institutions in BaH did not have a single final judgement for crimes committed at Dretelj in 2012. The first judgments for the crimes committed at the military barracks near Čapljina were passed by the courts in Scandinavian countries - Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They convicted three former members of HOS.
At this moment there are three ongoing trials for the crimes committed at Dretelj, and one at the ICTY.
Rapes and torture
Following withdrawal of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BaH), Dretelj was occupied by the Croatian Defense Forces (HOS), whose members were both Croats and Bosniaks from the area of Herzegovina. Starting in spring of 1992 until the end of that year, as stated in the documents of the prosecution, the members of HOS used the barracks as "the prison for Serb prisoners of war and civilians"
One of the first prisoners at Dretelj was Slavojka Frižović. She said to "BIRN - Justice Report" that she had been locked with 40 other women and that she saw that some of them were taken to be raped.
"They come in the daylight to check where each of them is positioned. Then, in the night, they take a key from the guard and take out the woman of their choice. One of them told me that she had been raped. She was crying and was ashamed. I don't have such experiences, but I experienced fear and stress, which contributed to my illness", says Frižović.
Speaking about the conditions of their imprisonment, Slavko Bogdanović emphasized that they did not have sufficient water and food.
"They made me drink urine and eat shoe polish. We were even forced to graze on grass", Bogdanović explains.
The military forces of HOS were not active at Dretelj for long. Already at the end of 1992, the HOS members joined either the Army of the Republic of BaH (ABiH) or Croatian Defense Council (HVO). At the beginning of 1993, the tensions started between the ABiH and HVO, which later culminated into conflict between these two military forces. HVO took control over Dretelj and already in the summer, many Bosniaks were imprisoned there.
"Some people were killed. Five of those who were with me, died of terror, they could not go on anymore. We were taken every day to the plateau and beaten by the police, HVO ... It was the same every day", says Šuta, who was imprisoned at Dretelj at that time.
The conditions, as described by Šuta, were miserable.
"People drank urine and they also brought us dirty water, and people drank it. Nobody had a blanket under him, and we spent there 105 days. They even forced us to finish our meal for a minute or two - they poured hot food, so people were not able to eat anything", Šuta remembers.
Zijad Tucaković was brought together with Šuta to the camp Dretelj and he stayed at the hangar no 1.
"There were some 300 people inside of it ... We were so overcrowded that some people had to sleep on the beams. We experienced maltreatment. People were falling into a coma of thirst. We thought they would die. One bottle of water was sometimes shared by 20 people", Tucaković says.
Never again
Majority of the former prisoners, both of Serb and Bosniak ethnicity, hopes that the crimes committed at Dretelj will be prosecuted, so what happened there would never happen again.
Sead Tabaković, the president of the Association of Čapljina Prisoners of Camps, says that life at Dretelj was without any value.
"The prisoners did not have any choice. Every fool could do with them what they wanted. Life was not worth a bullet, and the value of a bullet was one Mark... That was a value of one's life", Tabaković says.
Concentration Camp Dretelj, as claimed by the former prisoners, is an untold story. The most of them even today is not eager to speak about the days spent at Dretelj, but they claim that it is of extreme importance that all crimes are prosecuted, for the sake of safer future.
"If this is not prosecuted, I swear to God, that this will happen again, as it will be seen that there are no consequences", Tucaković says.
Janko Velimirović, the president of the Republic Center for Investigation of War Crimes of Republika Srpska, agrees with Tucaković.
I hope that the perpetrators will be punished and that the survivors will see that there is a rule of law and that the perpetrators are punished. In this way, our judiciary would be valued and the events would not be left to some different qualifications", says Velimirović.
In addition to Mikulić, the Prosecutor's Office of BaH has indicted Veselko and Ivo Raguž, former HVO members for the crimes against Bosniaks at Dretelj.
For the crimes committed in 1992 at Dretelj against Serbs, the Prosecutor's Office of BaH has indicted Ivan Zečenika, Srećko Herceg, Edib Buljubašić, Ivan Medić and Marina Grubušić-Fejzic.
Six senior officials of Herzeg-Bosna, a Croat mini-state established during the war within BaH, the trials are being held before the ICTY for the crimes, including those at Dretelj.
Neispričana priča o užasima u Dretelju
Dvadeset godina poslije prvih zločina počinjenih u logoru Dretelj, žrtve, i Bošnjaci i Srbi, vjeruju da priča o njihovom stradanju još nije ispričana.
Nakon povlačenja jedinica JNA iz BiH, Dretelj je pao u ruke HOS-a, u kojem su služili Hrvati i Bošnjaci s područja Hercegovine. Od proljeća 1992. do kraja iste godine, kako se navodi u tužilačkim dokumentima, kasarnu su pripadnici HOS-a koristili kao “zatvor za srpske ratne zarobljenike i civile”. Vojne snage HOS-a u Dretelju nisu djelovale dugo, već koncem 1992. pripadnici tih jedinica prešli su u Armiju BiH (ABiH) ili Hrvatsko vijeće obrane (HVO). Nakon što je početkom 1993. došlo do podizanja tenzija a potom i sukoba između ovih snaga, HVO preuzima kontrolu nad Dreteljem i već u ljeto veliki broj Bošnjaka tu biva zatvoren.
U petak, 14. septembra, očekuje se prva presuda Suda BiH za zločine počinjene u logoru Dretelj.
Sud će izreći presudu u slučaju Dražena Mikulića, bivšeg vojnog policajca Hrvatskog vijeća obrane (HVO) optuženog za mučenje bošnjačkih zarobljenika 1993. godine.
Prije 1992. godine, ovaj ogromni vojni kompleks veličine dva fudbalska terena bio je kasarna i skladište za gorivo Jugoslavenske narodne armije (JNA). Međutim, tokom rata od 1992. do 1995. godine, kasarna Dretelj kod Čapljine pretvorena je u jedan od najsvirepijih logora.
Dretelj je u proljeće i ljeto 1992. bio mjesto zatočenja Srba s područja Hercegovine.
Godinu dana kasnije, tu su Hrvatske obrambene snage (HOS) zatvorile Bošnjake.
I jedni i drugi – ukupno oko 3.000 ljudi – bili su izloženi maltretiranju, premlaćivanju, silovanju.
“Tukli su nas stražari, vojnici, civili, ko god je stigao. Zlostavljan sam i seksualno. Zatvorenici su tjerani da se skinu i jedan drugog oralno zadovoljavaju. Tjerali su nas i da se ljubimo”, kaže Slavko Bogdanović, koji je u Dretelj doveden 1992. godine.
Nešto više od godinu dana kasnije, u Dretelj je doveden Ramiz Šuta i zatvoren zajedno sa 68 muškaraca bošnjačke nacionalnosti, među kojima je bilo i maloljetnika.
“Udaranje je bilo tako da sam jedne prilike izbrojao da su me 16 puta udarili vojničkom čizmom s jedne strane, pa onda toliko puta s druge strane. Da su rebra od čelika, popucala bi”, prisjeća se Šuta.
Većina nekadašnjih zatočenika, kako srpske tako i bošnjačke nacionalnosti, nada se da će zločini počinjeni u Dretelju biti procesuirani, kako se to ne bi nikome i nikada ponovilo. Neki bivši zatočenici ne žele pričati o onome što su preživjeli, jednostavno kažu da ne mogu jer im je teško prolaziti kroz traumu, ali žele da počinioci odgovaraju.
Pravosudne institucije u BiH nemaju ni jednu pravosnažnu presudu za zločine počinjene u Dretelju. Prve presude u vezi s onim što su preživjeli bivši zatočenici vojne kasarne u blizini Čapljine donijeli su sudovi u skandinavskim zemljama – Norveškoj, Švedskoj i Danskoj. Tim presudama su osuđena trojica bivših pripadnika HOS-a.
U BiH su u toku tri suđenja za zločine počinjene u Dretelju, te jedno u Haškom tribunalu.
Silovanja i mučenja
Nakon povlačenja jedinica JNA iz BiH, Dretelj je pao u ruke HOS-a, u kojem su služili Hrvati i Bošnjaci s područja Hercegovine.
Od proljeća 1992. do kraja iste godine, kako se navodi u tužilačkim dokumentima, kasarnu su pripadnici HOS-a koristili kao “zatvor za srpske ratne zarobljenike i civile”.
Među prvim zatvorenicima u Dretelju bila je Slavojka Frižović. U razgovoru za “BIRN – Justice Report” ona priča kako je bila zatvorena sa 40 žena i kako je vidjela da neke od njih odvode na silovanje.
“Dođu preko dana i gledaju gdje koja leži. Onda po noći traže od stražara ključ i izvedu ženu koja im se svidi. Jedna od njih mi je rekla da su je silovali. Plakala je i bila postiđena. Nisam doživjela što su druge žene, ali jesam strah i stres, što je pomoglo da obolim”, kaže Frižović.
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| Logor Dretelj Foto: BIRN |
Govoreći o uslovima u kojima su boravili zatvorenici, Slavko Bogdanović ističe da nisu imali dosta hrane i vode.
“Tjerali su da pijem mokraću i jedem kremu za cipele. Morali smo i travu pasti”, pojašnjava Bogdanović.
Vojne snage HOS-a u Dretelju nisu djelovale dugo, već koncem 1992. pripadnici tih jedinica prešli su u Armiju BiH (ABiH) ili Hrvatsko vijeće obrane (HVO).
Nakon što je početkom 1993. došlo do podizanja tenzija a potom i sukoba između ovih snaga, HVO preuzima kontrolu nad Dreteljem i već u ljeto veliki broj Bošnjaka tu biva zatvoren.
“Bilo je ubijanja ljudi. Petorica ovih što su bili sa mnom umrli su od terora, nisu mogli da izdrže. Odvođeni smo svaki dan na plato i tukli su nas, policija, HVO... Svaki dan je bilo isto”, kaže Šuta, koji je u tom periodu bio zatočen u Dretelju.
Uslovi su, kako ih opisuje Šuta, bili nikakvi.
“Ljudi su pili mokraću, a dovozili su nam i prljavu vodu, koju su ljudi pili. Niko nije pod sobom imao nikakvo ćebe, a 105 dana smo tu proveli. Čak su nas tjerali da jedemo za minut ili dva – naspu vrelo, tako da ljudi ništa ne pojedu”, prisjeća se Šuta.
Zajedno sa Šutom u logor Dretelj doveden je i Zijad Tucaković, koji je tokom tromjesečnog zatočenja boravio u hangaru broj jedan.
“Bilo nas je negdje oko 300 ljudi... Bili smo toliko pretrpani da su neki po gredama spavali. Bilo je maltretiranja. Ljudi su od žeđi padali u komu, mislili su da će pomrijeti. Jednu bocu vode znalo je piti 20 ljudi, iz čepa”, priča Tucaković.
Nikada više
Bivši zatočenici, kako Srbi tako i Bošnjaci, nadaju se da će svi zločini počinjeni u ovom logoru biti procesuirani, kako se takvo što nikada više ne bi ponovilo.
Sead Tabaković, predsjednik Udruženja logoraša Čapljine, kaže da život u Dretelju nije imao nikakvu vrijednost.
“Logoraši nisu imali izbora. Dovedeni su tu na milost i nemilost. Svaka budala je mogla s njima raditi šta je htjela. Život mu je vrijedio jedan metak, a metak je vrijedio jednu marku... Toliko je život vrijedio”, ističe Tabaković.
Logor Dretelj, kako tvrde bivši logoraši, neispričana je priča. Većina njih i danas ne govori o danima provedenim u Dretelju, ali tvrde da je iznimno važno da se procesuiraju svi zločini, radi sigurnije budućnosti.
“Ako ovo ne bude procesuirano, Boga mi, može se opet posegnuti za ovakvim stvarima jer će vidjeti da nema posljedica”, kaže Tucaković.
Sa Tucakovićem se slaže i Janko Velimirović, predsjednik Republičkog centra za istraživanje ratnih zločina Republike Srpske (RS).
“Nadam se da će odgovorni biti kažnjeni, a preživjeli vidjeti da postoji pravna država i da se kažnjavaju počinioci. Na taj način bi se pravosuđe vrednovalo, a događaji se ne bi prepustili nekim drugim kvalifikacijama”, tvrdi Velimirović.
Pored Mikulića, Tužilaštvo BiH tereti Veselka i Ivu Raguža, bivše pripadnike HVO-a, za zločine nad Bošnjacima počinjene u Dretelju.
Za zločine počinjene 1992. godine u Dretelju nad nekoliko stotina Srba, Tužilaštvo BiH tereti Ivana Zeleniku, Srećka Hercega, Ediba Buljubašića, Ivana Medića i Marinu Grubišić-Fejzić.
Šestorici visokih zvaničnika Herceg-Bosne, hrvatske mini-države uspostavljene tokom rata u okviru BiH, sudi se pred Haškim tribunalom za zločine počinjene u Hercegovini i Dretelju.
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