LALE: SERBS TORTURED AND KILLED IN SREBRENICA CAMPS

SREBRENICA, JULY 4 /SRNA/ - The culture of remembrance for those who perished in the Middle Podrinje and Birač must include the memory of the torture, abuse, and killing of Serbs in Srebrenica camps, as well as the imprisonment and mistreatment of children, pregnant women, and the elderly, the president of the Association of Former Camp Inmates of the Birač Region Vinko Lale told SRNA.

He stated that the registered camps in Srebrenica were located in the former police station, a former Territorial Defense facility, and a poultry farm in Potočari, while a fourth was in the village of Rovaši in Cerska, which was then under Srebrenica's command and part of the former enclave. Lale recalled that in various villages, there were facilities used for the detention and torture of captured Serbs who had remained loyal to the then Muslim authorities, and who later went missing. In those village camps, Serbs were tortured and then taken to the Srebrenica dungeons. "It has been recorded that 103 Serbs were tortured in those camps. It is almost certain that some of the 52 missing Serbs from this area were imprisoned and then killed in these camps. It is known that they were captured alive, but they were never exchanged, nor have their remains ever been found. Thirty-three years later, they are still listed as missing," Lale emphasized. He cited the example of teacher Božidar Kovačić, who, according to witness statements, was killed in front of the poultry farm in Potočari, as well as Miomir Đukić from Zenica, several Ilić family members from Fakovići, and many others. Lale pointed out a unique case in which all the residents of the Serbian village of Čumavići and nearby hamlets near Srebrenica were imprisoned in the "poultry farm" camp. These villages were the first to be burned down under the command of Naser Orić in early May 1992. He added that children, pregnant women, and the elderly were among those detained, and they were subjected to abuse by all those who lacked honor and character. "There are well-documented examples of atrocities where the heads of two-year-old children were placed on tree stumps, and parents were brought out and forced to choose which child would be slaughtered and which would be spared," Lale recalled, emphasizing that no one has been held accountable for the crimes committed in those camps. Lale cited the case of Ljubica Gagić, a detainee who was tortured by Zulfo Tursunović and who drank acid while in the Territorial Defense warehouse camp. She died over several days in extreme agony without receiving any medical assistance. Speaking about the torture of Serbs in the Srebrenica camps, Lale also pointed to an incident from February 1993, when a group of detainees was brought to the Territorial Defense warehouse, where they were tortured and beaten for days. Six of them died from the brutal abuse inflicted by members of the so-called Army of BiH. Lale stated that, according to survivors' testimonies, Kostadin Popović from Kravica and several others were beaten to death with beech logs. "Tragically, the then head of the Srebrenica hospital issued documentation stating that they had died from various illnesses, which points to collusion, lies, falsification of the truth, and coordinated criminal activity by all Muslim structures in Srebrenica," Lale stated. Similar methods of beating and torture were also used in the camp located in the former police station. Lale stated that minors were also beaten and tortured there, noting that more than ten Serb children were held in camps in Srebrenica, not counting those who were in the "poultry farm" camp in Potočari. Only a few detainees were exchanged alive, and they later testified about the horrors they endured and the torture inflicted on others who died from injuries caused by various objects and electroshocks. "Ilija Ivanović from Ćosići still bears more than 50 scars on his body from knife wounds and being hung on a butcher’s hook while in the camp," Lale recalled. He also mentioned the case of Nedeljko Radić Cikota from Milići, who had all his teeth forcibly pulled out with rusty nail-pulling pliers after blows failed to knock them out, and was then urinated on in the mouth to “clean” the wounds. In the camp in Rovaši, cases of the rape of a Serb woman and the hanging of detainees have been documented. Lale emphasized that these are only a few examples of the abuse and crimes committed against captured Serbs from the Birač region in the Srebrenica camps. "Therefore, whenever we pay tribute to fallen Serb soldiers and murdered civilians and remember the unpunished Serb sufferings, we must also keep in mind the Serb victims in the Srebrenica and other Muslim-run camps, where many Serbs were tortured and killed and no one has been held accountable," Lale said. The 33rd anniversary of the crimes against Serbs from the Middle Podrinje and Birač will be marked in Bratunac tomorrow. The full-day program will begin with a reception of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije in front of the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, where the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy will be celebrated. After the liturgy, a procession will proceed to the Bratunac cemetery. At the memorial cross in the cemetery, a memorial service will be held for the fallen, flowers will be laid, respects paid, candles lit, and a commemorative program conducted.