Families of more than 100 Bosniaks killed in the eastern town of Rudo during the 1992-1995 war have gathered on Sunday to pay respects to their loved ones by marching through the town and throwing roses from a local bridge.

Esef Guso, from Sokolovici, lost his mother, father, sister and several other members of his close family. They were among the last to remain in Rudo as they did not manage to cross to Serbia, he said.

Esef explained before the Bosnian Serb authorities took control over the town, he managed to reach the border village of Sjeverin, but that his old and sick parents remained in Rudo.

“I crossed over to the village of Zivinice, I was there for ten days, and then I departed for Belgrade. They stayed behind,” he said, adding that he knew a man who went to Rudo to see them.

“They were there in the evening, but in the morning they were gone. They say that police went to get them, that they were to be taken to Priboj, however, the next day they were gone. Their things were all over the place, and they were nowhere to be found,” he explained.

Later, the skeletal remains of Esef’s mother and sister were found in one mass grave, while his father’s remains were found in another.

According to the head of the local Islamic Community in Rudo, Mustafa Basic, those who committed the crimes in Rudo and those who ordered it were never brought to justice.

“Their consciousness has not changed so that they would show us where the mass graves of our loved ones, which have still not been found, are located. The state and authorities behave the same way. They never prosecuted anyone, and that hurts,” he said.

Political representatives laid wreaths at the Rudo Memorial Centre where the names of the victims are written on stone plaques.

Among those who paid their respects to the victims was also Rudo municipal mayor Rato Rajak, who said that life in Bosnia would be a lot better if there was more mutual respect.

“I think we should have more respect for each other when it comes to tragedies such as this one, which has, unfortunately, marked Rudo in a bad time,” he said.