Former inmates and family members of those killed in the wartime Omarska prison camp gathered on Friday to mark the 29th anniversary since the camp was shut down, with a message that the crimes committed there must never be forgotten.
The gathering was organized by the associations of former prison camp inmates ‘Prijedor 92’, Kozarac, the regional association of former inmates of the Banja Luka region, the association ‘Sedra’, under the auspices of the Association of Camp Inmates of BiH.
RELATED NEWS
Members of the associations laid wreaths and released balloons to pay respects to the victims.
Among those attending was Mirsad Duratovic, a former inmate at the camp, current president of the Assembly of the City of Prijedor and president of the Regional Association of Former Inmates of the Banja Luka region.
He told the Anadolu Agency that memories of his ordeal are painful, but also that truth and justice lead to better coexistence among peoples living in this area.
“I was kept in this camp from July 20 to August 6 and I was 17 years old. Memories of those days do not fade and today they are very heavy, although sometimes you would like to forget them, you can’t,” he said.
He explained that 47 members of his family were died in 1992 “within a few days.”
“Last year, two memorial plaques were erected in the area of the former camp, one by the former camp inmates and one by Serb nationalists from Prijedor. With truth and justice, we should strive for better coexistence of all peoples in this area,” said Duratovic.
About 6,000 non-Serbs from Prijedor were detained in the Omarska camp, and some 700 of them were killed. There were 37 women in the camp, and five of them did not leave the camp alive. There were also 28 minors kept there.
Some of the inmates were killed in the Koricani Cliffs massacre, some at Hrastova Glavica, and many died of torture.
In early August that year, well-known American and British journalists discovered the existence of the Prijedor camps. Thanks to them, many inmates survived.
The Omarska camp was alongside other camps, such as Keraterm and Trnopolje, formed on May 26, 1992, by a decision of the Crisis Staff of the Prijedor municipality.
Kakvo je tvoje mišljenje o ovome?
Budi prvi koji će ostaviti komentar!