Thirty years ago, one of the cruellest war crimes in the former Yugoslavia was committed in Ahmici near the Bosnian town of Vitez. In the early hours of the morning, on April 16, 1993, local Croat Defence Council (HVO) units carried out an attack on the village of Ahmici, the Association for Social Research and Communications (UDIK) said in their statement.

“The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague states that 116 people were killed in Ahmici, 24 were wounded, 169 houses and two mosques were destroyed. The ICTY tried 13 Croats from Central Bosnia for crimes against humanity in Ahmici. The vice-president of the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH), Dario Kordic, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for participating in the decision on the attack on Ahmici. Drago Josipovic, Vladimir Santic, Miroslav Bralo and Pasko Ljubicic were also convicted.

The Hague Court established that the crime was committed within the framework of an international armed conflict in which Croatia was involved, through control over HDZ BiH and HVO. It was confirmed that “Croatia exercised overall control over the HVO” and “led the planning, coordination and organization of the HVO,” this regional human rights NGO said in their statement.

UDIK added that Croatia needs to show an honest and complete willingness to face these crimes.

“Croatia needs to show its willingness to face the crimes committed honestly and without any trace of doubt and take responsibility for the past. Only through acts of solidarity through clear initiatives aimed at understanding the role of the Republic of Croatia in the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina, will we be able to say that Croatia is finally distancing itself from the imperial policy of Franjo Tudjman.”

They also sent a request to Croatia’s President and Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and Andrej Plenkovic to publicly distance themselves from the war crimes committed “in our name.”

“That's why we demand from the President of the Republic of Croatia and the Prime Minister to publicly distance themselves from the war crimes committed in our name and stop the systematic policy of trivializing, denying and downplaying war crimes. We are asking for a clearly formulated apology and the naming of a street or square in Zagreb after the Ahmici victims. Only when the war crime in Ahmici becomes part of the Croatian education system will we be able to say that we are on the path to justice, responsibility and peacebuilding. Guilt for a crime is individual, but the truth about war crimes is our collective responsibility.”

They also recalled that they will organize a “protest stand” on Ban Jelacic Square on Saturday, at noon.