The 29th anniversary of the suffering of 33 Croat civilians who were killed by members of the then Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH) Army on September 8 and 9, 1993, in the village of Grabovica, between Mostar and Jablanica, was marked by the laying of wreaths and a holy mass.

The commemoration began with the laying of wreaths at the memorial to the victims of the Homeland War in Grabovica. Wreaths were also laid by the delegation of the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and the Croat National Assembly, led by Dragan Covic.

After the wreaths, the head of the Association of Croat Victims of “Grabovica 93”, Josip Dreznjak, addressed the audience and said that it is shameful that even 29 years after the crime, nothing has changed, and that those responsible for this crime have not been prosecuted. The youngest victim of this crime was Mladenka Zadro, who was only four years old, and the oldest, Marko Maric, was 87.

The surviving residents, although disappointed, continue to search for the truth, as well as the remains that have not yet been found, hoping for a more honest relationship from the authorities. To date, five members of the RBiH Army have been sentenced. Before the domestic courts in BiH, former members of the RBiH Army were held accountable for individual murders, but none for war crimes against the civilian population and under command responsibility.

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Mustafa Hota was sentenced to nine years in prison, Enes Sakrak to ten years, while Nihad Vlahovljak, Sead Karagic and Haris Rajkic were sentenced to 13 years in prison, each.

The International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia acquitted Sefer Halilovic, the Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the RBiH Army, of criminal responsibility for the crime in Grabovica.