by Emir IMAMOVIC
Therefore, they had not complained, said Veladzic, the man whose dismissal from the position of the governor of Una-Sana canton, according to Ibrahim Topic, the president of the Association for Affirmation of Human Rights "Jednakost" [equality], is the most important event in Krajina since the end of the war. And Veladzic did not lie. In Cazin and Velika Kladusa nobody complained, since they did not dare and their experience indicated that all arguments would be annulled by the argument of force, late at night, at an informal questioning, during a late-night visit or, in the best case, during an attempt to return to work or one's apartment, in the meantime given to loyal members of the party.
Stories about terror implemented under the guise of war are today overtaken by testimonies about peacetime, less brutal but equally long lasting discrimination. Here a terrifying fact also comes out: the struggle against autonomy was used, both during the conflict and later, for the removal and intimidation of all those who did not believe in three letters: SDA!
During the war, only in Cazin during the war about 3,000 people were taken to the Police station. They included pre-war Socialist officials, respected citizens who were not members of the Party, those who dared to say that "Fikret brought down prices with his autonomy", but also members of the Army of Bosnia-Hercegovina whose relatives were in the Army of the self-declared Autonomous Region of Western Bosnia. All those arrests ended in beatings, for which no one has been prosecuted, although according to witnesses imprisoned in the room six of the Police Station in Cazin, several of their fellow citizens died from the consequences of such "working over". Besides, reisul-ulema of the Islamic Community Mustafa effendi Ceric is also partly a witness of the events in the room six. Visiting the prisoners, he found out that they had been beaten. He responded that, well, "the state has to defend itself". That was in the Fall of 1993, therefore at the very beginning of the conflict between Krajina Muslims, when the western enclave, instead of the invited president of the then Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina, was visited by the religious head Ceric.
In the following years, all the way until the end of war, Krajina was not only shaken by sudden nighttime arrests, but also by murders, all of them unsolved. Individuals who were held to be dangerous for the state, meaning real or potential supporters of autonomy, were eliminated. None of those murders has been solved, there are no precise data about them, nor have they ever been the subject of a professional investigation. Both in the case of the death of pensioner Asim Kovacevic, and Meho Jasic, born in 1928, or HVO general Vlado Santic, who was last seen in the once upon the time exclusive hotel "Sedra", about ten kilometers from Cazin.
Near the end of the war, the showdowns take a different form, less bloody, but in the long term equally harmful for the region in which there has always been a lot of talk about and very little actual work on reconciliation. In that period everything assumed a doze of black humor. Thus, in the area around Kladusa children with unsuitable names could not be registered with the authorities. Such names were, for example, Fikret and Sheila. A parent would be told that it was obvious why he or she was naming the child Fikret. And Sheila... Well, it seems that "Sheilas" was the name of one of Abdic's units. True, that was also the name of a song by the long gone heavy metal band from Bihac, Divlje Jagode [wild strawberries], but that fact was not taken into account; similarly, it was ignored that in the heat of the armed and propaganda struggle Radio Cazin reported that Fikret Abdic had changed his name to Todor [a Serb name]; consequently, his real name should have stopped being "traitorous".
Also, in Krajina religious instruction is mandatory in schools, taught for an hour and thirty minutes a week in all grades. On the other hand, computer science is taught for 20 minutes a week. Another 20 minutes are dedicated to technical education. The lack of teachers of English is also a problem in schools, so that even two generations in the Cazin high school had no classes of English. However, the missed instruction can be made up in computer science and English classes organized by the Muslim Youth Association.
The result of such education policy is that at the start of school year 1999/2000 there were 8,200 pupils in Cazin, almost four thousand less than in long gone 1981. All other towns in Una-Sana canton also suffer from the lack of young people, so that schools now have 609 pupils less than in 1981. Those who do attend school in the canton are in the hands of unqualified teachers, their schools are full of Izetbegovic's photos, and the mandatory greeting, regardless whether the teacher is a Muslim or not, is esselamu alejkum.
All these stories are finally told louder in Krajina, without checking who sits at the next table. People want to tell what has happened, aware "that perhaps it is still too early" but encouraged by the departure of Mirsad Veladzic. "If he could be kicked out, then that can happen to anyone," says one of our interlocutors, sending us to several addresses where we can hear forbidden stories.
by Emir Imamovic
Reis: in September the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia was founded in Kladusa. Soon 34 of us were again arrested and taken to the old hotel. From there we had to walk a gantlet to the bus. On the way we were maltreated, hit by fists, kicked, hit with rifles over our heads etc. This was done by members of the special police forces from Bihac, who then took us on buses to Bihac and put us in hangars. That happened near the end of September 1993. At that time all respected citizens of Cazin were arrested together with me. After two-three days of questioning we were moved to a room where reis-effendi Ceric visited us. He told us that dear Allah had informed him that we were there. He gave us some advice and told us that it was not a problem that we had been beaten; he mentioned Moscow, tanks, Yeltsin etc. We were released two-three days later.
Number Six: After the arrival of many citizens to Cazin towards the end of the year, I went to a rally and was probably registered at that time. After the departure of people from Kladusa, the rally dispersed and at 7pm, on December 31, the Police came to my home. They broke down my main door, handcuffed me, dragged me through snow to the Police Station and threw me into the room number six. They took us one by one to questioning and beat people up. In the room, people were lying on bare concrete, with knocked out teeth, spiting up blood... I was only slapped once. The questioning was done by certain citizens from Cazin, known as fighters for SDA. It seemed that the goal was to intimidate citizens and to steal jewelry or money from them. After a while, the arrests became more frequent and every few days new policemen and soldiers were coming to the door. They smashed things, made threats. Some demanded to be given money, DM30,000, DM50,000 or as much as DM100,000. Others beat me up. Soon I was ordered to report at the local commune office, where I was appointed for the president of the commission for evictions of certain families. First they sent me to the house of Ms. Zora. I know that she was a Serb. I had to free up a floor in her house for one of Veladzics. That was a close relative of Mirsad Veladzic. He drove an expensive foreign car, and kept several tens of thousands of German Marks in it. I noticed that by chance when he opened the trunk of his car just before he took over the apartment. In the following time period, during Spring 1994, they arrested me several more times, and always kept me in the room number six. I was beaten up on those occasions and lost several teeth.
Departure: On March 16 I received summons to report urgently to the Police Station in Cazin, there Remzo Hajdarov, that's what they called him, was the commander. I arrived at eight, waited in front of the door until ten, so that everyone passing by could mistreat me. Then he asked me in to his office, pulled out a gun, placed it against my forehead and told me that I would hang on a wire, that I was a supporter of autonomy, a traitor... After an hour of that he let me go and at that moment I made a firm decision to go to Velika Kladusa. Therefore, six months after the declaration of autonomy, I as a citizen of Cazin decided to leave my wife, four children, restaurant and all my property, not because of someone's ideas, but because I simply could not take it any more.
Autonomous Province Western Bosnia: For twenty days I walked around Kladusa, greeted some friends and sort of pulled myself together. They also had an army, and the only way to survive was to become active, which I did, and about twenty days after my arrival to Kladusa I reported to the Fourth Brigade, since people from Cazin were serving in that brigade. They told me: people know you, you will distribute flour, cooking oil, salt, sugar, to wounded fighters, and families of fallen fighters. I gladly accepted that duty. I was given a car and really only did that. I was not an officer as was later claimed.
Fourth Brigade Surrenders: I think that it was August 4. The Fourth Brigade was surrounded in Pecigrad. After several days, the soldiers started to surrender. At that point there were a lot of problems. The Fifth Corps burst into Pecigrad. Soldiers were looting shops, some commanders were looking for their relatives, others for their friends to avenge themselves. I was captured by the members of the 511th Brigade from Bosanska Krupa, and the commander of this brigade, a real gentleman, behaved correctly towards me. One of the soldiers took us to Skokovi and at that point real chaos ensued. In Skokovi they pushed us into rooms in the local school, we had to remain seated and were all registered there. That is when Hamzo Delalic, the commander of the 503rd Brigade, stripped naked Hakija Beganovic and Mirso Jusic from Cazin, saying that they did not deserve to wear a uniform. After that they pushed us onto buses. During the transport we were beaten and kicked in the bus.
Hangars: In Bihac they put us into two large hangars; already the following day they had about 1,400 people there. That's when visits by certain fighters, thieves, robbers started. Some cursed us, some humiliated us, many of us were taken out and beaten up... There were about 700 of us in one hangar. We made a latrine and waited for a few days, until they started to teach us how we were supposed to greet commanders, how to sit like Muslims. Then, we were divided into groups, based on quality, or military rank, or something... They gave us little water and a bit to eat, for the first time after two days. I was moved together with 217 people to very cramped premises, the investigative prison of the Fifth Corps. Already on the third day, the International Red Cross showed up. These days, the president of the Presidency at the time, Alija Izetbegovic, declared amnesty, which I read in front of 200 people. The amnesty clearly stated that only those who were guilty of genocide would be held accountable, and all other soldiers of the Popular Defense were to be freed that very moment. After some time we were distributed to different brigades. I was lucky to be sent to the 502nd Brigade. There Hamdija Abdic Tigar was the commander and I must say that his soldiers behaved correctly.
In Prison Again: After some time, commander Fudo gave me a leave and I came back on time. Some time later, they again released me on a leave and on the way back I saw my old colleagues again in the investigative prison. I came back to the 502nd Brigade, the Police was following me and arrested me on the spot. After that I spent 500 days in prison. We were held in the investigative prison of the Fifth Corps, in "Adil Besic" barracks. There were exactly 33 of us. Late Spaho, I don't remember his surname, was the commander of the barracks, and the first prison commander treated us correctly. He was replaced after a while by Mr. Djulic who had been wounded in the clashes with the supporters of autonomy, and was taking his revenge on us. His deputy was certain Kaukovic. He has recently been released from the prison in Zenica after serving a sentence for a murder.
Work Unit: 33 of us were cattle that could be hired. Every day, since 7am military personnel from various Army units would come and take us to work. And we did the following jobs: I dragged a circular saw through Bihac for four months. I think that all together, I cut up 4,160 meters of wood. We cut wood for all officers, from Mr. Dudakovic to various petty officers. I even had to saw wood for commanders from the air force group. The two of us cut up 40 meters of wood every day, while the following group was supposed to chop the wood up into smaller pieces, bring it in to balconies and pile it up for the gentlemen. We unloaded tens of freight trucks that arrived from Kladusa after the fall of the first and second autonomy. Then various brigades recruited us to dig trenches. There is no trench, locale, dug-out, that was not built by 33 of us. We worked in snow, in track suits, without proper clothing and shoes, hungry... We had to cut down beeches of one meter in diameter, and than to chop those trees down to small logs. We kept track of the goods that were passing through the barracks: about 40 percent passed through the barracks, while the rest was sold for cash. Both commanders, Djulic and Kaukovic, forced us on Debeljaca, some five kilometers up the hill from the barracks, to get two tree trunks each, put them on our shoulders and carry them down through the mud. We brought down five meters of wood, every two days, so that they could sell it for DM400 and buy a lamb. Then the winter came, it was extremely cold, and we collected a bit of firewood and found a stove. We wanted to start a fire, but they never let us do it, especially Djulic and Mr. Mesic. It was 15 degrees below zero outside, 13 below zero inside, plastic sheeting on windows. We would come back from work wet and had nowhere to dry ourselves. Next morning at six we would again get up, get loaded on a truck and taken to another task.
Messages from Bihac: Mirsad Veladzic sent us some sort of his emissaries, from the Executive SDA Council, to lecture us and deliver speeches at a meadow and in the barracks. They wanted to represent Abdic as the greatest traitor of the Muslim people, as the worst entrepreneur, they said that Agrokomerc was a failure. We were visited by Hilmija Mujic, Nazif Ceric... I'd also like to mention Mr. Bajramovic. I think that he was a captain and an attorney of the Fifth Corps. We requested from him, through our relatives, to be charged and tried if necessary. We were prepared to appear in front of a military court. I've been informed by some decent people from the staff of the Fifth Corps that Mr. Bajramovic six times at meetings in the headquarters of the Fifth Corps, where Atif Dudakovic was a commanding officer, tried to raise the issue of 33 of us, and that Dudakovic ignored that every time. I'd also like to mention Dr. Halkic, who was for a while, after the end of the war, even a minister of Health in Una-Sana canton. When I went to see her for a check-up, I did not say merhaba [good day in Arabic, a "proper" Muslim greeting], so she sent me back and refused to see me. Then I again begged for six days for a check up, since I suffer from angina pectoris, and all of us had bleeding hemorrhoids from dry food. This time I said selam and she agreed to see me.
Who's Fault is it?: We know well that Mirsad Veladzic is behind what happened to us. He was afraid of 33 of us. He ordered Mr. Dudakovic to keep us in prison. On January 10 1995 we were released for the first time. Dudakovic visited us on that day, brought orders which allocated us to various units, and was even surprised and asked certain people what they were doing there. I went home. The Police showed up the following day and said they had another arrest warrant. All of us were again arrested within three days and spent another 30 days in prison, until the final release.
DNZ, Abdic, Izetbegovic: As far as Fikret Abdic is concerned, he is the president of my political party and I respect him and frequently go to visit him in Rijeka. My support for him is totally normal, since I have been following his work for more than 20 years. However, I believe that the conflict should have never happened. Abdic and Izetbegovic had to find a compromise at that time. I am convinced that Izetbegovic made a fatal mistake when he did not come here to try to solve the problem. Even if someone declares something, that is no reason to kill each other.