Evidence: The material sent to the tribunal shows that, 151 members of the HVO were killed defending their homes, 32 captured HVO members were brutally murdered, six of them perished in concentration camps controlled by the Army of RBH, while 52 civilians were also executed. Further, the material claims that over 11,000 Croats, more than 90 percent of pre-war population, were expelled while hundreds of houses were burned and looted. Catholic churches were also burned or devastated, as well as Christian cemeteries. It is stated that 1,350 persons passed through 19 concentration camps for ethnic Croats from the municipalities of Konjic and Jablanica. These camps were established in early April of 1993, almost two months before much better known camps in Dretelj or Helidrom.
"The world public knows about Dretelj and Helidrom, but it does not know about nineteen concentration camps in northern Hercegovina. On the other hand, now you do know about those camps. We wonder what you've done, or intend to do in connections with mentioned war crimes," states the letter of the mentioned association sent to chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte on the occasion of her September visit to BH.
She was warned that the crime committed in the village of Ahmici has received enormous publicity, while the ICTY has indicted and tried perpetrators of that crime. On the other hand, until today nothing has been done to identify and apprehend perpetrators of crimes committed in undefended village of Trusina in the Konjic municipality (in that attack the Army of RBH ritually slaughtered 15 civilians and seven HVO members), which took place on the same day as the crime in Ahmici - on April 16 1993. Carle Del Ponte did not respond to the letter from expelled Croats from Konjic, but that does not mean that the tribunal is not investigating these crimes. The Tribunal in the Hague will try retired General Sefer Halilovic, probably also a few more defendants, for crimes committed in Grabovica and Uzdol during the action Neretva 93. However, in northern Hercegovina numerous other crimes were committed against local Croats and so far no one has been indicted for them and the public knows very little about these crimes. That is why persistence of the Association of Expelled and Displaced Croats of the Konjic Municipality is very significant - it may force the international community to finally address the aforementioned crimes.
Zilic's testimony: In the past, Hrvatska Rijec was first to publish the testimony of a former commander of the concentration camp "Musala" near Konjic Edhem Edo Zilic, in which he claimed that the then Izetbegovic's deputy for municipalities Konjic and Jablanica, infamous physician Safet Cibo was directly responsible for everything that transpired in those torture chambers, where prisoners, among other, were starved, forced to dig trenches on front lines, under fire, had their blood drawn by force... Zilic revealed for the public until then carefully suppressed fact that entry into the camp was possible only with permits that had to be signed by Haris Silajdzic.
However, in the Konjic municipality other crimes took place during the war. None of them have been investigated and prosecuted so far.
If the current authorities truly want to bring Bosnia-Hercegovina to the family of European countries, and their declarations are more than empty words, its first test should be its readiness to capture and prosecute war criminals. Even without instructions from the Hague, the local authorities can immediately locate and arrest all known perpetrators of war crimes. Since the presumption of innocence is valid in this case as well, all of the war crimes suspects remain suspects until their guilt is proven in court. Perhaps the solution could be the establishment of a local war crimes court that would include experts from Bosnia-Hercegovina and abroad, the idea whose realization was initiated by Carla Del Ponte during her visit in September.
Witnesses accuse: As far as Konjic is concerned, one of the first war crimes took place in Klis, near Konjic. The crime was a brutal murder of Mate Stjepanovic in Jasenik on March 23, 1993. Witnesses of the murder identified Hasim Kozic, Enes Kozic, and Dzemal Cosic as perpetrators. The competent prosecutor and court should have confirmed or disproved these accusations a long time ago. Both they and the family of the victim would have felt better if that were the case.
Witnesses charged Jasim Husic with April 20, 1993 murder of Mirko Ivankovic in Konjic and May 1, 1993 murder of Mario Kovac. Authorities should have questioned a long time ago Mustafa and Arif Dzelilovic and Vejsil Salihovic, all accused of brutal murder of Mate and Ivka Soldo, husband and wife, in Bjelovcina on April 20, 1993. On the other hand, witnesses pointed out Fikret Smajic as the murdered of his neighbor Jozo Juric. The murder took place in Gorani on June 12, 1993. The murder of mentally ill Simun Benovic in Otezani, on September 9, 1993, also hasn't been resolved, while Nijaz Hondo is the main suspect. On September 14, 1993, Mate Hondo was gravely wounded by Zijo Padalovic in the camp in the house of Jako Tomic in Buturovic Polje. Mate died several days later in the Zenica Hospital. Today, while Padalovic freely walks through Klis and Konjic and is even a councilor in the local council, it is still not known where Mate Hondo was buried. Besides these, easier cases, the prosecutors and courts need to tackle somewhat more difficult cases, such as the brutal murder of the married couple Stjepan and Anica Jukic, murdered in Jukici on April 17, 1993, Ilija Ilic and Cvitan Knezevic, murdered in Mrksovice on May 1, 1993, Stjepan Stanic, murdered in Sultici on July 25, 1993, Blaz Kozaric, murdered in Tresnjevica on September 14, 1993, Janko Rados, murdered in Bitovinja on January 12, 1994, Grgo Turic, murdered on May 31, 1993, Dragan Vukicevic, murdered in Seonica on March 23, 1993...
The mentioned war crimes are that much more serious because they were committed against people who lived in their own homes and far away from or after combat between the two armies. The local judiciary or the Tribunal are obliged to tackle cases such as the murder of four captured HVO members in Buscak on April 14, 1993, execution of 4 Croat civilians in Orliste on March 25, 1993, execution of 6 Croat civilians in the village of Vrci on April 22, 1993, murder of 4 Croat civilians in Orahovica on August 30, 1993, and similar events in other settlements in the Konjic municipality. Only when the local judiciary and the ICTY pass this exam it will be possible to say that the rule of law is present in the Konjic municipality. Until then, local Bosniaks will live under the burden of collective guilt, and expelled Croats and Serbs will be afraid to return to their pre-war homes.