Peace activists of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Belgrade – Sarajevo attended the commemoration for 37 civilian victims in Čardak near Derventa.
During Easter, on 26 April 1992, this village was the site of a war crime when members of the Croatian Defence Council and paramilitary formations killed 37 of its residents.
There are no suspects for the killings of whole families and the perpetrators of the overall crimes were sentenced to only 48 years in total. There is no indictment under the command responsibility doctrine either, but we prison camp survivors are determined to testify and to keep urging the prosecutor to raise an indictment so that the perpetrators are held responsible for their crimes, Drago Knežević, president of the Derventa Prisoners of War Association said at the commemoration in Čardak. He thanked everyone for coming, and especially the Centre for Nonviolent Action Belgrade-Sarajevo whose members attended the commemoration.
Many of the villagers had been detained, tortured and killed in the camps.
Today, we are here to ensure that the 37 victims from Čardak are not forgotten and to express our support for our friends from the Derventa Prisoners of War Association by joining them in marking this day in memory of the killed villagers of Čardak. We want to show solidarity with all victims, we want to find a way that will ultimately lead to building trust and reconciliation among people in this region, so these occasions when commemorations are organised are a way for us to approach people, to express our sympathies and to say never again, said Amer Delić, member of the Centre for Nonviolent Action and war veteran of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Under the organisation of the Centre for Nonviolent Action, peace activists and war veterans from the region have attended commemorations in BiH in Gornji Vakuf, at Site 715 near Zavidovići, in Stog near Vozuća, in Novi Grad/Bosanski Novi, Sanski Most (Hrastova glavica), Sijekovac near Brod, Laništa near Brčko, Trusina near Konjic, Ahmići near Vitez, Grabovica, Uborak and Sutina near Mostar, Briševo and Zecovi near Prijedor, Korićanske stijene, Stupni Do near Vareš, Boderište near Brčko, the bridge over the Sava in Brčko, Bradina near Konjic, Skelani near Srebrenica, the Silo in Tarčin near Hadžići, Lozje near Goražde, Rogatica, and in Serbia in Grdelička klisura near Leskovac, Varvarin near Kruševac, Aleksinac, as well as in Croatia in Pakrac, Varivode and Gošić near Knin.