On 26 May 2025, precisely at noon, a commemoration was held in Herceg Novi to mark 33 years since the war crime committed against Bosniak civilians from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The gathering was organised in front of the Herceg Novi Security Centre, a place that has a certain symbolic significance given its connection to the events of 1992.
According to available official documents, in May 1992, the Montenegrin police unlawfully detained at least 66 Bosniak civilians, with some sources citing a much higher number, exceeding one hundred. These were men aged 18 to 66 who were fleeing the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and seeking shelter in Montenegro.
There is reason to believe that the Montenegrin authorities treated these civilians as hostages and handed them over to military and civilian authorities of the Bosnian Serbs. The first group of captives was deported from Herceg Novi on 25 May 1992 and sent to the Correctional Facility in Foča, a place that has become synonymous with systematic abuse and war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only a few of the captives survived being detained and abused in this camp. Another group of refugees was extradited on 27 May that same year. The remains of people from this group have not been found to this day, they are still considered missing, and the circumstances of their death, including where they were killed, remain unknown.
The commemoration was organised by Montenegrin non-governmental organisations: Human Rights Action (HRA), Centre for Civic Education (CGO) and ANIMA – Centre for Peace and Women’s Education, in cooperation with families of the victims.
Representatives of the Centre for Nonviolent Action (CNA) Belgrade/Sarajevo once again attended this commemoration where, together with others, they laid flowers and paid their respects to the victims of this crime.
The Centre for Nonviolent Action gives its full support to existing initiatives for a memorial at the site and for establishing an official Day of Memory honouring the victims of this war crime. CNA once again calls on the competent institutions to do everything in their power to bring those responsible for this crime to justice, so that those who ordered and executed the crimes, as well as all those who contributed to it are found and prosecuted.
Remembering the victims and admitting the truth about the crimes committed are the basis for just peace, mutual understanding and creating a society free of violence.