- Published: 10.10.2022.
Plaque commemorating inmates of former Morinj POW camp unveiled in Montenegro
The inscription on the plaque says that "during the Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia" a camp operated at that location and that the plaque commemorates Croatian civilians and soldiers imprisoned there.
"We remember the crimes committed to defile Montenegro's name and spirit. We express regret at the suffering of the inmates. Lest it ever happen again," reads the inscription on the plaque.
Attending the unveiling of the plaque were Croatia's War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, who said the admission of the crimes was a major step forward for the two countries' good-neighbourly relations and for Montenegro's coming to terms with the past and joining the European family.
Krivokapić said that it was difficult to find the right words when forgiveness was being asked of those who were not guilty.
"To us who represent the Montenegro that chanted 'Forgive us Dubrovnik' it is more difficult to speak in places like this. We probably feel more ashamed than those who should be ashamed," he said.
"Ideologies of evil and hate wanted not only to destroy Dubrovnik and defeat Croatia but to destroy Montenegro as well," said Krivokapić.
He noted that the suffering of the prison's inmates must not be forgotten also for the sake of "a European, civic, multicultural Montenegro."
"I hope that Montenegro and Croatia, which are now members of NATO, will soon be together under the EU flag as well," he concluded.
Medved thanked the Croatian victims and defenders and the Montenegrin ministers, noting that many of the Morinj inmates had died as a consequence of their imprisonment and that many still suffered from those consequences.
"For us, those are very important questions of the consequences of the Greater Serbian aggression, and that particularly refers to the issue of missing persons. Croatia is looking for 1,830 persons, including 12 missing from Montenegro," Medved said.
He added that the memorial plaque meant admission of the crime committed against the Croats in the name of the Greater Serbian ideology.
"Unfortunately, it was also accepted by pro-Serbian forces in Montenegro. I sincerely thank Ministers Konjević and Krivokapić who vocally opposed the war in the 1990s," said Medved.
Grlić Radman said that the plaque was a sign of remembrance and regret, as well as a warning to future generations "so that this does not happen to anyone ever again."
Attending the unveiling ceremony were six former inmates of the Morinj POW camp, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković and representatives of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
Local residents express dissatisfaction
As the two countries' delegations arrived for the plaque-unveiling ceremony, a protest was taking place by some 50 residents of Morinj opposing the event, which was why the ceremony was held amid tight security measures.
Between October 1991 and August 1992, a camp for prisoners of war from Croatia operated at Morinj.
Imprisoned in the camp in that period were 292 people from the Dubrovnik area, of whom 169 testified about having been treated inhumanely there.
After a long period during which the then Montenegrin regime used all means to evade responsibility for what had happened at the camp, in 2013 four persons were indicted and sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison for the torture of prisoners.
They ordered the torture of POWs, and themselves tortured and treated inhumanely many prison inmates, violating their bodily integrity and personal dignity.
Text: Hina