GRAORAC: ČEMERNO PLACE OF SORROW AND SERB SUFFERING

ČEMERNO, JUNE 10 /SRNA/ - President of the Republic Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Fighters and Missing Civilians Isidora Graorac said it was devastating that even after 34 years, no one was held accountable for the massacre of 30 Serb civilians and soldiers in the village of Čemerno near Ilijaš, who were killed only because they were Serbs, and as such were unwanted in this area.

"The crime was committed by those who knew where to find them and how they would liquidate them," said Graorac at the memorial in Čemerno, where memorial service was held for 30 Serb civilians and soldiers who were killed 34 years ago by members of the Territorial Defense from Breza, Visoko and Kladanj.

She pointed out that Čemerno is a place of suffering, sadness and misery, and that one can feel that a crime has been committed at every inch of the village.

She pointed out that the Serbs in Čemerno died only because they were on their own land, and that today no one lives in the village anymore.

"This is a small place where you can tell that Serbs once lived here only by these monuments and the Orthodox church," said Graorac.

She assessed that it is devastating that until today no one has been prosecuted for the crimes against innocent Serb civilians in Čemerno.

"The process goes on and on, and it will last for who knows how long. It will probably be terminated in the end for well-known reasons - due to lack of evidence, the death of the accused or who knows what else, as it happened in other court processes," said Graorac.

The memorial service in Čemerno was served by parish priest Dejan Mlađenović from Ilijaš and retired priest Zoran Perković, who said that the Serbs in Čemerno were killed defending their hearths.

"Coming to this place is the least that can be done for the victims in Čemerno. It is important that we pray for their souls that rest in the kingdom of heaven," priest Perković said.

Marica Đuka, whose son who was not yet 18 years old was killed in the attack on Čemerno, says that she does not believe in the BiH judiciary and is not optimistic that justice will ever be served.

Nevenka Bunjevac from the neighboring village of Debela Međa, whose many villagers were slaughtered or expelled, said that 15 Serbs were killed from the Bunjevac family alone.

"It's terrible what they did to us. They were massacred for which no one was ever held accountable. The justice system did nothing for the Serbs. They persecuted, imprisoned and condemned our people, but they didn't touch their own. The Serbs were massacred on all sides, but that doesn't matter to them," said Bunjevac.

Wreaths were laid on the memorial by members of the families of the murdered, Graorac, the delegation of the Red Cross of the Republika Srpska, the city of Istočno Sarajevo, and organizations that emerged from the Defensive-Patriotic War.