GRAORAC: THE HARDEST FACT IS THAT NO ONE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE FOR THE KILLING OF CIVILIANS IN ČEMERNO

ČEMERNO, JUNE 10 /SRNA/ - Isidora Graorac, the president of the Republika Srpska Organization of Families of Captured, Killed Soldiers, and Missing Civilians, said today in Čemerno that for the family members of those killed in this village 33 years ago, the hardest fact is that no one has been brought to justice for this crime.

Graorac stated that even the court proceedings initiated for the brutal killing of 32 Serbian civilians in this village were not justly concluded, as none of the perpetrators have been imprisoned.

“Just like at other Serbian massacre sites, everything has fallen silent here in Čemerno as well; life itself has gone silent,” she stated.

At the memorial where a memorial service was held for the Serb civilians killed in this village by members of the so-called Army of BiH from Breza, Visoko, and Kakanj, who have still not been brought to justice for their crimes, she said that the disappointment of the family members in justice and fairness is understandable.

Graorac emphasized that it is encouraging that the surviving family members gather every June 10 and do not allow the crime committed there to be forgotten.

“We call on the judicial institutions to find some humanity in themselves and punish the crimes not only against the victims of Čemerno but also against the other 35,000 Serbs who perished in the recent war,” she said.

Branko Trifković from Čemerno, who lost his father, mother, brother, and relatives, says that he lost a total of seven members of his family.

Through tears, he recalled that on June 10, everything started at dawn, around 06:20, and that his mother and brother were killed at home, and his father 500 meters away.

"The sister survived because she was lying between her dead mother and brother, so they thought she was dead too," Trifković said, adding that in the end, they also set the house on fire.

He said that he testified before the court about this crime and that he was convinced that there is no justice.

"Everything is on their side. The court, the state, and the prosecutor's office, and everything is being done so that none of them is convicted," said Trifković.

Radojica Trifković, who used to live in this village, pointed out that it was a terrible crime in which 32 people were killed in just one hour, and no one was brought to justice for it, which means that there is no justice.

He said that the dead in Čemerno still have no peace today, as their graves are desecrated and destroyed.

“This is my mother's gravestone, and this is the second one because the first one was desecrated and broken. We had to erect the gravestone again,” said Trifković, who does not believe he will see justice in his lifetime.

Muslim units from the villages of Korita, Mahmutovići Rijeka, and Orahovo attacked Čemerno in the early morning hours of June 10, 1992.

Members of the then Territorial Defense of Breza killed 32 Serb civilians and soldiers, most of whom were old men, women, and children, and razed the village to the ground.

Today, Čemerno is a deserted village where there is not a single Serb returnee.

During the attack on Čemerno, almost all the inhabitants were killed, and the perpetrators had a clear order from their superiors to destroy everything in this place.

Residents who were not killed on their doorstep or wounded in the attack were taken to the infamous camps for Serbs.

As in other Muslim attacks on Serbian villages, everything that could be taken was looted in Čemerno and taken to Sarajevo and the surrounding Muslim villages, and the village was left destroyed and burned.

The victims of the attack by Muslim forces on Čemerno are Miloš, Mirosava, Ranko, Slavojka, Đorđo, Koviljka, Goran, and Rajko Bunjevac, Novko Ćetković, Spasenija, Ranka, Jadranka, Staka, and Zdravko Damjanović, Manojlo Đuka, Gojko Ćurđić, Miroslav and Sreten Janković, Radomir Jevtić, Svetozar Kapetanović, and LJubiša Lazendić.

Milovan and Žarko Malešević, Nedeljko Mićić, Stanoje Mirković, Miro Pantić, Stana Rašević, and Milinko, Janja, and Rajko Trifković were also killed in the attack by the Muslim army from Breza, Visoko, and Kakanj, and the other victims are listed as missing.