GAGIĆ: ARRIVAL OF AMERICAN INVESTIGATORS BRINGS HOPE THAT CRIMINALS WILL BE PUNISHED

BANJA LUKA, JULY 19 /SRNA/ - The Veterans' Organization of Republika Srpska /BORS/ welcomes the arrival of American investigators in Derventa and hopes that statements they collect from Serb camp survivors will produce results when it comes to bringing criminals to justice, BORS Presidency Chairman Milovan Gagić told SRNA.

"We hope this is the beginning of a serious investigation into the Serb victims of the past war. We want to believe that justice will finally catch up with the criminals who walk free and whom the Court of BiH and the Hague Tribunal failed to prosecute, but instead acquitted," Gagić emphasized.

He stated that in the Posavina region, as well as throughout BiH, there were a large number of camps for Serbs where monstrous crimes were committed, but that, unfortunately, very few perpetrators were held accountable for their actions.

The arrival of five American investigator-prosecutors in Derventa is expected tomorrow.

They are scheduled to take statements from eight camp survivors about the horrors they endured in the notorious camp for Serbs at the Rabić military warehouse in 1992.

During the past war, before the Army of Republika Srpska had even been formed, Croatian and Muslim forces attacked the local Serbs in Derventa.

Camps for Serbs were established, the most notorious of which were located at the Military Hall and at the Rabić site.

At the Rabić camp, established in April 1992, 120 Serbs were detained, while a total of several hundred Serbian civilians passed through the camps in Derventa.