Getting away from death

By: Aida Alic and Dragana Erjavec (in Kozarac)

On August 21, 1992 Sulejman Kahrimanovic (67) stood on a cliff at Koricanske stijene, together with his son Mehmed and other men who were taken out of buses and shot by members of the Public Safety Station from Prijedor and the Emergency Interventions Squad.

About 200 men are believed to have been killed at Koricanske stijene that day. Sulejman’s son was one of them. Twelve people survived. Seventeen years later the remains of 56 people have been found. The search for others continues.

Sulejman says the convoy of buses and trucks, which were filled with civilians, was stopped on the mountain the day the massacre was committed.

“The convoy was stopped by four soldiers. They ordered us to get off the buses. They said we should not take our luggage with us, but leave them in the vehicles…. We had to stand in a column, next to each other. They made us stand by the road, counting young men. Given the fact that the older men stayed in the bus, I moved towards one of the buses, but somebody ordered me to go back.

An officer, who had a cockade on his cap, asked the man, who had lined us up, to tell him the exact number of people. I had turned round so I did not hear what he had said. I thought there were about 350 people. Then they ordered us to get on the three buses. They even pushed us with guns. Three or four people sat on each seat.

Upon our arrival to Koricanske stijene, at the abyss, the bus stopped. They ordered: “Get out, one by one!”

Darko Mrdja got off our bus first. I followed him. There were many corpses in the abyss. The smell was so intense that one could hardly breathe. There were clothes all over the place. We were told to stand in a column, in pairs.

We were ordered to take three steps forward. When we did this, the first column of men was standing on the edge of the abyss. They told us to kneel down and take out our money and watches. A young man, who was standing next to me, had a gold ring, but he could not take it off his finger. A soldier then told the men to cut off his finger. They actually did that.

After having checked everything and collected our things, they said: “Open fire quickly!” There were seven or eight of them standing behind our backs. I was standing in the second row. I jumped down without much thought. A bullet scratched me on my head, but it was not dangerous.

I grasped at a tree. I sheltered beneath a log. There was some old grass that grew over the tree, so it looked like some kind of a shelter. I heard shooting, crying and moaning. They pushed the people who had not fallen into the abyss, with their feet.

After hearing someone say that a man was hanging beneath the cliff, I thought they had spotted me. A man came, holding a rifle, and started shooting. I could see he did not hit me. I would have jumped down, but I could not – it was too high! I heard crying, echoes and people saying “brother, help” coming from down there….

Then they crossed to the other side and started shooting. They came back an hour later. They started throwing bombs and shooting at the corpses. When the trucks had left, I slowly went up to the road. I took my shoes off and crawled to the other side of the road…

It was dark already. I lay down on the grass and slept. The next morning I moved on. I arrived at some field, where a soldier carrying a gun spotted me. More people came. They asked me who I was and how I had got there. They brought me some food. Then the same soldier said they had to take me to the command.

When we got there they questioned me. They said I had to go to the main headquarters in Skender Vakuf… Upon our arrival at the gate of a hotel in Skender Vakuf they handed me over to some soldier. He took me to the basement where the ceiling and walls had already been covered with blood… They took us one by one from that room to give statements to the Major. They said that they were members of the Crime Service from Banja Luka, adding that their soldiers had control over Mount Vlasic. They informed us that they would drive five of us to a hospital in Banja Luka.

We were first taken to the Oto Rhino Laryngological hospital, where they started beating us as soon as we arrived…The same evening six people came and beat us using baseball bats. We were covered with blood. The next morning we were not able to recognize each other.

The following morning they drove us to “Paprikovac” hospital in Banja Luka. They ordered us to stand by the wall and they beat us. Some young man came and told them to stop. After that they took us to the hospital.

I stayed in one room, together with ten other people – four Bosnian Croats and six Muslims. They beat us up every night. They used to bring cables. Some lead balls were attached to its end. They hit us with the cable…In my room, where I stayed for 22 days, five people were killed. They came in every night and beat us. Then they forced us to beat each other.

When it was time to eat, we had to stand still by the door, raise three fingers and salute. While we were in the hospital we did not get any water. They forced us to drink each other’s urine.

I wish no living soul would ever have to go through this.

In the meantime Sanamir Kljajic was also brought to the hospital. He was lying among the corpses at Koricanske stijene for 15 days. A Serb found him and reported him to the Army.

One morning two civilians came, telling us that we belonged to them. They took us to the command. A short time later they told us we were free to go. I think they took us to Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka. We hid there for 16 days. Later some people helped us go to Bosanski Novi and then to Karlovac, in Croatia. From there I went to Norway.

I first came to Bosnia in 1996. This country, Bosnia, is mine. It is the land of my grandfathers. I live here. I am only temporary in Norway. I have not returned home, because I have no income. I am sick and old. In Norway you have everything, but you do not have soul.

My oldest son Mehmed was in the convoy at Koricanske stijene. He did not manage to survive. He left two kids behind. I know 86 people who were killed at Koricanske stijene.
I can guarantee you that about 400 or 500 people were killed there, because they had shot some people before they shot us.

We still have not found our son Mehmed’s remains. We are hoping to find them soon. It is important to find the bones of those dead people. Each mother gave her son life. She wants, at least, to be able to bury him.

I feel good these days. How would I say this – many children died and I feel guilty for not having gone as well. Those were young people, younger generations. They were below 40 years old.

I always say, there is Allah. This truth has to remain. Someone has to survive to prove all that.

Darko Mrdja, former member of the Emergency Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, admitted guilt, before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, for participation in the shooting of civilians at Koricanske stijene. In March 2004 he was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment.

“For the Record” is a special appendix to Justice Report, in which we seek to record the life stories told by our fellow citizens, who survived the horrors of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Aida Alic and Dragana Erjavec are BIRN – Justice Report journalists. Justice Report is an online BIRN weekly publication.