Mass grave found in Sekovici

Lejla Cengic, spokesperson for the Institute, said that the exhumation of this mass grave, which is located in a brook, had been underway in the last two weeks and that she assumed that more remains might be found.

“It is assumed that the remains belong to Bosniak civilians from the area of Vlasenica. There is an assumption that they belong to victims who were brought on a bus from the Susica camp in Vlasenica in 1992 or 1993, and that the total number of victims is 50,” added Cengic.

She said that the remains were buried in the ground surface and that the exhumation would resume in the coming period. The remains of 11 found victims would be transferred to Tuzla for DNA analysis and identification of victims.

Three people so far have been convicted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and The Hague Tribunal for the crimes committed in Vlasenica.

Dragan Nikolic also known as Yankee, former warden of the Susica camp, was sentenced in The Hague to 20 years of prison in 2005, while Dragan Bastah and Goran Viskovic were sentenced in Sarajevo to a total of 40 years of prison for crimes against humanity committed in the city.

The Institute said that in the last seven days exhumations were carried out in Zvornik, Odzak and Visegrad, where the remains of the total of five victims were found, while in the area of Busovaca the exhumation in the Crni Potok quartz mine was aborted because explosive devices were discovered.

“The exhumation would resume next week, and the demining crew will have to be present too,” said Cengic.

According to the figures from the Institute for Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the end of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina there were around 30,000 people missing, presumably dead.

Until now two thirds have been identified and around 10,000 are still missing.