CSOs demand the resignation of HDZ officials for openly supporting criminal Dario Kordić

Civil society organizations expressed their protest against the organization of the public welcome and celebration of the release of a convicted war criminal Dario Kordić, which took place in Busovača on Jun 22nd 2014, after he served two thirds of his sentence for war crimes committed against civilians in the Lašva valley.

We, hereby strongly condemn the presence of Dragan Cović, Chairman of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Borjana Kristo, the Delegate of the the House of Peoples of BiH, Marinko Čavara, MP in the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the HDZ caucus in the Parliament, as well as the presence of other officials of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) at the rally held in Busovača.

We strongly believe that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina do not deserve to be represented in their highest institutions by people who glorify war criminals, thus burdening them with collective responsibility for war crimes. Therefor we call upon Dragan Čović, Borjana Krišto and Marinko Čavar to resign from the position of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, and to apologise people of Bosnia and Herzegovina for their actions. If this does not happen, we urge the Office of the High Representative to remove Dragan Čović, Borjana Krišto and Marinko Čavar from functions they perform and thus send a clear message that holders of public office who support convicted war criminals are not and can not be eligible to make decisions about the present and the future of this country and its citizens.

We find particularly aggravating fact that this is a part of a deliberate campaign, and that the appearance at such gatherings is considered an action that can score political points in the pre-election campaign.

The youngest victim of the massacre in Ahmići was three months old, the oldest was eighty-two years old. For the murder of 116 civilians the court determined criminal responsibility of Dario Kordić. We consider such an attitude towards a convicted war criminal of the local community, religious officials, and representatives of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina who attended the welcoming, indicates a failure of the process of facing the past, severe negation of suffering of civilian victims, and a confirmation of the continuation of the policy of the nineties among those political parties that, although formally participate in the pro-European initiatives, yet are unable to distance themselves from the ideology of war crimes.

Signatories:

ACIPS

Udruženje “Revolt”, Tuzla

Fondacija Centar za zastupanje građanskih interesa – CPI

Sarajevski otvoreni centar

Asocijacija studenata Srebrenice

Udruženje “Oštra nula”, Banja Luka

Udruženje “Ćuprija”, Višegrad

Udruženje “KVART”, Prijedor

Centar za političke studije, Sarajevo

Inicijativa mladih za ljudska prava u Bosni i Hercegovini

Udruženje “Zašto ne”, Sarajevo

Udruženje povratak, posao i opstanak, Modriča

Antifašistička akcija BiH

Udruženje logoraša “Prijedor ’92”, Prijedor

Koalicija organizacija civilnog društva “Prvi mart”

Udruženje za promociju omladinskog aktivizma “POMAK”, Sarajevo

Centar za kritičko mišljenje, Mostar

Udruženje “Bogumil”, Bratunac

Srđan Puhalo , lično

Udruženje “Naše sjećanje”, Bratunac

Udruženje “Majke Srebrenice”, Srebrenica

Udruženje “Žene Srebrenice”, Srebrenica

CRVENA – Udruženje za kulturu i umjetnost

Udruženje nezavisnih stvaralaca i aktivista GETO, Banja Luka

Demokratski omladinski pokret

Udruženje za društvena istraživanja i komunikacije (UDIK)

Fondacija za kreativni razvoj, Sarajevo

Forum mladih Stolac