Višegrad
Višegrad | |
|---|---|
 Location of Višegrad in Republika Srpska | |
| Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Division | Republika Srpska |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Miladin Miličević (SDS) [1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 48 km2 (19 sq mi) |
| Population (1991) | |
• Total | 21,199 |
| Postal code | 73240 |
| Area code | (+387) 058 |
Višegrad (Cyrillic: Вишеград) is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity of BiH. It is on the river Drina, located on the road from Goražde and Ustiprača towards Užice.
History
The town is widely known for the book Bridge on the Drina written by Ivo Andrić, Nobel prize winning author.
The well known bridge on the Drina in Višegrad was built by an Ottoman grand vizier, Mehmed Paša Sokolović in 1571. It still exists, and it is now a tourist attraction, being inscribed in a UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Many travelers come to Višegrad simply to take a walk across the famous bridge.
Bosnian War
Višegrad is one of several towns along the Drina River in close proximity to the Serbian border (then Yugoslavia). According to the census taken before the conflict in 1991 the municipality had a population of 21,199: 62.8% of Bosniak ethnicity, 32.8% Serb and 4.4% classified as others.[1]
The town was strategically important during the conflict. A nearby hydroelectric dam provided electricity and also controlled the level of the Drina River, preventing flooding in areas downstream. The town is situated on the main road connecting Belgrade and Užice in Serbia with Goražde and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a vital link for the Užice Corps of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) with the Uzamnica camp as well as other strategic locations implicated in the conflict.[2][3]
On 6 April 1992, JNA units began an artillery bombardment of the town, in particular Bosniak neighbourhoods and nearby Bosniak villages. A group of Bosniak men took several local Serbs hostage and seized control of the hydroelectric dam, threatening to blow it up. One of the men released water from the dam causing flooding to some houses and streets.[3]
Eventually on 12 April 1992, JNA commandos seized the dam. The next day the Užice Corps of the JNA from Užice took control of Višegrad, positioning tanks and heavy artillery around the town. The population that had fled the town during the crisis returned and the climate in the town remained relatively calm and stable during the later part of April and the first two weeks of May.[3]
On 19 May 1992 the JNA Užice Corps officially withdrew from the town and local Serb leaders established the Serbian Municipality of Višegrad, taking control of all municipal government offices. Soon after, local Serbs, police and paramilitaries began one of the most notorious campaigns of ethnic cleansing in the conflict, designed to permanently rid the town of its Bosniak population.[3]
Serb forces attacked and destroyed a number of Bosniak villages. A large number of Bosniak civilians in the town of Višegrad were killed. The Drina River was used to dump many of the bodies of the Bosniak men, women and children who were killed around the town and on the historic Turkish bridge crossing the Drina. Serb forces were implicated in the systematic looting and destruction of Bosniak homes and villages. Both of the town’s mosques were completely destroyed.[3]
Serb soldiers raped many women and beat and terrorised non-Serb civilians. Widespread looting and destruction of non-Serb homes and property took place daily and the two Bosnian Muslim mosques in town were destroyed.[3][1]
Many of the Bosniaks who were not immediately killed were detained at various locations in the town, as well as the former JNA military barracks at Uzamnica, the Vilina Vlas Hotel and other detention sites in the area. Bosniaks detained at the Uzamnica camp were subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture by Bosnian Serbs and strenuous forced labour.[3][2] Bosniak prisoners at Vilina Vlas were beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted.[2][1]
After the Bosnian war was over, and Bosnia was divided in two entities Višegrad is a part of Republic of Srpska. Before the war, 60 percent of Višegrad's 20,000 residents were Bosniak. Today, only a handful of survivors have returned to what is a predominantly Serb town.[4]
Višegrad massacre
Bosnian Serb Army and paramilitary forces affiliated with them burned Bosniak civilians alive in houses,slaughtered hundreds of men,women and children and threw them over the famous bridge.[4][5] On August 5th, 2001, survivors of the massacre returned to Visegrad for the burial of 180 bodies exhumed from mass graves. The exhumation lasted for two years and the bodies were found in 19 different mass graves.[5]
Milan Lukić, Sredoje Lukić, Mitar Vasiljević were charged with:[2][3]
- The murder of hundreds of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians, including men, women, children and elderly persons.
- The cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians including severe beatings over an extended period of time.
- The unlawful detention or confinement of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians under inhumane conditions.
- The harassment, humiliation, terrorisation and psychological abuse of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians.
- The theft and destruction of personal property of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians.
Charges of mass rapes of Bosniak women and girls in Višegrad were not approved against the accused because prosecutors failed to request these charges to be included in a timely manner.[6] Cousins Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were convicted on July 20, 2009 for a 1992 killing spree that included locking Muslims in two houses and burning them alive. At least 119 Muslims, from 2 days old to 75 years, were burned to death. Milan Lukić was sentenced to life in prison Sredoje Lukić to 30 years. [7][2]The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has processed the following for war crimes in Višegrad:
- Milan Lukić (Life)[2]
- Sredoje Lukić (30 years)[2]
- Mitar Vasiljević (15 years)[3]
- Boban Šimšić (14 years)[8]
- Željko Lelek (13 years)[9]
- Momir Savić (18 years)[10]
- Nenad Tanasković (12 years,[11] 8 years upon appeal)[12]
- Novo Rajak (14 years)[13]
Sport
The local football club, FK Drina HE Višegrad, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.
Culture
Višegrad has the so called, "Home of Culture", where film projections and all other cultural activities are. In addition, Višegrad has two folklore ensembles, KUD "Bikavac" and SSD "Soko".
Population
According to the 1910 census, the plurality in the Višegrad municipality were Orthodox Christians (48.62%).[citation needed]
| Ethnic Composition of Višegrad municipality | |||||||||||||
| Year | Serb | % | Bosniaks | % | Croats | % | Yugoslavs | % | Others | % | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 9,965 | 40.24% | 13,689 | 55.28% | 89 | 0.36% | 824 | 3.33% | 122 | 0.49% | 24,762 | ||
| 1971 | 9,225 | 36.33% | 15,752 | 62.04% | 68 | 0.26% | 141 | 0.55% | 203 | 0.82% | 26,738 | ||
| 1981 | 7,648 | 32.96% | 14,397 | 62.05% | 60 | 0.26% | 858 | 3.70% | 113 | 0.49% | 23,201 | ||
| 1991 | 6,743 | 31.80% | 13,471 | 63.54% | 32 | 0.15% | 319 | 1.50% | 634 | 2.99% | 21,199 | ||
References
- ^ a b c Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780
- ^ a b c d e f g "ICTY: Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić judgement" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i "ICTY: Mitar Vasiljević judgement" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b Visegrad in Denial Over Grisly Past
- ^ a b Has anyone seen Milan Lukic?
- ^ Investigation: Visegrad rape victimes say their cries go unherd
- ^ Hague: Bosnian Serbs Sentenced
- ^ Final verdict handed down, sentencing Boban Šimšić to 14 years imprisonment for crimes against humanity
- ^ Željko Lelek found guilty of Crimes against Humanity
- ^ Momir Savić found guilty of Crimes against Humanity
- ^ Nenad Tanasković found guilty of Crimes against humanity and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment
- ^ Appellate Panel modifies verdict in Nenad Tanasković case
- ^ Gorazde: Forgotten crimes
See also
Media related to Višegrad at Wikimedia Commons- Podrinje
- Vilina Vlas
External links
- Višegrad guide page on Wikitravel
- Official presentation of Tourist organization of Visegrad
- Visegrad24.info
- War Crimes in Visegrad (Bosnian)
- Genocide in Visegrad (English)
