Massacre of five members of Hidajet Horozovic’s family and the subsequent removal and concealment of their mortal remains, in July 1992

12.02.2016 ( Last modified: 23.05.2016 )

In April 2010, TRIAL submitted an application to theEuropean Court of Human Rights concerning the massacre and the subsequent removal and concealment of the mortal remains of Nermin Horozovic (11 years old), Nermina Horozovic (15 years old), Ramiza Horozovic, Šaha Bacic and Hašija Horozovic, occurred in July 1992. TRIAL acts on behalf of Hidajet Horozović, who is respectively the brother of Nermin and Nermina Horozovic, the son of Ramiza Horozovic and the grandson of Šaha Bacic and Hašija Horozovic.

When the events took place, Hidajet Horozovic was 9 years old and lived together with his family in Zecovi. He is one of the only three survivors of the massacre of 29 people, including almost all his family, perpetrated by members of the Serb army.

On 25 July 1992, as ethnic cleansing operations were taking place throughout the region around Prijedor. In the evening, the place was surrounded by members of the Serb army who went to the house of Mr. Ibrahim Bacic, where the members of the Horozovic family (including Hidajet Horozovic) and some neighbours were hiding. The soldiers, in spite of having been informed that only women and children were inside the house, opened the fire and arbitrarily killed the people inside. Although injured, Hidajet Horozovic survived the massacre and spent two months in Hospital in Prijedor, before leaving the country to Germany, where he remained until 1997.

Witnesses reported that the mortal remains of the members of the Horozovic family were removed and taken away in a truck that headed towards Prijedor. The location of their mortal remains is since then unknown. It is also noteworthy that the identity of some of the perpetrators of the enforced disappearance and of the massacre is known both to the applicants and to witnesses and has accordingly been reported on a number of occasions to domestic authorities.

Almost 18 years after the events, no ex officio, prompt, impartial, thorough and independent investigation has been undertaken by BH authorities to locate, exhume, identify and return to the families the mortal remains of the victims of the massacre; or to identify, prosecute and sanction those responsible for these crimes. Hidajet Horozovic repeatedly denounced the events before the competent authorities (e.g. the police in Sanski Most, the Cantonal Prosecutor in Bihać and the State Prosecutor in Sarajevo), as well as before international organizations present in BiH (the United Nations International Police Task Force, the International Commission on Missing People, the International Committee of the Red Cross) and entities dealing with the matter of missing people (e.g. the Red Cross in Sanski Most, the Red Cross in Prijedor, the Federal Commission on Missing Persons). Hidajet Horozovic also formally gave his testimony to the State Agency for Investigation and Protection (SIPA), and requested BH authorities to enact criminal proceedings to duly ascertain responsibilities and to punish the perpetrators.

On 16 July 2007 the Constitutional Court of BH, seized by several relatives of missing persons from Prijedor and the surrounding area, including Hidajet Horozovic, declared a violation by BH of the right not to be subjected to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and the right to respect for private and family life of the families of missing persons. The Constitutional Court ordered the domestic institutions concerned to disclose all available information on the fate and whereabouts of the missing people, including the five members of Hidajet Horozovic’s family. So far, BH authorities failed to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court and did not provide any relevant information to the Court or to Hidajet Horozovic.

Consequently, Hidajet Horozovic requests the European Court of Human Rights:

On 11 December 2014, the European Court of Human Rights, sitting in a single-judge formation, declared the application inadmissible, finding that the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the European Convention on Human Rights are not met. No further details on this decision were provided. The decision is final and is not subject to appeal.

The General Context

It is estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 people died as a consequence of the conflict (1992-1995) in BH and that between 25,000 and 30,000 were victims of enforced disappearance. Around 10,000 people remain missing to date.

The massacre and the subsequent removal and concealment of the mortal remains of Nermin Horozovic, Nermina Horozovic, Ramiza Horozovic, Šaha Bacic and Hašija Horozovic occurred as a part of the ethnic cleansing operations perpetrated by the Serb army in the context of the military attack of Prijedor and the surrounding area.

 

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