Deportation of Bosnian Muslim refugees in 1992

Prelevic Law Firm has filed 42 claims for reparations against the state of Montenegro on behalf of 200 family members of 33 refugees who lost their lives due to illegal arrest and deportation by the Montenegrin police to the army of Bosnian Serbs on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and on behalf of nine survivors who had been deported to the Foca concentration camp. The first claim has been filed on 6 December 2004. Until 26 December 2008, when court settlements were concluded with the Government of Montenegro, a total of 32 first instance judgments had been delivered, 28 partially adopting the plaintiffs' claims and 4 rejecting all claims. Not one judgment has become final. The Higher Court in Podgorica never decided on the first appeal filed on 15 July 2006, two and a half years before the case had been settled. Since the initiation of the law suits, five parents of the victims and one sibling died. After three years of investigation, nine state officers were indicted for the offence of War Crime against Civilian Population.

From July till October 2009, the Prelevic Law Firm filed eight new claims on behalf of 46 plaintiffs, of whom three are survivors and the others are relatives of the victims who were murdered by the Bosnian Serb military following deportation from Montenegro. The total amount of the claims filed is 1.080.000 euro. The amount of every claim coresponds to the respective amounts from the settlement agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the plaintiffs (survivors and parents, spouses, children and siblings of the passed victims) from December 2008.

By the end of the year only one trial has begun and was concluded, although most claims were filed simultaneously in July 2009. The one first instance judgment was reached on 15 January 2010.
Please see here more information on this judgment.

In all cases the Supreme State Prosecutor (that continues to represent the Government in breach of the Constitution) denies the claims. In those cases where the name of the victim is recorded on the Minister of Interior's lists of the deported refugees from 1992 and 1993 the State prosecutor does not deny the basis, but the amount of the claimed compensation.  

The inefficient performance of the court, the first verdict in the case of Sabanovic family in 2010 and denial of claims by the Government's representatives point to the surprising determination of the authorities to discriminate among the victims of this war crime.
Therefore, on behalf of our 46 clients we will address the Government of Montenegro with the request to extend the settlement agreement reached with other victims of deportation in December 2008 to them as well.

- Announcement on the Occasion of the Decision of the Government of Montenegro to accept court settlement agreements with the victims

- Case summary

- Victims

- Amnesty International Report 2008
State of the World's Human Rights:
"No progress was made in investigations of six former police officers indicted in February 2006 for the enforced disappearance of 83 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) civilians in 1992. In related civil proceedings, in 25 out of 38 first instance decisions, Montenegro was found responsible for the enforced disappearances or deaths of the Bosniak civilians, and compensation was awarded to survivors, or to family members for the deaths of their relatives. The state appealed each decision. The court rejected claims that the authorities had violated the relatives' rights under M Article 3 of the ECHR in failing to provide information on the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared."

- 15th anniversary update

- Amnesty International : Montenegro - The right to redress and reparation for the families of the "disappeared" 12/21/2006
     - download PDF document
     - read on Amnesty International site

- Letter to the PM Sturanovic 05/29/2007

- Second letter to the PM Sturanovic 02/14/2007

- Letter to the PM Sturanovic 12/13/2006

- Role of the State Prosecutor (1992-2007)

- Latest development 12/05/2006

- 1992 deportation of refugees case: first judgement 06/29/2006

- Amnesty International calls on Montenegrin authorities to ensure justice...

- Human Rights Watch World Report 2006: Serbia and Montenegro:
"... The case concerned the handing over of eighty Bosnian Muslim refugees in Montenegro to Bosnian Serb soldiers in May 1992, resulting in the execution of most of the refugees. Dozens of victims' families sued the state for compensation in 2004, but as of October 2005 only four civil proceedings had begun. Under public pressure, in October, the Montenegrin state prosecutor requested the opening of a criminal investigation into the 1992 case. The prosecutor's motion was seriously flawed by including a dozen victims among the potential witnesses and omitting important documents from the evidence. The motion also failed to include any senior official among the suspects."

- Written evidence presented to the Court and The Defendant State

- Response of the Ministry of Interior to the wife of one of the victims, 18 August 1992

- Request for Information on the Investigation directed to the Supreme State Prosecutor, 7 April 2005

- Destruction of evidence - information released 8 Sept 2005.