Demir Ličina from Bijelo Polje had waited for justice for more than thirty years. Montenegro finally acknowledged the responsibility for the death of his father. Ilijaz Ličina was one of the 20 victims of Bosniak nationality that members of the Army of Republika Srpska kidnapped from the Belgrade – Bar train at the Štrpci rail station on February 27, 1993. Eight of them were nationals of Montenegro. They were killed.
Following a silence that reigned for several decades, on April 25, 2025, the Government of Montenegro decided to provide reparations to families of civilian victims of wars that occurred in the 1990s amounting to a total of 1.6 million EUR. Every of the 16 families will receive 100,000 EUR each – half of the amount this year, and half of the amount next year. These reparations include families of victims from Štrpci, the 1999 NATO bombardment of Murino and refugees deported in 1992. Ignoring a crime is also a crime Although Demir deems this decision to be historic, he does not see it as the final act of justice, but rather as its symbolic beginning. His words uncover something that many states from the region still refuse to accept: that institutional responsibility does not only lie in the direct commission of a crime, but also in ignoring it.
– The silence and passivity of state authorities back then were not neutral. By remaining passive, they in a way made it possible for the crime to happen and for sanctions to be imposed only at a later stage, without any command responsibility – Demir Ličina states for the portal Impuls.
For him, a family member of a victim, this decision has a deeply personal and symbolic meaning. – The state has admitted its responsibility for the crime, at least the institutional and moral one. This is not just a financial reparation. It is also the acknowledgement of suffering and a confirmation that our dearest ones have not been forgotten. Reparations convey the message that injustice cannot be ignored forever, that the state has the obligation, to the extent possible, to remedy the damage it caused or allowed – our interlocutor says.
Symbolic reparation, but great victory
Mothers and widows of victims of the Srebrenica genocide have fought for years. They brought legal action against the Government of the Netherlands for the omissions of its soldiers in the UN protected zone after the Army of Republika Srpska conquered the city on July 11, 1995. Kada Hotić, deputy president of the association ”Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves”, remembers the fight.
– We consider them accomplices in the genocide, since they literally served us to the criminals on a platter without any resistance at all. We brought legal action against them and requested that they admit their responsibility. They did this only in part. The proceedings were lengthy and in 2019 a decision was made to accept the responsibility, but only for a certain number of persons. Only those that were registered at their base were recognised as victims. In case of other persons, the families had to prove that they were there –Kada says.
In 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that the state was responsible for the death of 350 men that were turned over to the Army of Republika Srpska after they had sought refuge at the UN base in Potočari. After having reviewed the claims for compensation of the families, the Claims Commission awarded a total of 2,337 compensations for 611 victims – the wives of killed men received 15,000 EUR each, while other family members received 10,000 EUR each.
Kada Hotić received compensation for her husband, but not for her son, since there was no evidence that he was at the base.
– Money comes and goes. Nobody is selling their own. No money can replace my son, my brothers, our people… But it is important that the state has acknowledged its responsibility for negligence, omissions or complicity. That is important for us. This is a form of punishment for the Netherlands, at least this happened, because you cannot prosecute them and sentence someone to prison. It is not simple to bring legal action against another country from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We managed to do that – she says.
Truth is a pre-requisite for permanent reconciliation
A legal advisor of TRIAL International, Kenan Sadović, points out that reparations do not constitute only a financial satisfaction.
– They are an important acknowledgement of injustice. A message for victims that their suffering has not been forgotten. They become an act of social and historical acknowledgement of crimes – Sadović says.
He also adds that reparations must be more comprehensive: public apologies, restitution of assets, monuments, commemorations, raising awareness, psychosocial support, specific spa therapy, etc. Of course, it is necessary to also carry out institutional reforms that guarantee that crimes will not be repeated. All of this constitutes an integrated access to justice.
However, as Demir Ličina says, justice will not be complete as long as it remains unknown where the mortal remains of victims are located and what exactly happened to them. If there is no answer to these questions, their families will continue to live in uncertainty and with open wounds.
– The decision of the Government of Montenegro does constitute an important and positive step, however it does not constitute the end, but rather the beginning of a lengthy and in-depth process of facing the past. Truth, justice, responsibility, education and culture of remembrance, this is what truly means something for the families of victims and what society as a whole has to ensure, if it wishes to heal. These are the pre-requisites for a permanent reconciliation. What happened has to be written down and remembered. We may not allow that these stories remain only within families. They have to become part of collective remembrance – he says.
Montenegro has acknowledged it, but Serbia has not done so
Ličina believes that Montenegro has made an important step forward and that other countries of the region must face the past in the same responsible manner. He points out that Serbia has not recognised its nationals kidnapped in Štrpci as civilian victims of war or compensated their families.
– They died together and should have the same status – concludes Ličina.
However, a report of the Humanitarian Law Centre shows that reparations are almost unattainable in Serbia. Proceedings are lengthy, and courts award symbolic amounts, which are rather an insult than a satisfaction.
– The whole reparations mechanism has first been defined by adopting a legislative framework, and then interpreted in practice in such a manner that it makes it impossible for injured parties to exercise their rights – he concludes.
Crimes in Podujevo and Varivoda
The first ruling in which Serbia acknowledged its responsibility and awarded damage compensation relates to the massacre against Albanian civilians in Podujevo. Members of the police unit ”Škorpioni” killed 14 women and children, and seriously wounded five persons in March 1999.
The ruling was rendered after lengthy proceedings that lasted for years and included rejecting claims due to alleged statute of limitation, appeals, reviews, repeated proceedings, etc. Finally, the court obliged the Republic of Serbia to pay compensations to 24 of the nearest relatives amounting to a total of 25.9 million dinar (around 221,000 EUR). That is not even the half of the amount requested in the claim. In spite of this, the Republic of Serbia has not complied willingly, so that the prosecutors initiated enforcement of payment.
Families in Croatia also file claims before courts. One of the most important cases in which the state acknowledged responsibility for war crimes and awarded compensation to a family relates to the murder of older Serb civilians at the village Varivode at the end of September 1995. The action was brought by the children of Radivoj and Marija Berić, and in 2013, the court awarded them with 540,000 kuna or around 72,000 EUR, although the perpetrators have never been prosecuted. However, it was pointed out that most similar claims fail due to the statute of limitation. Reality in Bosnia and Herzegovina: complicated proceedings, disappointed victims
– In the context of transitional justice in post-conflict societies, monetary reparations constitute an important element, since they facilitate the livelihood and process of inclusion of victims in the society. They are also a strong tool for building trust in the institutions and rule of law, since they show that the state does not abandon the survivors and that there is willingness to correct injustice, which is crucial for long-term stabilisation and reconciliation at a society, Sadović says.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, monetary reparations are mostly administrative. They are defined by laws, secondary legislation or other legislation and are exercised based on the status of a civilian victim of war. Due to a complex political system, but also primarily lack of political will and deeply rooted ethnic divisions, no single legal framework for reparations has been established three decades after the war.
– The greatest challenges regarding the right to reparations in Bosnia and Herzegovina are legal, political, economic and social challenges. Laws are not harmonised, procedures are complicated, there is no political will, genocide is denied, and survivors are stigmatised. All this makes the exercise of the right to reparations extremely difficult and frequently discourages victims from fighting for their rights – Sadović concludes.
Acknowledging injustice, responsibility and institutional omissions may not bring lost lives, but it may be the beginning of healing. Paying reparations, no matter how small, is a signal that the pain of victims and their families may no longer be ignored. However, true justice also implies awareness raising, culture of remembrance, finding missing persons and providing guarantees that crimes will not be repeated.
The text was co-authored in cooperation with Impuls Portal.
The blog was written for a regional platform on Dealing with the Past. For more information please visit the Column section of DwP website.