We strongly protest against the promotion of a monograph on Pavle Bulatović at the PI Cultural and Information Centre “Zeta”. This event represents an attempt to rehabilitate and glorify a person who ordered at least one war crime – the Deportation of Bosnian-Herzegovinian refugees from Montenegro.
Publicly honouring Bulatović, the former Minister of Interior of Montenegro and Minister of Defence of the FRY, insults the victims and their families, as well as others who suffered due to his policies. This event directly contributes to the institutional rehabilitation of war criminals and the denial of responsibility for crimes committed under his command.
We remind that Pavle Bulatović, as the Minister of Interior in Montenegro, was the direct instigator of the unlawful deportation of Bosnian refugees in 1992. Under his orders, the Montenegrin police unlawfully arrested and handed over at least 66 individuals to the Army of Republika Srpska, of whom only 12 survived (Verdict Ks. 6/12, dated 22/11/2012, available at www.sudovi.me). These are not speculations but court-established facts. The fact that Bulatović was not convicted due to his assassination in 2000 does not mean he was not responsible.
However, not only is his role in the Deportation crime being silenced, but also the period during which he served as Minister of Defence of the FRY (1993–2000). During his tenure, members of the FRY army committed mass war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Graham Blewitt, stated that “the murdered Yugoslav Minister of Defence, Pavle Bulatović, was under investigation, and not only for events in Kosovo.”
These events are not just an insult to the memory of the victims – they are a dangerous attempt to rewrite history, deepen societal divisions, and distance Montenegro from European democratic values.
We believe it is the duty of every responsible individual and institution to oppose any glorification of war criminals.
Human Rights Action (HRA)
ANIMA – Center for Women’s and Peace Education
Antifascists of Cetinje
Association Spektra
Centre for Civic Education (CCE/CGO)
Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)
Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN CG)
Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI)
Center for the Development of NGOs (CRNVO)
Women’s Rights Center for (WRC)
Montenegrin LGBTIQ Association Kvir Montenegro
Montenegrin Women’s Lobby
Montenegrin PEN Center
Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights
Dina Bajramspahić, civic activist
Montenegrin Publishers Association
ERA – Alliance for Equal Rights of LGBTI Persons in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Montenegro Media Institute (MMI)
Juventas
Prima
Safe Women’s House
Association of LBTQ Women “Stana”
Association “Štrpci – Against Oblivion”
Association of History Professors of Montenegro – HIPMONT