Bukovica engleski.qxd - Fond za humanitarno pravo

Bukovica engleski.qxd 15.3.2003 13:53 Page 11
2. Paramilitary Groups
Humanitarian Law Center
As VJ troops and reservists and various paramilitary
groups stormed into cafes, ill-treated the customers,
especially if they were Muslims, torched Muslim-owned
property, and shot off their guns in the streets, the
atmosphere in northern Montenegro increasingly
became one of war. In May 1992, leader of the Montenegrin
Muslims’ Party of Democratic Action Harun Hadžić
said Muslims were moving out under pressure by the VJ
and paramilitary Chetnik groups. He cited as an example
the Rožaje area from where 1,000 Muslims had fled
in the span of only two months. Saying that the reporting
of Serbian and Montenegrin media was turning
Serbs against Muslims, Hadžić warned: ”The media are
doing a lot of harm and a creating an atmosphere in
which people might out of fear make some wrong
moves. Stories that we are working hand in hand with
Ugljanin 14 who will supposedly attack the Serb population
have no foundation at all. No one wants any conflicts
in this region - neither the Serbian nor the Montenegrin
authorities, nor we Muslims. We would be
defeated militarily and the Army, which already treats us
mercilessly, would have no compassion toward us: it
would be total annihilation.“ 15
In May 1992, President Bulatović visited Pljevlja, which
had become a center for Šešelj’s Radicals and Chetnik
groups and, for the first time, publicly mentioned the
existence of paramilitaries in Montenegro. Meeting
with municipal officials, Bulatović said the presence of
armed men other than police and the military in Mon-
14 Sulejman Ugljanin, leader of the Muslim Party of Democratic
Action in the Sandžak.
15 ”Leaden Fear Bears Down,“ Monitor, Podgorica, 8 My 1992.
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