Human Rights Action (HRA) is calling on the appropriate institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to take action against Zoran Vuković and Radomir Kovač, who were convicted in Montenegro for the 1996 murder of the Klapuh family, as stated by the non-governmental organization (NGO).

HRA noted that today marks the 33rd anniversary of the murders of three civilians, Hasan, Ferida, and their daughter Sena Klapuh, who had fled to Montenegro from the war-torn Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina back in 1992.

They highlighted that the Klapuh family was brutally killed by members of the Army of Republika Srpska (RS) on July 6, 1992, near Plužine, at the Obrad Cicmila bridge over the Piva River.

“HRA urges the competent institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take necessary steps to bring Zoran Vuković and Radomir Kovač to justice, as they were convicted for this crime in Montenegro in 1996,” the statement indicated.

The HRA also expressed support for the appeal made by Podgorica City Councilor Aleksandar Zeković, advocating for the immediate handover of the victims’ remains to their families after identification, with due state honors.

“Hasan Klapuh, his wife Ferida, and their daughter Sena were murdered by four members of the ‘Dragan Nikolić’ detachment of the RS Army, who had previously agreed to safely escort them from BiH to Montenegro for a monetary fee,” asserted the HRA.

They added that, for this crime, classified as a war crime against the civilian population, Janko Janjić, Radomir Kovač, Zoran Simović, and Zoran Vuković were each sentenced to 20 years in prison in Montenegro in 1996, while their accomplice Vidoje Golubović received an eight-month sentence for failing to report the crime and the culprits.

“Vidoje Golubović was the only one to serve his sentence. The others were tried in absentia as they were fugitives,” the HRA noted.

The court determined that when the defendants crossed the border and arrived near Plužine, close to the Mratinje dam on the Piva River, they forcibly removed the victims from the vehicle, shot them, and discarded their bodies from a bridge approximately 100 meters high.

HRA stressed that autopsy findings indicated that Ferida and Sena were alive for a period even after being shot.

“Despite the swift discovery of this heinous crime, justice has yet to be served—those convicted in absentia have not spent a single day in prison. Simović and Janjić have since passed away, while Kovač and Vuković remain at large in Foča today,” the statement elaborated.

The organization emphasized that BiH needs to take action to prosecute them, as their involvement in the crime was decisively proven in the Montenegrin court, supported by material evidence.

“There are no legal barriers to this, as the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters (Art. 8) permits BiH to assume this case and retry the accused, since both are citizens of BiH,” the HRA emphasized.

The NGO stated that Kovač and Vuković can only face justice through a retrial in BiH, as they cannot serve sentences imposed from the trial in absentia in Montenegro, and BiH cannot extradite its citizens convicted of war crimes to Montenegro.

This year, HRA also released a piece titled “Ne bis in idem in the context of competing international jurisdictions,” where legal experts Amir Čengić and Lejla Terzimehić analyzed the legal frameworks for enforcing the final judgment in the case and suggested viable solutions for achieving justice.

They noted that in 1992, the Municipality of Nikšić temporarily buried the victims’ remains near Trebjesa, without any grave markers.

“After numerous appeals by the son and brother of the victims, Ferid Klapuh, and the initiative from Montenegro’s civil sector, the first tangible steps toward exhumation, identification, and dignified burial have finally commenced. On June 4, 2025, the Commission for Missing Persons of Montenegro, upon request from the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathered bone samples from the temporary cemetery in Trebjesa for DNA analysis,” the statement reported.

It was also mentioned that the samples have been sent to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) laboratory in The Hague, with results expected shortly.

It was recalled that the remains of three individuals were discovered at the site—two women and one man—and were transferred to the Clinical Center of Montenegro, where they will be stored until DNA analysis is complete.

“A dignified farewell for the remains of the Klapuh family members would hold significance for Montenegrin society as a whole. Acknowledgment and respect for the victims of the Klapuh family are essential parts of the justice process and reflect the community’s responsible attitude toward past crimes,” the statement concluded.

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