Pljevlja on a Powder Keg

The Montenegrin authorities claim there are no para-military formations in Montenegro and that weapons are carried only by the army and the police, which was particularly stressed by the republic's President Momir Bulatovic and until recently Interior Minister Pavle Bulatovic. All this at a time when various formations were on the rampage in northern Montenegro, sowing fear and using members of the Moslem nationality as their targets. Both the Montenegrin officials claimed and assured the public that the rumors should not be believed and that the situation was as they portrayed it. However, when a citizen asked Minister Bulatovic whether those bearded "soldiers" who passed through Pljevlja in buses from Valjevo were members of the army and the police and whether he was aware of all they had done while in the town, the minister said on television that "it was agreed they should pass through Pljevlja quickly on their way to Bosnia." This admission shocked even President Bulatovic. Since then, Pljevlja has not been used only for the passage of various para-military formations, but also as a stop-over. The town became a base for incursions into the Bosnian battlefield and certain local extremists also raised their heads.

In a relatively short period, 25 trade and religious facilities in Pljevlja owned by Moslems were blown up or machine-gunned. At the same time, not a single attack on people of Montenegrin and Serbian nationality or their property was registered. Armed men patrol Pljevlja asking: "Are there any Turks here?" Moslems are being openly advised to "move out so we don't move you out ourselves" and some local fighters before leaving for a war weekend -- on campaigns in Bosnia -- explicitly tell their Moslem neighbors: "If I find you here when I return, I will personally settle accounts with you."

The police did not react even when the shop owners recognized the attackers or wrote down the registration number of the car from which explosives were thrown or shots fired at their stores. Concrete evidence could not be found even in the Pljevlja medical center after a para-military group was reported to have lined up its employees at gun-point, forced them to sit down and forbade them to speak. During the investigation, the inspector asked the employees: "Was it serious or were the 'soldiers' joking?" All the medical workers, except for one woman, made the job easier for the inspector and said it had been a joke. And so the case was closed successfully.

When they see where maters stand, people are reluctant to report incidents and are only exposed to even worse mistreatment afterwards. It is therefore difficult to find anyone who will speak openly about the situation. Our sources, Montenegrins and Serbs from Pljevlja, asked us not to mention their names because "the bullies would be even more ruthless towards us."

"The goal is to ethnically cleanse this town along the border with Bosnia of Moslems," a concerned Montenegrin told VREME. "Or actually, to extend, along with Foca, Gorazde and Cajnice, the corridor that will link Herzegovina with Serbia. Hence the threats and intimidation to encourage the Moslems to move out. According to official figures, one thousand people have moved out so far, even though to us it seems several times that number. They are moving to Turkey and western European countries. Namely, they have recognized the scenario implemented in parts of Bosnia bordering with Montenegro and many do not want to risk the lives of their families. We find this very hard to accept as Moslems married to Montenegrin or Serbian women, those who have more than good relations with Orthodox Serbs, are most exposed to the terror."

The shop of Husein Pelida, well-liked and known for his readiness to help everyone in trouble, regardless of nationality, has been attacked six times so far. After the bomb attacks, Moslems, Montenegrins and Serbs alike , and even the President of the Municipality of Pljevlja, came to see him, but the police showed up only sixteen hours later. No-one believes the authorities and police in Pljevlja. Admittedly, after President Bulatovic's promise, a special interior ministry unit appeared in the town and the situation calmed down to an extent. Then another unit came and people noticed that its members sat, drank and often caroused together with the bullies. People are resigned at the knowledge that 56 luxury cars have been registered in Pljevlja, for which only a certificate was required from some crisis center in Bosnia-Herzegovina to prove that war booty was involved. A car can be obtained for 1,000 German marks, a color television set for a mere 100. People are surprised by the passive attitude of the police and the army, who are transferring the responsibility for the existing situation from one to the other.

An end of the silence and public criticism of the police compelled interior ministry officials to hold a news conference in Pljevlja. Their goal was to deny the public allegations that the police were not taking any measures. They said maximum efforts were being invested to protect all citizens, regardless of nationality, and emphasized the fact that they had instituted three criminal proceedings.

The murder of two Moslems in the village of Vitine in the Pljevlja municipality remains unsolved, however, as does the question of why certain persons who people in Pljevlja claim are the organizers and masterminds behind the illegal, arming, sowing of fear and diversions are still at large.

As the explosions, mostly in or outside shops owned by Moslems, continue to sound, here and there justifications can be heard that this is the product and consequence of reports about the massacres and crimes committed by Moslems against the Serbian population in Bosnia. Representatives of the authorities also look for reasons in the alleged anti-Yugoslav mood of the Moslems, who they say recently boycotted the federal elections as well.

All these developments date further back, however, and are the result of the inadequate conduct of the Montenegrin authorities, above all security organs. That this is so is also indicated by the complaints voiced by individual policemen, who say everything would be different if they had "orders from above."