ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - A memorial plaque was unveiled in Dubrovnik under a clock tower where wartime photographer Pavo Urban was killed by shrapnel during the fierce shelling of Dubrovnik's old town on 6 December 1991.

The ceremony was held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the heroic defense of Dubrovnik during the Homeland War and Dubrovnik Defenders Day. Urban's family attended the unveiling ceremony which was conducted by Mayor Mato Franković and the prime minister's envoy, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković.

(Photo: Grgo Jelavic/PIXSELL)

Minister Vučković underscored that Urban's photographs are remembered because the world saw the culturecide that occurred in Dubrovnik and Croatia.

"Urban's photographs bring documentary directness but also an incredible artistic experience," the agriculture minister said.

Mayor Franković said that Urban gave the most valuable thing he had, his life, in exchange for the truth and to bear witness to Dubrovnik's suffering and destruction and to present it for the world to see.

The last photographs ever taken by Pavo Urban, before he was killed during shelling in Dubrovnik on December 6, 1991. Photos: Pavo Urban.

The program marking the 30th anniversary of Dubrovnik's defense ends on Tuesday with the launch of a book by Nikola Obuljen, "How we Negotiated with the Enemy".

For more on politics, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - SENSE Transitional Justice Center has launched a video about the 6 December 1991 massive shelling of Dubrovnik, and the video is part of the interactive narrative "Targeting History and Memory".

SENSE Transitional Justice Center is the successor to SENSE News Agency dedicated to documenting and making permanently accessible the facts about wars in the area of former Socialist Yugoslavia, established beyond a reasonable doubt at the ICTY in The Hague.

The shelling of the Old City of Dubrovnik was qualified in International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)  indictments and judgments as to the "destruction or deliberate damaging of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, arts and science, historical monuments, and works of art and science."

The five-day online campaign about the destruction of Dubrovnik was launched on 4 December and brings about the contents of the ICTY's investigation, documents, and trial about the war atrocities committed by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serbian and Montenegrin paramilitaries during the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991 and 1992. 

The five-day internet campaign can be watched on Facebook, YouTube, and the SENSE Transitional Justice Center's official website.

30th anniversary of an all-out assault on Dubrovnik

The siege of Dubrovnik culminated in an all-out assault on 6 December 1991 when the JNA and Serbian and Montenegrin paramilitaries targeted the medieval walled town with all types of weapons, killing 19 defenders and civilians and wounding another 60 people. Thousands of shells fell on the historical center, nine palaces were burnt to the ground and 461 buildings were severely damaged that day.

During the siege, this Adriatic town lived mostly without electricity or freshwater. The JNA swept through the surrounding villages looting houses and razing them to the ground. Villagers fled to Dubrovnik or to the islands, some of the elderly who could not flee were taken off to war camps in Morinj, Montenegro, or to Bileća in Serb-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the war in a wider Dubrovnik area, 116 civilians and 430 Croatian soldiers were killed and several hundred were injured. As many as 443 Croats were taken to detention camps, and as many as 33,000 had to flee their homes during the siege and the JNA attacks.

Several commemorative events will take place in Dubrovnik to mark the 30th anniversary of the all-out attack.

For more on politics, follow TCN's dedicated page.