December the 6th, 2022 - The 6th of December 1991 is a date which has burned itself into the eternal memory of the City of Dubrovnik and has become as much a part of its long history as Saint Blaise or Marin Drzic.

What do you think of when you think about the 90's? Maybe you think of the then mobile phone giant Nokia and the phones that could break concrete if dropped, or Haddaway's eternal question about what love is. For many it was a happy time, a time of good music, technological advancement and anticipation of the turn of a brand new century. For others, it was a time of fear, death, oppression and destruction, and for those of us who come from Europe, it was shocking to see such a thing occurring on our doorstep - once again.

The Serbs and their hangers on, the Montenegrins, pressed on with their imperialistic style regime through unfathomable attempts at mass murder, butchering innocent civilians in Srebrenica, in Vukovar, in Skabrnja. Children killed, women raped, men slaughtered and buried in pits, given no more dignity than diseased livestock. Europe had not seen such bloodshed and brutality since Adolf Hitler and his army of black-shirts had reigned. For most people from outside of the former Yugoslavia, the reasons for Serbian aggression were shrouded in mystery, for many, they still are.

It's known to most that both Croatia and neighbouring Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia (SFRJ) in 1991 following numerous attempts at gaining political distance and finally through a referendum. The formerly Socialist Republic of Croatia became the Republic of Croatia, an independent state of its very own after what seemed to many like an eternity under a cruel and unyielding Yugoslav thumb. That was about as much as those lucky enough not to be involved knew about the situation which led to the above.

On the 6th December 1991, Dubrovnik was viciously attacked by the JNA (Yugoslav Peoples Army), it was the culmination of a siege which sought to raze the globally adored UNESCO World Heritage Site to the ground. A similar and unfortunately successful action was seen much more recently in Palmyra at the hands of ISIS. The horrific bombardment of Dubrovnik resulted in international condemnation of the JNA and rightly became a public relations disaster for Serbia and Montenegro, contributing to and furthering their diplomatic and economic isolation and winning them powerful enemies across Europe and the rest of the world. It was a shot in the foot from which the still-estranged Serbia has hardly ever recovered in the eyes of the international community, and rightly so.

To go into it a little more deeply, the JNA was composed primarily of Serbian nationals, and it was no accident that they targeted a location which had been totally demilitarised back in the 1970's to try to prevent it from ever becoming a war casualty. The JNA's barbaric attack on the beloved UNESCO city of Dubrovnik was met with international condemnation and political outcry, resulting in the aforementioned isolation of Serbia. Threats to Serbia from numerous powerful European politicians echoed around the globe, the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher famously stood defiantly by Croatia, claiming publicly that had it been up to her, she would have bombed Belgrade immediately.

The attack lasted seven long months, the heaviest attack took place on this day, the 6th of December (now celebrated as the Day of the Defenders in Dubrovnik), killing 19 people and wounding another 60. Artillery attacks on Dubrovnik damaged 56% of its buildings, and the Old City was the innocent victim of 650 shells. Neighbouring Montenegro grew ever hostile, led by President Momir Bulatovic and Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic who rose to power following the popular anti-bureaucratic revolution, the nation was allied to the fanatical Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia. It was declared that Dubrovnik would not remain in Croatia, with both of these nations who have since failed miserably in comparison to Croatia falsely claiming that it had never been a part of Croatia at all. The war ended with Croatian victory, earned with blood, with the siege lifted in May 1992. The Croatian Army liberated Dubrovnik and its surroundings, but the danger of sudden attacks from the internationally villified JNA remained a threat for a further three years.

The cruel and unjustified siege and naval blockade by the JNA and the Yugoslav Navy resulted in the direct deaths of between 82 and 88 civilians and 194 Croatian military personnel. By the end of the bloody year of 1992, when the entire region was recaptured by the HV, 417 Croatian Army (HV) troops were dead. Approximately 19,000 refugees were displaced. 11,425 buildings suffered varying degrees of damage, numerous homes, businesses, and public buildings were torched and property was looted by the JNA and their Montenegrin counterparts. In 2000, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic apologised for his country's part in this utterly devastating attack, prompting anger from his political rivals and feelings of betrayal from the still very much isolated and globally condemned, small nation of Serbia.

Today, Dubrovnik is known across the world as an enviably successful tourism giant which has to do very little but lie on its laurels. A far cry now from a war zone without running water and electricity, outside of the summer months, the Pearl of the Adriatic sits relatively silenty in its peace, with only mere calls of seagulls and anchors of ships cutting through that hard-earned silence. It has won many titles since that awful day, and gained many nicknames, from the fictional Kings Landing and Naboo, to the non-fictional Pearl of the Adriatic. A lifetime has passed since those dark says, and the costly mask the city so perfectly wears would never reveal its wounds, its pain or its suffering to the untrained and naive eye.

Following the war, damage was repaired adhering to UNESCO guidelines between 1995 and 1999. The ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) issued indictments for the JNA Generals and officers involved in the disgraceful siege of Dubrovnik, with the architect of the attack, General Pavle Strugar sentenced for his role. Strugar passed away in 2018, and while one shouldn't speak ill of the dead, it doesn't seem appropriate to hope his rest is a peaceful one.

For more on Croatian history, keep up with 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.

October 1, 2021 -  The Siege of Dubrovnik 30th anniversary is marked today in the Adriatic pearl. 

During the early hours of the 1st of October, 1991, the JNA's barbaric attack on Dubrovnik and the surrounding area began.

During the hazy hours of dawn, exactly 26 years ago, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), readily aided by Serbian-Montenegrin aggressors, began their primitive and senseless attack on the Pearl of the Adriatic, the surrounding areas, on land, sea, and from the air. The innocent city remained without electricity and water, rendered almost entirely cut off from the rest of Croatia, and indeed from the world.

In a conscious effort to establish their overall goal of completely cutting Dubrovnik off from any possibility of help from elsewhere as they began on their path of the needless and wanton destruction of the city, the aggressors rocketed the repetitor, relay and information building located on top of Mount Srdj, causing an interruption of telephone lines and severe damage to radio links.

October the 1st, 1991, marked the beginning of a horrendous and unjustifiable attack on the arts, history, culture, innocence, and perhaps above all else - peace. Peace had been associated with Dubrovnik since the glorious days of the Dubrovnik Republic (Ragusa), a formerly autonomous, self-governing republic which promoted the then very progressive ideas of peace, equality, human rights and diplomacy during the tumultuous era which was all but dominated by the Ottoman Empire, the jealous Venetians and the Mediterranean shipping crisis.

To witness the city which banned slavery before the United States even existed as a nation and upheld the meaning of freedom and individuality in the face of a disagreeing outside world attacked by the backward ideals of the JNA, intent on raising the UNESCO World Heritage Site to the ground for absolutely no clear reason, was an event so deeply shocking and painful to the world that it rightly earned the Yugoslav People's Army international condemnation, and caused an enormous public relations disaster for both Montenegro and Serbia, cast aside by the international community.

The vile behaviour seen directed towards Dubrovnik only continued to further Serbia and Montenegro's political and economic isolation, earning them extremely powerful enemies across Europe, one of the most outspoken being former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the world.

On Friday, the people of Dubrovnik mark the 30th anniversary with the traditional program "Let's Not Forget".

The program begins at 9:30 with the laying of wreaths at the Memorial Cross at the city cemetery Boninovo, followed by the laying of wreaths on Srđ hill with prayer. The International Scientific Conference "Dubrovnik Media Days" will be opened at 5 pm with the 30th-anniversary theme, and at 6 pm wreaths will be lowered in the Gruž port in memory of those killed at sea. Holy Mass for all those killed in the Homeland War will be held at 7 pm in the Franciscan Church, and at 8 pm in the Cinema Sloboda, the film "From That Day" by Slavica Šnur will be shown.

For more news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.