Croatia remembers Škabrnja massacre

Commemorations and a procession were held in Škabrnja today marking the 27th anniversary of the Škabrnja massacre.

On November 18th and 19th 1991 Serb forces massacred 62 civilians and 5 prisoners of war in the villages of Škabrnja and Nadin just northeast of Zadar. By the end of the war 86 civilians and soldiers were killed in Škabrnja.

The Serb attack was characterized as mass murder, summary executions, ethnic cleansing, however few of the primary war criminals responsible for the atrocity have been brought to justice. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia did convict Croatian Serb political leaders and later presidents of the self-styled “Republic of Serbian Krajina”, Milan Babić and Milan Martić, for war crimes that also including the killings in Škabrnja and Nadin, but this has done little to ease the suffering of the families of the victims.

This year’s commemoration in Škabrnja is the biggest to date. "Never in these 27 years have we had a bigger procession and commemoration than this year, and that is proof that the Croatian people do not forget the innocent blood that was spilled here," said Marko Miljanić the commander of Škabrnja's defenses.

Source: HRT