Višegrad

This article is about a place in Bosnia and Hezegovina. For other similarly named places, see Visegrad (disambiguation).

Višegrad
Location of Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina (entire map) and Republika Srpska (blue)
Coordinates: 43°47′N 19°17′E
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Division	Republika Srpska
Government
• Mayor	Miladin Miličević (SDS) [1]
Area
• Total	48 km2 (18.5 sq mi)
Population (1991)
• Total	21,199
Postal code	73240
Area code(s)	(+387) 058

Višegrad (Serbian Cyrillic: Вишеград, pronounced [ʋǐʃɛɡraːd]) is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Republika Srpska entity. It is on the river Drina, located on the road from Goražde and Ustiprača towards Užice, Serbia.

History

The town is widely known for the book Bridge on the Drina written by Ivo Andrić, Nobel prize winning author.

The well known Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad was built by an Ottoman Grand Vizier of Christian origin, Mehmed Paša Sokolović in 1571. It still stands, and it is now a tourist attraction, after being inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Many travelers come to Višegrad simply to take a walk across the famous bridge.

Bridge on the Drina River at Višegrad.

Bosnian War

Višegrad is one of several towns along the Drina River in close proximity to the Serbian border (then Yugoslavia). The town was strategically important during the conflict. A nearby hydroelectric dam provided electricity and also controlled the level of the Drina River, preventing flooding in areas downstream. The town is situated on the main road connecting Belgrade and Užice in Serbia with Goražde and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a vital link for the Užice Corps of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) with the Uzamnica camp as well as other strategic locations implicated in the conflict.

On 6 April 1992, JNA units began an artillery bombardment of the town, in particular Bosniak neighbourhoods and nearby Bosniak villages. A group of Bosniak men took several local Serbs hostage and seized control of the hydroelectric dam, threatening to blow it up. One of the men released water from the dam causing flooding to some houses and streets.

Eventually on 12 April 1992, JNA commandos seized the dam. The next day the JNA's Užice Corps took control of Višegrad, positioning tanks and heavy artillery around the town. The population that had fled the town during the crisis returned and the climate in the town remained relatively calm and stable during the later part of April and the first two weeks of May.

On 19 May 1992 the JNA Užice Corps officially withdrew from the town and local Serb leaders established the Serbian Municipality of Višegrad, taking control of all municipal government offices. Soon after, local Serbs, police and paramilitaries began one of the most notorious campaigns of ethnic cleansing in the conflict, designed to permanently rid the town of its Bosniak population.

Serb forces attacked and destroyed a number of Bosniak villages. A large number of Bosniak civilians in the town of Višegrad were killed. The Drina River was used to dump many of the bodies of the Bosniak men, women and children who were killed around the town and on the historic Turkish bridge crossing the Drina. Serb forces were implicated in the systematic looting and destruction of Bosniak homes and villages. Both of the town’s mosques were completely destroyed.

Serb soldiers raped many women and beat and terrorised non-Serb civilians. Widespread looting and destruction of non-Serb homes and property took place daily and the two Bosnian Muslim mosques in town were destroyed.

Many of the Bosniaks who were not immediately killed were detained at various locations in the town, as well as the former JNA military barracks at Uzamnica, the Vilina Vlas Hotel and other detention sites in the area. Bosniaks detained at the Uzamnica camp were subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture by Bosnian Serbs and strenuous forced labour. Bosniak prisoners at Vilina Vlas were beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted.

After the Bosnian war was over, and Bosnia was divided in two entities Višegrad is a part of the Republika Srpska. Before the war, 60 percent of Višegrad's 20,000 residents were Bosniak. Today, only a handful of survivors have returned to what is now a predominantly Serb town.

Višegrad massacres

Main article: Višegrad massacres

Bosnian Serb Army and paramilitary forces affiliated with them burned Bosniak civilians alive in houses, slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children and threw them over the famous bridge. On August 5, 2001, survivors of the massacre returned to Visegrad for the burial of 180 bodies exhumed from mass graves. The exhumation lasted for two years and the bodies were found in 19 different mass graves.

Milan Lukić, Sredoje Lukić, Mitar Vasiljević were charged with:

• The murder of hundreds of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians, including men, women, children and elderly persons.
• The cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians including severe beatings over an extended period of time.
• The unlawful detention or confinement of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians under inhumane conditions.
• The harassment, humiliation, terrorisation and psychological abuse of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians.
• The theft and destruction of personal property of Bosniaks and other non-Serb civilians.

Charges of mass rapes of Bosniak women and girls in Višegrad were not approved against the accused because prosecutors failed to request these charges to be included in a timely manner. Cousins Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were convicted on July 20, 2009 for a 1992 killing spree that included locking Muslims in two houses and burning them alive. At least 119 Muslims, from 2 days old to 75 years, were burned to death. Milan Lukić was sentenced to life in prison Sredoje Lukić to 30 years. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has processed the following for war crimes in Višegrad:

• Milan Lukić (Life)
• Sredoje Lukić (30 years)
• Mitar Vasiljević (15 years)
• Boban Šimšić (14 years)
• Željko Lelek (13 years)
• Momir Savić (18 years)
• Nenad Tanasković (12 years, 8 years upon appeal)
• Novo Rajak (14 years)

Sport

The local football club, FK Drina HE Višegrad, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.

Culture

Višegrad has the so called "Home of Culture" where film projections and all other cultural activities are. In addition, Višegrad has two folklore ensembles, KUD "Bikavac" and SSD "Soko".

Population

As of the 1991 census, the municipality of Visegrad had a population of 195,692 inhabitants:

Census in the municipality of Višegrad
godina popisa	1991.	1981.	1971.
Muslims(now Bosniaks)	13,471 (63.54%)	14,397 (62.05%)	15,752 (62.04%)
Serbs	6,743 (31.80%)	7,648 (32.96%)	9,225 (36.33%)
Croats	32 (0.15%)	60 (0.25%)	68 (0.26%)
Yugoslavs	319 (1.50%)	758 (3.26%)	141 (0.55%)
Others	634 (3.37%)	338 (1.45%)	203 (0.79%)
Total	21,199	23,201	25,389

As of the 1991 census, the town of Visegrad had a population of 195,692 inhabitants:

Višegrad
year of census	1991.	1981.	1971.
Muslims (now Bosniaks)	3,463 (50.17%)	2,854 (47.66%)	2,429 (49.91%)
Serbs	2,619 (37.94%)	2,446 (40.84%)	2,141 (43.99%)
Croats	23 (0.33%)	52 (0.86%)	53 (1.08%)
Yugoslavs	270 (3.91%)	518 (8.65%)	107 (2.19%)
others	527 (7.63%)	118 (1.97%)	136 (2.79%)
total	6,902	5,988	4,866

See also

• Media related to Višegrad at Wikimedia Commons
• Podrinje
• Vilina Vlas

External links

• Višegrad guide page on Wikitravel
• Official presentation of Tourist organization of Visegrad
• Visegrad24.info
• War Crimes in Visegrad (Bosnian)
• Genocide in Visegrad (English)