The Center for Civic Education (CGO), Human Rights Action (HRA), and Alen Bajrović, son of war crime victim Osmo Bajrović, have urged the Ministry of Culture and Media of Montenegro to remove the name of Pavle Bulatović from a street in Pljevlja. Their initiative, submitted on November 10, 2023, highlights Bulatović’s troubling history as a former minister of internal affairs and his role in the unlawful deportation of Bosnian refugees during the conflict in the 1990s.
In their correspondence, the organizations emphasized their appreciation for the government’s past efforts to eliminate illegally erected monuments across Montenegro. They reminded the Minister that “any illegal installation and retention of memorials, including street names, plaques, and other forms of commemoration, constitutes a direct violation of the law and disrespect for the values upon which Montenegro is founded.” They stressed that “there are no exceptions, no selective application and tolerance” in such cases, as stated in CGO’s press release.
The street named after Bulatović has been in existence for over 25 years. As the Minister of Internal Affairs, he was implicated in the unlawful deportation of at least 66 civilians from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the armed forces of the Republika Srpska, resulting in the survival of only 12 individuals. These facts were confirmed in the ruling of case Ks. 6/12 in 2012, which is accessible through the judiciary’s official website. Furthermore, during his tenure as Minister of Defense of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 2000, Bulatović oversaw military structures involved in serious war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Graham Blewitt, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, publicly acknowledged that Bulatović was under investigation for actions not limited to those in Kosovo.
In prior correspondence, the Ministry of Culture and Media confirmed that it did not possess any documentation authorizing the street’s name. Although the naming occurred during the time of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Article 50 of the Law on Memorials clearly states that all objects and names assigned after November 15, 1971, without the approval of the relevant authority, are deemed illegally established. Additionally, Article 10 of the law prohibits the erection of memorials to individuals who have played a negative role in the history of Montenegro or humanity, a classification that undoubtedly applies to Bulatović.
More than 15 days have passed since the initiative was submitted, yet the organizations have not received information indicating that the Ministry has acted on their request. In similar cases, the Ministry has responded fairly quickly in the past.
The organizations have called on the Ministry to act consistently with the Law on Memorials and order the removal of Pavle Bulatović Street. They argue that such memorials are not only an insult to the memory of victims but also represent a dangerous attempt to rewrite history, deepening societal divisions and distancing Montenegro from European democratic values.
