Foča

Foča Фоча
Town and municipality
UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code	58
Website	www.opstinafoca.rs.ba

Foča (Serbian Cyrillic: Фоча, pronounced [fôtʃa]) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of the Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 18,288 inhabitants. Foča houses some faculties (including the Medical and Orthodox Theological Faculty of

The town was known as Hotča or Hoča during medieval times. It was then known as a trading centre on route between Ragusa (now

In 1941, the

On 13 February 1943, Pavle Đurišić reported to Draža Mihailović the actions undertaken by the Chetniks in the Foča, Pljevlja, and Čajniče districts: "All Muslim villages in the three mentioned districts were totally burned so that not a single home remained in one piece. All property was destroyed except cattle, corn, and senna."^[3]

In the operation Chetnik losses "were 22 dead, of which 2 through accidents, and 32 wounded. Among the Muslims, around 1,200 fighters and up to couple of thousands of civilian victims of both nationalitys."

In 1992, at the onset of the Bosnian War, the city fell under the control of the Army of Republika Srpska. From 7 April 1992 to January 1994, Serb military, police and paramilitary forces enacted a campaign of ethnic cleansing in the area of Foča against Bosniak civilians. By one estimate, around 21,000 non-Serbs left Foča after July 1992.^[4] Most of them that managed to escape were settled in the town of Rožaje in Montenegro until the war ended. Only about 10 Muslims remained at the end of the conflict.^[5] Thirteen mosques including the Aladža Mosque were destroyed and the 22,500 Muslims who made up the majority of inhabitants fled.^[6] The Tribunal Judges determined beyond a reasonable doubt that the purpose of the Serb campaign in Foča was, among others, "to cleanse the Foča area of Muslims" and concluded that "to that end the campaign was successful.^[5]

In numerous

Post-war period

In 1995 the Dayton Agreement created a territorial corridor linking the once-besieged city of Goražde to the Federation entity; as a consequence, the northern part of Foča was separated to create the municipality of Foča-Ustikolina.^{[citation needed]} Prior to that in 1994, the ethnically-cleansed town was renamed Srbinje (Serbian Cyrillic: Србиње), "place of the Serbs". In 2004, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the name change unconstitutional, and reverted it back to Foča.

Since the war, around 4,000 Bosniaks have returned to their homes in Foča, and several mosques have been re-built.

The Aladža Mosque was rebuilt from 2014 and reopened in May 2019.^[10]

In October 2004, members of the Association of Women Victims of War (Udruzenje Žene-Žrtve Rata) attempted to lay a plaque in front of the Partizan sports hall (also used in 1992 as a rape camp) to commemorate the crimes that occurred there.^[11][12] Around 300 Bosnian Serbs, including members of the Association of the Prisoners of War of Republika Srpska, prevented the plaque from being affixed.^[13]

The Partizan sport hall was reconstructed by

In 2018 and 2019, the association of war victims have been commemorating rape as a weapon of war by congregating in front of Karaman's House in Miljevina and of the Partizan sport hall in Foča on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict (19 June).^[17]

In 2021, a memorial to convicted Srebrenica massacre perpetrator Ratko Mladić was painted near a school in the town.^[18]

Settlements

After the Bosnian War the Northern area of the Foča Municipality was separated and incorporated into the Foča-Ustikolina Municipality, located in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The majority of its population are Bosniaks.

Aside from the town of Foča, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Demographics

Population

Ethnic composition

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):^[19]

Culture

Museum of old Herzegovina and city theatre are located in Foča.^[20]

Twin towns – sister cities

Foča is

• Kragujevac^[21]
• Nikšić^[22]
• Herceg Novi
• Larissa

Notable people

• Risto Jeremić
• Zehra Deović, folk singer
• Rade Krunić, footballer
• Aida Hadžialić, politician in Sweden
• Maksim Vasiljević

References

Works cited

• Blumenthal, David A.; McCormack, Timothy L. H. (2008). The Legacy of Nuremberg: Civilising Influence Or Institutionalised Vengeance? Volume 20 of International humanitarian law series. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
  ISBN 9789004156913
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Foča.

• Official website