Biography · Foča · 1992 – 1993
Alen Muhić: A Child Born of Wartime Rape Who Knocked on the Door of His Biological Father
Alen Muhić was born in February 1993 as a child of wartime rape; his mother abandoned him immediately after the birth, and he was raised by Muharem and Advija Muhić of Goražde. Radmilo Vuković, whom DNA analysis established as the child's father, was indicted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and convicted at first instance, but in 2008 the Appellate Panel acquitted him with final effect. Alen now speaks publicly about his fate and helps other children born of wartime rape.
Where and when
Foča
- Date
- 1992 – 1993
- Place
- Foča, Goražde, Miljevina
- Coordinates
- 43.51° N · 18.77° E
Summer 1992 in Foča
According to the findings of the first-instance verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a young Bosniak woman from Foča was raped several times in the summer of 1992. According to her later account in the media, the violence followed the seizure of Miljevina, where she lived, by Serb forces. In its documents, the Court gave the place of the crime generally as Foča.
The woman fled to Goražde. By the time she reached safety, it was too late to terminate the pregnancy.
Birth and adoption
A boy was born in February 1993. His mother abandoned him immediately after the birth. In the same year the child was adopted by Muharem and Advija Muhić of Goražde, who already had two daughters. The boy was given the name Alen Muhić.
When he was about nine years old, in 2002, Alen heard from a schoolmate that he was adopted, said as an insult. After that his parents told him the truth about his origins.
The trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
On 13 October 2006, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment against Radmilo Vuković, born in 1952 in Rataje, Foča municipality, charging him with the rape of the mother as a war crime against the civilian population. According to Detektor, the accused was a member of the armed forces of Republika Srpska. During the investigation, DNA analysis confirmed that Radmilo Vuković was the father of the injured party's child.
On 16 April 2007, the Court of BiH sentenced Radmilo Vuković at first instance to five years and six months in prison. On 31 August 2007, the Appellate Panel quashed that verdict and ordered a retrial. On 13 August 2008, the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH acquitted Radmilo Vuković of the charge with final effect, reasoning that the injured party's testimony contained inconsistencies.
The search for his biological father
After finishing secondary school, Alen tried, together with director Šemsudin Gegić, to visit his biological father, but they found no one at the house. Gegić's 2015 documentary "An Invisible Child's Trap" recorded Alen's search for his biological parents. His story was also covered in the documentary "Dječak iz rata".
According to Alen's account, a few months after he himself became a father, a friend invited him to Friday prayer in Jeleč. Before the prayer, a man approached him and said he had just seen his father. Alen asked his friend to drive him to nearby Rataje. He knocked on the door, and the man he was looking for opened it himself. When Alen introduced himself, the man replied that he knew who he was. They talked outside, at a table in front of the house. According to Alen, in that conversation the man disputed both the result of the DNA analysis and that he had known Alen's mother. The date of this meeting is not known.