This day is observed in memory of 14 August 1992, when the last large prisoner exchange took place at Nemetin near Osijek after an agreement the Croatian and Serbian sides reached in Budapest.
About 30,000 people were detained in Serb-run camps, including 3,000 women and 500 children, said Danijel Rehak, president of the Croatian HDLSKL society of former POWs in Serb-run camps.
He warned that only 8,000 former POWs were recognised this status.
"Some of the prisoners were detained one day, others for weeks or months and years. We have information that the youngest prisoner was a six-year-old child, while the oldest was over 90," Rehak said, adding that 300 prisoners were killed in the camps.
It is estimated that about 2,500 people were killed from the moment of imprisonment to entering the camp and they are still listed as unaccounted-for.
War Veterans Minister Predrag Matic attended the commemoration. Afterwards, he and local officials went to Nemetin, where wreaths were laid and candles lit at a monument to the largest exchange of prisoners from Serb-run camps during the Homeland War.
On 14 August 1992, 714 Croatian defenders and civilians were liberated, and the Croatian parliament proclaimed August 14 as a day of remembrance for prisoners of enemy camps during the Homeland War.