Islamic Community condemns promotion of 'Vilina Vlas' hotel at Belgrade fair: A place that was a camp for Bosniak women

(Patria) - The Islamic Community strongly condemns the decision to promote the 'Vilina Vlas' hotel near Višegrad within the official tourist offer in Belgrade – a place that served as a camp for the systematic detention and rape of Bosniak girls and women during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Promoting such a place without any context, acknowledgment, or respect for the victims represents a profound moral failure and is part of a broader practice of denying, relativizing, and normalizing genocide and other crimes committed against Bosniaks. Places of suffering cannot and must not be presented as tourist attractions without the truth about what happened there," the Islamic Community stated in its press release.

It is emphasized that the systematic detention of women and girls, with the aim of their rape, humiliation, and forced pregnancy, constituted a crime without historical precedent in modern Europe.

"This practice was part of an organized policy aimed at destroying dignity, devastating families, and attacking the biological continuity of the Bosniak people. Such crimes have left lasting consequences for the survivors, their families, and society as a whole," the press release stated.

The Islamic Community took this opportunity to recall that from the very first days after the war, it has provided support to survivors of sexual violence, standing with them in the fight for dignity, recognition, and justice.

"Our support for victims' associations continues today, aware that the process of healing and societal recognition of their suffering is not yet complete. The Community knows best what traumas the survivors have gone through and how important it is that their truth is never silenced or suppressed. We call on the fair organizers, as well as the competent institutions, to urgently reconsider this decision and to show a minimum of respect for the victims. Confronting the past, not hiding it, is the only path to true peace and stability in the region," it is stated.

The Islamic Community remains firmly committed to truth, justice, and the dignity of every victim.

"Our compassion and solidarity with the survivors remain lasting and unquestionable," the press release from the Islamic Community in BiH concluded.