Letter to Inzko and Merkel: Support the erection of a memorial for 3,176 Prijedor victims

Mirveta Mrkalj-Durben, who lives in Germany, and Mirsad Duratović from Prijedor have launched an online petition to support the construction of a memorial in remembrance of the civilian war victims in Prijedor, reports the Patria news agency.

In a letter addressed to High Representative Valentin Inzko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, they explained why it is important to erect a monument in Prijedor.

The erection of a memorial in remembrance of 3,176 innocent civilian victims from Prijedor and its surroundings, including 102 children and 256 women, is a symbol of peace and reconciliation and the prevention of any future genocide.

Serb forces committed ethnic cleansing and genocide throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in and around Prijedor, from 1992 to 1995. The victims were Bosniaks and members of other communities living with them, such as Croats and Roma.

With the aim of establishing an ethnically pure "Greater Serbia," thousands of prisoners were killed in concentration camps such as Omarska, Manjača, Keraterm, and Trnopolje.

Massacres and mass executions, systematic arrests and killings of members of the academic and political elite, and the rape of Bosniak and Croat women in and outside rape camps—these are the headlines from Prijedor in 1992.

The memories of the horrific crimes that occurred in the Omarska, Keraterm, and Trnopolje camps (in which the Prijedor police were heavily involved) are still very much alive in us, the survivors.

We want the victims to be buried with dignity. Even today, mass graves containing the bodies of victims are still being sought. For us, the survivors, it is therefore very important to mark a memorial site in remembrance of the victims. However, in our efforts to do so, we continue to face resistance.

The reason for this is that the perpetrators of the crimes are still in the administration and police in Prijedor; they strongly oppose and fight against the construction of a memorial.

Therefore, we ask High Representative Valentin Inzko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to support the construction of a memorial as a sign of remembrance of the lives of innocent civilians.

The International Society for Human Rights (IGFM eV) supports this request, states the letter addressed to Inzko and Merkel.

Anyone wishing to sign the online petition can do so at the link below.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Chancellor_Angela_Merkel_High_Representative_Valentin_Inzko_A_monument_in_commemoration_of_the_3176_innocent_civilian_vi/?ffxtSab&pv=7