Remembering Prijedor: White Ribbons in Sarajevo

(Patria) – Students of the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo, together with scholarship holders and volunteers of the Association Education Builds BiH – Jovan Divjak, marked White Ribbon Day today at several locations in Sarajevo.

Wearing white ribbons, they spoke with citizens about the importance of a culture of remembrance and preserving the truth about the crimes committed in Prijedor in 1992. The program was also marked with 102 white roses in memory of the 102 murdered children of Prijedor.

Deputy Mayor of Sarajevo Mirela Džehverović stated that it is important for young people to nurture a culture of remembrance and pass on the truth to future generations, while the Deputy Executive Director of the Association Education Builds BiH – Jovan Divjak, Sanjin Hamidičević, emphasized the importance of educating young people about historical facts and fighting against the denial of crimes.

Students Dženisa Koles and Blažica Tomić stressed the importance of involving young people in marking significant historical dates, and Tomić reminded that one student group created a conceptual design for a monument to the murdered children of Prijedor in Sarajevo.

White Ribbon Day is commemorated in memory of May 31, 1992, when non-Serb residents of Prijedor were forced to wear white ribbons and mark their houses with white flags, which preceded the persecution and crimes against Bosniaks and Croats.