Women in Black Announce Peace Action: Never Forget the Srebrenica Genocide!

(Patria) - As part of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, Women in Black, with the support of artistic collectives Škart and Dah Teatar from Belgrade, activists and civil society activists, are organizing a Peace Action by Women in Black. "We will never forget the Srebrenica genocide!" - in black and silence, on July 10, 2020, from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM, at Republic Square in Belgrade. On this occasion, we will hold a performance action "25 Years Since the Srebrenica Genocide - We Remember!", it was stated today.

"The Srebrenica genocide is the largest war crime in Europe after World War II. The regime of S. Milošević was an accomplice to the genocide by providing enormous political, military, and logistical-financial assistance to the Army of Republika Srpska. On this occasion, we remind that:

- The state of Serbia is the first and so far the only country in the world that, by the judgment of the International Court of Justice (2007), was found responsible for violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;

- In Serbia today, there is a continuity of genocide denial at the state and societal level: a shameful and devastating fact that neither the state nor society in Serbia has recognized, nor distanced itself from the committed genocide. Moreover, the Srebrenica genocide has become an invisible, almost non-existent topic: in almost all institutions, war criminals' admirers and genocide deniers play a key role, and in public discourse, there is a very similar lack of empathy for the victims of the genocide. What is happening is not only organized forgetting but also increasingly pronounced denial of guilt, refusal of responsibility, and deeper falsification of judicially established facts;

- No verdict has been passed by the courts in Serbia in which the crime in Srebrenica has been qualified as genocide. Before the War Crimes Chamber of the Special Court in Belgrade, there is obstruction of the proceedings for the crime in Kravica (where 1313 civilians were killed on July 14, 1995), which insults the dignity of the victims. Instead of justice for the victims, there is a rehabilitation and glorification of convicted war criminals," they stated today in a press release.

Women in Black and related organizations will continue to demand:

"- That the Srebrenica genocide be recognized, primarily as a respect for the dignity of the victims, and not just as a prerequisite on Serbia's path to joining the European Union;

- That July 11 be declared the Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide,

- That genocide denial be qualified as a criminal offense,

- That the state of Serbia respects the decisions of international courts and judicially established facts,

- That the President of the Republic of Serbia, A. Vučić, and all other state representatives cease denying the genocide and all other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond;

- That the glorification and rehabilitation of convicted war criminals cease.

July 11 – Solidarity and Responsibility – attending the commemoration/funeral in Potočari/Srebrenica, where, together with the families of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, we will attend the burial of the remains of the victims," the statement signed by Women in Black, with the support of the Autonomous Women's Center, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, the Women in Black Network, Dah Teatar, and Škart, reads.