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17:21, 06 January 2014 Monday
(File Photo)
Bosnians react against anniversary of Republika Srpska
Members of 25 associations representing Bosnian war and genocide victims sent post cards with a photo of body remains found in a mass grave to Republika Srpska entity authorities.
World Bulletin / News Desk
Ahead of the 9th anniversary of the Republika Srpska (RS) Bosnian
entity, members of 25 associations which represent Bosnian war victims
held a press conference aiming to raise public awareness for the crimes
and foundations of that entity.
A postcard with a photo of exhumed body remains found in Tomasica, the largest mass grave in Bosnia after World War II discovered at the end of 2013, was prepared for the occassion.
The postcards of the remains unearthed 18 years after the end of the Bosnian war were sent to the addresses of RS authorities ahead of January 9, the Day of Republika Srpska.
"If you mark the Day of Republika Srpska, do not forget that these are its foundations," wrote the post card.
"We wanted to draw the public's attention in the smaller entity (RS) to how these are its real foundations as we mark the day of its establishment. We want to raise awareness, we want them to think whether they should celebrate it, to ask themselves where their neighbors and friends are," said an Association of Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa member.
Stressing that the post cards were addressed to RS authorities at all levels, President of the Association of War Victims and Witnesses of Genocide Murat Tahirovic said, "We expect them to apologize to all victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
"Republika Srpska is the creation of genocide... Those who neglect the genocide still celebrate. They celebrate others' distress, the distress of those who were slaughtered, killed, burned alive," noted president of the Association of Woman-Victims of the War Bakira Hasecic.
President of the Association of Parents of Murdered Children in Besieged Sarajevo from 1992 - 1995, Fikret Grabovica, said there is no doubt that RS was founded on crimes.
"This is a chance to remind the youth and international community of what happened in Bosnia. Republika Srpska did not bring good to anyone," added Grabovica.
The press conference was organized by the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa, which gathered non-governmental organizations and associations whose work is devoted to victims of the Bosnian war (1992-1995) and genocide which occurred in Srebrenica in 1995.
The Tomasica mass grave near Prijedor in northwestern Bosnia was discovered at the end of 2013 and is estimated to hold the body remains of about 1,000 Bosniaks and Croats who were tortured and killed in concentration camps in that part of the country.
Victims of the Bosnian war and Srebrenica genocide are still being excavated from numerous mass graves in the country.
According to the Institute for Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian families are still searching for bodies of around 6,500 victims of war and genocide in the country.
According to the Dayton Agreement, the international agreement signed on December 14,1995 in Dayton (US) which officially ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country was politically divided into two entities - the Federation and Republika Srpska.
A postcard with a photo of exhumed body remains found in Tomasica, the largest mass grave in Bosnia after World War II discovered at the end of 2013, was prepared for the occassion.
The postcards of the remains unearthed 18 years after the end of the Bosnian war were sent to the addresses of RS authorities ahead of January 9, the Day of Republika Srpska.
"If you mark the Day of Republika Srpska, do not forget that these are its foundations," wrote the post card.
"We wanted to draw the public's attention in the smaller entity (RS) to how these are its real foundations as we mark the day of its establishment. We want to raise awareness, we want them to think whether they should celebrate it, to ask themselves where their neighbors and friends are," said an Association of Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa member.
Stressing that the post cards were addressed to RS authorities at all levels, President of the Association of War Victims and Witnesses of Genocide Murat Tahirovic said, "We expect them to apologize to all victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
"Republika Srpska is the creation of genocide... Those who neglect the genocide still celebrate. They celebrate others' distress, the distress of those who were slaughtered, killed, burned alive," noted president of the Association of Woman-Victims of the War Bakira Hasecic.
President of the Association of Parents of Murdered Children in Besieged Sarajevo from 1992 - 1995, Fikret Grabovica, said there is no doubt that RS was founded on crimes.
"This is a chance to remind the youth and international community of what happened in Bosnia. Republika Srpska did not bring good to anyone," added Grabovica.
The press conference was organized by the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa, which gathered non-governmental organizations and associations whose work is devoted to victims of the Bosnian war (1992-1995) and genocide which occurred in Srebrenica in 1995.
The Tomasica mass grave near Prijedor in northwestern Bosnia was discovered at the end of 2013 and is estimated to hold the body remains of about 1,000 Bosniaks and Croats who were tortured and killed in concentration camps in that part of the country.
Victims of the Bosnian war and Srebrenica genocide are still being excavated from numerous mass graves in the country.
According to the Institute for Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian families are still searching for bodies of around 6,500 victims of war and genocide in the country.
According to the Dayton Agreement, the international agreement signed on December 14,1995 in Dayton (US) which officially ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country was politically divided into two entities - the Federation and Republika Srpska.
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