The reactions of the Republic of Serbia’s authorities and media machinery to the Ratko Mladić judgment and IRMCT Report to the UN Security Council represent a shameful attempt to avoid responsibility, inflame nationalist hysteria and deepen the distrust between the citizens of Serbia and the rest of the world.
At the anniversary of the crimes in Bradina and Tuzlanska kapija, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia (YIHR Serbia) and Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina (YIHR BiH) are honouring the victims of these crimes, demanding that the judicial authorities in Serbia and BiH fairly and efficiently complete court proceedings, and that political institutions stop the practice of hiding and glorifying war criminals.
Today we mark the 28th anniversary of the crime in Strpci, when members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) took out and killed 20 passengers, non-Serb civilians, at a train station in Strpci (BiH) from a train running on the Belgrade-Bar route.Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia (YIHR Serbia) and Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Montenegro (YIHR CG) recall the responsibility of state institutions of Serbia and Montenegro for this planned war crime against the citizens of FRY and demand that full responsibility be established – not only of the perpetrators but also of the originators of this crime, as well as to speed up investigations and court proceedings in both countries. Also, the families of victims in Serbia continue to be discriminated in terms of the status of civilian victims of war, while in Montenegro no one but Nebojša Ranisavljević has been prosecuted.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the crimes against civilians on the Nis Express bus in Livadice near Podujevo, when 12 Serb civilians were killed and 10 others wounded.
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights strongly condemns a new proposal of the Ministry of Public Administration for amending the Law on Decorations and Awards of the Republic of Croatia, envisaging the establishment of a new high state decoration named after Franjo Tuđman (Grand Order of the President of the Republic Franjo Tuđman with Sash and Morning Star).
Youth Initiative for Human Rights strongly condemns the Ministry of Defence establishing a tradition at the Belgrade Book Fair where for the second consecutive year a platform and voice is given to convicted war criminals such as Nebojša Pavković, Vladimir Lazarević, Dragoljub Ojdanić and Vinko Panudrević through the edition of ‘Ratnik’ and a variety of public events.
Women in Black and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights commemorated the 27th anniversary of the abduction and murder of 16 Bosniak citizens of Serbia from Sjeverin by the peace action ’Remember the Crime in Sjeverin’.
Minister Zoran Đorđević said today that “No one has ever been deported from Serbia by Serbs, let alone imprisoned and killed for being different, and this is not even in our political tradition,” during the commemoration of the victims of Jajinci during World War II.
Women in Black, Humanitarian Law Center and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights will attend a commemoration on this July 18 – as every year, together with the victims’ families at the Orlovača cemetery, where we will place a wreath with the writing “We remember the crimes in Orahovac”.
The UNMIK Office on Missing Persons and Forensics claims that 744 human remains belonging to Kosovar Albanians were found in Batajnica, on the outskirts of Belgrade.
