White Ribbon Day, which is marked on May 31 every year, is a sad reminder of the mass killing of innocent civilians in Prijedor and Kozarac. Our obligation, as well as the obligation of future generations, is to never forget the 3,176 brutally murdered citizens of Prijedor. Among them are 102 children. They were killed only because of their first and last name, during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the public message of the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, on the occasion of the White Ribbon Day.
“To all those who still do not allow this day to be marked in a dignified way, we say that we will never forget the fact that the non-Serb population of Prijedor and the surrounding area was ordered to wear white bands around their arms, and to hang white sheets on their houses and apartments. That was the introduction to terror, torture and murder in the Omarska, Trnopolje and Keraterm concentration camps,” recalls Bećirović.
It is our duty, he said, to support the families of the victims, who still believe that justice will come to at least some of the criminals.
“By satisfying justice, but also by spreading the truth and the culture of memory, it is possible to prevent this or similar evil in the future, and at the same time speed up the process of reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.
I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims in Prijedor and Kozarac, and I wish eternal mercy to those killed,” reads the end of the message to the public of the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, on the occasion of the White Ribbon Day.
