The Association of War Victims “Foča 92 – 95” marked June 19th – the International Day against Sexual Violence in War today in that city.
Under the slogan “Foča does not forget – together against sexual violence in war”, a rally was held in front of the “Partizan” sports hall, which became a symbol of women’s suffering during the war in the 1990s.
Medina Mehmedović-Mulalić from the Directorate for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Rijaset of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina recalls that between April and August, nearly 3,000 women passed through the Partizan hall.
“Rape in Bosnia and Herzegovina was not a random crime, nor a consequence of war, it was a systemic, planned, genocidal act. Every woman who fell into the hands of the aggressor was not spared. The goal was not to kill the body, but to destroy the spirit of a people. Today we look at Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, we see the same images, women are once again the first targets, their bodies are again the territories of wars, and the world is silent,” said Mehmedović-Mulalić.
The president of the “Foča – 92 – 95” Association, Midheta Kaloper, reminded that the Hague Tribunal had established that there were at least 20 detention centers in the Foča area where women were sexually and physically abused.
“You who are here today are proof that there is hope for us and a better future for every woman who can no longer speak, for every girl who was not given the chance to grow up, for every survivor who is still seeking justice and recognition. Survivors are not just numbers, they are our mothers, sisters, friends. They are not broken, they have endured what most people cannot even say,” said Kaloper, reminding that the gravity of the crimes in Foča is evidenced by the fact that girls as young as 12 and women as old as 77 were raped in that city.
“We seek and demand public recognition of the truth about sexual violence in war, educational programs that will teach young people about rights, consent and empathy, a justice system that will not traumatize us but protect us, monuments, museums and memorials not as symbols of the past but as warnings,” said Kaloper.
Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy Adnan Delić cried during his speech in Foča, recalling that an 11-year-old girl was raped in the Partizan Hall. He emphasized that Foča was not just a death camp, but a camp in which, as he said, they tried to kill the spirit, identity, strength and dignity.
“Taking away the dignity of women, especially in a society that holds honor as a personal and family sacred, is a goal that goes beyond physical violence, it is an attack on the entire nation, on all generations that come after the crime. Thanks to the experience of BiH, the international community has recognized that rape in war is not a side effect of war operations but a conscious strategy, planned, systematic and organized. It is not just bodies that were raped, the future was raped. Revisionism must not be an option we will accept, we owe it to that 11-year-old girl who was raped here and her body was abused, we owe it to the women who say ‘I begged them to kill me’,” said Delić.
He added that 30 years after the aggression, Bosnian society has not given women victims recognition, security and space to express their truth.
“All estimates speak of 50,000 raped women, girls and men, and in the official register of civilian victims of war in the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy there are less than a thousand survivors of rape crimes, this is data that does not speak of an error in counting but of the defeat of this society, it is a mirror, a picture of our society on how much fear, stigma and silence still rule over courage,” said Delić.
Speaking about the courage of those who today speak openly about the truth on behalf of those who are unable to do so, he particularly highlighted Alen Muhić, whose voice, he said, was crucial in the UN Security Council to pass the historic resolution declaring war rape a war strategy.
Delić announced that the federal ministry, in partnership with the Sarajevo Memorial Center, will build the first monument to rape victims in BiH, which will be located within the future museum of suffering in Vogošća.
A peaceful walk to the main square and standing in silence with banners paid tribute to all sexually abused women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region and the world. The peaceful walk continued towards the Ćehotina Bridge, from which roses were lowered into the river in memory of all the murdered and raped women, Fena news agency writes.
Photo: Fena/Elma Geca
