In the Srebrenica Memorial Center, the final conference “Beyond Words”, the project of indexing, translating and collecting testimonies of victims and witnesses of the genocide in Srebrenica, which were presented through the Office of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was officially opened today supported by UNDP and UNHCR.
– With this event, we mark the International Day of Remembrance and Dignity of Victims of the Crime of Genocide and the Prevention of Genocide. It is extremely important that the central event of the United Nations today is precisely this one in Srebrenica, which shows how important it is to investigate the genocide through the Srebrenica Memorial Center, to connect internationally and to create a framework for institutional cooperation – said the director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center Emir Suljagić.
The successful cooperation was also welcomed by the resident coordinator of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ingrid Macdonald, who said that the Srebrenica Memorial Center is a place of reflection and learning, a place of lessons from the past that are crucial for efforts to prevent such brutal crimes from happening again.
According to her, the Center’s initiatives, which bring together young people from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries, are important to ensure that future generations are aware of what happened and know how to proactively act to prevent genocide and other atrocities and crimes ever happening again.
– The project that was presented today pays tribute to the dignity and resilience of the victims and survivors, and makes a strong contribution to the memorialization and opposition to the revisionism of what happened – said Macdonald.
The coordinator of the “Beyond words” project, Mahir Omerović, stated that through this project they showed that young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina want to contribute to the research on genocide.
– We have established mechanisms by which interested experts in various fields can contribute to the project of gathering testimony and oral history. During one of the panel discussions, we spoke with volunteers Azra Delić, Muamera Boškailo and Nidžara Zekić. Their experience is encouraging and sends a message that we have someone to rely on and that the new generation wants to take a step further – said Omerović.
The conference participants were finally addressed by Alice Wairimu Nderita, Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, who said that denying genocide and glorifying war criminals is an attack on human dignity, especially victims and survivors, “and we must all oppose the denial of genocide and the glorification of war criminals “.
– The activities you are doing to raise awareness about the genocide in Srebrenica are of key importance for opposing such stories about divisions – concluded Nderitu, according to the statement.
