The Day of Remembrance for the victims of the children of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina was marked with an appropriate program and performance at the Sarajevo Children’s Square, and strong criticism was directed at the decades-long lack of prosecution and punishment of crimes.
The demonstration was attended by the families of those killed, members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Bećirović and Željko Komšić, and numerous representatives of all levels of government and associations.
On September 5, 2019, the Sarajevo Canton Government decided that May 5 will be commemorated as the Day of Remembrance for the Children of Sarajevo Killed in the Period 1992-1995.
This date is marked by events at the Memorial to the Murdered Children of Sarajevo and a history lesson in primary and secondary schools of the Canton of Sarajevo.
Fikret Grabovica, the president of the Association of Parents of Killed Children, recalled that 1,601 children were killed during the siege of the city, and that the families are still saddened by the fact that none of those responsible for the crimes have been prosecuted.
“For this reason, 1,601 children will be present here in the choir today. It is symbolic because it is the number of children killed during the siege of the city and it is a universal performance with a message, only the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not filed a single indictment in the past three decades, and not that they prosecuted and punished those who committed such brutal crimes over the youngest population of this city”, said Grabovica.
Emphasizing that the organizers believe that today’s performance will have a strong impact on the public, Grabovica said that they want to remind everyone of what happened here and how important peace and freedom are.
He told those present that today’s program was organized to remind of the terrible truth and great pain caused by the suffering of children during the siege of Sarajevo.
Amerisa Ahmetović, president of the Association of Civilian Victims of War, pointed out that it is necessary to change the approach and work more intensively on strengthening the culture of remembrance and warning.
“Everything needs to be done from the ground up, changed. What is crucial in all of this is that we encourage our children, the generations to come, about what happened, that we constantly tell them, warn them about the evils that happened in the previous war and the evils that normally happen in life, to be calm , to be children, and for us to be their support,” Ahmetović said.
