Under the motto “We remember women raped in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)”, the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in War and 30 years since the crime against women in BiH was marked in Foca yesterday.
The gathering began in front of the ‘Partizan’ hall, a former infamous camp that was the largest torture center for women in Europe, and continued with a walk to the main square in Foca, where a minute of silence was observed in honor of all murdered and raped women in BiH.
The column, which included representatives of the association “Women in Black” from Serbia, then stopped at the Cehotinski Bridge, from which roses were dropped into the river in memory of the fallen women, while 30 balloons in the colors of the BiH flag were symbolically released into the air, as a sign of minimal victory and justice for women survivors of the past 30 years.
Genocide researcher and author of the book ‘Torture, Humiliate, Kill’ Dr. Ismet Karcic, speaking about rape as an instrument of genocide in BiH, stressed that Foca was a center of rape and sexual violence during the aggression against BiH.
”At several locations in and around Foca, there were camps and detention centers where Bosniak civilians – women and girls – were systematically raped and sexually abused. During the aggression against BiH, sexual violence was part of the war strategy of the Republika Srpska (RS) leadership with the aim of completely ‘cleansing’ the occupied area of the Bosniak population. During the aggression on the Republic of BiH (RBiH) and the genocide against Bosniaks, the aggressor forces committed systematic rape and sexual abuse of 20.000 to 50.000 women, girls, and men,” Karcic stated.
He noted that the aggressor forces throughout the occupied territories used rape and sexual abuse as a means of war and genocide and that in this way he tried to destroy the foundations of the Bosniak patriarchal and traditional family.
At the beginning of the aggression in Foca, 22.000 people were expelled in a very short time in 1992, almost 3.000 civilians were killed, and 627 victims are being searched for by their loved ones so that they could be buried. Among the victims there are 586 women, while many facilities were turned into camps during the war.
The families of the victims believe that there are remains in the riverbeds as well, and state that there was no reaction to the concerns of the families and associations of the victims that hydroelectric power plants are being built in the riverbeds of the Bistrica and Drina rivers.
”Foca is known as the largest site of systematic rape and abuse of Bosniak women during the war. The courage of 16 of our fellow citizens who were able to start the process before the Hague Tribunal with their statements and efforts and for the Tribunal to make a historic verdict, was a wind in the back of other women, an element that indicated that justice still exists and will be satisfied. It is a shame that BiH, 30 years after the first crimes, has not established a system, agency, or institution for the rights or problems faced by women victims of war,” points out the representative of the Association of War Victims “Foca 1992-1995” Midheta Kaloper-Oruli.
The event in Foca was attended by numerous officials: the Federation of BiH (FBiH) Vice President Melika Mahmutbegovic, Bosnian-Podrinje Canton (BPC) Gorazde Prime Minister Aida Obuca, and others, Federalna writes.
E.Dz.
