Association “Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves” was founded right after the fall of protected UN zones Srebrenica and Žepa, with a desire and need to clarify the fate of those who went missing in July 1995, as well as those who went missing during the period from 1992 to 1995 in Srebrenica, Žepa, and all surrounding municipalities.
Members of the association are mostly mothers from Podrinje who lost their closest family members in the Srebrenica genocide. After fighting for truth and justice for 20 years, the BiH diaspora from Scandinavia nominated them for the Nobel Peace Prize, together with the non-governmental organization “Women in Black” from Belgrade and the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH.
Twenty years after the aggression, many mothers from Podrinje have not found a single bone of their beloved ones. It is a heartbreaking moment when you find the remains of your closest ones, but each of the mothers later says “thank you, God, I will have a name on a tombstone”.
The launched initiative for presenting the Nobel Peace Prize to the Association “Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves” is supported and praised by the Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Šefik Džaferović. Support for nomination also comes from Zagreb, together with fear that this idea may not be realized.
Sonja Biserko, president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, stated that the mothers should win the Nobel Prize because they are the most responsible for the fact that the Srebrenica genocide is known even out of the region borders.
More than 50 people have been involved in the process of searching for missing persons for more than 20 years. Amor Mašović, member of the Collegium of Directors of the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH highlighted that it is a special honor to be a part of the initiative for the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Regardless of the final outcome of this nomination, on behalf of the employed in the Institute and those who used to be a part of our team I can say that this is a great honor. For decades now, associations “Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves” and “Women in Black” have been persistent in finding out the truth about the events from the nineties at the territory of the former Yugoslavia and, I dare to say, certainly deserve the nomination for this prestigious international prize,” Mašović said.
(Source: faktor.ba)
