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In Tuzla, Women in a Somber Rememberance of Srebrenica
‘We came here with all our hearts, our feelings of solidarity. We are here today to try to remember and to look ahead’
By Jim Bartlett
The event, Women About Srebrenica, was sponsored by the Srebrenica Women's Society and included such foreign guests as Swanny Hunt, US Ambassador to Austria and Queen Noor of Jordan. Participants were bused in by the hundreds from refugee centers around the Tuzla area.
At 1:00pm local time, a siren sounded, marking the exact time of the town's final capitulation to Serbian forces under the command of General Ratko Mladic, since indicted for war crimes in the Hague. This brought the already emotional crowd to a pitch and a ghostly wail began to fill the hall as hundreds of Srebrenica women were overcome with emotion.
Following the siren, opening comments by the first speaker sparked an even greater outpouring of public grief and emotion, the opening being a slide and video presentation of Srebrenica before, during, and after the fall. The hall quickly went to fever pitch when the first survivor collapsed, overcome with heat and emotion.
As police and event staff carried the first unconscious woman down from the bleachers the hall filled with cries of derision. "Stop this, we've seen enough! Why are you showing this, we see it in our minds everyday!" It was a common cry that continued to rise in intensity as more and more women were overcome. Team Berserkistan lost count at thirty and there was a near panic as people tried to evacuate and resuscitate the victims. The stadium quickly came to the brink of a riot and security personnel, staff, and journalists appealed for calm.
Things calmed down a degree when Ambassador Hunt began her speech. "We could not stop your terror, but we could not forget you." She said, recalling a phone conversation she had with a friend coming from Srebrenica during the fall. "So I called Queen Noor and said, Your Majesty, let's work together for the women of Srebrenica."
She spoke of women in Palestine and other places and told a story of how one woman in Ireland who lost all of her children in one day, none of them over twelve, during a clash between the IRA, police and the Ulster Unionists. She spoke of how she helped them form a coalition of women in Ulster to work towards ending the decades old conflict there. This got the attention of the crowd and the catcalls died down.
She then went on to tell how the United States was helping re-build Bosnia and of President Clinton's unyielding support for the victims in this war. "Over the last four years the United States has joined the international community sending humanitarian aid, and later 20,000 peace makers, uh, peace keepers." She continued, "We've rebuilt roads and bridges."
This brought the first round of applause from those gathered. "And we're sending another $5,000,000 to help you start businesses and get back on your feet economically." That in reference to the Bosnian Women's Initiative program announced by President Clinton at the G-7 summit in Lyon. The program will provide for development loans for women owned businesses, skills training, and access to productive resources outside the home.
Meanwhile in Srebrenica itself, a small gathering of Serbs marked what they termed the "Liberation" of the town. In a damaged culture center they put up an ad-hoc photo exhibit and a children's choir sang traditional songs. The group in the hall did not number over fifty and no one seemed very enthusiastic, the presiding speaker barely audible as he presented the different programs.
On the street around the market area the mood was not upbeat. One vendor, a Serb refugee from Sarajevo, said, "I have lost my home. My wife was wounded and is paralyzed. The only money I make is from what I can sell here." showing us a meager stock of cigarettes and other sundries. "It's enough to survive on, but just. This is my daughter, she is only six. What future does she have? I don't even know who the bastards who started all this are. They have left everyone with nothing, us, them, everyone. This place," gesturing to the still heavily damaged surroundings, "is alien to me. It is not my home, but who can protect me if I return home? Who will protect me when night comes? We're not the only ones with extremists." |
TUZLA, Bosnia & Herzegovina, July 11 (Berserkistan) -- Over seven thousand survivors of the fall of Srebrenica gathered in Tuzla to mark the one year anniversary of the fall of that Bosnian town in 1995.
During her speech more than a few participants yelled down from the bleachers, "Quit talking and find our missing men! Where are our men?!" She continued however, her words being translated on the spot, and went on to describe her other contacts with women around the world who have gone through similar tragedies.
Her best-received comments, however, concerned the over 10,000 still missing. "We are doing all these things, and now we have created a commission to help you find your missing men. And that commission, by the way, is meeting this week while we sit here today."
Berserkistan, July 11 · Dutch Bare Scars over Role at Srebrenica
Berserkistan, July 10 · Bodies of Some 40 Moslims Found Piled Together at Cerska
Berserkistan, July 10 · Republika Srpska Forces Finns to Abandon Mass Grave Probe
Berserkistan, July 9 · More Bodies Exhumed at Cerska Grave Site
Berserkistan, July 8 · Cerska Grave Site Yields First Corpse
Berserkistan, July 7 · Excavation Begins at Srebrenica Mass Grave
Berserkistan, July 3 · Mladic Promised Safety to Srebrenica Muslims
Berserkistan, June 8 · Srebrenica Victim Graves Probed at Brnica
Berserkistan, June 5 · Mass Grave at Nova Kasaba May Hold 2700 Srebrenica Victims
Berserkistan, May 29 · Documentary Claims Serbia Provided Srebrenica Arms
Berserkistan, Massacre Hill Jim Bartlett in Bosnia's Killing Fields
Berserkistan, Ghosts in the Woods Team Berserkistan Investigates a Srebrenica Massacre Site
SREBRENICA
Serbs Massacre Muslims in "Safe Area" of Srebrenica
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia United Nations
Coalition for International Justice
Reports concerning human rights abuses in Bosnia Intac Access
Major War Criminals/Suspects CalTech's Bosnia Site
Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia CalTech's Bosnia Site
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