A message from Women in Black

Stasa Zajovic, on behalf of Women in Black from Belgrade, wrote on July 15th 2002 a letter to Serbian war veterans' and refugee organisations of Bratunca and Srebrenica, explaining why they had paid tribute to the Srebrenica massacre:

“… We write to you in good will and in the hope that you will manage to overcome the prejudices that are deep set among the majority of the population of all the countries that participated, in one way or another, in the 1991 – 2000 wars. These prejudices are the consequence of both intentional manipulation that led you and your enemies to disaster, tragedy and often to disgrace, and of the lack of information among a large number of inhabitants of Republika Srpska about the motives and goals of the peace activities of Women in Black and our supporters from all over the area of our former country.

For us, every victim has the same weight and every crime is a crime and deserves equal condemnation and regret. We have always strongly opposed accepting any hierarchy of victims according to any grounds whatsoever. In the same way, we reject any attempt to seek amnesty for the crimes committed by one side, or to compare and weigh them in relation to the crimes committed by the other or a third side…“

“We believe we will find ourselves on the same side, on the side of truth, justice and reconciliation, as opposed to the side that persists in justifying crime. This is the only demarcation line there is today.”