“The resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica should be called by its real name, because it must confirm and accept that genocide happened and that crimes can be talked about in a different way, but also in other documents,” Munira Subašić told Portal Analitika. She is President of the “Mothers of the Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves” movement, better known as the Mothers of Srebrenica.
Referring to the amendments submitted by the deputies of the Democratic Front on Tuesday, according to which any mention of genocide and Srebrenica would be deleted from the document, and its name would be renamed “Resolution on crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the whole of Yugoslavia”, Subasic said that it is better not to adopt it as such.
“You should call the resolution on genocide by its real name or do not insult us. So many verdicts, evidence, mass graves and graveyards… Wherever the boot of Mladic and his army stepped, genocide was committed, regardless of whether it was a city or a village. In Srebrenica, this was proven through the Court of Justice, the Hague Tribunal, the Court in BiH, Germany… All courts in which there is no politics called their names by 1995. The right verdicts were handed down. We cannot deny that, because there is no eraser that can erase it”, points out Subašić.
Facing the truth
She notes that she is not satisfied with the declaration on accepting the resolution of the European Parliament condemning the mass crime in Srebrenica committed in 1995, which was adopted by the Montenegrin Parliament in 2009. Even then, genocide, she says, is not called by its real name and does not testify to what really happened in Srebrenica.
“The new resolution that is being announced awakens in me the hope that people have changed and accepted what happened. Mothers know that a large number of Serbian volunteers, Montenegrins, came to Bosnia to kill our children. I think and hope that the new Resolution will end the intention to do evil to their neighbors. That children who are sick of hatred will recover, that they will understand and find out that genocide took place in Srebrenica. It is unfortunate that poisoners and organizers of crimes that took place in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo in the 1990s continue to spread “disease” and hatred among children, because hatred is a disease for which there is no cure. “God forbid that this policy ends well,” says Subasic.
Her message is that no matter where someone is killed, every crime is a crime.
“When every mother loses her son, it is the end of the world for her. She continues to live only because she has to,” she points out.
Subašić welcomes and congratulates on the initiative for the Resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica to be adopted without the above-mentioned amendments, hoping that this will encourage the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to do the same.
“Not because of me, but because of my children and grandchildren, my grandchildren, but also children from the entire region,” said Subasic.
Ghosts of the nineties
Speaking about the socio-political scene in Montenegro and the changes that took place after the parliamentary elections on August 30, Subasic says that the current situation is very reminiscent of the 1990s in Bosnia and Herzegovina, of turmoil, threats, separation and annexation.
“It's the same people. It is the same project and plan. The perpetrators are the same then and now. The events in Montenegro are reminiscent of the politics that killed our children. It is also unfortunate that the Church is interfering, because even in 1995, when our children were killed, when Scorpions came to the territory of BiH, the priest gave them communion to have more strength and will to kill our children just because they are called differently. This is not a fictional story. Numerous recordings testify to that,” Subašić reminded.
Contrary to the messages of the part of the ruling majority in Montenegro that denies genocide, the civic part of Montenegro is equally loud, which continuously sends messages about the importance of understanding the crimes in Srebrenica. Subašić points out that we cannot bring the dead back, that mothers cannot heal their hearts, but that, nevertheless, there is something called humanity.
“Most people in BiH, and there are Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks and Roma, know the real truth and send such a message, and those who committed genocide are still defending themselves, the crime is awakening in them, they cannot accept it and they send the message that no genocide took place there. That hurts us mothers especially. My message is to give birth to children out of love and to raise them that way. We will never separate mothers by name, religion and nation, although every child depends on the mother who will give birth to him and on whether she will teach him to love others and differently, whether he will be loved or killed,” says Subašić.
For the future of our children
The truth, Subašić notes, must be accepted, no matter how many accidents or problems it can bring to someone.
“The sooner you accept it, the better.” It is better for the perpetrators of genocide, than for us mothers who survived it. We have raised our children who do not know what their fathers look like.