Belgrade – Tuzla March of Remembrance

21. 5. 2010. In commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the massacre at Tuzla Gate, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) will organize a symbolic march along three sections of the Belgrade – Tuzla road to be walked on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. The march will set out at 9 AM from Kalemegdan, where a press conference will be held in the open. The three walking sections will be the urban zone of Belgrade, the road between Serbia – B&H border and Bijeljina, as well as the section between Simin Han and Tuzla.

The March will end on arrival before the Tuzla Gate and the act of laying flowers. Friends from Tuzla and Sarajevo will be waiting to join us at Simin Han. On May 25, 1995, a shell fired from the Army of Republika Srpska position on the Ozren Mountain killed 71 person on the promenade in the town of Tuzla. Only a few were older than 30, while the youngest victim was a 3-year-old. This massacre is remembered as one of the worst atrocities against the civilian population committed during the war waged in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To date, a court of first instance found Novak Djukić, officer in the Republika Srpska Army, guilty of this crime.

With this action YIHR is sending out a clear message that young people in Serbia will not settle for silence about war crimes committed in our name. We hold that it is our moral obligation to pay homage to Tuzla’s youth killed fifteen years ago. The March of Remembrance is also a contribution to the fight against relativization of crimes in Serbia and denial of judicially established facts. YIHR shall keep marking crimes committed in the wars of the nineties and reminding the public of the fact that a number of those responsible for war crimes have still not been brought to justice, nor have the victims received adequate reparation.

For further information regarding this event please contact Jasmina Lazović via the following e-mail address: jasmina@yihr.org or YIHR Office telephone number: +381 11 337 07 47.