On May 31, put a white ribbon around your arm and for at least ten minutes point a white sheet at the window (wherever you are) in memory of innocent dead and missing civilians.
05/31/1992. Bosnian Serb authorities in Prijedor (Bosnia and Herzegovina) issued an order on local radio in The order orders the non-Serb population to mark their houses with white flags or sheets. When leaving the houses, they had to put white and white ribbons around their sleeves. This was the beginning of an extermination campaign in which mass executions, rapes, concentration camps were opened and other crimes were committed. The final outcome was the removal of 94% of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from the territory of Prijedor municipality. This crime was repeated in Prijedor in 1992 for the first time since 1939.
Namely, in 1939, a Nazi proclamation was published according to which Polish Jews had to wear white ribbons with a blue Star of David around their sleeves. At that time, members of an ethnic or religious group were marked in this way for mass extermination.
Members of the European Monitoring Mission testified that even in August 1992, during a visit to the villages around Prijedor (inhabited by Serbs and Bosniaks), they saw white flags on Bosniak houses to distinguish them from Serb ones. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia compared the results of the ensuing persecution of non-Serbs to genocide. Science has proven that this is genocide.
Thousands were killed, detained, tortured, deported or raped. The city and municipality of Prijedor (as a community) has changed forever.
Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state that operates on the basis of a peace agreement signed in 1995 in the American city of Dayton, the state of Ohio (according to which Prijedor belonged to the entity of Republika Srpska).
To this day, the municipal authorities in Prijedor have not paid tribute to the victims of this genocidal campaign in any way for the suffering they went through. Local authorities refuse to publicly acknowledge that crimes were committed in Prijedor, despite numerous verdicts from international and local courts. The erection of a monument in memory of the Prijedor victims in the city is not allowed. Many people are denied access to crime scenes.
That is why we invite you to express your solidarity with the victims of mass crimes committed in Prijedor and around the world on May 31, wearing a white ribbon around your arm or displaying a flag or a white sheet on your window!
This act aims to raise awareness of the struggle for the dignity of millions of victims of mass crimes and injustice. On this day, let us raise our voice against denying the truth about the crimes committed. Let us support people around the world who have been crimes because of their race, ethnicity or political beliefs.
Wherever you are, put a white ribbon around your arm on May 31st. Point out the white sheet on the window for at least ten minutes. Let the victims in Prijedor and around the world know that they are not alone.
Institute For Research Genocide Canada (IGC)
http://www.instituteforgenocide.org
http://www.oslobodjenje.org
The Monteal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Research
http://www.concordia.ca
Cover photo: http://www.rferl.org (Radio Free Europe)