Never Again?

Often called Europe's second Genocide of the 20th Century, and labeled by President Barack Obama as "a stain on our collective consciousness," this year, on July 11, 2010 marked the 15th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre where about 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, as well as the ethnic clensing of another 25,000-30,000 refugees, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of General Ratko Mladic' during the Bosnian War.

The date of the "11th" is an important one during commemoration, as it is the official commemoration date of the massacre, and more importantly, on the 11th of every month, Women in Black in Serbia and several mothers of Srebrenica groups in Bosnia hold silent public vigils in conspicuous public space throughout Serbia and Bosnia. The purpose of these demonstrations is to advocate for public and political recongition of Serbian/Bosnian-Serb military/paramilitary crimes agains the Bosniaks in Srebrenica, to call attention to Dutch (and UN/International) culpability for the crimes committed, and to call for reparations & assistance for the survivors and victims' families.

This month, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, in association with the Noyes Museum of Art, invites the entire Stockton and greater surrounding communities to join us in education, commemoration and action as we honor the lives lost, remember the survivors whose lives have been permanently interrupted, and reflect upon the failures of humanity that made this massacre possible so we may all learn to think and act toward making the well-worn post-Holocaust Mantra "Never Again" a reality.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Drazen Erdemovic's Statement of Guilt

Drazen Erdemovic was a soldier in the 10th Sabotage detachment of the Bosnian Serb Army. In the aftermath of the July 1995 Serb takeover of Srebrenica, where he participated in the ececutions of hundreds of unarmed Bosnian men from the enclave. Erdemovic was the first person to plead guilty at the Tribunal. He later testified as a witness in separate trials and provided significant and detailed evidence about the crimes that were committed during the genocide. With a guilty plea on the count of Crimes Against Humanity, Erdemovic was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment after his appearance before the Trial Chamber in May of 1996. (Playwright Kitty Felde's work "A Patch of Earth" is about this man and his confession).

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