Following the arrest of Radovan Karadzic a genocide survivor reflects: „There must be many Serbs who feel remorse“

Reflecting on the arrest of Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic, Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (GfbV) / Society for Threatened Peoples’s coordinator Hatidza Mehmedovic, a survivor of the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica and chairwoman of the „Mothers of Srebrenica“, reflects:

„Thanks to the democratic changes in Serbia, 13 years after the end of the war, justice is now possible and crimes against humanity will not go unpunished simply on account of the passage of time. I congratulate President Tadic for unmasking Karadzic and arresting him. Karadzic will soon be handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague (ICTY). That is the only court that we survivors really trust. There must be many Serbs who feel remorse over the blood spilled at Srebrenica and throughout Bosnia during those three years. Future generations will feel ashamed of what their forefathers did. But the children of criminals are just that, children, and we cannot hold them responsible for the actions of their parents.

Ratko Mladic must be detained. That will bring satisfaction to all of those who survived, even if nothing can ever bring back our children. Along with Mladic there are hundreds if not thousands more perpetrators still at liberty. They have to be brought to justice as well. It is not just for crimes against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). Many members of the other Bosnian national communities suffered as well.

There are survivors of the genocide in Bosnia. Karadzic, Mladic and those who share their views failed to eliminate all of the witnesses to genocide. As long as we are still alive we will continue to tell the story of their crimes for the sake of future generations, for the sake of the children who deserve a better future. The memorial at Potocari, where to date 3214 victims of the massacre have been laid to rest, serves as a reminder to all the generations to come.“

Hatidza Mehmedovic challenges the followers of Karadzic demonstrating in support of the war criminal today: „What sort of „hero“ hides behind a false name? A „hero“ who shows off his strength against unarmed, innocent people and murders children is no hero!“

Hatidza Mehmedovic lost many members of her family in the massacre at Srebrenica, among them her husband and her two sons, Almir, known as Lalo (born 1977), and Azmir (born 1974). When they were killed they were only 18 and 21 years old. On 13 November 2007 remains of her husband (Abdulah Mehmedovic, born 1951) and one of her sons were exhumed from a mass grave. Which of her sons was buried in the grave has still not been established. His killers had removed their victim’s clothing in their effort to destroy all the evidence.