News from the Information Center on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Sarajevo
Photo exhibition “THE PAIN OF SREBRENICA MOTHERS” of the author AHMET BAJRIC – BLICKO
The exhibition will be open to the public from September 20 to 27, 2024
Date and place of the opening of the exhibition: Friday, September 20, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.; Veliki park, Sarajevo Center
On this page you can find information about the author and the exhibition, as well as watch video addresses and the video archive of The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (known as the ICTY or the Tribunal) and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals – IRMCT.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ahmet Bajrić-Blicko was born in 1954 in Gornji Šepko near Zvornik.
He has been engaged in photography for more than 40 years. He collaborated with numerous newspapers and magazines that existed on the territory of the former state, such as: Oslobođenje, Večernje novine and Politika. After the war, he was a permanent contributor to the newspaper Dnevni avaz for more than 20 years. Since 2020, he is in a well-deserved retirement, and he works part-time for the web portal Politicki.ba and as the founder of the BH reporter.ba portal, which he regularly updates with his photos. In the time of aggression in Bosnia Herzegovina, Blicko records the most important events related to defence and suffering. He is the only photojournalist who immortalized the breakthrough of the Srebrenica Bosniaks who survived the genocide, in the territory under the control of the BiH Army in Nezuk near Šapna. With his lens, he continues to tirelessly follow all the events in BiH and beyond. He is helped by his heirs, grandson Ahmed Bešić and daughter Mersiha Bešić, his young grandson Ajdin Bešić also shows his talent and growing interest in photography.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
It has been 29 years since the genocide, but every year the women of Srebrenica remember their sons, fathers, husbands that they had lost in the most possible tragical way. The genocide in Srebrenica has been characterized as the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.
In the years since, the bodies have been exhumed and the victims were identified through DNA testing. There are about 1,000 victims whose remains have not been found. What happened in Srebrenica was a shame for the international community because the city of Srebrenica was declared ‘’safe area’’ for civilians in 1993.
Mothers continue with their battle until they find the last bone of their loved ones.
THEY ARE THE MOTHERS OF SREBRENICA
They are women who, over the past 28 years, have persevered in the fight for the dignity of their sons, brothers, and husbands who were killed in the July 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
Their lives, hopes, joys and sorrows, for a full 28 years, are written by the daily struggle for truth and justice – the truth about the places of killing and hiding the remains of their sons, husbands, brothers, relatives and justice for perpetrators of the crimes.
Although sadness is a sign by which they recognize themselves, they never showed the fear of facing the places where their loved ones were killed, the fear of facing their perpetrators, the fear of their threats and insults.
Their brave hearts bled over the tombs where the bodies of their loved ones were hidden, they confronted genocide deniers, in the Hague courtrooms they saw the faces of their sons’ killers, their commanders, they were attacked, insulted, but they never gave up.
They are mothers, sisters, wives, daughters… who, for 28 years, have been protesting every 11th of the month to remind the world of the crime of genocide in Srebrenica.
They are mothers, sisters, wives, daughters who had sworn with all their heart that they would never give up on the path of seeking the truth about the genocide committed in Srebrenica and punishment for the perpetrators of the genocide.
Only death can stop them on their path.
The world recognizes them
as MOTHERS OF SREBRENICA.
Eksterni sadržaj:
Hronologija jednog genocida:
https://www.irmct.org/specials/srebrenica/timeline/bhs
VIDEO ADDRESSES
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Nura Begović President of the association “Women of Srebrenica” from Tuzla.
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Ramiza Gurdić This video is part of the “Lives Behind the Fields of Death” project of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Srebrenica Memorial Center, during which 100 testimonies of genocide survivors were recorded. The contents created during the project are part of the permanent exhibition of the museum space in Potocari.
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Strebrenica Through
Women’s Eyes
- During and after the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, women were exposed to great suffering, both as direct victims of crimes and by losing their loved ones. #IRMCT recognises their immense courage and pays tribute to the women victims of the #SrebrenicaGenocide.
Seven-Year-Old
Genocide Survivor
- On this day 1995 in Orahovac village, Bosnian Serb forces executed at least 800 Srebrenica Muslim men and boys. Only few survived. Among them was a 7-year-old boy who was saved by Bosnian Serb soldier. To hear their story watch: ‘7-year old genocide survivor’