1991-2006
Announcement about the Peace Action
Since the beginning of our work in 1991, Women in Black has expressed support and solidarity with all who rose up against war and all conscientious objectors, believing them our allies in actions against war and the aggressive regime in Serbia.
We demanded the return of all recruits and reservists from the battlefields, the end of the illegal mobilizations in Serbia, the cancellation of the punishment of everyone who refused to respond to calls for mobilization or who deserted on the battlefields.
Together with conscientious objectors, we pleaded for the acceptance of conscientious objection as a basic human right during the war, but especially after the war. Due to the organized efforts of civil society, conscientious objection was codified in 2003. Today, the majority of young men opt for civil service to fulfill their military service obligation.
However, the nationalist-militarist spirit in this country is still very strong because the values system that produced war endures. The biggest demonstration of the absence of a break with the criminal past is the celebration of criminals as heroes.
Confronting the past is not on the demand for truth about all crimes, but the punishment of all organizers, commanders, and perpetrators of crimes committed in our name. However, it is also remembering the resistance to war in Serbia and marking important events and dates from the history of nonviolent resistance to war, among them the significant uprisings of reservists and their families, as citizens' protests and women's peace actions.
Throughout the fall, The Women in Black Network—Serbia is celebrating women's nonviolent resistance with a series of events in different cities in Serbia. Actions will be organized in the framework of the women's peace initiative 'Women Ask,' which demands that relevant institutions announce to the public the truth about crimes committed in our name in Serbia and outside of Serbia. One of the biggest crimes against peace was the illegal violent mobilizations that the Serbian regime conducted continuously from 1991 to 1999.
On Wednesday October 18, 2006 from 3:30pm to 4:30pm in Republic Square, there will be a performance In Remembrance of Deserters. We will construct a symbolic monument to rebels against war trimmed in slogans of nonviolent resistance, acknowledging and celebrating citizens' bravery and disobedience.
We invite you to join us.
Women in Black
Belgrade, October 16, 2006