January – April 2006
This report gives a brief review of the activities carried out in the previous three month period; for further information write to us.
STREET ACTIONS protests, performances, petition campaigns, etc.)
February 27 – Prijepolje – a commemorative peace march “We remember” to mark 13 years since the crime in Strpce, committed against Bosniak civilians. Activists from the Women in Black Network from several towns in Serbia, as well as activists from other human rights organizations, participated in this action.
March 8 – Belgrade: International Women's Day – actions for women's solidarity and women's human rights. On that occasion, we organized several actions:
- handing in signatures collected as part of the campaign “Women Say NO to War - Stop the War in Iraq” to the US Embassy in Belgrade. This action was part of the international women's action launched by Code Pink activists from the USA that demanded the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Women in Black Network activists from all over Serbia collected the signatures.
- handing in a protest letter to the Russian Embassy in Belgrade against guarantees for the provision of S. Milosevic's health care in Russia, as well as the demand for the end of the military and police violence in Chechnya.
- Women's peace performance at Republic Square in Belgrade against the clericalization of the society in Serbia entitled “I Have Learned the Lesson,” performed by the Institute for Socially Engaged Art. Activists from the Women in Black Network from about twenty towns from Serbia were present, as well as the activists from autonomous women's groups from Belgrade.
- “We Will not Go Back, We are Defending our Rights” - Women's peace march through the main streets of Belgrade.
- Actions in front the Serbian Parliament: handing in a letter related to our demand for the adoption of the Women in Black Resolution “Women, Peace, Security” (submitted on October 31, 2005) and a letter related to the peoples’ initiative “Not in Our Name” against the Law which guarentees financial support to the Hague indictees and to their families (the initiative was carried out in April 2004 and still has not been on the Parliament’s agenda).
April 1 – Zajecar: Women’s Peace action – a performance and distribution of leaflets.
April 6 – Belgrade: “We Want Democracy, not Theocracy!” – a protest action and performance by the Institute for Socially Engaged Art against the clericalization of society and against the draft law on churches and religious communities. Activists from the Women in Black Network from all over Serbia participated in this action.
WOMEN’S PEACE NETWORK – widening and strengthening
This encompasses numerous activities: educational projects, common campaigns, the launching of common initiatives, actions in support of groups from the Women in Black Network in various parts of Serbia, workshops, panels, consultative and working meetings of the Network, etc. The activities are mentioned chronologically:
- January 28 and 29, Kraljevo –Women in Black activists from Belgrade held the workshops and gave lectures about the civil society and its role in dealing with the past; about the role of women’s activism in building of civil society and peace building, and about peace politics. The seminar was organized by the women’s group Fenomena from Kraljevo. The seminar was attended by 21 activists.
- February 4 and 5, Belgrade – the meeting of Women in Black Network from Serbia – 26 representatives of the Network from all over Serbia participated in this working-consultative meeting, as well as activists from Montenegro and Kosovo. The meeting was held in the Women in Black office, during which we analyzed the activities from the previous three month period. We also agreed upon the activities of the following period. As a way to exchange information about international issues and to raise solidarity, we talked about the Middle East, Latin America, the conference “Women Human Rights Defenders” in Sri Lanka, as well as about the activities of peace networks in the USA.
- February 12, Belgrade – “Women’s Memories are Shaping the Future of the Balkans” – one day seminar in the Women in Black office, in the form of workshops. It was coordinated by a member of Women in Black from New York. Twenty-one activists from Women in Black Network from various towns – including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Zajecar, Nis, Krusevac, and Vlasotince -- participated.
- February 13 and 14, Novi Sad – a working-consultative meeting of the “youth” of Women in Black Network about the “Summer Feminist-Pacifist Youth Camp” organized by the group Esperanca. This meeting was attended by activists from Novi Sad, Belgrade, Prijepolje, Sjenica, Leskovac, Babusnica, etc. It is agreed that the aforementioned regional camp will be held at the end of July 2006.
- March 4, Leskovac – organized by the Women’s Center from Leskovac, and as a part of educational cycle “We are Changing Ourselves in order to Change the World.” Activists from Belgrade and Leskovac held workshops about solidarity and friendship among women, as a form of peace politics. This one day seminar was attended by approximately thirty activists from Leskovac, Vlasotince and Vucje.
- March 8, Belgrade – To prepare for March 8th and due to an agreement about common actions of the Women in Black Network and autonomous groups from Belgrade close to Women in Black, we held working meetings in the Women in Black office on February 15 and 23, and March 1 and 6.
- March 8, Belgrade – “People in War – Women Speak: Let it not be Never and Nowhere”, book promotion, published by the Documentary Centre “Wars 1991 – 1999.” Women who witnessed the war, and gave interviews in the book, spoke at the promotion; Women in Black activists from various regions of Serbia were also present at the promotion.
- March 8, Belgrade – “We did not Choose the War – we want to Choose the Peace,” a promotion of a women’s peace platform for the Kosovo future status negotiations, which represents the continuation of common activities of the Women in Black Network from Serbia and the Kosovo Women’s Network.
- April 1, Zajecar – “Neda Bozinovic – The continuity of the struggle for peace and women’s rights,” one day event dedicated to the work of Neda Bozinovic, one of the founders of Women in Black – Belgrade, who died in 2001. This meeting, organized by Women in Black – Belgrade and the peace group “Neda” from Zajecar, consisted of several activities:
- An exhibition in the local municipality building in Zajecar – the photographs of Neda Bozinovic from the Women in Black archive, as well as the exhibition “Heroines of Daily Life,” antiwar photographs taken by Lisa Kahane, New York.
- The presentation of Neda Bozinovic’s work consisted of several segments: Antifascism and pledging for women’s rights; The educational and research work of Neda Bozinovic, Friendship and activist passion. Ten activists from Belgrade and Zagreb spoke about it, while activists from Zajecar spoke about the peace group “Neda.”
Besides the activists from Belgrade and Zajecar, activists from east and Southeast Serbia (Boljevac, Babusnica, Bor, Nis, and Negotin) were also present.
- April 3, Krusevac – Interactive lecture given by a Women in Black activist, organized by the women’s association “Pescanik” from Krusevac. Thirty-seven women attended this lecture.
CONFRONTING THE PAST – FEMINIST APPROACH
Since the beginning of the work of Women in Black, confronting the past presents one of the most significant activities, with the constant broadening of the content of our work and activities. From the beginning of 2005, we have carried out the educational project “Confronting the Past – A Feminist Approach” with an emphasis on the feminist dimension of the issues and the creation of new forms of transitional justice from a feminist standpoint. Numerous activities were organized as a part of this project; and we will mention some of them:
- Evaluation of one year of work on the project “Confronting the Past – A Feminist Approach” held on February 3 with the participation of the workshop coordinators and activists from all regions of Serbia, as well as Montenegro and Kosovo. Previously, women from women’s groups whose activists participated in seminars organized evaluation meetings in all regions in which seminars were held.
As a part of the continuation of work on this project, the segments realized in this period were the following:
- “Punishment for Crimes is a Precondition for a Just Peace” – monitoring of the trials before the Special Court – Council for War Crimes, in Belgrade. In this period, activists from the Women in Black Network were present in all sessions of trial of the “Scorpions” for the war crime in Trnovo, committed in July 1995 (this crime that was committed against the Bosniak civilians is part of the genocide in Srebrenica). These trials were monitored since their beginning in December 2005, by the activists of the Women in Black Network:
- January 23-26 – Activists from the following towns were present: Leskovac, Belgrade, Vrbas, Novi Sad, and Pljevlja (Montenegro);
- February 21-24 – Activists from the following towns were present: Babusnica, Krusevac, Vlasotince, Dimitrovgrad, Novi Sad, and Belgrade;
- March 13-15 – Activists from the following towns were present: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pirot, and Leskovac;
- April 11-13 – Activists from the following towns were present: Pirot, Belgrade, and Zajecar.
In addition to monitoring the trials, activists of the Women in Black Network reported about the trials, and had daily meetings with the family members of the victims of crimes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were also following the trials. That had very important moral and emotional significance.
February 22 – A meeting with the family members of victims of crime in Trnovo/Srebrenica was held in the Women in Black Belgrade office.
February 27 – Participation at the panel in Prijepolje to mark the 13th anniversary of the crime in Strpce.
March 15 – Lecture by activists of the Women in Black Network about confronting the past from the feminist standpoint, given in the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory in Belgrade.
Public announcements – related to the urgent extradition of all accused for war crimes to the Hague Tribunal, the condemnation of the misuses on the occasion of S. Milosevic’s death, the anniversary of the beginning of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (April 6).
WARNING SIGNS OF FUNDAMENTALISM – FEMINIST RESPONSES
Since the beginning of their work (in 1991), and as a part of our feminist engagement, Women in Black has disclosed all forms of the misuse of religion, ethnicity, and tradition for political aims, and especially the oppression of women’s reproductive and sexual rights. The clericalization of society is becoming stronger; even the secular character of the state is brought into question as the Serbian Orthodox Church becomes one of the most important political actors. As a part of the actions against these worrying tendencies, we have organized several activities:
- Public announcements: we have protested against the imposing of a church tax, against the draft law on churches and religious communities, etc.
- We have organized public panels and discussions, and promotions:
- March 8 – Belgrade: Women’s Solidarity against the Increase of Fundamentalism and the Oppression of Reproductive and Sexual Rights – a panel discussion held at the Center for Cultural Decontamination attended by 48 activists from the following towns in Serbia: Leskovac, Novi Sad, Kikinda, Vlasotince, Kraljevo, Krusevac, Zajecar, Subotica, Babusnica, Novi Pazar, and Tutin; as well as activists from autonomous women’s groups and independent trade unions from Belgrade.
- April 6 - “New Strategies of Fundamentalism in Europe and North America: The Attack on Democracy, Basic Human Rights, and Women’s Human Rights and Feminist Strategies against Fundamentalism,” lecture given by Marieme Helie-Lucas, Algeria/France, the founder of network Women Living under Muslim Laws. The lecture was held in the Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade.
At the same event the Women in Black reader “Warning Signs of Fundamentalism – Feminist Responses” was presented.
The Coalition for the Secular State
In response to the draft law on churches and religious communities, Women in Black immediately launched the action of sensitizing of public and creation of a solidarity coalition for the preservation of the state’s secular character as a fundamental democratic and constitutional principle. For that purpose, six meetings were held in the Women in Black office from March 20 to April 10. These meetings led to the creation of the “Coalition for the Secular State” by Belgrade’s Human Rights Center, the Center for Peace and the Development of Democracy, the Center for the Improvement of Legal Studies, Voice of Difference and Women in Black. Our common work resulted in the formulation of proposed amendments to the aforementioned law, and a group of parliamentary representatives was lobbied to advocate for the amendments in the Serbian Parliament. Dozens of NGOs from all over Serbia that support the proposed amendments have joined the Coalition.
- April 12 – A public discussion about the law on churches and religious communities was held in the Center for Cultural Decontamination with the participation of experts, activists, and media representatives. The Coalition has made numerous public announcements, statements, media releases, etc.
At this meeting, the activities of the Coalition in the following period were planned.
Educational activities
- April, 7, 8 and 9 – The seminar “Warning Signs of fundamentalism – Feminist Responses” – first stage of training for the activists of the Women in Black Network consisted of ten interactive lectures about the most important issues related to all forms of fundamentalism, their areas and ways of actions, as well as responses to fundamentalist threats, tendencies, and movements. The lectures were given by experts in the field of history, sociology, philosophy from Serbia, but also from Algeria/France and Croatia.
This seminar was attended by 57 activists of the Women in Black Network from entire Serbia (20 towns), as well as from Kosovo and Montenegro (2). The second stage of training is planned to be held at the end of April.
MUTUAL SUPPORT – SOLIDARITY IN ACTION
- We were present at numerous trials of women human rights defenders, and most notably, that of Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (YUKOM), which were held on January 16 and 18, February 1, and March 1. These trials aimed to discredit and even to criminalize the civil society and representing part of a continuing campaign led by some elements from the current government since they assumed power (in the end of 2003).
- February 17 – “The Civil Society and the Authorities,” lecture given by the Women in Black activist at the Faculty of Law in Nis, organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Belgrade.
- “Ten years since the death of Biljana Jovanovic(1953 – 1996), writer and anti-war activist. As a part of numerous cultural-political activities carried out in the period of March 11 – 18, and organized by Biljana’s friends, Women in Black participated in various segments, especially those related to the opening of the street named for Biljana Jovanovic, etc.
PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES
We will mention some of the most important:
- “Women’s Peace Politics”, a brochure, 31 page.
- “Warning Signs of Fundamentalism – Feminist Responses”, a reader, 244 pages, three chapters:
Fundamentalism: concepts, characteristics, spheres and tactics;
Fundamentalism: The attack on basic human rights, the oppression of reproductive and sexual rights;
Fundamentalism and Feminist Responses
The reader contains papers of 32 authors from almost all continents.
- “Neda Bozinovic: The Continuity of the Struggle for Peace and Women’s Rights,” collection of texts, 55 pages.
We have published numerous leaflets, posters to mark March 8, as well as materials related to the issues of security from the feminist-pacifist standpoint, and leaflets against all forms of fundamentalism.
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
We had numerous meetings with activists from international peace networks, primarily in Belgrade. We have also actively participated in other activities, and we will name some of them:
- January 19, Zagreb – Center for Peace Studies, lecture about the feminist-pacifist politics of Women in Black.
- March 1, Belgrade – “Safety in the Region – the Inclusion of Women in Peace Processes,” organized by the Swedish women’s foundation Kvinna til Kvinna. On that occasion two women’s networks – Women in Black – Serbia and the Kosovo Women’s Network – agreed upon common activities related to the monitoring of the Kosovo future status negotiations.
- March 25, Sarajevo – The conference “Civil Society at a Turning Point –Between an Unfinished Transition and a European Perspective” organized by the German foundation Heinrich Boell Stiftung.
Internal workshops
Besides regular meetings, in January and February a cycle of workshops (4) about the emotional literacy and women’s activist guilt was held. The workshops were held in the Women in Black office.
Report submitted by: Ljilja, Milos, and Stasa
April 16, 2006
