Here is, as usual, a brief summary of the Women in Black activities over the reporting period. Should you be interested in more detailed information, it can be found on our website www.zeneucrnom.org or you can contact us at the following e-mail addresses: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. We thank you in advance in solidarity.
Confronting the past – transitional justice – a feminist approach
This educational program contains several elements which can be classified in the following way:
Visiting the places where crimes were committed in our name: street action related to confrontation with the past / transitional justice – commemorating the crimes committed in our name:
11 September, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina: participation at the peace protests and marches ‘We are looking for the missing – let us not forget Srebrenica’, which are organized on every eleventh of the month by the Citizens' association from Tuzla ‘The Women of Srebrenica’. On this occasion, five activists of Women in Black – Belgrade joined this peaceful protest.
7 October, Vlasenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina: participation of nine Women in Black activists from Belgrade in the commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the crime committed by the Serbian armed formations against the Bosnian civilians in the camp of Sušica, where 8,000 Bosnians were detained, out of whom 1,100 civilians were killed.
22 October, Sjeverin and Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the kidnapping of 16 persons of Bosnian nationality from the village of Sjeverin (municipality of Priboj, Serbia) by members of the Army of Republika Srpska and the formation 'Osvetnici' (The Avengers). The commemoration was organized by family members of thee victims of the Sjeverin crime, Women in Black activists and the Humanitarian Law Fund.
After the above mentioned commemoration, activists of the Women in Black Network had encounters and exchanges with the victim's families and with the associations that organized the commemorations and actions aimed at arriving at a just peace.
9 November, Belgrade: Street action on the occasion of the International Day of Actions against Fascism and Anti-Semitism, organized by Women in Black, Queeria Center and the Social-Democratic Party / SDU. This action, entitled 'Resistance against Hatred' marked the 70th anniversary of the pogrom against the Jewish citizens in Nazi Germany ('The Crystal Night'). The action also served as an act of warning about the growing extremist rightist forces in Serbia, and as a request to the authorities to stop and sanction the growing clerical fascist and neo-nazi organizations in Serbia. More than a hundred activists from Belgrade and around fifty activists of the International Network United from all parts of Europe joined this action. Women in Black and Queeria Center are members of this network against fascism, nationalism and all forms of discrimination.
Artistic engagement in confrontation with the past / transitional justice
Over this period, the practice of joint activities and cooperation of national and international artists’ associations, professional theaters and artists engaged in resistance to war, war crimes, repression and human rights violations has been continued.
26 and 27 September: Truth in Translation, Belgrade: A theater play performed by a South African troop of actors, directed by Michael Lessac (New York) at the 42nd Bitef (Belgrade International Theater Festival).
Truth in Translation is a story about the experience of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee after the regime of Apartheid, which is considered to be one of the most important institutions in transitional justice processes throughout the world. The performance was played in Rwanda and in 13 other cities in six countries on three continents.
Owing to the cooperation between the Mott Foundation, the director M. Lessac and a group of local professional associations and non-governmental organizations (Women in Black, Youth Initiative for Human rights, Humanitarian Law Fund, several dozen activists from all parts of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as we all had the opportunity to see the performance and participate in the accompanying educational programs.
2 October, Bujanovac, Truth in Translation: Women in Black – Belgrade organized a visit to the performance in Bujanovac for 42 activists of Women for Peace from Leskovac and the SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence from Vlasotince. After the performance, they participated in the discussion on the implementation of transitional justice and the role of the civilian society in achieving peace with justice.
'Crossing the line: Women Peace Build Peace'
3 October, Belgrade: Crossing the Line, theater performance of Dah theater, specially prepared to accompany the promotion of the book 'Women's Side of War' and based on its texts. The book was published by Women in Black (2008).
The performance was presented as part of the 49th October salon 'The citizen artist' which was held from 26 September till 9 November.
7 – 16 October, Bosnia and Herzegovina –'Crossing the line: Women Build Peace'
a theater and activist tour of the Dah theater and Women in Black: the performance was conceived based on the texts from the book 'Women's Side of War' published by Women in Black. It is a compilation of authentic women's testimonies on the wars in the area of the former Yugoslavia from 1991 till 1999. It contains testimonies, statements, letters and accounts describing the suffering of women in the war, and also their courage and strength to overcome the war traumas. The book was edited by Lina Vušković and Zorica Trifunović. The theater performance directed by Dijana Milošević tackles the issues of confrontation with the past and the importance of women's solidarity irrespective of all boundaries and divisions.
The promotion of the book, as well as the discussion, were held in the following cities:
7 –8 October, Tuzla: in the Youth Cabaret Theatre, in cooperation with the theater and the citizen's association 'The Women of Srebrenica'. Fifty-five people attended the promotion and discussion.
9- 10 October, Sarajevo: in the cultural artistic organization 'Sloga' in the organization of the Foundation Cure from Sarajevo, with the participation of 31 persons.
11- 13 October, Mostar: in the Mostar Youth Theater, in the organization of the theater and 'The BH Women, with the participation of 60 persons.
14 – 15 October, Zenica: in the Bosnian National Theater, in the organization of the theater and the magazine for social and cultural issues 'Zeničke sveske' (The Zenica Notebooks). The performance and the promotion of the book were attended by 80 people.
8 – 9 November, Pula, Croatia: the theater 'Circolo', in the organization of the NGO 'Homo' from Pula; the performance and the promotion were attended by 36 people.
8 December, Zagreb, Croatia: In the alternative cultural Center 'Mama' , in the organization of the association 'Izmir', 55 people attended the performance and took part in the discussion.
10 December, Belgrade, International Human Rights Day: the performance 'The Invisible City' by Dah Theater: 'the performance started at noon, at the terminal of bus line 26 in Danube Street in Belgrade and ended at the last bus stop, in a suburban area (Braće Jerković). During the journey, the actresses interacted with the passengers, reminding them of the multiethnic and multicultural character of Belgrade in the past. On the occasion of Human Rights Day, a quiz was also organized for the passengers. The actresses presented excerpts from the Declaration on Human Rights is ten different languages and evoked memories of the activists who are no longer with us and whose merit in the struggle for human rights in Serbia in the 1990's is unquestioned (Jelena Šantić, Dejan Nebrigić, Žarana Papić, Stojan Cerović, Biljana Jovanović, Neda Božinović...). At all the bus stops along that line (26 altogether), the NGO and SDU activists distributed promotional materials concerning human rights, women's human rights, peace and security. Many public figures joined the action, as well as representatives of the media. The action was organized by Women in Black, Dah Theater, Škart, Humanitarian Law Fund, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, the Center for Peace and Development of D, The Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights and the Social Democratic Union.
Punishment for crimes – the road to peace with justice: monitoring the trials in the Special Court in Belgrade – before the Council for War Crimes
The Suva Reka crimes trial: members of the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia killed 48 Albanian civilians on 26 March 1999. As of 2 October 2006, Women in Black activists have attended all the court sessions held so far:
September: two day – on 3rd and 4th
October: three days – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
November: four days – 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th
December: three days- 1st, 3rd and 4th
Trial for the Lovas crime: members of the JNA and paramilitary formations 'Dušan Silni' (Dušan the Mighty) killed about 70 Croatian civilians in October 1191. From the very beginning, Women in Black activists have been monitoring the trial. The following sessions were held over this reporting period:
September: five days – 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th.
October: five days – 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
November: five days – 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th
December: four days – 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
Trials for the Podujevo crime:
On 28 March 1999, members of the unit 'The Scorpios' in Podujevo (Kosovo), (Đukić Željko, Medić Dragan, Borojević Dragan and Šolaja Miodrag) who were in action as reserve troopers of the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia, at 7, Rahman Morina Street, in the yard of the house of Haljim Gashi, killed and wounded heavily 19 ethnic
Albanian civilians: Šefkate Bogujevci (born in 1956), Nora Bogujevci (1984), Fezdrije Lugaliu (1978), Nefise Lugaliu (1945), Salid Bogujevci (1960), Špen Bogujevci (1986), Špetim Bogujevci (1989), Šehida Bogujevci (1932), Isma Durići (1930), Fitneta Durići (1963), Dafina Durići (1930), Arbr Durići (1992), Mimoza Durići (1995) and Aljbion Durići (1997). Saranda (1985), Fatos (1986), Jehona (1998), Lirije (1990) and Genc (1993) Bogujevci were gravely wounded.
So far, Saša Cvjetan, member of ‘The Scorpios’ has been sentenced to twenty years in prison for the war crime in Podujevo , in 2005. The following sessions were held:
September: three days – 8th, 9th and 10th.
October: five days – 13th, 14th, 15th 16th and 17th.
November: four days – 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.
December: six days – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
The Vahhabi: the trial began on 14th January 2008 before the Council for Organized Crime of the Special Court in Belgrade.
Fifteen persons have been indicted: Senad Ramović, Jasmin Smajlović, Adnan Hot, Memić Nedžad, Fuad Hodžić, Mirsad Prentić, Erhan Smailović, Senad Vejselović, Vahid Vejselović, Mehmedin Koljši, Husein Čuljak, Aldin Puljić, Memić Bekta, Safet Bećirović and Berbo Damir.
According to the indictment of 14 September 2007, the defendants are charged with the criminal offence of assembling for anti-constitutional activities related to the criminal offence of terrorism and illegal possession of arms and explosives. They were arrested on 16 March 2007 in a police action during which Ismail Prentić was killed. over this reporting period, we monitored the following court sessions:
September: five days – 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th
October: four days – 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th.
In the course of this reporting period, we monitored 57 court sessions (more than 100 work days, in view of the fact that some of the sessions were attended by several Women in Black activists) before the Special Court. Women in Black activists (Persa Vučić and Miloš Urošević monitor all trials, as well as other Women in Black activist from all parts of Serbia). They send out their reports to organizations within the Women in Black Network and the International Network we cooperate with.
Educational activities: workshops, panels / lectures, promotions
Belgrade, 28th September: My truth /Your truth: a political-artistic workshop on transitional justice of international character, coordinated by the South African actors' troop and the participation of more than 50 activists of Women in Black and Youth Initiative for Human Rights from several cities in Serbia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
'Truth – accountability – justice – trust in the period of transition – a feminist approach':
within the cycle of workshops under this title, which started in March 2008, Women in Black workshops were held in the following cities:
Velika Plana, 1 October: in the organisation of 'Women in Action', with the participation of 21 activists from Velika Plana, Smederevska Palanka and Belgrade.
Niš, 6 November: the workshops were held in the premises of the Alternative Cultural Center /AKC from Niš, with the participation of 20 activists from Niš, Leskovac, Svrljig, Pirot and Belgrade.
Zrenjanin, 28 November: promotion of the book Women's side of War, in the organization of the Zrenjanin alternative center / ZEC, the compilation was promoted by Lina Vušković and Staša Zajović, with the participation of 21 women from Zrenjanin and Belgrade.
Belgrade, 24 December: Promotion of the book by Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben ‘What remains of Auschwitz’; the book was presented by Lino Veljak, professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, while 28 activists participated in the discussion that followed in Women in Black premises in Belgrade.
Vrnjačka banja, 23 September: on the initiative of REKOM (Regional initiative for the formation of a fact-finding committee on war crimes in post-Yugoslav countries. The initiative was launched by the following organizations: the Humanitarian Law Fund from Belgrade, Documenta from Zagreb / Croatia and the Documentary – Research Center from Sarajevo (BH). In this meeting of the Women in Black Network, as in all others that were held over this period and in the course of numerous other activities, the RECOM initiative was promoted and joined within WiB groups, with active participation in the initiative.
Seminars, conferences, consultations concerning the issue of confrontation with the past: in the organization of related NGO-s with the active participation of Women in Black:
Kotor/Montenegro, 13 September: lecture given by Staša Zajović, Women in Black activist 'Transitional justice – a feminist approach' in the organization of Women Studies – Kotor.
Fruška Gora / Serbia, 11 October: National consultations on the initiative for the formation of the regional fact-finding committee for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia (REKOM) in the organisation of the Humanitarian Law Fund –Belgrade.
Priština / Kosovo, 28 and 29 October: The Fourth Regional Forum on enforcing justice in post-Yugoslav societies: launching the initiative for appointing a Regional Committee, REKOM, in the organization of HLF, Documenta from Zagreb and IDC from Sarajevo.
Testimonies, Belgrade, Brčko – beyond reasonable doubt; 5th September 2008 in the organization of HLF from Belgrade.
6th December, Zagreb: lecture given by women in Black activists 'Transitional justice – a feminist approach' held in the Center for Human Rights, with the participation of 35 activists from Zagreb peace groups.
I want to see, to find out and to change: video projections of documentary materials and feature films on war crimes, on women's resistance to war and to the crimes in the former Yugoslavia and throughout the world. As of February 2008, the cycle Crime and women's resistance has been running, consisting of film projections (both documentary and feature); over this period, projections were organized within women in Black in Serbia:
The Official Version (La historia oficial) directed by Luis Puenco, 1985 The film has received 22 awards, including the Oscar as best foreign film.
Brief contents of the film: Alisia Marnet is a well-to-do history professor living in Buenos Aires during and after the military dictatorship. Her husband is a renowned lawyer and they have a five-year-old adopted daughter. The story follows her search for the truth about her adopted daughter, as she gradually discovers that she is one of the “missing”. In this process, she is confronted with the real face of the military junta in Argentina.
Vrnjačka banja, 24 September: The participants were 30 women from the following cities: Belgrade, Niš, Leskovac, Kikinda, Novi Sad, Velika Plana, Kruševac, Vlasotince, Pljevlja, Kozarac (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Niš, 28 October: in the organization of a women in Black activist (Mariola Stamenković) the projection was held in the premises of the Alternative Cultural Center /AKC in Niš, before and audience of 14 persons.
Leskovac, 18 November, with the participation of eight women (the whole group). The projection was held in the organization of women for Peace.
Vlasotince, 4 December: with the participation of 12 women, the projection was held in the organization of the SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence.
Kruševac, 24 November: in the organization of 'Peščanik' , ten women were present.
A total number of 82 persons (over 95% of whom are women) attended these events, which were followed by discussions, the most important elements of which are:
The Dreams We Share (Suenos compartidos) Director: Edgardo Kabesa, produced by Fundacion de Madres de Plaza de mayo (2007.), Ministerio de derechos humanos sociales Universidad popular de Madres de Plaza de mayo, the film lasts 67 minutes. This documentary was made on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the well known organization for peace and justice in Argentina - The May Square Mothers. The film looks into the reasons why this organization was started: to help the search for their sons and daughters who went missing during the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976. – 1983.), to struggle for the indictment of criminals, but it also emphasizes the enormous efforts that the May Square Mothers invested in order to achieve accomplishments in the field of education, social justice and human rights.
In the course of this period, the film was shown in :
Vlasotince, 12 November, in the organization of the SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence, with the participation of twelve (12) women.
Small libraries of transitional justice – knowledge as a civil responsibility for peace: after the first phase that began in 2005 by starting libraries on transitional justice within the Women in Black Network in Serbia, i.e. by distributing publications by domestic authors and translated works, books published by Belgrade and regional NGO-s dealing with transitional justice issues. As of 2008 we have directed our efforts at spreading the network of transitional justice libraries. In this phase, the educational program consists of distributing WiB publications and publications issued by related NGO-s dealing with these issues, to the libraries that allow us to use their premises for a variety of activities we organize: promotions, discussions and debates, mostly concerning the issues of confronting the past / transitional justice, but also other current issues. The aim is to enlarge the circle of our allies by this distribution of publications in order to make them available to a broad circle of readers and to lend our support to individuals working in those libraries who express great civil courage by ceding their premises even in places where that is not simple due to political factors. Over this period, the distribution involved the libraries within WiB groups and city libraries throughout Serbia.
Besides, over this reporting period, Women in Black actively participated in numerous operational meetings related to the indictment of war criminals, issuing numerous announcements and launching initiatives with related organizations: The Humanitarian Law Fund, The Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, The Youth Initiative for Human Rights, The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, etc.
Women, Peace, Security – Resolution 1325 and UN Declarations on defenders of human rights
Over this period, the following activities were carried out related the promotion of a humane and feminist approach to security and to the UN Resolution 'Women, Peace, Security'.
Consultative meetings of the work group for security and Resolution 1325: on joint activities of the Women in Black Network and the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights / Yukom concerning activities in the forthcoming period (workshops, lectures, trainings, promotions, production of promotional material, etc.), and the preparation of the conference on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of Resolution 1325. Over this reporting period, the following operational meetings were held:
15 September, 6 October and 21 October: one-day operational team meetings, consisting of ten activists of Yukom and the Women in Black Network of Serbia, as well as media consultants for these issues.
The Conference 'Women, Peace, Security': held on 30 and 31 October in Belgrade, in the Center for Cultural Decontamination. The conference was organized by Women in Black and Yukom (Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights).
The Resolution 1325 'Women, Peace, security' was adopted by the UN Security Council. For the first time in history, The UN Security council advocates, at such a high level, the inclusion of the civilian society, and women primarily, in peace processes and the implementation of peace agreements.
The following panel discussions were held at the conference:
- From the traditional to a humane concept of security – on the global and regional level
- State of security in Serbia: obstacles, reforms, challenges...
- Security of the activists and human rights defenders in Serbia
- What does security mean for women? On the antimilitaristic and feminist concept of security
- From victims of war to promoters of peace.
The panelists were: Prof. dr. Vesna Rakić – Vodinelić, Prof. dr. Dragana Dulić, Verica Barać, Gordana Pualić (Ministry of Justice), Jelena Milić, Rodoljub Šabić, Biljana Kovačević Vučo, Aida Ćorović, Zoe Gudović, Nevena Kostić, Boban Stojanović, Staša Zajović and other human rights activists who spoke about everyday problems they confront in their work, which are related to their personal security.
The Women in Black Network was represented at the conference by 75 activists from fifteen cities in Serbia: Beograd, Vlasotince, Velika Plana, Subotica, Leskovac, Novi Sad, Pančevo, Kikinda, Niš, Kruševac, Sremski Karlovci, Novi Pazar. The representatives of the Democratic party, the Liberal Democratic party, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina and G17 were also there.
31 October: Meeting with the deputies to the Assembly of Serbia, submitting a demand to the Serbian parliament
On the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, deputies Snežana Stojanović-Plavšić, Elvira Kovač and Nikola Novaković (deputy president of NS) received the representatives of the NGO-s Women in Black and the Lawyers' committee for Human Rights - YUCOM in the National Assembly building. The following documents were submitted to the representatives of the Assembly of Serbia: UN SC Resolution 1325, Women in Black Resolution 'Women, Peace, Security' and UN Declaration on the rights of human rights defenders. At the same time, the MPs were informed about the obligations deriving from the UN Declaration on Human Rights of the human rights defenders and they were called upon to act in accordance with it and protect the defenders of human rights by adopting the declaration and other relevant international documents concerning human security and the security of human rights defenders.
16 December, Leskovac: The seminar (interactive lecture and workshop) on Resolution 1325, on the Declaration on human rights defenders and generally on the human and feminist concept of security was coordinated by: Maja Pešić, Marijana Stojčić and Katarina Jozić; the seminar was organized by Women in Black – Belgrade and Women for peace – Leskovac, with the participation of 25 women from Leskovac, Vučje, Vlasotince and Belgrade.
Informative materials: power - point on the gender dimension of security and Resolution 1325, a series of postcards on Resolution 1325, a leaflet on the activities of Women in Black concerning the gender dimension of security and Resolution 1325.
Over this period, other activities concerning these issues were also conducted in the international plan, which will be described further down in this report.
Threatening signs of fundamentalism – feminist responses: this educational program containing many segments has been unfolding continually as of 2006.
Educational activities: lectures, workshops:
Novi Sad, 29 October: panel 'Secularism today, society, the state and the church', was held at the Faculty of Philosophy, with the participation of 39 lecturers. Among others, those were: Dr Zagorka Golubović, anthropologist, Belgrade, Dr Lino Veljak, philosopher, Zagreb and M.A. Slobodan Sadžakov, philosopher, Novi Sad; The panel attracted an audience of around 50, most of whom were students and civil society activists.
27 October, Struga/Macedonia: a lecture ‘Reproductive rights, the nation and national security', given by Staša Zajović as part of the international conference.
14 November, Capetown, South Africa: active participation and paper presentation at the international conference (AWID) as part of the panel discussion ‘Secularism is a women's issue’ in the organization of the international network WLUML / Women living under Muslim laws. At the same conference, WiB activist (Staša Zajović) actively participated in numerous panel discussions on resistance to fundamentalism, promotion of secularism from the gender perspective, etc.
Film projections: Taking advantage of religion, customs, traditions.. women's responses
This is the continuation of video projections on various forms of violence against women and various ways of taking advantage of religion, tradition and cultural heritage, but also on women's resistance, women's action and women's solidarity...
Over this period, the following film was shown:
Buds of Wrath: 10 days with RAWA, directed by Michela Goberti, produced by CISDI (Center for international cooperation and development). The film was made in 2007 and it lasts 52 minutes. This documentary testifies on the activities of the feminist group Rawa (Revolutionary association of the women of Afghanistan) who are struggling against fundamentalist violence under extremely difficult political circumstances, coupled with adverse social circumstance and grave consequences of war violence in Afghanistan. The activist guide Sahar travels with Italian feminists /pacifists (Women in Black among them) through Afghanistan in 2005. The film gives a cross section of activities such as: literacy courses for girls, education and health, support groups, the celebration of 8th March in Kabul. The film shows the vigorous efforts of the RAWA activists for a secular state, i.e. the complete separation of religion and state.
The projection of this film was held in Vlasotince, on 1 September in front of an audience of 16 women.
As part of the Coalition for the secular state launched by women in Black (2006), several operational consulting meetings were held concerning the following activities. Also, over this period we conducted the following international activities: cooperation with the anti-fundamentalist networks: WLUML, SIAWI, AWID regarding joint appearances at international conferences and joint publishing activities.
Networking, coalitions and alliances – mutual support and solidarity
Women in Black have been the initiators or active participators of numerous international networks, coalitions and alliances. They take active participation in the activities of related organizations with the aim of strengthening mutual support, solidarity, the civilian society and democracy in Serbia and in the entire region. Over this period, numerous activities were carried out, of which we will highlight the following:
Meetings of the Women in Black Network, Serbia:
Vrnjačka banja, 23, 24 and 25 September: Peace activism – women's solidarity; several workshops were held with this topic, as well as discussions concerning forthcoming activities, with the participation of 30 women activists from the following cities: Beograd, Niš, Leskovac, Kikinda, Novi Sad, Velika Plana, Kruševac, Vlasotince, Pljevlja, Kozarac (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Other Women in Black operational meetings: 31 October in Belgrade, with the participation of 21 activists and on 16 December in Leskovac, with the participation of 16 activists from Leskovac, Vlasotince and Belgrade.
28 September, Vlasotince: workshop with the young activists of Vlasotince and the representatives of the European youth network YEPP/Youth Empowerment Partnership Program (Tomas Handrich) and Women in Black – Belgrade activists.
9 October, Belgrade: at a conference organized by ŽINDOK (women's informative documentary center) WiB activists held a workshop on women's peace politics.
21 October, Kikinda: Panel: Feminism and activism – challenges, with the participation of Jelena Višnjić, Glas razlike, Mirjana Mirosavljević, Reconstruction – Women's Fund and Staša Zajović, Women in Black – Belgrade. The panel was held in the city library and organized by the women's alternative workshops /ŽAR, with the participation of ten people.
9 November, Belgrade: workshop / discussion in Women in Black premises with the activists of the European network United on antifascist actions, solidarity, the impact of the USA elections, etc. This discussion, which was organized by Women in Black and Queeria Center was joined by 35 activists.
26 November, Belgrade: discussion / exchange on our experiences from international feminist conferences in Columbia and South Africa. The following women who had participated at those conferences talked: Slavica Stojanović, Mirjana Mirosavljević (Reconstruction – Women's Fund, Radmila Grubičić, Labris and Staša Zajović, Women in Black), in the presence of 15 activists.
27 November, Kruševac: interactive lecture 'Is a different power possible?' The lecturers were Slavica Stojanović and Staša Zajović, WiB, Belgrade, in the organization of the women's group 'Peščanik' and with the participation of 50 women.
Solidarity campaigns: Over this period, Women in Black together with numerous NGO-s launched a large number of campaigns, the most important of them being the following:
September – campaign against the banning of the book 'The Jewel of Medina'. Under the pressure of the Islamic religious community, the publisher (Beobuk from Belgrade) of this book written by Sherry Jones (USA) decided to ban the book because it contains 'insults against Islam'. After the NGO sector put pressure protesting against this attempt of one religious community to introduce censorship, the book reappeared.
October – Solidarity campaign with Sonja Biserko: against the media campaign and attacks by clerical fascist and clerical nationalistic organizations against Sonja Biserko, president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia / HOPS; the campaign began after the publication of the HOPS annual report for 2007, which exposed the facts concerning the accountability of the Serbian regime for war crimes in the period 1991.- 1999. The solidarity campaign was launched by Women in Black and the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights and was joined by over 50 NGO-s from Serbia. At the appeal of Women in Black, many international human rights and women rights organizations joined the campaign in defense of Sonja Biserko.
December – Solidarity with Biljana Kovačević-Vučo: 8 December ( at the Municipal Court )
Attending the trial of Biljana Kovačević-Vučo, from the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights (Yukom), charged with the criminal offence of 'slander’ by the director of Radio Television Serbia Aleksandar Tijanić. By attending the sessions of the trial which began in early 2006, we express our supported to the indicted human rights defender, while the trial itself is part of the campaign led by a segment of the present-day authorities against the civilian society, especially against those NGO-s that are pledging for a decisive breakaway from the criminal past.
Solidarity with Bojan Aleksov – Attending the trial , 25 December (at the Municipal Court)
Bojan Aleksov, who has been a Women in Black activist ever since the inception of our organization (he now lives and works in London ) has sued the Republic of Serbia for kidnapping, torture and repression he suffered at the hands of the members of State Security of Serbia in July 2000, i.e. in the period of the fiercest repression against Women in Black by the regime of Slobodan Milošević. After its downfall, Bojan Aleksov authorized the Humanitarian Law Fund to press charges against the state of Serbia. In the process that was held from 2001 until 2004, The First Municipal Court proved the accountability of the state of Serbia for the above mentioned criminal offences and ruled that Bojan Aleksov be paid compensation. However, The Municipal Court annulled this decision and ordered the resumption of the trial, which is being postponed endlessly, although all the facts have been established, as well as the identity of the perpetrators – members of the State Security of Serbia officials. At the latest session, the State Security submitted a written document denying that the perpetrators were still employed by this agency.
October – Campaign demanding the banning of the neo-nazi march: Under the pressure of a groups of NGO-s, Women in Black having played a mayor role among them, the campaign was supported by 96 NGO-s from all parts of Serbia and the neo-nazi march scheduled for 11 October was banned.
November-December – Solidarity campaign with Dah Theater: following a series of common activities with women in Black (which have been mentioned in this report) this professional women's theater was exposed to numerous attacks: in November, the Dah Theater premises were robbed, valuable documentation was stolen and taken away and on 11 December, a fire was provoked in their theater. We directed our campaign at the national authorities, demanding an investigation into all the circumstances – which has not been done so far – and on the international level, by informing international human rights organizations and institutions about these events. Our campaign is still on.
10 December - International Human Rights Day: Women in Black launched a series of joint actions with related organizations with whom the following activities were conducted:
- six operational meetings in November and December in the WiB premises,
- Press conference on 10 December in the International Press center, during which the activists of the Humanitarian Law Fund, the Lawyers; Committee for Human Rights, Women in Black and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights voiced their demands to the state concerning transitional justice, Resolution 1325, the declaration on the human rights defenders, etc.
- A joint appeal to the state : demands for the implementation of transitional justice, the reform of the army and the police, control over them, the protection of human rights defenders, etc.
Human rights bazaar in the Rex cinema – cultural center – an all-day bazaar of information concerning human rights, where activists of Women in Black and the Lawyers' Committee for Human rights spoke with the public, distributed activist materials, etc.
Women in Black also distributed leaflets on human rights and women's rights within the WiB network in Serbia.
Publishing activities Edition 'Feminism, Pacifism, Non-violence': launched in 2006 with the aim to present the issues of importance for the theoretical and activist engagement of Women in Black and of the civilian society in general in a concise and uncomplicated way.
Peace activism in religions – reprint of the publication: educational 60-page brochure, consists of five chapters: Peace, pacifism, religious pacifism; Monotheistic religions; Peace movements and communities of religious orientation within the church; Peace movements and communities of religious orientation The brochure was first published in 2007 and has been reprinted because of the great interest it attracted.
Fundamentalisms today – feminist and democratic approaches: reprint publication, 123 pages, in Serbian and Bosnian, written by Marieme Helie Lukas, published by Women in Black –Belgrade and Woman and Society, Sarajevo. Author of the compilation Marieme Heli-Lukas/Marieme Helie Lucas, founder of the global feminist secular network 'Women Living under Muslim Laws' and SIAWI (Secularism is a women's issue'). The compilation first came out in September 2007 with the financial support of Heinreich Beoll Stiftung. The promotion was held in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In view of the fact that the first edition has been completely distributed, and that there is a great interest for it, we believe that it is important to publish a reprint.
Women's peace agenda – secularism and women: So far, Women in Black have published eleven issues of the agenda (1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, 2008). The Women's peace agenda for 2009 deals with the topic of secularism, with special emphasis on the gender dimension. the Agenda presents important concepts and the importance of secularism, and also concrete experiences and actions of women's peace groups and women artists / scientists against all forms of fundamentalism and clericalisation. The Agenda has 182 pages and it was printed in 500 copies.
Edition: What every citizen should know...?
Women in Black started the edition in 2007 with the aim to denounce the abuse of religion, ethnicity and cultural heritage with political ends, but above all this is about the promotion of secularism. These are very short brochures that were made in cooperation with the Coalition for the secular state, while the esthetic image of the entire edition is in the hands of Škart, an artistic association. The edition has aroused a great interest, so that the first brochure has been reprinted.
What every citizen should know about the Serbian Orthodox Church?
What every citizen should know about the secular state – a small glossary of secularism: English edition What every citizen should know about a secular state – glossary, a publication published by the Coalition for the secular state, by author Snežana Tabački, Women in Black activist, contains 30 pages and presents the basic concepts and values of secularism. The glossary was published in cooperation with the network WLUML/Women Living Under Muslim Laws and WiB.
Women's side of war in Albanian – Ana femerare e luftes; 441 pages, 14 chapters. 'Women's side of war' published by Women in Black. The book is a compilation of authentic testimonies of women about the wars in the area of the former Yugoslavia in the period 1991-1999. It contains testimonies, statements, letters and accounts describing the suffering of women in the war, but also their courage and strength to overcome their war traumas. The book was edited by: Lina Vušković and Zorica Trifunović.
Antimilitarism: Over this period we organized the following activities:
17 October, Belgrade: street action of solidarity with the non-violent movement in Iraq as part of the Global campaign of solidarity with the non-violent movement in Iraq.
5 December, Zagreb: discussion / workshop on the building of a just peace, trust, anti-militarism between Serbia and Croatia and in the region, in the organization IzMir (Initiative for peace-building and cooperation) with the participation of activists of the above mentioned initiative, as well as the veterans of the Association and activists of the Network of women in Black Serbia (Zorica Trifunović, Ljiljana Radovanović, Nađa Duhaček and Staša Zajović, Belgrade, Snežana Baralić-Bošnjak, Pančevo and Almasi Vilmoš, Trešnjevac/Vojvodina).
Campaigns: Demanding from the state to find out the truth about the tragic death of two soldiers, (2006) because there is reason to believe that it is connected with the hiding of the war criminal R. Mladić. We launched the campaign in September together with the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights /Yukom; also with Yukom, we organized a campaign in September demanding that all sales of armament produced in military factories in Serbia to Iraq be stopped.
International politics: participation at international conferences, in coalitions and exchanges...
We will mention only those activities where Women in Black had a leading role:
Regional and international coalitions
Women's peace coalition: which is made up of the Women in Black Network – Serbia and the Kosovo Women's Network / KWN organized the following activities over this period:
24 October, Priština/Kosovo: international conference 'Women as ambassadors of peace for coexistence and tolerance; the activists also visited the women in the Serbian enclave of Vučitrn.
1. – 16 December, Priština: operational meeting of the members of the Women's Peace Coalition.
Regional women's lobby for peace, security and justice in South-East Europe: the following joint activities were conducted: 28 and 29 October, Priština: strategic meeting and planning of future activities, and also a joint visit and discussion with the women of two Serbian enclaves in Kosovo: Prilužje and Ugljari. The regional lobby of women for peace, security and justice in South-east Europe was founded in 2006 with the support of UNIFEM. The Lobby promotes advocacy and political action for the promotion of peace and stability in the region, including the implementation of the Resolution 1325. The Lobby consists of women from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. Its members are prominent politicians, parliamentarians and civil society activists. Two Women in Black activists are also members of the Lobby.
5 December, Zagreb/Croatia: round table discussion 'From the traditional concept of security to the gender dimension of security', in the organization of NGO 'Izmir' and with the participation of five activists of the Network of Women in Black – Serbia (Zorica Trifunović, Ljiljana Radovanović, Nađa Duhaček and Staša Zajović, Belgrade, Snežana Baralić-Bošnjak, Pančevo and Almasi Vilmoš, Trešnjevac/Vojvodina), as well as members of the Regional lobby Morana Paliković-Gruden, Gordana Sobol from Zagreb, etc. Fifty persons were present at the round table discussion.
18 and 19 December, Belgrade: consultations with human rights defenders in Serbia – meeting with the representatives of OUN, the OHCHR-Human Rights Officer Orsolya Toth and others on the status of defenders of human rights, etc.
Participation at international conferences
26 and 29 October, Struga/Macedonia: Sexual and reproductive rights, international seminar in the organization of the Swedish foundation Kvinna till Kvinna, with the participation of women's groups from Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.
14 – 17 November, Cape town, South Africa: participation at the international conference 'The power of Movements' in the organization of AWID-a (Women's Rights and Development), etc.
Visits of international activists, volunteers and researchers: over this period, Women in Black had operational meetings, exchanges and consultations with a very large number of activists from the following countries: ovde nije završeno
Prepared by Staša Zajović in cooperation with Miloš Urošević and Ljiljana Radovanović
Belgrade, 26 January 2008
