As we have done in the past, we are providing you with a short report on the activities of Women in Black in the reporting period.
We would like to thank you in advance, in solidarity.
Street actions: During the period covered by this report we have organized twelve (12) actions, and we also took part in other street actions.
- Commemorations/memorialization of important dates of crimes committed in our name
- Feminist, antifascist, anti-war, antiracist and antimilitarist actions...
Commemorations of important dates of crimes committed in our name, as well as of other crimes against civilians during (and after) the wars in ex-Yugoslavia:
October 5th, Belgrade: We will never forget the crime in Topcider! On October 5thit was the tenth anniversary of murder of the two guardsmen Dragan Jakovljevic i Drazen Milovanovic, in military facility 'Karas', military barrack in Topcider (October 5th 2004). The guardsmen are killed in the military barrack under unexplained circumstances, and there is reasonable suspicion that they were murdered because in the barracks they saw at the time the Hague fugitive Ratko Mladic. In occasion of the tenth anniversary of the murder of the two guardsmen, Women in Black organized two commemorative protests in silence and in black, on Ocotber 5th 2014:
Commemorative meeting in black and in silence outside the barracks Karas in Topcider; solidarity with the parents and families of the murdered soldiers with support to their quest for truth about the death of the two young men was expressed by about twenty activists of the Network of the Women in Black from Serbia; Two slogans featured on the protest in Topcider: "We will never forget the crime in Topcider" and "Women in Black for peace and justice".
We will never forget the crime in Topcider - on Republic square/Trg Republike in Belgrade, the protest in black and in silence. On this protest, activists of Women in Black highlighted the following slogans: We will never forget the crime in Topcider; We remember; Women in Black for peace and justice; We remember Dragan Jakovljevic; We remember Drazen Milovanovic; Reveal the murderers of the soldiers!; We ask for the truth, we demand justice!; Why does the state keep quiet? During the protest, there was also the performance – it has been written with the salt on the asphalt "We demand truth and justice for Dragan and Drazen". On this protest as well, members of the families of the murdered soldiers were with us, together with about fifty activists from Belgrade, Bajina Basta, Pozega, Leskovac, Krusevac, Vlasotince, etc.
Commemoration in Bela Reka (near Sabac) - on the local cemetary where Dragan Jakovljevic is buried; we attended the commemoration together with the family Jakovljevic.
Sjeverin/Serbia, October 22nd "We will never forget the crime in Sjeverin": in occasion of 23rd anniversary of the crime in Sjeverin, fifteen (15) activists of the Network of Women in Black attended the setting of the foundation stone for the monument in the village Sjeverin, as well as the commemoration on the bridge in the place called Mioce, where Serbian armed formations kidnaped and killed seventeen (17) Bosnian civilians from the bus on the line Priboj - Rudo, on October 22nd 1992.
Belgrade, November 18th, "We will never forget the crimes in Vukovar" in occasion of anniversary of the crimes in Vukovar, Women in Black organized the protest in black and in silence, in Knez Mihajlova street, under the slogan "We will never forget the crimes in Vukovar". In 1991, Vukovar was under siege of Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and paramilitary Serbian formations for full 87 days. In that town, more than 1000 civilians were killed, more than 25000 people were injured, while thousands of ill and wounded prisoners were taken into camps in Serbia, and town Vukovar was occupied on November 18th 1991 by Serbian armed formations. About fifty (50) activists of the WIB Network and related organizations of civil society (Humanitarian Law Center, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, etc.) participated in the action. At the same time, ultra-right wing organization "Srbski sabor Zavetnici" held the counter-rally against the WIB, denying the crimes by Serbian armed formations in Vukovar.
Vukovar/Croatia, November 19th "We will never forget the crimes in Vukovar": on occasion of 23rd anniversary of crimes in Vukovar, eight (8) activists of Women in Black together with the families of the victims and with citizens of Vukovar attended the commemoration on three different places in town.
Tuzla/Bosnia and Herzegovina, December 11th "We seek for our missing - we will not forget the genocide in Srebrenica" - eight (8) activists of the Network of Women in Black participated in the march under the same title, which is organized every 11th of every month since 1996 by the association "Women of Srebrenica", from Tuzla. This action of solidarity Women in Black coordinated together with associations Anima from Djulići and Women's Forum from Zvornik (women-victims of crimes in Podrinje area, East Bosnia, 1992-1995), and on that occasion the march was attended by fifty (50) women from Podrinje.
Feminist, antifascist, anti-war, antiracist and antimilitarist actions
We are presenting them in chronological order:
Belgrade, September 28th, Pride: the march for rights of LGBT persons, organized by Pride Belgrade, was attended by about thirty (30) activists of the Network of Women in Black from entire Serbia, and in the ending part of the march, Stasa Zajovic from WIB, among others, addressed all the participants.
Belgrade, November 9th "(Self)-censorship - way to fascism": on occasion of the International Day of Fight against Fascism and AntiSemitism, WIB and the Alliance of Antifascists of Serbia organized in the city center of Belgrade, by the monument to the hanged antifascists, the protest "(Self)-censorship – way to fascism" and the stage action "The East and the West are awakening". Two slogans featured in the protest: Antifascism is my choice; Women in Black against fascism, and about fifty (50) activists participated. Performance consisted of huge newspaper sheet on which the word (Self)-censorship was written. First the activists were covered by the paper sheet, and then they slowly tore the paper and came out through them, symbolically liberating themselves from the censorship. In that occasion, they sang antifascist songs together with the Alliance of Antifascists of Serbia. This protest was joined by the citizens.
Belgrade, November 29th "Stop repression against defenders of human rights" - in occasion of International Day of Human Rights Defenders, Women in Black in Knez Mihailova street organized a protest because of the attacks against WIB activists by state and nonstate actors, as well as because of absence of the state's reaction to the intensive repression throughout 2014. During the action, the support to nonviolent resistance in Ferguson (USA) was expressed; about thirty (30) activists participated in the action.
Belgrade, December 6th "Stop Femicide" - in occasion of December 6th, the Day of Fight against Femicide, Women in Black and the Network of Women against Violence organized a protest on Trg republike, on the very spot where Dragica Vujosevic was murdered in 2006, only because she had left the perpetrator of violence. The protest was dedicated to femicide in Serbia on one side, and on the other side, to the campaign against impunity of Blue Helmets (members of UN peace missions) for sexual crimes against women. Following slogans were highlighted on the protest, among others:
Stop femicide; Stop the impunity of Blue Helmets - Stop sexual exploitation by peace forces; For life without fear and violence, etc. Several dozens of activists participated in this action.
Belgrade, December 10th "Enough with terror!" - in occasion of the International Day of Human Rights, we pointed at all the more frequent human rights violations in Serbia, with the request for the state to respect human rights and fulfill the international obligations. On this occasion, we held a stage action in front of the Media Center, in organization by Reconstruction Women's Fund and Women in Black. Over 50 persons from women's and human rights organizations took partin this street action, from Belgrade and other Serbian towns.
Facing the past transitional justice - a feminist approach
This is one of Women in Black's most important activities. This activity has many segments: street actions, workshops, lectures, creating various models of transitional justice from a feminist perspective, cooperation with similar organizations in form of mutual actions (campaigns, consultative meetings).
