Rally for Bosnia

By Jon Lamb

ADELAIDE -- More than 1500 Bosnians and their supporters marched and rallied here on August 5, calling for an end to the arms embargo and the ethnic genocide being carried out in their homeland.

Organised by leaders of the South Australian Bosnian and Croatian communities, the rally also condemned the UN's futile attempts to broker peace in the region since the hostilities began over four years ago.

“The western power brokers and the impotent UN have only shown through their actions that political self-interest is more important than human rights” said Safia Banjan, speaking on behalf of Bosnian women.

She went on to tell of the new wave of atrocities carried out by Serbian forces following the fall of Srebrenica and Zepa. “No-one has been left untouched by war in the so-called `safe havens'. Imagine a football stadium full of women of all ages -- that would represent the more than 40,000 women who have been raped and sexually abused by the Serbian forces in Srebrenica and Zepa. The world cannot ignore any longer the betrayal of Bosnia.”

Other speakers included Catholic Archbishop Dr Leonard Faulkner and Norman Schueler, the president of the Jewish Community Council, who referred to the situation in Bosnia as a “repetition of the Holocaust”. The rally concluded with the announcement of a special appeal for Bosnia soon to be launched in Australia, in order to raise funds for the victims of war, such as the thousands of seriously ill and starving children languishing in refugee camps.

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