The Youth Initiative for Human Rights - Serbia (YIHR Serbia) calls the President of the Republic of Serbia and the members of the Government not to approach peace in such a delicate situation as if it were established by simply using the word peace in light of the escalating gravity of the situation in the north of Kosovo. Actions and responsible public discourse that prevents the escalation of ethnic hatred is the foundation of a lasting peace. In order to prevent the situation in the northern part of Kosovo from turning violent again, we request that the President of the Republic speak with representatives of the Kosovo Serbs.
During the “A Step Closer to Peace” program, young people from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had a chance to learn about the past of the city of Tuzla, with a focus on the Tuzla massacre, as well as honour the victims and send a message of peace and readiness to work on building a society where crimes like this won't ever happen again. Furthermore, as part of the program, which lasted from the 24th until the 27th of May, participants had the opportunity to talk to youth, peace and LGBTQ+ activists from Tuzla.
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia is concerned about the statement made by Aleksandra Djurovic, Ambassador of Serbia to the Council of Europe (CoE), at the organization's 4th Summit on May 17, in which she pointed out that "Serbia is in a situation to consider the further meaning and modality of its membership in this organization, by the decision to start the procedure for Kosovo's membership." Such announcements by government officials pose an additional risk to Serbia's deeply breached human rights protection commitments.
Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia (YIHR Serbia) requests from the Ministry of Education to determine the responsibility of Verica Letić, the principal of the elementary school "Đura Jakšić" in Kać, for the participation of convicted war criminal Nebojša Pavković in a public class organized by this school on April 20th on the topic "Košare: Stories of Heroes" in the hall of this school. According to the daily newspaper "Politika" and the video report of the "Gradske info" portal, the mayor of Novi Sad, Milan Đurić, also spoke at the public event. That's why we call on the councilor groups in the Assembly of the City of Novi Sad to initiate the impeachment of the mayor because his presence supported Pavković's participation in this event and normalized the presentation of a war criminal as a hero in front of an audience that included elementary school students.
