In our New Year message for 2001, we promised that we would send you
reports regarding our activities periodically. We are truly sorry for
not being able to answer all your messages and we hope that this will
be a good way of keeping you informed about all our activities over
the past three months. It is not our aim to present a list of our accomplishments,
but to allow our friends to find out more about our activities.
In the first quarter of 2001, we organized 14 protests. Our street
manifestations could be divided into the following categories:
AGAINST WAR AND VIOLENCE: Armed conflicts and violence are still
present in the Balkans, peace has not been achieved yet, nor even the
absence of war: Due to the escalation of conflicts in the area of southern
Serbia (in the communities of Bujanovac, Medvedja and Presevo), we protested
during all our actions for demilitarization in January, February and
March.
On 21st February, we organized a protest because of the massacre of
civilians of Serbian nationality in Podujevo;
On 16th March, we participated in the protest against racism, xenophobia,
homophobia and anti-Semitism, which was organized by the women’s
section of "The Romany Children’s Center" from Belgrade;
On 21st March we organized a protest against the war in Macedonia.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR WAR AND WAR CRIMES: Facing the collective
(moral) responsibility and the demand for establishing individual guilt:
On 27th February, we marked the eight anniversary of the war crime
– the kidnapping of 20 passengers of Muslim nationality from the
train Belgrade-Bar; we reiterated our plea for the truth about this
crime (for the suspects being tried and extradited to the Hague Tribunal).
We also organized other activities, in the framework of "working
on the past and decontamination":
on 8th February 2001, a panel discussion was organized in Bela Crkva
(Vojvodina), entitled "For and against the Hague";
on 29th February 2001 in Novi Pazar (Sandzak) a panel discussion was
organized with the same title;
on 16th March 2001, an public appeal was launched in favor of extraditing
the war criminals from Serbia to the Hague Tribunal (15 persons); we
launched the appeal as Women in Black along with ZAD (The Women’s
Active Society from Novi Sad), The People’s Parliament from Leskovac,
ZMIG (The Women’s Peace Group) from Pancevo, The Creative Workshop
from Kraljevo; the appeal was signed by 23 NGO-s from Serbia and Montenegro
before it was sent to the President of FRY and to all the media.
ACTIONS IN FAVOR OF DEMILITARIZATION: for acknowledging the
basic human right to conscientious objection (CO) to military service.
These activities can be divided in the following way:
* Actions conducted in the street: collecting signatures in favor of
amending the Law on the Army of FRY (shortening of the military service
and requesting provisions regarding conscientious objection); as part
of this action, we organized the signing of the petition nine time in
the streets of Belgrade.
* Within the network of conscientious objectors (which we started in
May 2000), consisting of NGO-s from about twenty towns in Serbia and
a few towns from Montenegro (Niksic and Cetinje) a signature-gathering
action was coordinated.
* Signatures for the above-mentioned initiative wee being collected
at meetings and gatherings, which was organized either by Women in Black
or by other NGO-s.
* Animating young people for conscientious objection and anti-militarism
in general, collecting signatures for the legislative initiative through
punk music concerts, with the participation of punk bands from Kraljevo,
Leskovac, and Ruma; the concerts were held in Ruma on 11th January 2001
and Kraljevo on 19th January 2001.
* Traveling activity of collecting signatures and increasing the sensitivity
of the public for demilitarization, organized by our activists from
7th till 10th March in several cities: Nis, Subotica, Zrenjanin…
* A panel discussion aimed at promoting CO ideas, antimilitarism, collecting
signatures for the afore mentioned initiative, with the cooperation
of GSS (The Civic Alliance of Serbia) in Sabac, on 30th January 2001;
Lawyers from the Yugoslav Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights (YUCOM)
also participated in the discussion.
* The promotion of CO through the media: TV Novi Sad, Radio Indjija,
Radi Zrenjanin, Radio Belgrade: Studio B, RTS, TV Nis, etc. programs
with the joint participation of women in Black activists and YUCOM are
also included here.
* Meetings of the Network of Conscientious Objectors in Women in Black
premises during the action: 20th February 2001, 10th February 2001 and
5th March 2001.
* On 27th March, in a joint action with YUCOM, we supported the appeal
made by the Humanitarian Law Fund from Belgrade for seeking amnesty
for Dejan Tomic, sentenced to four years of prison because of "refusing
to obey orders"
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION: several projects of this type are under way:
TRAVELING WOMEN’S PEACE WORKSHOPS: a yearlong project that
is being realized in five regions of Serbia and Montenegro. Within the
fifth cycle, "Women and Power", three workshops were held
over this period: in Niksic,
on 27th and 28th January 2001, with the participation of 37 women from
different towns in Montenegro.
On 3rd and 4th March, an evaluation meeting of the Fourth cycle of
"Traveling…" was held in Belgrade, attended by 46 women,
i.e., by a set number of participants per region.
WOMEN CREATE PEACE: a project that is being realized together
with the SOS hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence from
Niksic. In the second phase of this project, the following workshops
were held:
* Relations among women as a policy of war and /or peace; in Niksic,
on 21st January 2001, with the participation of 27 women from Niksic
* Relations among women as a policy of war and / or peace; in Begec,
near Novi Sad, on 22nd March 2001, with the logistic assistance and
cooperation of ZAD (Women’s Active Society) from Novi Sad; 20 women
took part.
POWER AND OTHERNES: The first three workshops within this project
on multiculturalism, and on inter-ethnic / inter-cultural relations
were held in Zrenjanin, on 17th and 18th March 2001. Women from several
places in Banat participated. This project will be continued in south-east
Serbia and in Sandzak.
MUTUAL SUPPORT: with the aim empowering and spreading of the
network of women’s solidarity, especially by supporting women’
groups in the process of formation, the following workshops were held:
* Recognizing women’s needs, on 19th January 2001 in Futog, in
cooperation with ZAD from Novi Sad; 15 women took part
* A workshop with the same topic was held in Valjevo, on 10th February
2001 with the logistic assistance from "The Women’s Initiative";
25 women took part
* My relationship with my mother, held in Gospodjinci, near Novi Sad,
on 14th February 2001 with the logistic assistance of ZAD from Novi
Sad.
INTERNATONAL ALTERNATIVE POLICY: the participation at numerous
conferences of activists, some of which will be mentioned here:
* Non-violence and social empowerment, in Indjija, Puri, from 18th
to 24th February 2001, organized by WRI from London and Swadhina, India.
* A tour in Croatia entitled "Over the Walls of Nationalism and
War" of the band "Hocu?Necu!" and activists of the group
for conscientious objection and anti-militarism in Women in Black. They
played in six cities.
* Next Stop Serbia, a project of women’s peace groups from Serbia
and Denmark, from 6th till 11th March 2001, realized in Copenhagen.
* On the occasion of accepting the Millennium Award for Peace, which
Women in Black received from the United Nations (Unifem), a stay in
New York from 6th till 10th March 2001.
* Street actions on the occasion of 8th March – Women in Black
action of solidarity with peace activists from all over the world, particularly
with the women of Israel, Palestine, Papua and New Guinea, Macedonia,
Kosova, etc.)
INTERNAL WORKSHOPS: in addition to regular and frequent meetings,
some other worshops were held with the following topics:
* In January: Politically correct language; On protests (vigils) under
the new circumstances; From robes to trenches (on clerical nationalism
in Serbia)
* In February: Mother-son relations
* In March: Globalization and women
* Quarterly evaluation: 26th March 2001
SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE TO DISPLACED PERSONS FROM KOSOVO: A project
of assistance and self-aid to the women from Kosovo who are accommodated
in the sport Center "Pinki" in Zemun. This project has been
going on since January in cooperation with the organization for single
mothers from Zemun.
Besides our numerous above-mentioned activities, during this quarter
we have also been working on our future projects: preparations for
The Third Conference of the Network of Conscientious Objectors, which
will be held in Belgrade in late April; preparations for the compilation
"Women and Peace"; preparations of the new bulletin "Objection".
Preparations of the Tenth Conference of the International Network of
Women in Black , which will be held in August in Novi Sad.
The following persons participated in conceiving and the realization
of these ctions and projects:
Borka, Branka, Bobana, Gordana, Gile, Fika, Igor, Ildiko, Jovana, Jelena,
Lidija, kika, Lino, Lepa, Ljilja, Maja, Nevzeta, Radmila, Sadra, Sicko,
Stasa, Stanislava, Svetlana, Vesna, Violeta and Vladimir.
Belgrade, 30th March 2001.
Friendly regards and solidarity from Women in Black