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Due to a series of new incidents glorifying
genocide and war criminals with songs and graffiti, and threatening
Bosniaks with a new massacre, tensions and fear in Priboj and among
Bosniaks in Sandžak are growing. Even on Christmas Eve, dozens of
young men shouted disturbing threats with torches in front of the
mosque, "It's Christmas, it's Christmas, shoot the mosques." The
intensive campaign – which has been going on for months and whose
threatening slogans include "From Priboj to The Hague, everyone
stands with General Ratko, "Ratko Mladic – Hero", murals depicting
Ratko Mladic, and messages of hatred on social networks – has
created an intolerant atmosphere in which Bosniaks are not welcome
in that territory and in Serbia.
The state's reaction to these incidents is mild or
more often non-existent, particularly to those committed by police
officers.
Various theories stigmatizing Sandžak are
circulating across government-controlled media, because it is
perceived as a disputed territory that could be the cause of new
instabilities. Sandžak is considered an important point on the
so-called "green transversal" and as a path for terrorists, which
was the foundation of propaganda for the preparation of war and
crimes against Bosniaks. Incidents have become more frequent in
Sandžak, because it is being treated as the last offensive against
the "green transversal" and represents an attempt to finalize ethnic
cleansing. The escalation of Serbian nationalism in both Serbia and
the Republika Srpska is reviving Bosniak fears and uncertainty
regarding their future. The growth of Islamophobia and the constant
fixation on Islamic extremism serves to justify the demands for the
secession of the Republika Srpska and the increased pressure on
Bosniaks and their marginalization in Sandžak.
Despite the state’s obvious neglect of this
region, Bosniaks have in previous decades invested a considerable
level of good will in maintaining good neighborly relations between
Serbs and Bosniaks.
The Helsinki Committee and the Sandžak Committee
for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms believe that the state
is obliged to take concrete steps to ensure the security of all
citizens equally, and that it has an obligation to engage in
establishing the trust of Bosniaks in competent state bodies.
The Helsinki and Sandžak human rights committees
also expect international actors to pay attention to the events in
Sandžak before it is too late, because an intensive implementation
of the "Serbian World" project is currently underway.
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