Citizens of Sarajevo File Petition to Cantonal Government

OWPSEE

02 October 2008

The informal group Citizens of Sarajevo will organize today, Thursday, October 2, at noon, a protest walk that will present the Government of the Canton of Sarajevo a petition with demands for resignation of all those responsible for the expansion of violence in the society and the shameful inefficiency of competent bodies and institutions.

The Citizens of Sarajevo invite (the call, in BHS, is attached to this article) all citizens to join them in the protest walk that will start at the square in front of the Cathedral, through Ferhadija and Titova streets, to the building of the Cantonal Government and the City Hall, because this is a problem that touches on all citizens.

The Citizens of Sarajevo claim that the adopted Action Plan for improve security of citizens and suppression of juvenile delinquency has brought absolutely no results in terms of improved safety and security in the first quarter of its implementation.

- Nothing happened. No moves were made to provide greater security to the citizens, with the exception, of course, of the fact that a number of totally useless committees and teams were created, who never did anything and yet managed to spend piles of tax-payers` money � says the Group.

The Citizens of Sarajevo reminds us of the recent new escalation of violence, perpetrated by controlled and organized groups, as `an expression of the interests of the ruling political oligarchy that tries to inaugurate violence and terror over the civil freedoms and human rights as the dominant principle and method of political governance`.

The Group offers as evidence the orchestrated and synchronized media campaign against a cultural event and the `deafening silence` of the relevant bodies and institutions, especially those who are charged with the task to care about security, protection of civil principles and secular nature of BiH society, for which they are paid by the citizens themselves.

The Citizens of Sarajevo insist that cantonal and federal authorities immediately and unambiguously state their condemnation of the recent violent events and the religiously and political motivated terror over the citizens, to name and remove from office those responsible, to investigate the perpetrators and instigators of said brutal attacks on civil rights and freedoms, and to present the results publicly as soon as possible.

The Coalition for Sexual and Healthcare Rights of Marginalized Communities in Macedonia joined the protests over the recent events around the Queer Festival in Sarajevo. The Coalition called on the Macedonian public, the media, NGOs, cultural workers and authroties to publicly condemn the violence in Sarajevo and appeals to the BiH authorities and international representatives to condemn and investigate the violence and to sanction the perpetrators adequately.

The Coalition also brings up the need to review the predominant traditional values that result in hatred and violence and promotion of public awareness of equality, diversity and respect for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic and social background.

Attached files

Call for protest walk

30.50 KB