Sir, - I am by profession a judge from Bosnia Hercegovina. I am also a survivor of the Omarska Concentration Camp where terrible crimes were committed in 1992 against Bosnian women and men. Since then, I have worked to bring to justice those responsible for murder and genocide in my country.
I have just spent two weeks in Ireland where it was brought to my attention that contributors to your paper denied the existence of rape camps in Bosnia Hercegovina. As an example, I refer to a letter to your paper stating that: "No human rights agency has been able to corroborate the existence of rape camps (Irish Times, October 17th, 1994).
On the basis of my own dreadful experience in 1992 (as illustrated in the documentary film, Calling the Ghosts shown on RTE in November, 1998) I can state that such camps indeed existed.
During my visit to Ireland, I was most kindly received by the Joint Foreign Affairs Committee of the Dail, by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (who promised support for my human rights campaign) and by Women's Rights Groups in Limerick, Tralee and Dublin.
On Saturday, March 11th, I joined around 100 Bosnians, Kosovars and Irish people who staged a protest outside the French Embassy, in criticism of that country's failure to arrest indicted war criminals in the Balkans. In the light of the considerable coverage which your paper has given to recent arrests and trials of indicted war criminals, I regret that you published no report of this demonstration. Bosnian and Kosovar refugees in Ireland were very disappointed at the media's failure to mention their act of solidarity with hundreds of thousands of victims from their own countries.
True healing for those who have experienced atrocities can begin only when they are allowed to articulate for themselves what has happened to them. I would suggest in an increasing multiethnic Ireland, the media, before setting its own agenda in their regard, should seek to respect the priorities of the minority groups in their midst. - Yours, etc.,
Nusreta Sivac, Sanski Most, Bosnia Hercegovina.