Tilman Zülch appointed honorary citizen of Sarajevo

Tilman Zülch, founder and Secretary General of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Germany, was appointed honorary citizen of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, on Sunday. On Monday, the Bosnian section of the STP announced that mayor Prof. Dr. Ivo Komsic honored the 74-year-old during a ceremony held at the State Theatre: "Tilman Zülch's life is characterized by his overwhelmingly strong commitment to fight for the human rights of the most endangered ethnic groups all over the world. He advocated for the victims of the war right from the first day of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina – and he kept up his commitment until today. He clearly recognized that the Dayton Agreement was indeed a possibility to bring peace for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but not a means to establish a functioning state. The victims have still not seen justice. Tilman Zülch is now trying to work towards the necessary accession of our country to the EU and the NATO. Furthermore, he is trying to ensure that the crimes are recognized and that those who are responsible will be punished. It is a great honor for us to be able to appoint Tilman Zülch as an honorary citizen of the city of Sarajevo and welcome him as our fellow citizen – a citizen of Sarajevo. Today, I would like to thank you for your encouragement back then and now, on behalf of all the citizens of Sarajevo and all Bosnians. Your support helped us people of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to keep our courage so as to persevere and endure the suffering during the war."

Zülch was grateful and stated that would like to accept the honor on behalf of the 19,000 supporters of the STP and the 350,000 Bosnians who had sought refuge in Germany during the war. Many of them supported the initiatives and human rights campaigns of the STP in Germany and across Europe. The human rights activist also stated that he was a refugee himself, which is why he feels obliged to help other victims.

"Apart from Serbia's role in breaking up Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was also the behavior of the governments of Great Britain and France (who openly supported the aggressors) that was shocking" remembered Zülch. "Back then, my long-time friend and supporter Simon Wiesenthal reminded me that France and Britain had been Serbian allies in two world wars. He felt pessimistic about Bosnia because he was sure that this would not change. Also, what makes so sad is the fact that Germany, freshly united, agreed to sign the Dayton peace agreement and thus agree to the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, Germany forced well-integrated Bosnian refugees to leave the country and emigrate to the USA and to Australia for example. Most of them were not able return to their homes and houses in the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Now, all the supporters of Bosnia and Herzegovina and all other European citizens must insist that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be able to join the EU and the NATO, undivided and without restrictions. We owe this to the numerous victims of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Hundreds of well-known personalities of Sarajevo and representatives of all ethnic and religious groups in the country took part in the award ceremony – as well as representatives of the victims of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Miro Lazovic, former Serbian speaker of the RBiH Assembly and now Deputy President of the city Council of Sarajevo, Stjepan Kljuic, former Croatian speaker of the RBiH Assembly, Prof. Dr. Mirko Pejanovic, former Serbian speaker of the RBiH Assembly, Jovan Divjak, ethnic Serb and retired General with the army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prof. Dr. Smail Cekic, Director of the Institute for the Research of Crimes Against Humanity of the University of Sarajevo, Eli Tauber, representative of the Jewish community of Sarajevo and the Franciscan Luka Markesic, President of the Croat National Council of Sarajevo.

In addition to Tilman Zülch's appointment as an honorary citizen, there were also three posthumous honorees: the recently deceased Roma shoeshiner from Sarajevo, Husein Hasani (a.k.a. "Cika Miso") as well as Goran Cengic and Srdjan Aleksic, who were honored for their resistance to crimes against Bosniaks at the beginning of war, for which they were killed by Serbian soldiers.

The most important STP human rights initiatives for Bosnia-Herzegovina during the war:

• The first international conference on the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Frankfurt, 1992)

• A symbolic concentration camp in Vienna, a form of protest against the passivity of the western world, 1993

• Occupation of the Croatian Embassy in Bonn, 1993, as a form of protest against the Croatian policy towards Bosnia (Tilman Zülch)

• Hunger strike of Bosnian women in front of the "Neue Wache" in Berlin, 1993

• January 1993: TV-debate on genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina (SAT1 "Einspruch"): The Serb representatives failed to convince that no genocide had taken place. (Stefan Schwarz, Christian Schwarz-Schilling and Tilman Zülch against Aleksander Buha, Vera Bojic and Dr. Zoran Konstantinovic)

• March 6, 1993: public protests in Munich, addressed to the European governments, demanding help for the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina

• Establishment of the European Forum for Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1994

• A demonstration against the division of Bosnia with 30,000 participants (Bonn, April 1994)

• July 11, 1994: a demonstration under the slogan "Don't divide Bosnia" during the Berlin-visit of former U.S. President Bill Clinton

• 1995: construction of two symbolic concentration camps in Berlin as an attempt to draw attention to the atrocities in Bosnia, 50 years after the Second World War

• Protest action in the former concentration camp Buchenwald in 1993 and 1995 (Speakers, among others: Vytautus Landsbergis, Marek Edelman, Alain Finkielkraut)

• August 14, 1995: a delegation of the STP visits the Krajina, Croatia, after the Serbian inhabitants had been deported in the course of "Operation Storm"

• International Conference on Genocide in Bonn, 1995 (with Rita Süssmuth, Simon Wiesenthal and Haris Silajdzic)

• July 18, 1995: construction of a symbolic Bosnian Muslim cemetery with grave stelae, 200 meters from the villa of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, seven days after the fall of the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica

• Bonn, December 17, 1992: a demonstration against mass rape in Bosnia

• January 28, 1995: As a symbolic form of protest against the siege in Sarajevo, 1000 Muslim grave steles and Christian crosses were set up in Bonn

• The WDR introduces a Bosnian program on August 30, 1995, following protests by the STP

• May 2 and 3, 1996: public protests against Germany's decision to deport refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina. A symbolic refugee camps was set up in Bonn and a hearing with humanitarian organizations working in Bosnia was organized

• The STP provides the world press with information about the war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993, particularly concerning the cities that were under the protection of UN peacekeepers

• Support work for the ICTY