A 12-year-old boy and his grandmother cut the ribbon at UN Headquarters on Monday to inaugurate a flower-shaped memorial to the victims of the Srebrenica genocide - a permanent reminder of the 1995 massacre and the United Nation's failure to stop it.
"Our children were murdered just because they bore a different name, they were called differently, and they were Muslim," said Munira Subašić, President of the Association of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa, speaking to more than 100 people on a cold but sunny November afternoon in New York.
She has spent 30 years advocating for the more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys killed in the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica.
'We are still here'
"This flower signifies that we are still here and there will be more of us," Ms. Subašić said.
The marble flower has 11 white petals surrounding a green centre. The petals represent 11 July, the UN-designated International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. White symbolizes the victims' innocence; the green recalls the shroud placed on Muslims at death, and also new growth and hope.
Despite the horrors of 1995, Ms. Subašić said that the survivors "raised our children without vengeance, without hate" calling the children the new generation.
Representing the new generation was her 12-year-old grandson, Karim, who missed school in Bosnia and Herzegovina to attend today. He had lost his grandfather and granduncle, as well as 70 other family members in 1995.
Fight must continue
"I am proud of her," Karim told UN News about his grandmother. "She is inspirational. I hope that she will continue to fight so no one will ever experience this again."
He added that he and his friends don't talk about what happened because they all have lost relatives and it is "too sad".
Countering revisionist history
Speaking at the ceremony, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the new monument counters denial, distortion and revisionism history.
"Denial itself is an assault on humanity itself. It distorts history, dehumanizes its victims and deepens the divisions that make future atrocities possible," she added.
The Special Adviser of the Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide, Chaloka Beyani, called the advocacy of Ms. Subašić and the thousands of other mothers "an act of love and remembrance to the victims" and a global commitment to preventing future genocides.
Srebrenica and Rwanda
The Flower of Srebrenica Memorial is a gift from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN Secretariat as part of the Srebrenica Genocide and the United Nations Outreach Programme.
It stands near another genocide memorial - the Kwibuka flame remembering the victims and survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
"The monuments to the genocide committed in the heart of Europe and in the heart of Africa are witness to the truth, but also warn humanity to never again allow genocide to be repeated," said Denis Bećirović, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
