On the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide, December 9th, President Osmani said that it is a moment of reflection on the difficult path we have traversed through and the high price we have paid for our freedom.
“We cannot turn our backs on our past. We will remember it as a precaution so that such things do not happen again in any corner of the globe. Prevention presupposes justice. Acts of genocide by Serbia took place in the eyes of the world. There are over 13 thousand killed in the last war in Kosovo, for whom today we feel pain, before whom we bow and who will be remembered eternally. “They are the proof of the crime of genocide and of Serbia's clear intention to wipe us off the face of the earth,” said the President.
Below is President Osmani's post in its entirety:
The International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide, December 9, is a moment of reflection on the difficult path we have traversed through and the high price we have paid for our freedom. We cannot turn our backs on our past. We will remember it as a precaution so that such things do not happen again in any corner of the globe. Prevention presupposes justice. Acts of genocide by Serbia took place in the eyes of the world. There are over 13 thousand killed in the last war in Kosovo, for whom today we feel pain, before whom we bow and who will always be remembered. They are evidence of the crime of genocide and of Serbia's clear intention to wipe us off the face of the earth.
One of the many cases that proves this exterminating purpose is the Poklek massacre. Traces of the blood of the 54 civilians killed in the Poklek Massacre, among whom 24 children, are still fresh in the basement of the house in which they were first killed, then burned twice in a row. The wet bodies of the children, along with their families, had been reduced to ashes, making it impossible to identify the crime with aim to conceal the cruel act. This crime had a clear purpose: the extermination of our people from the face of the earth. Deliberate extermination constitutes the main element of genocide. The children killed were six months old and up to 17 years of age.
To us who are enjoying the freedom it remains as a mission to undertake the impossible in order for the perpetrators of the massacres to be brought to justice.