Srebrenica school accused of threatening students over Bosnia jerseys
A secondary school in Srebrenica has allegedly warned students against wearing Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team jerseys, with possible disciplinary penalties including lower conduct grades, according to Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz.
Parents cited by the newspaper said the JU Secondary Center Srebrenica described the national team jerseys as offensive and warned students that wearing them could result in sanctions.
School director Sanja Mocevic reportedly told students not to attend classes wearing the jerseys in the future.
Calls for investigation
Murat Tahirovic, president of the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, called for an official explanation and an investigation into the reported incident.
“If it is true that the student of the Srebrenica High School Center was reprimanded because she came to school in the jersey of the football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Tahirovic said, the reported action would be “deeply worrying and unacceptable.”
He called on education authorities in Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina to clarify which regulations were used to determine that the national team jersey was unacceptable.
Tahirovic also urged authorities to investigate the allegations and ensure that students are protected from discrimination and humiliation.
Srebrenica’s sensitive history
The allegations have particular sensitivity because of Srebrenica’s history.
In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica and killed 8,372 Bosniak men and boys.
International courts, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, have recognized the killings as genocide.
Tahirovic said Srebrenica must not become a place where children are taught that Bosnia and Herzegovina is unwelcome.
The reported incident has prompted calls for education authorities to establish what happened and whether any school rules were violated.
Source:AA
