The projects of the NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights are far from being harmless writings of an organization whose goal is merely to justify received funds. Even the organization of the gay parade and the obscene festival promoting Albanian propaganda, “Mirdita, Good Day,” is neither the most significant nor the most dangerous aspect of the project sponsored by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Far more serious is what they insist on the least publicly—creating the conditions for a large-scale rewriting of history.
CAMPS AND “CAMPS”
On the website of the NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights, various projects, research papers, publications, and even books—primarily authored by Albanians—are published, all dedicated to “the numerous crimes committed by evil Serbs against the innocent Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija.” The sustainability of these “arguments” is easily challenged by official figures, which show that Albanian terrorists ethnically cleansed dozens of Serbian villages and towns across our southern province, killed thousands of innocent people, and seized or burned Serbian property. Not to mention the data on the number of missing persons linked to the so-called “Yellow House,” which was used for mass killings of Serbs and organ trafficking.
The audacity of these professional opponents of their own state is best illustrated by a project titled “The War in Serbia,” a website originating from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights portal. The research presented in this project is far from historical facts. Refugee reception centers have been rebranded through dubious scientific methodology as concentration camps for Croats and Muslims. Secret mass graves (where are they even located?) allegedly contain the remains of Muslims, Croats, and Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija. Meanwhile, the Serbian government under Slobodan Milošević is accused of committing various crimes against minorities in the Raška region, northern Serbia, and the so-called Preševo Valley.
SUFFERING TAILORED TO WESTERN INTERESTS
The truth is that during the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, Serbs suffered the greatest losses. In addition to the enormous casualties they endured, they were subjected to ethnic cleansing from Croatia, Serbian Krajina, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many were also imprisoned in camps controlled by Muslims and Croats.
According to officially available data (www.zlocininadsrbima.com), there were as many as 536 camps for Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 222 such facilities were registered in Croatia. These camps were sites of horrific crimes, torture, rape, and murder of Serbian civilians. Women, children, and even pregnant women were not spared. The testimonies of surviving detainees are deeply painful and harrowing.
HISTORIANS ON A MISSION
Trials for war crimes committed in camps such as Lora (Split, Croatia), Kerestinec (Zagreb, Croatia), Pakračka Poljana (Pakrac, Croatia), Dretelj (Čapljina, BiH), Silos (Tarčin, BiH), Čelebići (Konjic, BiH), Viktor Bubanj (Sarajevo, BiH), Lipa (Banja Luka, BiH), Bradina (Konjic, BiH), and Musala (Konjic, BiH) are still ongoing, despite confirmation of their existence even from the international community. Testimonies of survivors and confessions from those involved in torture and killings are not enough to highlight the scale of Serbian suffering. However, Serbia, shaped according to foreign interests, looks vastly different. In this version of Serbia, an alternative history is being crafted, where so-called historians from the civil sector are “just doing their job.” They are guided and coordinated by the NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights, which, instead of investigating crimes against the Serbian people and documenting the 700 camps through which tens of thousands of Serbs passed, fabricates stories of camps that supposedly existed in Serbia during the wars of the 1990s.
CROATS WERE TORTURED, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REMAINED SILENT. CREDIBLE?
The project “War in Serbia,” financed by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, includes two unsubstantiated “research” articles based entirely on speculation, without witnesses, without victims, and filled with biased and inaccurate claims about allegedly existing camps in Serbia where “Croats and Muslims were tortured.”
“Camps for Croats in Serbia” – (https://ratusrbiji.rs/logori-za-hrvate-u-srbiji/)
The article titled “Camps for Croats in Serbia” claims that sites for the “torture and mistreatment of Croats” were located in Begejci, Stajićevo, the Correctional Facility in Sremska Mitrovica, and Niš. These accusations are not supported by any material evidence but are based on assumptions and speculation. There are no official reports, no victim testimonies confirming allegations of mass torture or killings, nor have these locations ever been legally recognized as “camps.”
On the contrary, the sites and facilities mentioned in the text were officially registered as reception centers for prisoners of war. It is particularly important to emphasize that all of them operated in accordance with the Geneva Convention and under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Given that all eyes were on Serbia at the time, with fabricated evidence already being used against it, committing crimes of the nature alleged in the Youth Initiative for Human Rights project would have been impossible. All detainees were granted access to food, medical care, and international institutions, and they were later exchanged in accordance with agreements between the warring parties. These facts in no way correspond to the definition of “camps” as portrayed in this propaganda article.
Had there been even the slightest irregularities or mistreatment, foreign journalists and representatives of international organizations would have undoubtedly reported such findings immediately—something that, as we know, never happened.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH CONVENTIONS
“Camps for Bosniaks in Serbia”
The second article on the “War in Serbia” portal, which also claims that camps existed in Serbia, this time for Muslims, follows the same pattern of manipulation. The information presented in the article is taken from other NGO websites such as Women in Black, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, and the Humanitarian Law Center, all of which share the same agenda as the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. In this research, which is full of inaccuracies, refugee reception centers and prisoner-of-war camps were rebranded as concentration camps.
Šljivovica in western Serbia and Mitrovo Polje near Aleksandrovac in the Raška municipality were officially institutions that provided shelter to many refugees during the wars of the 1990s. A portion of the prisoners of war were indeed placed in these facilities, but in accordance with international law and under the supervision of the international community.
In the article (https://ratusrbiji.rs/logori-za-bosnjake-u-srbiji/), it is described how a group of Muslims, allegedly 800 of them—all civilians, with not a single woman or child—decided to cross the Drina and surrender. The Serbian army received them on the territory of Bajina Bašta and transported them by truck to the village of Jagoštica. On this journey, which barely lasts 45 minutes, alleged torture and suffocation of individuals are tendentiously described.
UNDOCUMENTED TORTURE
The article further states that, due to a lack of space in the refugee reception center in Šljivovica, some individuals were transferred to Mitrovo Polje near Aleksandrovac. The claims of torture are documented solely by descriptions of unsatisfactory living conditions, such as a lack of modern facilities, sufficient blankets and beds, and adequate toilets, while it is also alleged that Serbian guards forced detainees to cross themselves and sing Chetnik songs.
Refugees, whom this NGO calls prisoners, admit that they received medical care, but claim that doctors were often unfriendly towards them. The article then goes as far as to allege sexual abuse, claiming that guards forced detainees to touch each other and ejaculate in each other’s mouths, despite the complete lack of any evidence except for the claims of the article’s author, who states: “Although it is difficult to talk about sexual violence in patriarchal societies… it certainly happened much more than is known.”
The first visit by a delegation from the International Red Cross took place just fifteen days after the refugees were placed in these centers, after which funds were provided for better accommodation—blankets, pillows, and food, which war-torn and sanctioned Serbia could not provide on its own. The existence of these centers lasted until April 1996, and the duration of refugees’ stay in these centers was only nine months.
THE DINKO PHENOMENON
During the war, Serbia was a country that took in tens of thousands of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, regardless of their nationality or religious affiliation, providing them with shelter and, for most who stayed, work and a home. Meanwhile, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina ethnically cleansed their villages and cities of Serbs.
The example of Dinko Gruhonjić is a perfect illustration of how Serbia treats refugees. To one of the loudest advocates of Serb-hatred, Serbia provided everything—from education to employment. Dinko is not an isolated case. Many others also found refuge here, and instead of showing basic gratitude, chose to occupy influential positions in efforts to undermine the country.
The revision of history aimed against Serbia is not new; this is merely a continuation of the agenda from the 1990s, first pursued by Women in Black and the Humanitarian Law Center. From their offices, a distorted image of Serbia, led by a “terrorist,” was disseminated to the world. Such reports justified every action the West took against us, including the NATO aggression.
Today, that strategy has been refined. Instead of physical protests and performances, the methodology relies on media manipulation, fabricated reports, and, most dangerously, attempts to incorporate these false accusations into official historical narratives.
To be continued…
