DENIED THEIR FIRST BREATH OF LIFE – THE STORY OF 12 BANJALUKA BABIES

BANJA LUKA, JULY 20 /SRNA/ - Željka Tubić, the mother of one of the 12 Banja Luka babies who died due to a lack of oxygen in 1992, said that this tragedy laid the foundation of Republika Srpska, over which they now watch like angels.

"Our 12 babies laid down their innocent lives in the foundations of Republika Srpska. Regardless of faith and nationality, they once again remind us, like angels, that we are all connected in Srpska — there is no division," Tubić said in her testimony for the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska about the days when she lost her son and her struggle to preserve the truth from being forgotten.

Tubić added that the deaths of the 12 babies became the catalyst for the most humanitarian battle, the breakthrough of the Corridor, and that the gravity of this crime and the consequences that would have followed if the corridor had not been opened must be known.

She said that it is the duty of every individual, society, and the authorities to keep reminding people of this crime.

"The suffering of the babies laid the foundation for the existence of Republika Srpska," said Tubić, who is also the secretary of the "12 Babies" Association.

In the „Homeland" podcast of the Memorial Centre, Tubić spoke about what it is like to carry grief that has lasted for more than three decades.

Her son Bojan lived for only 10 days. Due to the flight ban imposed by the UN Security Council, oxygen could not be delivered to the Banja Luka Clinical Centre, the Memorial Centre said.

The consequence of that decision was the loss of innocent children's lives, and the tragedy became one of the immediate triggers for launching the military operation "Corridor 92", which established a land link with Serbia.