KARAN: TRAGEDY OF 12 BANJA LUKA BABIES REMAINS SYMBOL OF INHUMANITY

BANJA LUKA, MAY 22 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan said that in May 1992, the hardest battle was fought in the silence of the Banja Luka maternity ward, the battle of newborn babies for every breath.

"Because of the lack of understanding and inhumanity of those deciding human destinies at that moment, newborn babies were deprived of the right to life. The babies lost the battle because of a cruel political decision. Inhumanity prevailed over humanity, and for that very reason such a decision can never be forgotten or forgiven", Karan told SRNA on the occasion of marking 34 years since the deaths of 12 Banja Luka babies at the then Clinical Center, who died because world powers did not allow the transport of oxygen.

The Republika Srpska president reminded that, by a decision of the United Nations Security Council, international flights, including humanitarian flights intended to deliver urgently needed oxygen from Belgrade to the Banja Luka maternity ward, were banned during May 1992.

"The immeasurable and indescribable pain and sorrow left behind by this tragedy was one of the decisive moments that encouraged Serb fighters to launch the breakthrough of the Corridor through Posavina. Through a heroic struggle, the road of life and salvation was opened, linking Republika Srpska with motherland Serbia and enabling the survival of the Serb people in these areas", Karan emphasized.

He stressed that Republika Srpska has a duty to preserve the memory of the 12 Banja Luka babies and the truth about their suffering.