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In New York City, the exhibition titled “A Crying Woman: Women and War” by the well-known photojournalist Marissa Roth, which treats the topic of violence and rape as tools of war, opened on Tuesday.
A large part of the exposed photos, the American journalist took in Kosovo. In an interview with VOA, Pulitzer Prize winner talks about the difficulties and mission of her project. Present at the opening of the exhibition were also survivors of the war in Kosovo, Vasfije Kransiqi-Goodman and Besarta Jashari. As reported by colleague Burim Goxhuli from New York, they spoke about the necessity of bringing the perpetrators to justice.
For 38 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning American photojournalist Marissa Roth has photographed women surviving war crimes around the world, bringing with them the harrowing stories of these women.
Some of her photographs were displayed in Roosevelt’s building in New York, as part of an exhibition by the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Rally for Her Justice organization.
Many of the photos in the exhibition entitled “A Woman Crying: Women and War” were taken in Kosovo.
“I have seen things I wish I had never seen, but I can not erase them from memory. I try to get involved with my heart and then tell and retell these stories. They make me sad but I feel that through these stories I can tell the world what happened. This is my way of showing how strong and courageous these women are. “I say I’m a peace activist and that’s my way of saying ‘enough is enough,'” Roth told VOA.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until June 22.
As part of this activity, a discussion panel was held where the activist and survivor of rape during the war of 98-99 in Kosovo, Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, participated.
She said the war in Ukraine is a clear indication that history can repeat itself if the necessary measures are not taken to prevent these crimes.
“I have been fighting for justice since 1999 and I have never found justice for my case. But I will not stop fighting until I reach the goal. It is time to hold Serbia accountable for all crimes committed. “But democratic countries are allowing Serbia to play the role of victim, instead of the aggressor of the war.” said Mrs. Krasniqi-Goodman.
Besarta Jashari, the only survivor of the March 5-6 and March 7 attack in Prekaz, where 22 members of her family lost their lives, is also seeking justice.
“I am very excited and the experiences of those three days, on March 5-6 and March 7, are coming back to me. “But at the same time I am very proud that after all these years someone is discussing Kosovo and I believe that very soon those who committed these crimes in our country will be punished and held accountable,” she told VOA.
Former US lawmaker Eliot Engel was also present at the rally.
He said that it is scary that those responsible for these crimes have not yet been brought to justice, while today Europe is experiencing again what happened in Kosovo years ago.
“It’s a nightmare situation. The world is seeing and expressing anger, but the years pass and nothing happens. The people who killed and caused horrible things to women in the Balkan wars have not yet been tried. It’s very annoying. “Therefore, I think we need to make an analogy between what is happening in Ukraine and the events in Kosovo,” Engel told VOA.
The director of the Museum of Tolerance, Liebe Geft, said punishing these crimes would be easier if governments had the political will and courage.
“Sanctions, economic measures, arms embargo, travel bans. “All of these together can be used as tools to change the accounts of the parties to a conflict, who act thinking that not only are they not punished but that they can also benefit.” she says.
According to estimates, over 10 thousand Albanians were killed during the war in Kosovo, and the bodies of about 1,600 of them are still wanted.
According to human rights organizations, about 20,000 women and girls have been raped and over 800,000 Albanians have been evicted from their homes.VOA
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