DODIK: 12 BANJA LUKA BABIES’ DEATH - TRAGEDY WHEN WORLD FAILED TEST OF HUMANITY

BANJA LUKA, MAY 21 /SRNA/ - The death of the 12 Banja Luka babies is one of the most tragic and heartbreaking wounds of the Serb people in Republika Srpska and the consequence of an inhumane blockade and the shameful silence of the international community, which allowed innocent children to die without oxygen and the possibility to breathe, stresses President Milorad Dodik.

While the powerful figures of the world debated procedures and politics, Dodik told SRNA, one newborn life after another was fading away in the Banja Luka maternity hospital. The babies, immediately after birth, experienced only the cruelty and harshness of a world that did not allow them to breathe. "Although they left this world far too soon, they continue to live forever in the collective memory of Republika Srpska and the Serb people," Dodik emphasized. Ahead of tomorrow’s commemoration marking 34 years since the deaths of the 12 Banja Luka babies at the then Clinical Centre Banja Luka, who died because world powers did not allow the transport of oxygen, Dodik told SRNA that the 12 babies are not only a symbol of tragedy, but also a symbol of the injustice the Serb people endured. "They died because, for part of the international community, politics, hatred, and political maneuvering were more important than the lives of children," Dodik stressed. He pointed out that the world at that time failed the test of humanity, while the Serb people passed the test of dignity, compassion, defiance, and remembrance. "The twelve Banja Luka stars were not extinguished; they were moved to the sky above the homeland to shine upon us forever and remind us of the meaning of life and freedom," Dodik stressed. Their only sin, Dodik says, was that they were born here, amid the storm of injustice that closed the world’s eyes and denied them a breath of oxygen. "That is why today we can freely say that where humanity ends, the eternal vigil of our twelve angels begins. The Banja Luka babies, denied the right to breathe, therefore the right to life, remain the purest and saddest tear in our history. The homeland, Republika Srpska, does not forget them, because a people who remember such a sacrifice can never be defeated," Dodik emphasized. He pointed out that the 12 little angels never lived to take their first steps, but are forever built into the foundations of both the Serb people and the survival of Republika Srpska, adding that their first cradle is woven into the hearts of every Serb, where they are protected from oblivion. According to him, every anniversary is not only a day of sorrow, but also a day of commitment to ensure that such a crime against innocence is never repeated and that the truth remains stronger than attempts at forgetting. "Their deaths remind us that we must never forget the injustice we endured and how high the price of freedom and the right to life truly is. Their unlived lives are our permanent obligation to preserve and love this land, so that such darkness and collapse never happen again to anyone. Eternal glory to them," Dodik said. Banja Luka is marking tomorrow 34 years since the deaths of the 12 babies at the then Clinical Centere, who died because world powers did not allow the transport of oxygen. A thirteenth baby died 13 years later, while the fourteenth survived with severe mental and physical disabilities.