We are a community of three hundred refugee survivors from Srebrenica and Zepa living today in St. Louis, Missouri, among 8,000 displaced refugees from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We appeal to our fellow citizens from Srebrenica and Zepa in >other parts of the United States and in Europe to join us in calling for justice, accountability, and compensation.

We were promised the help and protection of the United Nations. We gave up our weapons and our ability to defend ourselves in exchange for the protection of Srebrenica and Zepa as "safe areas". When our cities were attacked in July of 1995, thousands of our fathers, sons, brothers, relatives and friends were slaughtered without resistance or opposition from the United Nations who had pledged to defend us, according to UN Resolution 836, by "all necessary means, including the use of force." We were guaranteed protection but instead our UN protectors were bystanders and accomplices to our genocide. We lost our homes, our possessions, and most, importantly, our loved ones and friends.

Many of us who survived were imprisoned in Serbia after escaping Srebrenica and Zepa. Officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Red Cross in Belgrade promised us special status after resettlement as refugees. More than two years later we have received little or no help. For example, we have received no systematic medical attention or treatment for war trauma.

As victims of the worst genocide on European soil since the second world war, we demand the following:

1. The immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the war crimes and genocide in Srebrenica and Zepa, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

2. Information about those killed or missing in Srebrenica and Zepa.

3. Material and medical assistance, including financial compensation for our loss.

We urge others from Srebrenica and Zepa to join our appeal and we ask all people of good will to help us by sending us statements of support to be used in furthering our appeal.

We will convene a national meeting in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday April 19, 1998 to issue our call for justice and compensation. For more information or to participate in this gathering, please contact:

Safeta Ovcina (Bosnian Language) 314-481-7973

Patrick McCarthy (English language) Saint Louis University 3650 Lindell Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108

Tel. 314-977-3093 fax 314-977-3108 E-mail: mccartpg@slu.edu

For the St. Louis Committee of the Dispossessed from Srebrenica and Zepa,