BAACBH would like to recognize and commend U.S. Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO) for his support of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Bosnian people.

BAACBH was alarmed by the recent events that took place in Prijedor, BiH regarding the Day of Concentration Camp Detainees that takes place on May 9th of each year at the site of the former Omarska concentration camp. Omarska was one of the most notorious concentration camps during the war in BiH. It was one of three camps set up in northern BiH to rid the country of non-Serbs where around 6,000 Bosniaks and Croats were held in appalling and brutal conditions for five months in the spring and summer of 1992. Currently, the biggest steel company in the world, Arcelor Mittal owns the mining complex site in Omarska; however, no memorial commemorating the concentration camp exists to this day. The current Mayor of Prijedor, Marko Pavic, stated that a memorial in Omarska would undermine relations between different ethnic groups in Prijedor. Alarmingly, just a day after the Day of Concentration Camp Detainees, someone in Prijedor spray painted "Death to Inzko, Gypsies and Muslims should be put in concentration camps."

In his statement before the U.S. Congress on May 10, 2011, Rep. Carnahan recognized the victims of the concentration camp in Omarska and emphasized that remembering the victims is crucial to the reconciliation process. Congressman Carnahan urged all parties to allow for the memorial to be built at Omarska so that the victims can forever be remembered and so that similar atrocities never occur again.

To view the entire statement made by Congressman Carnahan regarding the Omarska concentration camp please click on the following link: Congressional Statement