Civic Alliance and the “Štrpci – Against Oblivion” Association have submitted an initiative to the Municipality of Bijelo Polje to establish the “Tomo Buzov” Award, which would be presented to individuals and organizations for outstanding contributions to the promotion and protection of human rights.
The award would bear the name of Tomo Buzov, one of the twenty passengers abducted from the Belgrade – Bar train on 27 February 1993. On that day, members of the Army of Republika Srpska removed 20 passengers of non-Serb ethnicity from the train and took them to an unknown destination. None of them returned – they were all later killed. Among them was Buzov, a retired Yugoslav People’s Army officer, who lost his life because he refused to remain silent and passively observe the crime. His attempt to protect fellow passengers cost him his life, but left an enduring mark of human courage and solidarity in one of the darkest moments of wartime brutality.
It has been proposed that the award be presented annually on 27 February, the anniversary of the abduction, thereby becoming a symbol of the ongoing fight against forgetting and a reminder of society’s responsibility to preserve the memory of injustice and the suffering of innocent victims.
Civic Alliance and the “Štrpci – Against Oblivion” Association believe that by establishing this award, Bijelo Polje – as a municipality where many of the murdered passengers had lived – would send a strong message that justice, solidarity, and human rights have no expiration date. They also emphasize that in this way, tribute would be paid not only to Tomo Buzov, but to all those throughout history who had the courage to speak out against injustice.
In this regard, the initiators believe that the Municipality of Bijelo Polje will recognize the importance of this proposal and thereby send a powerful message that only a society that remembers can build a future free from the fear of repeating past tragedies.
