Quo Vadis, Humanity?

On December 19, a powerful and deeply moving conference was held in Sarajevo, dedicated to the protection of children and to shedding light on the fate of missing babies in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The organizers – the Association of Missing Babies of Vojvodina and the Christian Alliance of Croatia – gathered mothers, families, activists, experts, and people of conscience from across the region in a packed hall at Collegium Artisticum in Skenderija, united by the same pain and the same question that has gone unanswered for decades.

The hall was filled to the last seat, but the space was burdened with something far heavier than crowding – silence, broken by questions. Many were heard that day, but one echoed louder than all the others: why Sarajevo?

The answer was not sought in geography, but in symbolism and truth. Who could better understand mothers of missing children than wounded Sarajevo? A city that survived a siege, a city whose streets are soaked with the tears of mothers who lost their children in the last war. Sarajevo knows what it means to wait, to hope, to search for truth among the ruins of systems and humanity. Sarajevo knows what it means when institutions fall silent, and pain does not end.

Throughout the conference, questions followed one another – short, painful, stripped to the bone:

Why? Why do those responsible remain silent? Why are archives closed? Why has justice still not arrived? Why do children have no names?

A particularly strong impression was left by Ana Pejić, whose many years of work have given mothers who were pushed to the margins of society a glimmer of hope, labelled oversensitive, suspicious, or even insane for refusing to accept official versions of events. Her message was clear: perseverance is the one thing the system cannot break.

"On December 19, 2025, we held a joint conference in Sarajevo with Ms. Ana Pejić from the Association of Missing Babies of Vojvodina, and informed the professional community, the academic community, and the broader public in Bosnia and Herzegovina about all the achievements made in the search for missing or stolen babies from maternity wards.

As one of the participants at the conference, I had the pleasure of informing those present about the methods of baby theft, the modus operandi used by perpetrators, the perfidious nature and abuse of the postnatal condition and shock of mothers, to have children declared dead without a single piece of material evidence to support such claims.

The second reason for my participation in the conference was the presentation of part of the results of research I conducted with Professor Paul and colleague Alexander in Serbia, which included 33 families with whom we conducted semi-structured interviews, whose statements were corroborated by extensive documentary material. The results of the research should see the light of day next year, or by the end of this year, they should be submitted to one of the most prestigious criminology journals for peer review. We hope that the reviews will be positive and that the paper will be accepted for publication by eminent professors. In this way, the phenomenon of stolen babies would, for the first time in the history of this phenomenon, move from a purely professional discourse into a new one – the scientific discourse – which provides additional strength and motivation for understanding scientific results, as well as motivation for other researchers to approach this phenomenon from a scientific perspective.

The overall impression from the conference appears more than satisfactory, as most of those present had the opportunity, through interaction with all of us, to ask questions and comment on our findings. The level of interest is shown and proven by the fact that instead of the planned hour and a half, we remained for three and a half hours.

The general conclusion from the conference, the speakers' presentations, the interaction, and the identification of new potential cases can be summarized as follows: the enthusiasm of individuals or groups to protect victims, especially children and minors, must gain institutional momentum rather than remain mere support. Within this dynamic, the role and importance of international organizations in protecting children are more than necessary, especially if we accept the facts derived from scientific research and professional insights, grounded in material documentation, statements, and testimonies from mothers. In that case, resistance to institutional dynamics becomes clear, as the role of individuals and groups within the system is more than evident.

With respect,

Assoc. Prof. Sandi Dizdarević

Professor of Criminal Psychology

At the conference, there was no euphemism – there was talk of suspicions of organized baby trafficking, of missing documents, of maternity wards as the last places where parents saw their children, of signatures that were never explained, and of death certificates without bodies. It was also stated that behind all this are not "system errors," but the system itself.

As emphasized, behind this tragedy stand structures once known as "state security services," which today hide behind democratic facades, procedures, and slow courts. That is why there is silence. That is why, in some countries of the region, resolutions on crimes against children are rejected or rendered meaningless. That is why appeals from parents are met formally, coldly, or not at all. Because the state cannot admit what it knows – for then it would also have to admit its own complicity.

As stressed, this is not a conspiracy theory. This is a reality that too many people are willing to ignore because it is too dark. However, the truth, however terrible it may be, has one characteristic – it cannot remain hidden forever.

A special part of the conference was dedicated to those who were not present but should have been sitting in the front rows: holders of power, authorities, institutions, religious and political structures that have shaped social consciousness for years without answering for the consequences. Questions were raised about humanity used as a mask, about a God invoked while children disappear, about unjust peace and war that is justified, about freedom that is preached while parents live in the bondage of ignorance.

The conference concluded with a clear, mercilessly honest conclusion: today, we no longer have the right to remain silent. We cannot hide behind time, procedures, and laws that change slowly. Truth does not expire. Injustice does not expire. A mother's pain does not expire.

This conference did not promise miracles overnight. But it did lay the foundation for what is most important – a joint struggle, regional solidarity, and a refusal to forget. If anything remains after December 19 in Sarajevo, it is the message that humanity that exists only on paper is not humanity, but defeat.

On that day, Sarajevo once again became a city of questions. And a city of conscience. And a city that proclaims that the truth, no matter how long it waits, will eventually arrive.