Philosophy Professor David Pettigrew attended a recent hearing with the Connecticut state legislature’s Joint Committee on Government Administration and Elections in Hartford. The public hearing pertained to SB1158, which seeks to assign days, weeks, and months to various commemorations, such as Peace Corps Month and Constitution Day.
According to an article in the Hartford Courant, Pettigrew attended the hearing and gave testimony in support of survivors of the 1990s Balkans atrocities, now living in Connecticut, who have requested that July 11 be declared Bosnian Genocide Remembrance Day.
Pettigrew has been working on issues around the Bosnian genocide for years. In 1999, he was inspired to write about the impact of the atrocities that occurred in Bosnia during the conflict in the 1990s, and today, he is leading an effort to establish a memorial site in Kalinovik, located within Republika Srpska (the Bosnian “Serb Republic” created by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement).
He has lobbied the High Representative, presented academic papers, and written commentaries to the Federal News Agency in Bosnia to bring pressure and attention to the need for a memorial. The authorities in Republika Srpska have refused, denying that the genocide and other war crimes took place.
Read the full article: “Their family members were tortured and killed. Now these CT residents seek to commemorate the 1990s Bosnian genocide” (By Susan Dunne, March 8, 2023)
