On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the exhibition “Truth, Memory, Justice” opened today, serving as a call for justice and documentation of the crimes committed by Serbia during the war in Kosovo.

Images of trains filled with civilians fleeing Kosovo during the war, coffins of the murdered, children and mothers struggling to survive the conflict—these were among the scenes displayed at the exhibition, which was visited by President Vjosa Osmani, caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti, diplomats from various countries in Kosovo, and family members of missing persons.

President Vjosa Osmani said that the regime of the “Butcher of the Balkans,” Slobodan Milošević, caused pain that will never fade. She said that documenting the crimes committed during the war and seeking justice are urgent national priorities, KosovaPress reports.

“The war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by the Milošević regime caused pain that will never end. Thousands were killed, including many children; thousands of women and men were raped. Thousands of people forcibly disappeared, who are still missing from their families and from all of Kosovo. Their pain knows no time; it is an open wound, a living wound—one that bleeds every day and still demands justice. In many parts of Kosovo, loved ones are still awaited—around 1,600 people forcibly disappeared. Through memory, truth, and justice, the crimes must not only be punished and the victims honored, but the future itself must be built on respect for them. Twenty-six years after the war, justice is still missing, the perpetrators have not been tried, and victims and their families continue to wait. Families of the missing live each day with uncertainty, pain, and the anxiety of waiting. Some witnesses and survivors are dying, taking with them important parts of the truth. Therefore, our institutional obligation is greater than ever: documenting, preserving memory, and pursuing justice are national urgencies,” she said.

The President added that Kosovo will not allow these crimes to be forgotten or genocide to be denied, and that today’s exhibition, “Truth, Memory, Justice,” is not merely a presentation of photographs, but proof that the truth will not be distorted.

“These images are powerful reminders that we will not allow the truth to be distorted, and we will not allow memory to be erased. We will remember the murdered children, the parents who never returned, the families who lost everything, those who were forcibly disappeared. For each of them—for the women who endured the horrors of wartime sexual violence and for every war victim—we demand justice. The survivors who live today with physical wounds and, above all, emotional trauma embody resistance and human dignity; they are the voice of the truth that will never be silenced. Kosovo will not give up—we will not allow crimes to be forgotten or genocide denied. For every missing person, every murdered child, every victim of sexual violence—we will speak here and everywhere in the world. Justice will be pursued relentlessly, and the truth must be heard,” Osmani said.

Director of the Institute for War Crimes, Atdhe Hetemi, said that the exhibition is a call for accountability and a powerful reminder that Serbian crimes will not be forgotten.

“This exhibition is not merely a visual presentation of our past, but an institutional act of memory, a call for accountability and a powerful testimony that the crimes committed during the war in Kosovo are not forgotten. Even after more than a quarter-century of freedom, they remain open wounds demanding justice. The videos and photo materials shown today are not simply images—they are voices frozen in time, violently interrupted lives, destroyed families, children, women, men, and the elderly who became the targets of systematic and organized repression by the Serbian regime,” he said.

In Kosovo, even 26 years after the war, the fate of around 1,600 people forcibly disappeared is still unknown.