On Human Rights Day the Study Centre for National Reconciliation and other co-organisers held a conference called Človekove pravice in temeljne svoboščine za vse čase! (Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms at All Times). In an open letter, Janez Juhant, theologian and president of the association Združeni ob lipi sprave (United Under the Lime Tree of Reconciliation), pointed out that, at least from the report of the journalist Ivo Žajdela in the latest issue of Družina, it is not evident whether any of the symposium speakers mentioned that, according to eyewitnesses, the murdered inmates of the local communist concentration camp are still buried in the cellars of the castle.
In his opinion, the Škofja Loka massacres have already been partly revealed and confirmed by the commission of the municipality of Škofja Loka, but in many ways, due to actions by individuals or even civil servants, they remain hidden or removed from public awareness for incomprehensible reasons. ‘In this way much of the uncovering of the truth and the documenting of the crime remains removed or hidden from the public, and the authorities who have a responsibility to resolve the matter are idly standing by. When will we come closer to the truth about the post-war massacres and establish a situation of fundamental and legal justice, which state institutions are obliged to exercise under the constitution of Slovenia.’
He was particularly critical of the hundreds of associations and non-governmental organisations which, unlike those that are standing up for the rights of the post-war massacre victims, receive money from the state budget. These matters ought to be addressed more efficiently so that the human rights for the hidden and buried can be preserved.
Miha Pirih