December 15, 2008, Washington, DC: Bosnian Family (BOSFAM) Founder Beba Hadzic (below) was one of 24 genocide survivors to sign a recent letter to world leaders, urging the international community to prevent mass atrocities and protect those facing slaughter.

The letter was released by the Genocide Prevention Project December 9, on the 60th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The letter was signed by survivors of the Holocaust and the slaughters in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.

“We approach you on behalf of our beloved dead, in their millions of voices,” the letter read. “Violence silences the voices of our sisters and brothers in places like Darfur, Somalia, Burma and Congo, yet we can hear their pleas for protection, and we must speak for them too.”

BOSFAM is a women’s group founded in 1994 as a source of support for refugee women. The organization offers these women the chance to earn an income from traditional weaving.

Many of the BOSFAM weavers lost husbands, sons, brothers, and fathers in the Srebrenica massacre, leaving these women as the sole providers for their families. The group, based in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has produced the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt, which honors victims of the massacre.

The Genocide Prevention Project also issued a report that includes a new “Mass Atrocity Crimes Watch List 2008-09.” The list identifies 33 countries where ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity and/or genocide are ongoing or where there is potential for such crimes.

Genocide Prevention Month, slated for April 2009, will feature commemoration ceremonies for six previous genocides and 30 days of action to urge the UN and member states to adopt a mass atrocity crimes prevention agenda.