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Srebrenica Genocide Must Be Condemned, Denial Banned, 2 Members Of Bosnian Presidency Tell UN
Denis Becirovic (left), Zlatko Lagumdzija (center), and Azir Osmanovic at a UN session in New York on April 19.
April 19, 2024
By RFE/RL's Balkan Service
The 1995 genocide in Srebrenica must be globally condemned, support for victims must be expressed, and denial of genocide and glorification of war criminals be banned to prevent future similar tragedies, two members of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina told a UN session on April 19.
Denis Becirovic and Zeljko Komsic of Bosnia's presidency made the remarks along with Azir Osmanovic, a survivor from Srebrenica, at the UN headquarters in New York.
A third member of the presidency, Zeljka Cvijanovic -- who represents the Serbian entity -- is banned from U.S. entry due to sanctions imposed for violating the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia in 1995, and didn’t attend the session.
Germany and Rwanda initiated talks regarding a resolution on the Srebrenica genocide. Voice of America, citing unnamed sources, reported that the United States, Albania, Finland, New Zealand, Turkey, and other countries are also participating in the drafting of the text.
UN member nations are expected to vote on the final resolution, which is still being worked on, at a session of the UN General Assembly in early May.
In a draft seen by RFE/RL, the resolution calls for, among other things, the "condemnation without reservation" of any denial of the genocide in Srebrenica, as well as actions that glorify those convicted of war crimes, including those responsible for the genocide.
The resolution would declare July 11 as the International Day of Remembrance for the Genocide in Srebrenica.
In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were rounded up and killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Potocari near the eastern town of Srebrenica -- the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II.
The massacre has been deemed genocide by various verdicts of both the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague established that the killings constituted genocide.
So far, more than 50 individuals have been sentenced to some 700 years in prison for their roles in the Srebrenica genocide.
The move to draft a UN resolution has been opposed by Milorad Dodik, the Russia-friendly leader of Bosnia-Herzegovina's ethnic-Serb entity, Republika Srpska, who threatened that if the document is adopted, "Republika Srpska will withdraw from the decision-making process in Bosnia."
Dodik, who has been sanctioned by the United States and Britain over his efforts to undermine the Dayton Peace Accords, has regularly reiterated his denial of the Srebrenica genocide.
Dodik told supporters at a rally in Banja Luka on April 18 that the actions of the Republika Srpska army in Srebrenica in 1995 were "a mistake that left the crime," but he denied it was genocide.
The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo condemned the remarks by Dodik and other Bosnian-Serb leaders, saying the comments were “reprehensible and irresponsible. “
“Genocide denial insults victims of all ethnicities and compounds the suffering of their families. It tears at the fabric of the society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, threatens [Bosnia’s] stability, and is illegal under [Bosnian] law.”
Separately on April 19, the Srebrenica Memorial Center demanded an urgent public statement from the Iranian Embassy after remarks made by Iran’s ambassador to Serbia, Rashid Hassan Pur Baei, regarding Srebrenica.
When asked on Belgrade TV what he thought about the proposed UN resolution, he said "that a crime was committed there, but that this fact is presented in an improper manner."
"It is absolutely reprehensible that they are using this event as a political instrument for their goals. There is a hidden agenda behind it. Serbia admits that a crime took place there, but the presentation of the Serbian people as a genocidal people is absolutely with political intentions and political goals," the ambassador reportedly said. Copyright © Apr 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 conncwsecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. http://www.rferl.org
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