The Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to the United Nations (UN), led by Ambassador Zlatko Lagumdzija, is preparing a resolution that, in addition to other things, calls for July 11 to be declared the “international day remembrance day for the Srebrenica genocide.”
The draft resolution that N1 has reviewed requests that “any denial of the Srebrenica genocide be unequivocally condemned,” and calls on members states “to preserve the established facts, including through their educational systems, by developing appropriate programs aimed at preventing revisionism and the occurrence of genocide in the future.”
In addition, it calls for the “condemnation of actions of glorifying individuals convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including those responsible for Srebrenica.”
“The importance of concluding the process of finding and identifying the remaining victims of the Srebrenica genocide and ensuring dignified burials is emphasized,” states the draft resolution and calls for the prosecution of the perpetrators of these crimes.
All member states are urged to “fully comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” where applicable, as well as with “international customary law on the prevention and punishment of genocide, with due respect for the relevant decisions of the International Court of Justice.”
At the same time, the draft resolution calls on UN Secretary General to establish an information program entitled “Genocide in Srebrenica and the UN,” starting with the preparations for the 30th anniversary in 2025 and to “draw the attention of all member states, United Nations system organizations, civil society organizations to the resolution” so as to ensure appropriate respect.
The resolution calls on UN member states, United Nations system organizations, and on other international and regional organizations and civil society, to observe the proposed international day and “conduct appropriate education and activities to raise public awareness.”
There are media reports that this draft resolution could be tabled at the UN General Assembly at end of April.
Serbia does not recognize the crimes committed in Srebrenica as genocide. In 2010 the Serbian Parliament adopted a Declaration on the Condemnation of the Crime in Srebrenica. In this document it “strongly condemned the crime committed against the Bosniak population in Srebrenica in July 1995 in a manner established by the judgment of the International Court of Justice (…) expressing condolences and apologies to the families of the victims for not having done everything to prevent this tragedy.”
Despite the fact that the Parliament expressed support for the Hague court and commitment to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in the adopted declaration the events were defined as “crimes” rather than as “genocide.”
The Hague Tribunal states on its website that Bosnian Serbs and other forces executed 7,000 to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica from July 11 to 19, 1995. The figures are denied by Republika Srpska, which had formed a committee that in 2021 established that no more than 3,500 Bosniaks and 2,000 Serbs perished in Srebrenica.
The Hague Tribunal issued indictments against 19 individuals for crimes committed in Srebrenica, including the then Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadzic and the then commander of the Republika Srpska Army Ratko Mladic. They have both been sentenced to life imprisonment.
In 2007 the International Court of Justice acquitted Serbia of committing genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that there is individual responsibility for it. The court, however, said that “the authorities in Belgrade did nothing to prevent the genocide or to punish those responsible afterwards.”
