UN resolution to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia sparks opposition from Serbs

UNITED NATIONS — A UN resolution sponsored by Germany and Rwanda to establish an annual day commemorating the genocide of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by the Bosnian Serbs in 1995 has sparked protests and a strong lobbying campaign against its adoption by the Serbian president and Bosnian Serb leaders.

The UN General Assembly has scheduled a debate on the resolution for the morning of May 23, followed by a vote in the 193-member world body.

The final draft of the resolution would designate July 11 as the “International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenca Genocide,” to be celebrated annually in two months. The massacres began on July 11, 1995.

The draft asks the United Nations to prepare an outreach program and invites countries, organizations, civil society and others to mark the day with special celebrations and activities in memory and honor of the victims, as well as “ appropriate information and awareness activities for the public. ”

The Srebrenica killings were the bloody crescendo of the 1992 to 1995 war in Bosnia, which arose after the breakup of Yugoslavia unleashed nationalist passions and territorial ambitions that pitted Bosnian Serbs against the country’s two other main ethnic groups, the Croats and the Muslim Bosnians, stated.

On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serbs captured a UN-protected safe area in Srebrenica. They separated at least 8,000 Muslim Bosnian men and boys from their wives, mothers and sisters and slaughtered them. Those who tried to escape were chased through the forests and over the mountains surrounding the ill-fated city.

The International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest tribunal, ruled in 2007 that the acts committed in Srebrenica constituted genocide, and the court’s ruling is included in the draft resolution. It was the first genocide in Europe since the Nazi Holocaust in World War II, which killed an estimated six million Jews and people from other minorities.

Serbian populist President Aleksandar Vucic and Bosnian Serb leaders have strongly opposed the adoption of the Srebrenica resolution, saying it labels all Serbs a “genocidal nation,” although the draft does not name Serbs as culprits .

Vucic and his government have campaigned both at the UN and among developing countries to win support for a ‘no’ vote. They say they have already won a majority against the resolution. A majority vote is required for approval.

Both Vucic and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik have repeatedly raised the possibility of having to pay war damages if the resolution is adopted. Local analysts say Serbian leaders, including Vukic, also fear they could be brought to justice for active participation in the bloodshed.

The draft resolution condemns “without reservation any denial of the genocide in Srebrenica as a historical event.” It “also unreservedly condemns actions that glorify those convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by international courts, including those responsible for the Srebrenica genocide.”

Wartime Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Ratko Mladic, were both convicted of genocide in Srebrenica by a special UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. In total, the tribunal and the courts in the Balkans have sentenced almost fifty Bosnian Serb war officials to long prison terms.

However, most Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials still celebrate Karadzic and Mladic as national heroes. They continue to downplay or even deny the killings in Srebrenica, which has deeply offended the relatives of the victims and survivors of the massacre.

During a meeting with Dodik in Budapest, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday that his country will vote against the resolution. He called the genocide the “tragedy of Srebrenica” and said the resolution would “intentionally or unintentionally demonize the entire Serbian nation” and inflame tensions in the surrounding region.

The upcoming vote was also discussed on Wednesday during a regular meeting of the UN Security Council on political and economic developments in Bosnia.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said: “Dodik’s dangerous actions and secessionist rhetoric threaten peace and stability in the region” and “denial of the genocide also prevents reconciliation.”

“Remembering historical truths and accepting facts is important and will move the region forward on the path to reconciliation,” Wood said. “And honoring the victims of genocide reinforces the values ​​reflected in the UN Charter.”

But Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, whose country has strong ties with Serbia and Bosnian Serbs, said introducing the resolution without the agreement of all Bosnian parties was a violation of the country’s constitution and the Dayton peace agreement from 1995, which ended the war.

“We consider this provocative text as a threat to peace and security in the country and in the region as a whole,” he said, accusing Germany and Rwanda of fueling protests instead of promoting reconciliation.

Chinese Deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang reiterated Beijing’s call for the sponsors to work with key parties and member states to reach consensus on the draft resolution. He said “major disagreements” still exist and “implementing them is contrary to the spirit of promoting reconciliation” within Bosnia and among countries in the region.

Germany and Rwanda have said they would seriously consider proposals from Serbia to change the text.

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Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.