Following his attendance at yesterday’s 21st commemoration of the genocide committed in Srebrenica, High Representative Valentin Inzko today made clear his view that renewed statements denying the genocide that was committed in Srebrenica are not only deplorable and regrettable, but also fundamentally unacceptable.
“During the commemoration for the victims of Srebrenica genocide, while the mothers were laying but a bone or two of their sons’ bodies to rest, the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik declared that ‘genocide never took place in Srebrenica and he would never recognize it as such,’” High Representative Inzko said, adding that, “with that deeply inhumane act, the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik has chosen civilizational darkness, to which he is leading the entity over which he presides”.
Genocide was committed in Srebrenica. That is a fact that has been determined in rulings issued by both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.
Genocide is a crime that deeply shocks the consciousness of humanity. Such grave crimes threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world. Those politicians who continue in 2016 to deny genocide are actively distancing themselves from our shared humanity. A conscious choice to poison the atmosphere and raise tensions is deeply regrettable.
The time has come to stop insulting the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, and their families, and to finally ensure that not only the victims of the genocide committed in Srebrenica, but also the victims of war crimes committed throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina are duly respected. Victims of the terrible crimes that were committed during the war, be they Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks or Others, must be respected without qualification. The denial of the crimes committed against them must finally stop.
If politicians in this country are unable to self-regulate their own behaviour they will create a situation where there will be no other alternative but to follow the path many other European countries have done and that is to criminalise the denial of the Holocaust, genocide and other applicable crimes.