07/11/2015 OHR

Speech of the High Representative at the commemoration marking the 20th anniversary of genocide in Srebrenica

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We Came Today to Srebrenica

We came today to Srebrenica to observe the oldest right known to humankind: the right to a dignified burial.

We came today to Srebrenica to remember all of the innocent people killed in this war, because not remembering them would mean killing them a second time.

We came today to Srebrenica to give those killed, in our remembrance, again a voice.

We came today to Srebrenica to say again that a systematic and organized killing took place here, the Genocide of Srebrenica, for a single reason: because the victims were Bosniaks.

We came today to Srebrenica to confirm: there are no bad peoples, only bad individuals.

We came to Srebrenica also to say thank you to those who stopped the war in Bosnia.

We came today to Srebrenica to affirm the truth about the events, because only the truth can liberate us, only the truth can be the compass that orients us, only on the basis of truth can respect and reconciliation be achieved.

We came today to Srebrenica to invigorate the process of healing: Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats and others; but also the international community, which has co-responsibility here, as the UN Secretary General said recently.

We came today to Srebrenica, to support forgiveness, but not to forget.

We came to Srebrenica also to ask for forgiveness and to pray for the victims.

We came today to Srebrenica, to extend our hands and build bridges, not walls.

We came today to Srebrenica, to say never again and to turn a new page, to begin a new century, like the French and Germans did after World War II. Once great enemies, today they are the pillars of Europe.

Today we say no to division. Today we commit more strongly than ever to a reintegrated Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We came to Srebrenica also to say that Bosnia Herzegovina has a Euroatlantic future and that the country and its people are part of the European architecture.

We came to Srebrenica, all of us from the family of Europe and beyond; we came to say to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina: you are a part of us and we are a part of you; to say that as we honour the dead, we honour the living.