The parliament of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska (NSRS) passed a resolution on April 18 denying the Srebrenica genocide, with the support of all Serb parties, according to bne IntelliNews.
In July 1995, over 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslims) men and boys were killed in Srebrenica during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. The genocide was officially recognised by the International Court of Justice for the former Yugoslavia and the international community.
The term genocide is not correct. This qualification cannot be accepted and NSRS is rejecting it.
Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, stated on April 18 that the Srebrenica massacre was a mistake by the Serbian army, not genocide.
“The operation of the RS army in July 1995 in Srebrenica was a mistake. A mistake that has caused a huge crime. This is the moment when, on behalf of Republika Srpska, I want to express my special piety to all victims and their families. It was a crime at the end of the war after fatigue, hatred, suffering and of revenge, but it was not a genocide.”
Denial of the Srebrenica genocide is an offence under Bosnian state law. The country comprises two autonomous entities, the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska. It is home to the Bosniaks, the Serbs, and the Croats. Each entity has its own institutions as well as state-level bodies.
Dodik claimed that the Bosnian state was “a mistake that should not have existed” and that the entity would not launch a war. However, if the UN passes the resolution, the Serbian people will go and spend a day in Srebrenica “to show that it is ours and that we are not ashamed of it,” he added.
Republika Srpska does not belong to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Bosnia & Herzegovina was supposed to belong to Republika Srpska.
The US Embassy in Bosnia reacted to Dodik’s latest actions by claiming that he was the main cause of Bosnia’s political crisis.
“It is quite clear to anyone paying attention to events in BiH who is the cause of BiH’s current political crisis and who is exacerbating tensions in the country.”
On the same day, the state parliament rejected a request by Dodik’s SNSD party to declare “null and void, illicit and legally non-binding” the decisions of high representative of the international community, Christian Schmidt, and to oblige state-level institutions not to apply them.
A few weeks earlier, Schmidt used his Bonn powers to make technical changes to the state’s election law. On April 18, he stated that he would reverse the amendments if Bosnian politicians agreed to change the election law. If they failed, however, his amendments would remain in force.
Bosnia’s ruling coalition at the state level will attempt to reach agreement on the changes to the election law and adopt them by next Friday.
