The UN General Assembly declared July 11 an international day of remembrance of the Srebrenica genocide in a vote on Thursday that survivors branded as historic and Serbs as a failure, reflecting deep ethnic divisions in Bosnia.
The massacre of about 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in 1995, after the UN safe zone of Srebrenica was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces, took place during the Balkan wars that followed the disintegration of Yugoslavia and was seen as Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II.
The resolution, initiated by Germany and Rwanda and the cross-regional core group that included the US, was approved by a narrow margin of 84 votes in the 193-member General Assembly, with 19 votes against and 68 abstentions.
Photo: Reuters
“The truth and justice won today,” Bosnian President Denis Becirovic said.
The survivors of the massacre, mostly women who lost their male relatives, cried tears of joy at seeing the resolution as final closure after three decades.
The assembly said the resolution “decides to designate 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, to be observed annually.”
It also condemns denial of the massacre and glorification of war criminals, calling for the remaining victims to be found and identified, and all perpetrators who are still at large to be brought to justice.
Serbia and Bosnian Serbs, who deny that the massacre constituted genocide, declared the vote a failure, saying that more countries did not vote in favor of the resolution than for it.
They had accused the authors of the resolution of branding Serbia a “genocidal nation.”
“Those people who wanted to stigmatize the Serbian nation failed and will never succeed,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after the session. “They wanted to put a mark on our face and they failed.”
During the session, Vucic called on member states to vote against the resolution, saying it was “highly politicized” and would not contribute to the reconciliation in Bosnia and the region, but rather would open a Pandora’s box.
After the vote, Serbs drove through Belgrade, honking and waving Serbian flags.
The streets of towns across Serbia and Bosnia’s Serb Republic were decorated with Serbian flags and placards reading: “We are not genocidal people, we remember.”
“This is a failed resolution,” declared Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik, who threatened that the Serb Republic, an autonomous region that makes up Bosnia along with the Bosniak-Croat federation under a peace deal, would secede if the resolution went ahead.
On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic separated men and boys from women and executed them in the following days. Their remains were found years later in mass graves in eastern Bosnia, though some still do not know where their relatives died.
Two international courts have ruled the atrocity constituted genocide. Mladic and his political chief Radovan Karadzic were jailed for life for war crimes, including genocide, while about 50 Bosnian Serbs were also convicted.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College