The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, spoke with the director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, Emir Suljagić, regarding the invitation to police interrogations of current and former employees and associates of the Memorial Center.
Suljagić informed Chairman Bećirović about the behavior of the institutions of the BiH entity RS towards persons who were engaged in the work of the Memorial Center in different periods, it was announced from the Cabinet of the member of the BiH Presidency.
Bećirović expressed his full support for the director, employees and associates of the Memorial Center. He emphasized that the massive invitation to police hearings represents unacceptable pressure on the institution that preserves the truth about the genocide against Bosniaks and the dignity of the victims.
He said that this kind of behavior is an attack on human rights and freedoms, the safety of returnees and the entire system of sustainable return in the Bosnian entity of RS. He especially warned that the intimidation of employees, associates, researchers and human rights defenders creates an atmosphere of insecurity among returnees and threatens their right to live and work freely.
“No amount of pressure from the authorities of the BiH entity of the RS can change the final judgments of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which found that genocide was committed against Bosniaks in Srebrenica. They cannot change the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on the International Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Genocide in Srebrenica in 1995, nor can they stop the work of the Memorial Center as an institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Bećirović.
Bećirović pointed out that law enforcement institutions must not be misused for political calculations, intimidation of returnees and pressure on people who investigate, document and preserve facts about genocide.
He added that every procedure of the competent authorities must have a clear legal basis, a legitimate goal and be carried out in accordance with the highest standards of human rights protection.
He called on the competent state institutions, the Institution of Ombudsman for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data of Bosnia and Herzegovina to investigate all the circumstances of this case.
He also called on the Office of the High Representative, the OSCE Mission, the Delegation of the European Union and other representatives of the international community to condemn the behavior of the institutions of the BiH entity RS towards the employees and associates of the Memorial Center.
