The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, attended today the commemoration on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Genocide in Srebrenica in 1995, which was held in the General Assembly hall at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
This year’s commemoration is the second commemoration at the headquarters of the United Nations since the adoption of Resolution 78/282 of the United Nations General Assembly in May 2024, which declared July 11 the International Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide. By adopting the Resolution, the international community clearly confirmed that the memory of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica represents a universal civilizational obligation and that the preservation of the facts established by the judgments of international courts remains a key prerequisite for building lasting peace, trust and responsibility.
At the same time, the Resolution established a permanent international framework for cultivating a culture of memory and educating future generations, with a clear determination of the international community to resolutely oppose all attempts to deny genocide, historical revisionism and glorify convicted war criminals. Such phenomena do not only represent the denial of legally established facts, but also directly violate the dignity of victims and survivors and represent a serious obstacle to the building of trust, reconciliation and lasting peace.
The commemoration was led by United Nations Under-Secretary and Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide Chaloka Beyani. The program included the testimonies of surviving victims of genocide Emina Sinanović and Hasan Hasanović, an address on behalf of the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres, an address by the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Denis Bećirović, as well as a video address by the President of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock.
The testimonies of the survivors once again pointed to the lasting human consequences of the genocide in Srebrenica, reminding of the importance of preserving the memory of the victims and respecting the facts established by final judgments of international courts, as the basis of a responsible confrontation with the past.
The marking of the International Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Genocide in Srebrenica at the United Nations headquarters confirms that fostering a culture of memory is not the responsibility of Bosnia and Herzegovina alone, but a joint obligation of the international community. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains committed to preserving the dignity of the victims, nurturing the culture of memory and strengthening international cooperation in the promotion of peace, justice and respect for international law.
Transmitting the facts determined by the judgments of international courts to future generations and nurturing the memory of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica represent one of the key contributions to global efforts aimed at preventing genocide and other grave violations of international humanitarian law.
