The Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Zlatko Lagumdzija, addressed the UN two days ago and emphasized the importance of extraditing persons convicted of war crimes in BiH, citing the example of Novak Djukic, and added that there is no basis for the early release of Ratko Mladic.
In his speech, he thanked the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), Graciela Gatti Santana, and the officials of the Mechanism for their reports, expressing continued support for the work of the IRMCT. He highlighted the importance of the enforcement of sentences, digitization of archives, and support for national prosecutors’ offices, especially in BiH, which accounts for 80 percent of regional requests for assistance.
He said that the Court of BiH and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH maintain strong cooperation with the IRMCT, but challenges remain in prosecuting war crimes suspects located outside of BiH. In February 2025, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC)of BiH supported the initiative to transfer such cases to the states where the suspects are located, although success depends on regional cooperation, which remains inconsistent.
On this occasion, Lagumdzija praised the regional UN Development Programme (UNDP) project “European Union (EU) Support to Confidence Building in the Western Balkans,” which strengthens judicial cooperation, but warned that true justice requires more than symbolic gestures.
“Many suspects are protected and glorified, while victims face denial, revisionism, and glorification of war criminals,” he said.
He recalled that the session held two days ago took place between two important anniversaries: the 1995 Tuzla massacre, in which 71 people were killed, and the Srebrenica genocide. He condemned Serbia’s refusal to extradite the convicted war criminal Novak Djukicand the continued denial of the Srebrenica genocide, calling it a lasting insult to the victims.
“Novak Djukic, an officer of the Army of the Republika Srpska(VRS), was found guilty for ordering the shelling of Tuzla with artillery on May 25th, 1995, as commander of the Ozren Tactical Group, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After fleeing BiH, he became unavailable to the judicial institutions of our country. He found refuge in Belgrade, but neighboring Serbia refuses to extradite him,” he said.
Regarding the Srebrenica genocide, he said that there is still no facing of the genocide.
“Denial is rewarded, convicted murderers are glorified, judicially established facts and history are distorted and violated, and victims are once again dehumanized. Confronting the past and accepting the truth are far from reality – both in part of my country and in neighboring Serbia. Opportunities for sincere reconciliation are repeatedly missed. The adoption of a resolution aimed at honoring the victims of crimes adjudicated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should have been one such opportunity for joint action, not shameful nationalist rhetoric and historical revisionism,” Lagumdzija emphasized.
He called on leaders in the region to embrace truth, justice, and accountability, instead of defending convicted war criminals like Mladic and Karadzic.
“Instead of loud appeals for early release and advocacy for convicted criminals like Mladic or Karadzic, whether on humanitarian or any other grounds, they should show humanity and conscience toward those who truly deserve it – toward the victims and survivors of these murderous monsters. The upcoming 30th anniversary is certainly an opportunity to do so,” Lagumdzija said.
