”The adoption of the Resolution marking July 11th as the International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 was a historic vote for remembering the victims, confirming the truth about the genocide and resisting denial,” said the professor of philosophy and Holocaust and genocide studies at the Southern Connecticut State University and member of the Board of Directors of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, David Pettigrew.
The adoption of the Resolution on Srebrenica in the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) is, as he underlined, an extremely important step towards raising awareness of the genocide and other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 1992-1995.
”With the heroic efforts of Ambassador Zlatko Lagumdzija, and members of the BiH Presidency Denis Becirovic and Zeljko Komsic, along with Emir Suljagic and Azir Osmanovic from the Srebrenica Memorial Center, along with the brave mothers of Srebrenica Munira Subasic and Kada Hotic, as well as the unwavering support of the United States (U.S.), the United Kingdom (UK) and others people, the adoption of the UN Resolution gives the greatest possible international institutional recognition to the genocide in Srebrenica, which will ensure that commemorations will be held around the world on July 11th for years to come,” emphasizes Professor Pettigrew.
He recalled the meeting with the ambassador of BiH to the UN, Zlatko Lagumdzija, in New York, who told him that with the momentum given by this resolution, the truth about genocide will move “from the courtroom to the classroom”, which means that the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will be learned in classrooms all over the world. The UN resolution emphasizes the importance of commemorative activities and educational programs for educating future generations and preventing the recurrence of crimes. This is one of, as Pettigrew said, the greatest hopes of the Resolution, it is a beacon of hope for education and genocide prevention.
The American professor further assesses that, although predictable, the reaction of Milorad Dodik and the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (NARS) to this resolution is absolutely reprehensible. The proposal to initiate a “peaceful separation” from BiH is a clear threat to peace and shows that the RS is continuing its divisions from the 1990s in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity as part of “Greater Serbia”.
”Such a threat supports Moscow’s ongoing efforts to undermine stability in the region and prevent the European Union (EU)integration. Such threats require the strongest possible response from the international community,” Professor Pettigrewbelieves.
Now that May 31st is approaching and the celebration of the “Day of the White Ribbons”, he believes it is important to stand in solidarity with those who demand the installation of a monument to the victims in Prijedor, where it was established that the concentration camps and other documented crimes were part of the plan to establish an ethnically homogeneous “Greater Serbia”.
E.Dz.
