Professor of Philosophy, the Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Southern Connecticut State University, David Pettigrew, assessed that it is high time for the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, to address the celebration of the unconstitutional day of Republika Srpska on January 9.
As Pettigrew emphasized, it is not just the fact that it is an unconstitutional day, because to the extent that Republika Srpska was created by the commission of genocide and other war crimes, marking the Day of the RS, on any date, represents the celebration of genocide and the glorification of convicted criminals and their crime, which is a violation of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The organizers of that illegal assembly should be prosecuted, and such practice, which includes a provocative militaristic parade and rhetoric of division and hatred, should be banned. A relevant transitional justice strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina must protect the survivors, support their human right to memorialization and promote the rule of law,” emphasized Pettigrew.
He is of the opinion that entering the new year in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the biggest shame of the international community remains that the victims’ associations were not allowed to set up memorials and museums in locations such as the concentration camp “Barutni magacin” (Kalinovik), the Kravica warehouse, the concentration camp Omarska, “Partizan” sports hall (Foča), “Pilica” culture center, “Trnopolje” concentration camp, “Vilina Vlas” hotel (Višegrad) and other places where crimes had been committed.
Pettigrew also recalls the fact that in the recent conclusion of the Council of the European Union approving BiH’s candidate status for membership in the European Union, it was explicitly called to stop the glorification of convicted war criminals.
“Such glorification violates the human right to the truth and re-traumatizes the survivors of genocide and other war crimes.
Memorials to convicted criminals in Republika Srpska are a violation of BiH law on the prohibition of glorification of war criminals. Let 2023 be the year in which the monuments glorifying convicted war criminals will finally be removed,” urged the US professor.
He believes that the time has come for the Office of the High Representative to implement a comprehensive strategy of transitional justice for the establishment of memorials to the victims in numerous places where atrocities had been committed that were declared genocide and other war crimes by the judgments of domestic and international courts.
Such a strategy must support the rule of law by removing monuments that glorify war criminals, and strengthen the judiciary by prosecuting genocide denial and glorifying convicted war criminals, concluded David Pettigrew, a professor of Philosophy, the Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Southern Connecticut State University, Fena reports.
