The IGK warned Canadian leaders about police interrogations of current and former employees and associates of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, saying that the truth cannot be silenced
The Institute for Genocide Research Canada (IGK) has sent a letter to Canadian leaders calling for police interrogations of current and former employees and associates of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
The letter was sent to Louise Arbour, Governor General of Canada, Mark Carney, Prime Minister, Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Oliphant, Member of Parliament, Brian Masse, former Member of Parliament and sponsor of the 2010 parliamentary resolution declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada.
The IGK says that genocide cannot be erased by intimidation.
“IGK strongly condemns any attempt to intimidate current and former employees and associates of the Srebrenica Memorial Center. Any pressure on an institution whose mission is to preserve the truth about the genocide represents an attack on the culture of memory and the dignity of the victims,” they stated in the letter.
They point out that it is particularly worrying that, three decades after the genocide, attention is directed towards people who document the facts confirmed by the judgments of international and domestic courts, instead of the priority being the prosecution of all those responsible for war crimes.
The IGK emphasizes that the truth about genocide cannot be silenced or erased by police calls, pressure or intimidation.
“We call on Canada to protect the independent work of the Srebrenica Memorial Center and to vigilantly monitor any attempt to put pressure on the institutions that preserve the truth about the genocide and the dignity of its victims,” they said.
“We have no right to silence and forgetfulness. The fight for truth and justice is the basis of our survival and existence, and it is worth fighting for. The Holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers. The genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not begin with mass murders. They started with discrimination and hate speech. The best tribute to the victims of genocide is an organized and knowledgeable fight for prevention through equality in our words and actions. In that fateful process, help to the Srebrenica Memorial Center is of the utmost importance,” says the letter sent by the IGC to Canadian officials.
