Bećirović: We must never give up the fight for a legal ban on genocide denial

The Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by Denis Bećirović, will be debated in parliament on September 8, 2017.

Thirty-seven associations of victims and civil society organizations from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina have supported this Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The text of this law proposes a ban on the denial, negation, and minimization of the crime of genocide, the Holocaust, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the civilian population.

The text of the proposed law, among other things, states that the following is prohibited:

Public approval, denial, and trivialization of crimes;

Article 172a.

1. Whoever publicly denies, approves, or justifies the crime of genocide, the Holocaust, crimes against humanity, or war crimes against the civilian population, as determined by an international or domestic court, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of six months to three years.

2. Whoever commits the criminal offense from paragraph (1) of this Article in the capacity of an official or responsible person in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of ten months to three years.

Distribution of materials for the purpose of denying, minimizing, justifying, or approving crimes;

Article 172b.

1. Whoever distributes or otherwise makes available to the public, through computer, media, electronic, or other systems, material that publicly denies, minimizes, justifies, or approves the Holocaust, the crime of genocide, or crimes against humanity, as determined by a domestic or international court, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of six months to three years.

2. Whoever commits the criminal offense from paragraph (1) of this Article in the capacity of an official or responsible person in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of ten months to three years.

Denial of verdicts;

Article 172c.

1. Whoever denies the verdicts of the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to three years.

2. Whoever commits the criminal offense from paragraph (1) of this Article in the capacity of an official or responsible person in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of 6 months to 3 years.“.

Furthermore, the explanatory statement of the Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina states:

The denial of genocide is described in literature as the „final stage in the commission of genocide”. Genocide deniers aim to deliver the final blow to their victims – to deny, minimize, trivialize, approve, or justify the crime and thus deprive the victims of even posthumous truth. Faced with this phenomenon, numerous countries have opted to declare genocide denial a criminal offense.

Currently, as many as 11 European Union countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia) and Switzerland, prescribe the denial of the Holocaust and other forms of genocide or crimes against humanity as a criminal offense.

The European Union has also taken steps towards criminalizing genocide denial. First, Joint Action 98/443/JHA stipulated that racist and xenophobic behavior should constitute a criminal offense in all member states.

Then, in 2001, a Proposal for a Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia was drafted. This document includes ”public support for genocide or crimes against humanity as defined in the Statute of the International Criminal Court” among behaviors considered racist and xenophobic.

This proposal was adopted by the European Parliament on May 23, 2002.

Considering the practice of European countries and the European Union, and taking into account the fact that genocide was committed on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the adoption of this law represents an obligation for our country – the explanatory statement reads.