Bosniak political establishment shamefully silent while awards are given to criminals

While the Prijedor political establishment does not allow the erection of memorials to victims of genocide and glorifies war criminals by awarding them recognitions, the newly elected Bosnian and especially Bosniak political establishment is shamefully silent, the Institute for Genocide Research stated, as reported by the Patria news agency.

We publish the statement in full:

-The information-business center "Kozarski vjesnik", known for its informational support to the Prijedor ideologues and perpetrators of aggression and genocide, recently awarded the prize for best sports coach in 2014 to Velimir Đurić in the presence of Mayor Marko Pavić. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Đurić in the first instance to 21 years in prison for the crime in Čarakovo, where in 1992, 13 Bosniaks were killed and a mosque was set on fire.

On behalf of the victims of aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against Bosniaks, especially on behalf of the victims of genocide in Prijedor, and on behalf of many friends of truth and justice worldwide, the Institute for Genocide Research, Canada {IGK} most strongly protests the shameful award given to a convicted war criminal.

This award only confirms the Institute's long-standing warning that genocide in Prijedor continues by other means and methods. We remind once again that Bosniaks in Prijedor are still being terrorized. They remain humiliated second-class citizens, without basic human rights and freedoms.

Organizations gathering victims and witnesses of genocide are publicly humiliated, thus deliberately, systematically, and purposefully spreading fear among the families of the killed and missing citizens of Prijedor. At the same time, war criminals freely walk the streets of Prijedor, occupying positions in local government.

Rallies of fascist groups, against whom the citizens of Prijedor and all anti-fascists fought in World War II, are allowed, while victims are denied the right to remembrance, truth, and justice. Demands from representatives of the international community, who have clearly indicated that discrimination based on ethnicity and religion must cease, that the truth about genocide must be uncovered, that criminals must be convicted and justice served, and that the suffering of all victims in Prijedor must be commemorated equally, regardless of their ethnic background, are being ignored.

These and many other attacks on the basic human rights and freedoms of Bosniaks further damage the reputation of Prijedor, undermine the fundamental foundations of modern democracy, and particularly severely violate the basic tenets of key international documents on human rights and freedoms.

Reminding that no one has the right to humiliate victims of genocide, to deny them remembrance of the crime, or to continue instilling fear in them, the Institute calls on the newly elected Bosnian and Bosniak political establishment to finally speak out as the voice of the victims, to protect the victims, and to demand the unconditional withdrawal of the award for the war criminal.

Withdraw your shameful, unjust, and harmful decision, because by rewarding a criminal you are contributing to the continuation of genocide in Prijedor, the Institute for Genocide Research, Canada stated.