Montenegro: 76 NGOs call on authorities to respect victims and declare a Day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide

(Patria) - Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Montenegro, 76 of them, have called on the Montenegrin authorities to declare a Day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide and ensure its regular official commemoration.

These NGOs, in a statement on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, stated that they pay tribute to the victims of the Srebrenica genocide and express solidarity with their families and survivors.

"We demand that the authorities declare a Day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide and ensure its regular official commemoration in accordance with the UN Resolution, the Resolution of the Parliament of Montenegro on the Srebrenica Genocide from 2021, and the Declaration of the Parliament on the acceptance of the European Parliament Resolution on Srebrenica from 2009," the NGOs stated.

They called on the Montenegrin authorities to ensure that history textbooks for appropriate age groups are supplemented with objective information about this crime and Montenegro's role in the wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

They also demand that the Montenegrin authorities find and prosecute unpunished perpetrators and accomplices of the Srebrenica genocide and other war crimes.

"We demand that the Montenegrin authorities condemn and suppress the denial of genocide, the glorification of its perpetrators, and any other hate speech that represents the final stage of genocide and a prelude to new conflicts and crimes," the statement reads.

The NGOs called on the authorities to support programs for confronting the past and promoting human rights, especially the prohibition of discrimination and the suppression of all forms of hatred and intolerance in accordance with the Constitution of Montenegro.

"As well as to make greater efforts in the process of reconciliation in the region based on confronting the past and respecting the rights of victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes," said the 76 NGOs.

They reminded that since July 11, 1995, in mass executions in the Srebrenica area, the Army of Republika Srpska, under the command of the war criminal Ratko Mladić, killed more than eight thousand Bosniak men and boys.

This is, as stated by the NGOs, the most massive crime committed on European soil after World War II.

The NGOs reminded that this crime was established by the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

They also stated that the ICTY and the International Residual Mechanism have convicted 21 people for crimes in Srebrenica, seven of whom for the crime of genocide, based on more than 1,500 testimonies and about 28,000 pieces of evidence.

The 76 NGOs stated that, although there will always be those who refuse to accept unpleasant facts, the progress of any society requires looking the truth in the eye and confronting the past.

They also point out that representatives of their organizations will join the commemoration of the Day of Remembrance for Srebrenica on Thursday, at the Memorial Park of Civilian Victims in Pobrežje, Podgorica, organized by the Bosniak Council of Montenegro.

The statement was signed, among others, by the NGOs Action for Human Rights, Spektra Association, Bosniak Cultural Center, Center for Women's and Peace Education ANIMA, Center for Civic Education, Center for Democracy and Human Rights, Center for Democratic Transition, and Center for Women's Rights.

Signatories of the statement also include the Center for Monitoring and Research, Center for Civic Liberties, Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations, Center for Roma Initiatives, Center for Protection and Research of Birds, and the Montenegrin LGBTIQ Association Queer Montenegro.

The statement was also signed by the Montenegrin PEN Center, Montenegrin Women's Lobby, Civic Initiative May 21, Civic Alliance, Media Institute, Juventas, Roma Youth Organization "Walk with Us - Phiren Amenca".

Among the signatories are also NGOs 35mm, Safe Women's House, Association "Štrpci - Against Oblivion", Lawyers' Association, Association of Youth with Disabilities, Forum MNE, Forum of Bosniaks of Montenegro