Institute for Genocide Research: Bosnia and Herzegovina Has Full Right to Initiate the Process of Revising the Judgment

Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a sovereign, internationally recognized state and a member of the United Nations, has the full right to initiate the process of revising the judgment in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia, as a legal institute under the rules of the International Court of Justice, say the Institute for Genocide Research Canada.

- As a victim of aggression and genocide, the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has the right to use all available legal institutes to prove the gravest crimes committed after the Second World War in Europe, aggression and genocide. Thus, the revision of the judgment is a statesmanlike and legal issue, as well as a moral obligation towards the victims of the greatest possible crime against humanity, against an entire people, against the state.

We emphasize that this is not a trial against Serbs and Serbia, but against Milošević's Serbian policy and practice and his institutions in a dark period of an aggressive genocidal attempt to realize the idea of a Greater Serbia at the expense of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and primarily the Bosniak people.  

Those who take truth and justice only into their own hands in the name of lies and injustice, who oppose a civilized revision of the judgment, lead to new violence and crimes, negatively affect the functioning of the International Court of Justice, halt the democratization of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state, slow down the process of Euro-Atlantic integration, and slow down the much-needed process of trust and reconciliation. Only the International Court of Justice can decide whether the revision of the judgment is well-founded.

The international team of experts of the Institute for Genocide Research, Canada believes that there are enough credible pieces of evidence for the revision of the judgment. All final judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia can be credible evidence. The archives of intelligence, police and military services located in Serbia, Montenegro and in the private ownership of certain former government entities are also credible sources for the revision of the judgment.

Serbia accepted the 2007 judgment by which it was, as the first country after the Second World War, convicted for violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Serbian representatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina also accepted the same judgment that the army and police of the entity Republika Srpska are responsible for the crimes of genocide. The acceptance of the 2007 judgment by Serbia and the smaller entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina gives full legitimacy and legality to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the revision of the judgment. This also means that attempts to challenge the legality of the agent, Prof. Dr. Sakib Softić, are completely null and void because he was never officially dismissed by the Presidency, which appointed him.

Opponents of the revision of the judgment are leaders of anti-Bosnian activity, who operate from the territory of their own state in defense of another, neighboring state. They fear the revision of the judgment, which could uncover the results of truth and justice. They hide behind the tensions surrounding the revision of the judgment in the name of defending the results of aggression and genocide. This anti-Bosnian elite is well aware of the evidence and its existence, which they hide from the public, fearing the truth and the determination of their own criminal responsibility, and thereby simultaneously deny the genocide, minimize the scale of crimes against humanity and international law, equate the victims of genocide with the perpetrators of genocide, and declare criminals national heroes.

We ask the question: would they act in this way if the victims of genocide were Christians or other non-Muslims? In this case, it is about the victims of genocide, the Bosniaks, an autochthonous peaceful European people, who in their history have never had nor have their own fascist ideology or their own fascist movement, which is a great civilizational achievement that the Bosniaks cherish.

Anti-Bosnian activity regarding the revision of the judgment is a consequence of obvious concern for the smaller entity, because the revision process would reopen the role of the smaller entity, which is actually the legalization of the results of aggression and genocide, one of the few areas in Europe where basic human rights and freedoms are still threatened. The revision of the judgment is a legal way to name the criminals. Since this is a revision of the judgment against those who committed genocide, all those who oppose the revision have a part in the genocide. If you want to destroy a state, take away its truth and justice. If you want to destroy the future of existence with others who are different, leave the crime without a culprit.

It is difficult and arduous to preserve the memory of genocide. But we will have to remember. Because those who forget risk having the genocide repeated.  Bosnia and Herzegovina must be founded on truth and justice, on accepting the truth and the victory of law, no matter how bitter and difficult they may be. Peace will be lasting only if it is built and constructed on the solid foundations of truth and justice. Any agreement between truth and lies is always to the detriment of truth. The absence of truth and justice produces a continuity of fear for the victims. The legal process of revising the judgment will determine the shifting of the boundaries of freedom, truth and justice - the Institute stated.