Amended British Resolution on Srebrenica Still Does Not Suit Moscow

The amended text of the British resolution on Srebrenica still does not suit Moscow, which was supposed to hold new consultations in the UN Security Council late last night, writes Belgrade's "Večernje novosti", reports the Patria News Agency.

The newspaper, based on the draft of the amended document it had access to, assesses that the new text has softened the wording to which the Serbian side had the most objections, concerning sexual crimes.

"Instead of 'tens of thousands of raped women, girls, men, and boys during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Srebrenica,' it now reads that 'it is estimated that there were thousands of cases of sexual violence during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina with victims on all sides, including Srebrenica,'" the Belgrade daily reports.

The newspaper points out that the provisions that the "genocide" in Srebrenica is most severely condemned, as well as any denial of this "genocide," remain in the amended document, adding that the word genocide is mentioned 27 times in the new version, while the term was used 35 times previously.

It also continues to call for "lessons about genocide" to be incorporated into school textbooks.

The new document also differs from the previous one in that, according to this daily newspaper, the "parts from the preamble and the main text have been somewhat rearranged," and a sentence has been added to the introduction stating that "it is recognized that there were innocent victims on all sides during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including those in and around Srebrenica."

The "Russian spice" to the British document is the point concerning Dayton, which states that "the Security Council reaffirms its support for Dayton and calls on the parties to strictly adhere to their obligations under that agreement," the newspaper states.

Britain's Ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, stated yesterday that London will not withdraw its document, which is currently being negotiated in consultative sessions of the Security Council, because Russia has proposed a resolution on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Petr Ilyichev, assessed that the British proposal causes division and focuses on only one part of the conflict.

"The Russian part is more general, more conciliatory," Ilyichev said.

If a harmonized text of the resolution is not reached in the "clash of giants on the East River," or if neither side withdraws its proposal, UN Security Council members will vote on both documents on July 7, in the order they were submitted.

"The adoption of the British resolution does not preclude discussion and voting on the Russian proposal," conclude "Novosti."