Mulaosmanović: Dieng must demand that authorities in RS stop denying genocide

BANJA LUKA, (Patria) – The Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Adam Dieng, held a meeting today with member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanić, President of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska entity Nedeljko Čubrilović, as well as the President of that entity, Milorad Dodik.

Dieng earlier visited the site of the genocide in Potočari, where during the war in BiH in 1995, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Bosniaks, and on Friday he also visited Donja Gradina. At that site, the NDH regime during World War II killed thousands of Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats, Jews, and other peoples.

“With great humility I speak in Srebrenica. I am here to pay tribute to the victims of the genocide. We must always remember what happened here. Still, a large number of families do not know the fate of their loved ones, the search for the missing continues, as does the fight for justice. Remembering the events in Srebrenica is the right of families, but also an important part of the healing process. Institutional support must be provided to survivors and those mourning the lives that were lost,” said Dieng in Potočari.

“We are all here together, and when we pay tribute to the victims, we pay tribute together, not as members of ethnic groups or national groups, but as human beings,” Dieng said in Donja Gradina.

On the other hand, historian Admir Mulaosmanović believes that the UN representative for the prevention of genocide talking with the authorities in the Republika Srpska entity nevertheless represents a kind of paradox, “given that they do not recognize the genocide in Srebrenica, and that they do not want to support a strategy that would oblige BiH authorities to prevent any new genocides.”

“Dieng should demand from the authorities in RS to pass laws related to the specific genocide committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will prevent the denial of that genocide. Such a law should be very strict,” Mulaosmanović said in a comment for the Patria news agency.

“I think that is the best contribution to preventing any possible future genocide,” added Mulaosmanović.

Dieng himself, during his visit to Potočari, stated that denial of genocide represents a direct obstacle to reconciliation in these areas.

“The International Court in The Hague has confirmed through its verdicts the genocide that occurred in Srebrenica. It is unacceptable to glorify convicted war criminals. Criminals are not heroes. The victims, survivors, and witnesses are the true heroes. I express my deep respect for the victims and survivors. May the souls of all victims rest in peace. We will never forget Srebrenica,” concluded Dieng.

On the occasion of Dieng's visit, SDP representative in the BiH Parliament Denis Bećirović submitted an initiative to the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly for the adoption of a Strategy for the Prevention of Genocide, which was previously rejected. Bećirović's latest initiative was also rejected.

The SDP representative at the end of December 2016 submitted a parliamentary initiative to the Council of Ministers of BiH, to draft and submit to the parliamentary procedure a Strategy for the Prevention of Mass Crimes and Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina within six months of the adoption of this initiative in Parliament. Such an initiative has not been adopted to date, mainly due to opposition from representatives of the authorities from the Republika Srpska entity.