Text of the British Resolution on Srebrenica

The final version of the British resolution on Srebrenica.

Reaffirming the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Convention);

Recalling that States bear the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians and are obliged to respect and ensure the human rights of all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, in accordance with relevant rules of international law, and reaffirming the primary responsibility of each individual State to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity;

Recalling the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security and expressing its determination to prevent genocide;

Recalling all the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by resolution 808 (1993) and subsequent resolutions with the aim of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and further recalling the judgment of its Appeals Chamber of 19 April 2004 (Prosecutor v. Krstić), which stated that genocide was committed in Srebrenica in 1995, as well as the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 26 February 2007, which concluded that the acts committed in Srebrenica were an act of genocide;

Noting that this year marks the twentieth anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, in which more than 8,000 lives were lost, thousands of people were displaced, and families and communities were devastated;

Bearing in mind that Srebrenica and its surroundings were declared a safe area in accordance with Security Council resolutions 819 (1993) and 836 (1993); recognizing the continuing need for the Security Council and Member States to further strengthen the protection of civilians in armed conflicts; and emphasizing that the UN, including the Security Council, should pay attention to early warning indicators of potential genocide and ensure prompt and effective action to prevent or end genocide, in accordance with the UN Charter;

Recognizing that there were innocent victims on all sides during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including in Srebrenica and its surroundings;

Emphasizing the important role of the Special Advisers to the Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect (Special Advisers), whose functions include acting as an early warning mechanism for preventing potential situations that could result in genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and recognizing the role played by regular briefings on human rights violations and international humanitarian law, as well as hate speech and incitement to hatred, in contributing to early awareness of potential genocide;

Welcoming the new Framework Analysis developed by the Office of the Special Advisers, as a tool for assessing the risk of genocide in any situation, and encouraging Member States and regional and subregional organizations to use relevant frameworks as guidance in their prevention work;
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Further recalling the responsibility of all Member States to respect their obligations to end impunity and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, or other serious violations of international humanitarian law, and emphasizing that the fight against impunity for very serious crimes of international concern, committed against civilians, has been strengthened by the work of the International Criminal Court in prosecuting these crimes in accordance with the principle of complementarity of national criminal jurisdiction as established by the Rome Statute, Ad hoc mixed tribunals, and specialized chambers in national courts;

Noting that the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other international crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and in national judicial systems, including the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, remains crucial for the process of national reconciliation and the restoration and preservation of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and further welcoming strong regional cooperation among national prosecutors as an instrument for strengthening peace, justice, truth, and reconciliation among the countries in the region;

Noting that it is estimated that there were thousands of cases of sexual violence with victims on all sides during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Srebrenica;

Further noting that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a crime against humanity or an act that is an integral part of genocide; and recalling that rape and other forms of sexual violence in armed conflict are war crimes and constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocol:

1. Most strongly condemns genocide and all human rights violations and abuses and all violations of international humanitarian law;

2. Most strongly condemns the crime of genocide in Srebrenica as established by the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice, and all other proven war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

3. Agrees that the acceptance of the tragic events in Srebrenica as genocide is a prerequisite for reconciliation, calls on political leaders on all sides to acknowledge and accept the fact of proven crimes as determined by the courts, and in this context condemns the denial of this genocide as an obstacle to reconciliation efforts, and also recognizes that continued denial is deeply painful for the victims;

4. Expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the victims on all sides of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including those in Srebrenica, and their families, and calls on the responsible authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure justice for the victims and long-term support for survivors, including survivors of sexual violence;

5. Reaffirms its support for the Peace Agreement agreed in Dayton and signed in Paris on 14 December 1995, as well as the Agreement on the Creation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed in Dayton on 10 November 1995 (S/1995/1021, annex), and calls on the parties to strictly adhere to their obligations under these agreements;

6. Emphasizes the fundamental importance of reconciliation based on dialogue, acceptance of past actions by all parties to the conflict, and commitment to justice and support for victims as the basis for strengthening security, stability, and prosperity in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region; and to this end welcomes the recent agreement by the Parliament and political leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina on an ambitious reform program that includes a commitment to measures to accelerate the reconciliation process, and encourages all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to work together to promote peace, justice, tolerance, and reconciliation;

7. Welcomes the work of the International Commission on Missing Persons and its assistance to the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region in locating and identifying the remains of victims on all sides, which has made a substantial contribution to bringing perpetrators to justice;

8. Emphasizes that women and civil society, including women's organizations and formal and informal leaders, can play a significant role in mediation and post-conflict resolution; reiterates that it is still necessary to increase success in conflict prevention by increasing women's participation in all phases of mediation and post-conflict resolution and by giving greater consideration to gender issues in all discussions related to conflict prevention;

9. Calls on all States to prevent and combat genocide and other serious crimes in accordance with international law, reaffirms paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document (A/RES/60/1) on the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity;

10. Calls on States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to consider doing so as a matter of highest priority and, where necessary, to enact national legislation to fulfill their obligations under that convention;

11. Welcomes the efforts to investigate and prosecute all those accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the genocide in Srebrenica, calls on all States to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and national judicial systems, including the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and requests that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia complete its work as soon as possible, which would be a significant contribution to advancing peace, justice, truth, and reconciliation;

12. Calls on Member States to develop educational programs based on which future generations will draw lessons regarding genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity in order to prevent their potential recurrence;

13. Encourages Member States to consider appointing a national contact person responsible for protecting their population from atrocities through effective prevention and response, who can regularly meet and coordinate steps in sharing best practices in rapid responses to prevent atrocities with other Member States and relevant regional and subregional mechanisms for preventing and responding to mass atrocities, Special Advisers, and other relevant UN bodies, and in this regard recognizes the responsibility of the global network of national contact persons regarding protection;

14. Reaffirms the importance of the lessons learned from the UN's failures in preventing the genocide in Srebrenica, as stated in the Secretary-General's report concerning General Assembly resolution 53/35 (A/54/549), as well as the call from that report to the international community to do its utmost to prevent the recurrence of such horrors, and decides that prompt and effective action must be taken to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy and to engage all appropriate means at its disposal, in accordance with the UN Charter;

15. Recognizes that serious violations or abuses of international humanitarian law or serious violations of international humanitarian law, including those involving sexual or gender-based violence, can be an early indicator of a path towards genocide, and in this regard welcomes the UN's efforts aimed at improving collective response to future risks of violations and abuses of international human rights and violations of international humanitarian law through the Human Rights Up Front initiative; and

16. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure greater cooperation among existing early warning mechanisms in order to prevent genocide and other serious international crimes, to help detect, assess, and respond to sources of tension and risk points or to detect endangered populations, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue to provide the Council with information and analysis that he believes would contribute in this regard