Demand for Amnesty International to use the word genocide in Srebrenica, not 'massacre'

(Patria) - The Institute for Research of Genocide Canada (IGK) warns that Amnesty International's calling the 1995 Srebrenica genocide a "massacre" is not a linguistic slip, but a dangerous and dehumanizing denial of the only genocide on European soil after the Holocaust.

Such a qualification offends the victims, humiliates international law, justice, and the United Nations institutions that established two international courts – both ruled that it was genocide.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice ruled that the crimes in Srebrenica constitute genocide. The UN General Assembly declared July 11th the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide in 2024, with the aim of preventing its denial and distortion of historical facts.

Canada has also recognized this historical truth: in 2010, Parliament unanimously adopted resolution M-416, which recognizes the Srebrenica genocide and establishes a Day of Remembrance, and in 2015, April was declared Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation, and Prevention Month, including that of Srebrenica.

In its statement, Amnesty International acknowledges the rulings of UN courts but persistently uses the term "massacre." IGK warns that this is a contradiction that fuels genocide denial – precisely what Amnesty claims to fight against.

"If you claim to oppose genocide denial, then call Srebrenica by its rightful name – genocide. Otherwise, you align yourself with deniers, revisionists, and glorifiers of convicted war criminals," states IGK.

IGK demands that Amnesty International exclusively use the term genocide in the aforementioned text and all future statements, analyses, and press releases, in accordance with judicial facts and international law.