Conclusions of the international conference: Inzko should enact a Law banning the denial of genocide

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Thirty-six eminent scientists and researchers from eight countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Canada, Norway, Australia, Great Britain,
and the USA, presented research at a conference in Sarajevo held on January 8 and 9, 2020. During the conference, they analyzed many issues related to the Declaration on the Proclamation of the Serb People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina of January 9, 1992, and its consequences. 

The Declaration on the Proclamation of the Serb People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was an unconstitutional act and a prelude to an international armed conflict and the commission of international crimes on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. Its adoption was preceded by a series of illegal decisions during 1991 made by illegal bodies formed by the SDS with the help of authorities from Serbia. The consequences of the Declaration include genocide against Bosniaks, systematic persecution, killings, imprisonment in camps, torture, and other international crimes against all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina committed by the units of the so-called Army and Police of Republika Srpska with the control, assistance, and support of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, through, at the beginning of the aggression, the Yugoslav People's Army, and later units of the Yugoslav Army and paramilitary formations from this country. The United Nations Security Council, by resolution 752 of May 15, 1992, declared the attack on the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina an act of aggression. 

The participants of the Conference call on the competent institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which declared January 9 as the Day of Republika Srpska unconstitutional.    

They call on all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially the competent prosecutor's offices, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against citizens, which have been established by the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other domestic courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to ensure equality of citizens and the implementation of judgments throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They call on the High Representative of the international community for Bosnia and Herzegovina to, based on his authority, on the 25th anniversary of the genocide, enact a law banning the denial of genocide at the state level and thus stand in defense of general civilizational values. They call on domestic and international factors and member states of the Peace Implementation Council involved in the creation and conclusion of the Dayton Peace Agreement, taking into account final judgments of international courts and tribunals, as well as national courts of states, to review the functionality of the existing structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and remove obstacles to its development, and remove the discriminatory factor from the name of the entity of Republika Srpska in accordance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the constitutionality of peoples and the removal of the adjective "Serb" from the names of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.    

International and national courts of a number of countries have left an extensive archive of evidence used in court proceedings. By accessing this material and its scientific analysis and interpretation in the coming years and decades, the domestic and foreign scientific community will continue to research the genocide against Bosniaks and the demographic, social, economic, and political consequences of the destruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are convinced that future research, by establishing facts, will help eliminate discrimination, establish constructive social relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, establish full respect for the rights and freedoms of all citizens, and develop good neighborly relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighboring countries.  

These views aim to eliminate discrimination and all sources of discrimination, and in no way can they be interpreted as being directed against the Serb or any other people and their rights. 

The organizers of the Conference are the Institute for Social and Religious Research, the Association "Movement of Mothers of the Enclaves of Srebrenica and Žepa", the Bosniak Cultural Community "Preporod", the Archives of Tuzla Canton, the Institute for Research of Crimes of the University of Sarajevo, the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada, the Center for Research of Modern and Contemporary History.