SURVIVORS OF GENOCIDE AT SREBRENICA: MEMORIAL NOT UNDER SERB JURISDICTION

Survivors Condemn Serb Police Presence at Srebrenica Genocide Memorial

Members of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves organization are dissatisfied that the Bosnian Serb (RS) police will be responsible for security at a Srebrenica Genocide Memorial in Potocari, which is not under the jurisdiction of Republika Srpska.

Last year, the international administrator for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Christian Schwarz Schilling ruled that the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial Foundation, a graveyard where victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide are buried, should be under the direct jurisdiction of the state authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina (B&H), and not under the jurisdiction of the Serb entity of Republika Srpska (RS) (read here). The State Agency for Investigations and Security (SIPA) should handle security at the the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, and not the Bosnian Serb (RS) police.

At the time of Schwarz Schilling ruling, Bosnian Serb officials were angered by the fact that the new law would allow Bosnia-Herzegovina's state authorities to control an institution on the territory of their political entity, which along with Bosniak-Croat Federation makes up Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This year, the Republika Srpska (RS) police are due to handle security at the 13th anniversary commemorations of the Srebrenica genocide and the Srebrenica genocide survivors are not happy with it.

“It was proven at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that the RS police committed genocide in Srebrenica. Is it really legal for that same police, who murdered our loved ones, to handle security at the Janazah in Potocari,” reads a statement from the organization.

They also express their dissatisfaction over Bosnia-Herzegovina Investigation and Protection Agency Director Mirko Lujic’s claims that his Agency does not have the jurisdiction to handle security at the event.

"We are angry because of the numerous injustices imposed on us, Srebrenica survivors,” the statement reads.

Members of the organization claim that such attitudes could be interpreted as encouraging those “who, because of jurisdiction and laws in Bosnia-Herzegovina, will once again laugh in the face of the international media, and set another precedent in the history of human kind—the killer ‘protecting’ its victim.”

The memorial was opened by the United States President, Bill Clinton, on September 20, 2003, when he told thousands of relatives of the Srebrenica massacre genocide victims:

Bad people who lusted for power killed these good people simply because of who they were. They sought power through genocide. But Srebrenica was the beginning of the end of genocide in Europe.... We remember this terrible crime because we dare not forget, because we must pay tribute to the innocent lives, many of them children, snuffed out in what must be called genocidal madness.... I hope the very mention of the name “Srebrenica” will remind every child in the world that pride in our own religious and ethnic heritage does not require or permit us to dehumanize or kill those who are different. I hope and pray that Srebrenica will be for all the world a sober reminder of our common humanity.... May God bless the men and boys of Srebrenica and this sacred land their remains grace.

The annual Srebrenica genocide memorial commemoration is going to be held on July 11th.