HIGHLAND PARK IN NEW JERSEY ADOPTS BOSNIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

BOROUGH OF HIGHLAND PARK
NO. 7-09-215

RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING THE BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA WEEK AND JULY 11 AS THE DAY OF COMMEMORATION OF THE BOSNIA GENOCIDE AND SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE IN HIGHLAND PARK, NEW JERSEY

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RESOLUTION: Council as a Whole

WHEREAS, both the United States and the United States House of Representatives passed resolutions in 2005 acknowledging the genocide that the Serbian forces perpetrated in Srebrenica, and all of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) from 1992 to 1995; and

WHEREAS, July 11, 2009 is commemorated as the 14th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in which at least 8,372 innocent Bosniak civilians were summarily executed and 30,000 were expelled from their homes in the worst atrocity in Europe since the Holocaust; and

WHEREAS, this anniversary raises awareness of the tragic suffering of the Bosnian people and honors and remembers those who died as a result of the policies of ethnic cleansing and aggression; and

WHEREAS, the Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) the umbrella organization representing Bosniaks in the United States and Canada, requested this resolution; and

WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey and Borough of Highland Park recognizes the importance of this event to bring closure for the Bosnian people through justice and truth;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Borough Council of the Borough of Highland Park, in the State of New Jersey, that the members of this legislative body proclaim the day of July 11, 2009 of every consecutive year, as Bosnia Genocide and Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11th of every consecutive year, as Bosnia & Herzegovina Tribute Week in the State of New Jersey and Borough of Highland Park.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that they call upon all citizens of the world in the United States and Bosnia & Herzegovina to work toward ending the cycle of violence and promoting peaceful coexistence among all.

ADOPTED: July 7, 2009
ATTEST:

___________________________
BOROUGH CLERK
I, Joan Hullings, Borough Clerk of the Borough of Highland Park, New Jersey, do hereby certify the above to be a true copy of a resolution adopted by the Borough Council of said Borough on the 7th day of July, 2009.

__________________________
Joan Hullings, Borough Clerk

RECORD OF COUNCIL VOTES
Erickson: Absent
Foster-Dublin: Ayes (YES)
Millet: Ayes (YES)
Minkoff: Absent
Morris: Ayes (YES)
Pichinson: Ayes (YES)

HISTORY: From 1992-1995 Serbs from heavily militarized villages around Srebrenica had forced approximately 40,000 Bosnian Muslim refugees to live in the Srebrenica ghetto with little or no means of survival. Furthermore, Serbs around Srebrenica had terrorized Srebrenica population by constantly attacking neighbouring Bosnian Muslim villages. In July 1995 the Bosnian Serb army staged a brutal takeover of Srebrenica and its surrounding area, where they proceeded to perpetrate genocide. Bosnian Serb soldiers separated Bosniak families, forcibly expelled 25,000-30,000 Bosniaks, and summarily executed at least 8,372 Bosnian Muslims - boys, men, and elderly.