TEXT OF DECLARATION ON SREBRENICA ADOPTED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF SERBIA

The following is a translated version of the Declaration on Srebrenica which was adopted by the Serbian Parliament on 31 March 2010. With this declaration, Serbia officially acknowledged that Serbs committed Genocide at Srebrenica in July 1995. This historic document acknowledges the crime in Srebrenica as determined by the World Court which classified the massacre as Genocide. Full text starts below:

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- Based on the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia which declares human life and dignity inviolable,

- Expressing adherence to the spirit and norms of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Pact of Civil and Political Rights, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International and Non-International Armed Conflicts, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Statute of the International Criminal Court,

- Aimed at ensuring lasting peace and stability in the Western Balkans region, as well as further improvement of friendly relations among the states of the former Yugoslavia based on the respect for international law and territorial integrity and sovereignty of all member states of the United Nations, including Bosnia and Herzegovina,

- Striving to keep the memory of the victims of the brutal armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, in which all the nations suffered grave hardships, forever alive,

- In line with the ruling of the International Court of Justice, the United Nations supreme judicial body, delivered in the case brought by Bosnia in Herzegovina against Serbia and Montenegro on 26 February 2007,

- In view of the fact that under said ruling of the International Court of Justice Serbia is obliged to take effective steps to ensure full observance of its international obligations, including full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,

Under article 99 paragraph 1 item 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and article 136 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (RS Official Gazette, no. 14/09 – revised text), the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, at the Third Sitting of the First Regular Session in 2010, held on 31 March 2010, passed the

DECLARATION

OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA CONDEMNING THE CRIME IN SREBRENICA

1. The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia most severely condemns the crime committed against the Bosniak population in Srebrenica in July 1995 in the manner established by the ruling of the International Court of Justice, as well as all the social and political processes and incidents that led to the creation of awareness that the realisation of personal national goals can be reached through the use of armed force and physical violence against members of other nations and religions, extending on the occasion condolences and apologies to the families of the victims that everything possible had not been done to prevent the tragedy.

2. The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia provides full support to the work of the state authorities in charge of processing war criminals and successful completion of the cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in which the detection and arrest of Ratko Mladic for the purpose of standing trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is particularly significant.

3. The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia calls upon all the former conflicting sides in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the other states of the former Yugoslavia, to continue the process of reconciliation and strengthening of the conditions for common life based on national equality and full observance of human and minority rights and freedoms so that the committed crimes would never be repeated.

4. The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia expresses the expectation that the highest authorities of other states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia would also condemn the crimes committed against the members of the Serbian people in this manner, as well as extend condolences and apologies to the families of the Serbian victims.

This declaration is to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia.

RS no. 6
Belgrade, 31 March 2010

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

S P E A K E R
Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic