Talha Ozturk
07 July 2021•Update: 07 July 2021
BELGRADE, Serbia
Kosovo’s parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning the 1995 genocide and other human rights violations in Srebrenica.
The resolution expressed sympathy and deep sorrow over the massacre of more than 8,300 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces that attacked a UN “safe area” in Srebrenica in July 1995.
It also conveyed condolences to the families of the victims, who were mercilessly targeted despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops.
Any public and deliberate denial of the genocide in Srebrenica, with the aim of denigrating the victims and covering up the motives for the crimes committed, will be strongly condemned, read the resolution.
“The Serb forces of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) carried out a massacre in Srebrenica and its surroundings for several days, when over 8,000 women, men, and children were killed,” it said.
The resolution called on the government and other state institutions to declare July 11 as the Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica genocide.
It also urged additional efforts to bring to justice all those responsible for planning and committing the genocide.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the adoption of the resolution was a “noble and correct move.”
He said Kosovo is preparing a lawsuit against Serbia over the massacre, stressing that the genocide against the Bosnian Muslim community must be punished so that it would not be repeated.
“Those who do not admit guilt and do not apologize are deeply convinced that they were right,” said Kurti.
Srebrenica genocide
In July 1995, Srebrenica was besieged by Serb forces who were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.
The UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a “safe area” in the spring of 1993. However, Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic, who was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, overran the UN zone.
Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing 2,000 men and boys in a single day on July 11.
About 15,000 Srebrenicans fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 more people.
In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that a genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.
On June 8, 2021, UN tribunal judges upheld in a second-instance trial a verdict sentencing Mladic to life in prison for the genocide, persecution, crimes against humanity, extermination, and other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
