The UN has approved a resolution to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina annually, over strong opposition from Serbs.
The vote on May 23 in the 193-member UN General Assembly was 84-19, with 68 abstentions.
The resolution designates July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, thus establishing an annual day of commemoration for the massacre of more than 8,000 local Bosnian Muslim men and boys almost 30 years ago.
The resolution had sparked protests and a lobbying campaign by Serbia's president and the Bosnian Serb leadership to block the adoption of the resolution, which was sponsored by Germany and Rwanda with 32 co-sponsors, including the United States, France, Britain, and Italy.
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Srebrenica Families Welcome UN Resolution As Belgrade, Serb Leaders React With Anger
The nonbinding resolution condemns "without reservation any denial of the Srebrenica genocide as a historical event." It also "condemns without reservation actions that glorify those convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by international courts, including those responsible for the Srebrenica genocide."
"Our initiative is about honoring the memory of the victims and supporting the survivors who continue to live with the scars of that fateful time," said German Ambassador to the UN Antje Leendertse.
Leendertse had noted earlier that there is an official official UN commemoration of the 1994 Rwanda genocide every year on April 7, and the Srebrenica resolution aims to do the same for Bosnia ahead of the 30th anniversary of the start of the genocide in 2025.
The July 1995 massacre, which was carried out by Bosnian Serb forces, has been ruled an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). So far, more than 50 individuals have been sentenced to some 700 years in prison for their roles in the massacre.
Radovan Karadzic, the first president (1992-1995) of Republika Srpska, one of the two entities that make up Bosnia-Herzegovina, was sentenced to life in prison by the ICTY for the Srebrenica genocide and crimes against humanity. Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serbs' military commander, was also sentenced to life by the same court for the part he played in the genocide
'We Are Not A Genocidal Nation'
Ahead of the General Assembly vote, the government of Republika Srpska planned to hold a special session in Srebrenica amid heightened security measures. Ethnic Serbs make up around 80 percent of the population of Republika Srpska.
About a dozen police vans and a police transporter were parked outside Srebrenica's local police station. A billboard leading into the town reads: "We are not a genocidal nation," a slogan that has become popular among Serb nationalists. The same poster featured prominently on a billboard in Belgrade as well.
Srebrenica's local government has welcomed the delegation, which includes Republika Srpska's pro-Russian president, Milorad Dodik, and urged residents to raise the entity's flag "as a sign of opposition" to the UN resolution. Dodik is under U.S. and U.K. sanctions for his alleged obstruction of the Dayton agreement and violating the legitimacy of Bosnia.
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik (file photo)
Dodik later repeated his threat that Republika Srpska would secede if the resolution was passed. He has repeatedly threatened secession.
Serbia's nationalist president, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Republika Srpska leadership vehemently opposed the adoption of the resolution, saying it brands Serbia as a "genocidal nation."
He also warned that if a day of remembrance for the genocide was created it would "open old wounds and that will create complete political havoc."
Vucic said the resolution should be subjected to a vote in the UN Security Council, not the General Assembly. Resolutions put to a vote in the Security Council can be vetoed by any of its five members.
Addressing the UN General Assembly ahead of the May 23 vote, Vucic asked, “Why is the resolution being adopted if we are talking about individual legal responsibility?”
Leendertse said the resolution was not directed against Serbia. She added that Montenegro's amendments that the crime of genocide is individualized and cannot be attributed to any specific group were included in the resolution to offset concern from Serbia.
Except for Serbia, all of the former Yugoslav republics voted for the resolution, while several EU nations, including Greece, Cyprus, and Slovakia, abstained.
On May 22, Vucic met with Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya in New York, saying afterward on Instagram that he had "asked the friendly Russian Federation to, this time, stand in defense of the pride and dignity of the Serbian people."
In 2015, Russia vetoed the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution on the Srebrenica genocide, which was proposed by the United Kingdom and supported by the United States and European Union countries.
Russia on May 23 rejected the UN General Assembly resolution, with Nebenzya predicting afterward that it would push Bosnia “towards confrontation,” according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
As expected, China also voted no. Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the UN, said the resolution “does not serve reconciliation within Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also the countries of the region that want peace and stability in the Western Balkans.”
The families of victims of the genocide welcomed the result.
Nura Begovic of the Srebrenica Women's Association lost her brother and 18 family members in the Srebrenica genocide.
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Relics Of A Lost Brother Join Memorial For Victims Of Srebrenica Genocide
She and other families of the victims gathered to watch the UN proceedings at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center, where more than 6,700 of the estimated 8,000 victims have been buried.
Reacting to the vote, Begovic said she was grateful that some satisfaction had been given to survivors but expressed disappointment with Vuvic's speech at the UN General Assembly.
As expected, China also voted no. Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the UN, said the resolution “does not serve reconciliation within Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also the countries of the region that want peace and stability in the Western Balkans.”
The families of victims of the genocide welcomed the result.
Nura Begovic of the Srebrenica Women's Association lost her brother and 18 family members in the Srebrenica genocide.
She and other families of the victims gathered to watch the UN proceedings at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center in Potocari, where more than 6,700 of the estimated 8,000 victims have been buried.
Reacting to the vote, Begovic said she was grateful that some satisfaction had been given to survivors but expressed disappointment with Vucc's speech at the UN General Assembly.
Kurt Bassuener, co-founder and senior associate of the Democratization Policy Council, a Berlin-based think tank, has said that Serbia should pay a price for lobbying against the resolution but doubted the West would take any punitive steps.
"I'm just not sure that there will be any, because the West's policy toward Serbia was very lenient, specifically towards Vucic, and he is taking full advantage of that. If he had expected serious consequences, he might not have done what he is doing," Bassuener told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
James Ker-Lindsay, a professor at the London School of Economics and an expert on the Western Balkans, said the tragedy of Srebrenica was being politicized. "Everyone is using this policy to score their own political points, instead of acknowledging that this is a truly horrific event that has been classified as genocide," Kerr-Lindsay told RFE/RL.
According to Ker-Lindsay, Serbia needs to do more to tell Western countries, "Look, we accept what happened, and we can show it because that's what we teach our children in school now."
Natasa Kandic of the Belgrade-based Fund for Humanitarian Law argued that Serbia's denial that genocide occurred at Srebrenica has fueled nationalism and extremism in the country.
Kandic said Serbia's opposition to the UN resolution is putting it on the wrong side of history.
"After World War II, nothing this terrible has ever happened. It must be acknowledged, and this memorial day for the victims of genocide is the least that can be done," Kandic told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.