Appeal to Joe Biden

The following appeal is issued on behalf of 74 Bosnian victims' associations on the occasion of discussions between U.S. Vice-President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. and representatives of the Mothers of Srebrenica Movement including Hatidza Mehmedovic, director of the office of the Society for Threatened Peoples International (STP) in Srebrenica.

Vice-President of the United States of America

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.

Dear Mr Vice-President,

Your own contribution was far from insignificant when in 1995 the United States brought an end to the war and genocide in Bosnia through military intervention by NATO. Both in Europe and in the Islamic world the public were relieved by and appreciative of the decisive action taken by your country.

Considerably more than 100,000 Bosnian civilians, over 90% of them Bosnian Muslims, fell victims to the genocide. For four years governments in Europe failed to respond to the establishment of rape camps and concentration camps, the besieging and relentless bombardment of defenceless Bosnian towns and cities and the destruction of 1189 mosques and many Catholic churches.

More than any other similar NGO, our human rights organisation, Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker / Drustvo za Ugrozene Narode / Society for Threatened Peoples was tireless in using every opportunity to make its voice heard and press its demands, including the call for military intervention.

We recall the much appreciated support of notable individuals such as Simon Wiesenthal, Marek Edelman and Roy Gutman, along with the many prominent Jewish individuals, among them Susan Sontag, AlainFinkelkraut, André Glucksmann, Bernard Levi, Milan Stern, Marcel Ophüls, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Sharon Silber and David Kamphi, who, mindful of the horrors of the Holocaust, called for action to end the crimes being perpetrated in Bosnia.

The American liberation was followed by the disappointments of the Dayton Agreement. A country that had never before in its 1,000 years of existence found itself divided up in that way was split into two separate de facto states, largely following the lines of military conquest, and as a result half the country was handed over to the perpetrators of genocide.

So "the Bosnian problem" still remains unsolved. The 2.2 million Bosnians from all the ethnic and religious communities who were forced to leave their homes have experienced Dayton as a second catastrophe. Approximately half have been unable to return home. Many are still scattered throughout Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia while most of those who have managed to return to Bosnia have not been able to go back to their former homes.

The reality is that Bosnia today is made up of two quasi-states, the "Bosnian-Croat Federation" and "Republika Srpska". The nations of Europe have so far shown themselves incapable of helping Bosnia and Herzegovina become a properly functioning state where war criminals are punished and the victims of genocide and other crimes can expect to receive justice.

That is why we are turning to the United States and to yourself, esteemed Mr Vice-President, receipient of the Mothers of Srebrenica's Award against Genocide, to call for the appointment of a US Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina who will work to achieve the following goals:

1. the establishment of the long-needed central state structures that a properly functioning Bosnia and Herzegovina requires.

2. the creation of a common multiethnic and multi-religious police force, with members drawn from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that will guarantee the safety of the life and property of returnees of all nationalities.

3. abolition of the veto power of the ethnic-based entities in favour of democratic voting procedures in the national parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so as to ensure that vital legislative changes can no longer be blocked.

4. the provision of targeted financial support for reconstruction programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and help to expedite the admission of this war-torn country to membership of the European Union.

5. more and greater pressure brought to bear on Serbia to ensure that Ratko Mladic, the most senior alleged war criminal, is handed over to the ICTY in The Hague.

6. reinforcement of the capacity of the National Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to convict and punish war criminals.

7. special political status and targeted economic and financial support for the municipal district of Srebrenica, modelled on the example of the Special District of Brcko.

Dear Mr Vice-President,we thank you for your kind attention and for everything that you have done for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Heartfelt greetings,

Tilman Zülch, President, Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker-International / Society for Threatened Peoples International (Göttingen), Recipient of the Srebrenica Award against Genocide

Sharon Silber, Jews against Genocide, New York

Jill Savitt, Genocide Prevention Project, New York

List of co-signatory victims' associations on whose behalf this appeal is issued:

1. Mothers of Srebrenica (Srebrenica), 2. Movement of Mothers from the Enclaves of Srebrenica and Zepa - (Sarajevo), 3. Women of Srebrenica (Tuzla), 4. Srebrenica Citizens' Forum (Srebrenica / Tuzla), 5. Srebrenica 99 (Tuzla), 6. Srebrenica Intellectuals' Club (Srebrenica), 7. Society for the Prevention of Genocide (Srebrenica), 8. Students' Association (Srebrenica), 9. Bosfam Women's Union (Srebrenica / Tuzla), 10. Association of Former BiH Concentration Camp Detainees (Sarajevo), 11. Women's Section of the Association of Former Camp Detainees (Canton of Sarajevo), 12. Women - Victims of War (Sarajevo), 13. Izvor - Union in Search of the Missing of Prijedor, 14. With the Heart Towards Peace (Kozarac, Prijedor), 15. Return - Union of Returnees to Bijeljina, 16. Mostovi - Union of Families of the Missing (Bosanska Krupa), 17. Union in Search of the Missing (Brcko), 18. Union of Camp Inmates (Brcko), 19. Union of Families of Prisoners and Missing Persons from the Prozor Area (Prozor), 20. Union of Families of Victims and the Missing (Hadzici), 21. Union of Families of Victims and the Missing (Kladanj), 22. Union of Families of Victims and the Missing (Kljuc), 23. Union of Families of Prisoners and Missing Persons from Neretva Canton, Herzegovina (Mostar), 24. Union for the Missing (Mostar), 25. Mostovi Prijateljstva Union for the Missing (Prijedor), 26. Zepa Union of Returnees (Zepa), 27. Vrbanja Union of Families of the Missing (Kotor Varos, Travnik), 28. Union of Families of the Missing from Zvornik (Tuzla), 29. Kotorsko Union of Returnees (Kotorsko - Doboj), 30. BiH Roma Union (Sarajevo/Lukavac), 31. Sae Roma Roma Union (Tuzla), 32. Zenica Roma Union (Zenica), 33. Roma Union (Kalesija), 34. The Future Roma Union (Sarajevo), 35. Roma Women's Union (Tuzla), 36. Association of Drina Valley Unions, 37. Women of the Drina Valley (Bratunac), 38. Women of the Drina Valley (Vlasenica), 39. Women of the Drina Valley (Sarajevo), 40. Vrbanja Union of Returnees (Banja Luka), 41. Coalition for Return (Banja Luka), 42. Visegrad 92 Union of Families of the Missing from Visegrad (Sarajevo), 43. Women's Strength Women's Union (Tuzla), 44. Council of the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (Sarajevo), 45. Institute for the Recording of War Crimes (Sarajevo), 46. Serb Citizens' Council (Sarajevo), 47. Serb Citizens' Council (Tuzla), 48. Serb Citizens' Council (Zenica), 49. Serb Citizens' Council (Mostar), 50. Croat People's Council (Sarajevo), 51. Justice for Bosnia and Herzergovina Foundation (Sarajevo), 52. Obrazovanje gradi BiH [Education Builds BiH] Citizens' Union (Sarajevo), 53. Jewish Community (Sarajevo), 54. Jewish Community (Mostar), 55. Democratic Council of Bosniaks (Bijeljina), 56. Terra Citizens' Union (Sarajevo), 57. Mak-Bosanka Women's Union (Sarajevo), 58. Merhamet Humanitarian Union (Sarajevo), 59. Visegrad 92 Citizens' Union (Sarajevo), 60. Children of Sarajevo Union of Parents of Murdered Children (Sarajevo), 61. FOKUS-BiH Association of Women's Organisatsions from Bosnien and Herzegovina, 62. Medica (Zenica / Visoko), 63. Eho Union (Ljubuski), 64. Women of BiH Women's Union (Mostar), 65. Youth Forum Citizens' Union (Stolac), 66. Return and the Right of Residence Returnees' Union (Bijeljina), 67. Astra Women's Union (Bijeljina), 68. Republika Srpska Helsinki Committee (Bijeljina), 69. Woman's Future Women's Union (Kalesija), 70. For The Missing Union of Families of the Missing (Hadzici), 71. Trebinje Returnees' Union (Trebinje), 72. Deblokada Citizens' Union (Sarajevo), 73. Foundation for Return and Reconstruction in Prijedor (Prijedor), 74. Youth Initiative for Human Rights (Sarajevo)