Awaiting the adoption of the UN resolution on Srebrenica (May 23)

Following weeks-long negotiations, the UN General Assembly in New York is supposed to vote on the resolution on Srebrenica today (Thursday, May 23, at 4 pm CEST). The draft resolution provides that July 11 should be declared the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide (1995). “The vote is a historic act. This is all about ensuring and promoting truth, justice, reparation, and remembrance for the victims of the genocide of Srebrenica. I hope that the majority of the states will not let nationalists and autocrats such as Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić deter them from voting for the resolution and from taking a clear position against genocide denial,” stated Jasna Causevic, expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect at the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP). 
“A UN resolution that acknowledges the genocide of Srebrenica as such supports democratic ideals and is a ray of hope for Bosnia and Herzegovina – especially for those who are fighting for the truth and plan to erect memorials to commemorate the genocide in eastern and northwestern Bosnia. The international community has a responsibility to do everything its power to guarantee a non-repetition of such serious human rights violations. An adoption of the resolution would reaffirm the United Nations’ commitment to uphold universal human rights, to defend the principles of international justice and accountability, and prevent and punish the crimes of genocide,” Causevic emphasized.
The proposed resolution refers to the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), according to which the crimes of Srebrenica are to be seen as crimes of genocide. “The UN resolution on Srebrenica would be in line with a series of other resolutions aimed at affirming the truth, raising awareness of crimes, and preserving the memory of victims of genocide,” Causevic said. In November 2005, the UN General Assembly had declared January 27 the International Holocaust Remembrance Day – and in 2003 and 2018, resolutions were passed to commemorate the Genocide in Rwanda in 1994.