Put an end to the unconstitutional and discriminatory referendum in the Republika Srpska!

Together with Bosnian victims and civil rights organizations, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to the international community to prevent the referendum on the national day of the Republika Srpska (RS) on January 9 (announced on September 25, 2016). The appeal is addressed to the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, the member states of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) and its Steering Board, the President of the European Parliament, the member states of the European Union, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, the European Commission, and the Council of Europe.

The attempt to make January 9 a national holiday is to be seen as mockery of the victims of the Bosnian war. It was on the 9^th of January 1992 that Radovan Karadzic proclaimed the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was later renamed to Republika Srpska. The establishment of the Republic, however, was also the beginning of the crimes against the non-Serb population: 150,000 were killed, hundreds of thousands were imprisoned and became victims of torture in concentration camps, at least 30,000 women were raped, and at least two million were displaced. To date, the country has not yet recovered from the serious consequences of the war.

“The planned referendum is not only unconstitutional and discriminatory to the other peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina, it could also be a precursor for a referendum on the secession from the Republika Srpska and an accession to Serbia in the near future. Both the Serbian extremists in Bosnia and the Government of Serbia see this referendum as a first step to finally break up Bosnia-Herzegovina. The international community must not tolerate this,” the signatories warned.

During the three years of war (1992-1995), the international community hardly made any constructive steps to put an end to genocide, mass expulsion, and mass rape in the country. Finally, the country was divided into two entities by means of the Dayton “Agreement”.

The international community must not let Bosnia and Herzegovina down again, as in 1992. Thus, the signatories demand the governments of the EU countries and the United States “…to take action soon, and to put an end to Milorad Dodik’s (President of the Republika Srpska) secession plans immediately. Now, Europe and the United States still have a chance to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina from falling apart and to prevent a new war. This chance must be used! The governments of the PIC (Peace Implementation Council), especially the EU and the United States, have to act immediately in order to prevent a new war in the heart of Europe, with thousands of victims and hundreds of thousands of new refugees in the own back yard.

You can download the Appeal as a PDF here.

Header Photo: Milorad Dodik na završnoj konvenciji u Beogradu/Flickr