Dr. David Pettigrew: High Rep must protect the right to memorialization and oppose regional destabilization

Here is the full statement by Dr. Pettigrew, who is also a member of the Advisory Committee Yale University Genocide Studies Program:

"Thanks to the diplomatic efforts of Ambassador Lagumdžija and his team, on May 23, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution designating July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. This historic Resolution affirmed, on a global scale, the truth about the Srebrenica Genocide and honored the memory of the victims.

The UN Resolution condemned denial of the genocide and other war crimes and the glorification of convicted war criminals. Civil society and others are encouraged to observe the International Day with appropriate educational programs and public awareness-raising activities. The Srebrenica Memorial Center continues to be an internationally recognized center for such educational programming and commemorative exhibits and activities, including the crucial collection and archiving of personal testimonies of Srebrenica survivors from around the world so their stories will never be forgotten and will educate future generations.

While the UN General Assembly Resolution was a profoundly significant achievement, it should be a matter of the greatest shame for the international community that Republika Sprska has prohibited the installation of memorials at a number of the sites where the atrocities were judged to be part of the Srebrenica genocide. These sites include, but are not limited to, Kravica warehouse, Petkovci Dam, Branjevo Farm and Pilica Cultural Center.

Memorials have also been prohibited at sites in Republika Srpska where women were subjected to sexual violence, including Partizan Sports Hall in Fo

a and Vilina Vlas Hotel in Višegrad. This is an egregious human rights violation that must be addressed decisively by the Office of the High Representative through a comprehensive use of the BONN Powers that would establish protected national memorial sites analogous to the Srebrenica Memorial Center. At this point, after numerous appeals from survivors, the inaction of the High Representative amounts to complicity in the human rights violation.

For their part, Serbia and Republika Srpska have been quite active in their response to the adoption of the UN Resolution, as they have escalated their denial of the genocide, their hate speech, and threats of secession. Serbia and Republika Srpska responded to the UN Resolution with their “Declaration of the All-Serb Assembly” which represents a threat to regional peace as it proposes a program of cultural, economic, and political separatism. The declaration emphasizes the separate integrity of the entity of Republika Srpska and supports the continuation of the celebration of Republika Srpska Day January 10, which has been judged to be unconstitutional. The declaration opposes NATO membership and Mr. Dodik and Mr. Vučić have continued to pursue diplomatic relations with Vladimir Putin.

In fact, Republika Srpska can be said to exist today in a state of de facto secession. Following his recent conviction and sentencing, Milorad Dodik signed a decree declaring the non-applicability of Laws and the Prohibition of the Activities of the activities of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), the State Court and Prosecutor’s Office, and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH in Republika Srpska. The Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted a draft law on a new, separatist Constitution that reintroduces the Army of Republika Srpska. Subsequent efforts to take Milorad Dodik into custody have failed miserably. The seditious actions of Milorad Dodik and the Assembly of Republika Srpska are holding the citizens and the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina hostage.

Rather than responding decisively to such ethnonationalist ideologies and provocations that led tragically, in the past, to the Srebrenica Genocide and to other atrocities in BiH, the Office of the High Representative has seemed poised to appease Bosnian Serbs by ceding state property to the entity of Republika Srpska, and to appease Bosnian Croats by imposing electoral reform designed to reinforce ethnonationalist voting for so-called “legitimate” representation; voting and representation that only serves to deepen ethnic divisions that were imposed by the Dayton Accords, and that could well lead to the creation of a third entity in Bosnia.

Hence, to fulfill the promise of the UN Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide, the Office of the High Representative and the international community must take decisive action in support of the human right to commemoration and memorialization. Further they must counter efforts in Serbia and Republika Srpska to destabilize the region and prevent Bosnia’s progress toward EU and NATO membership. And they must take action to implement ECHR judgements to facilitate constitutional reform in Bosnia that would support democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. These actions must be taken immediately to fulfill the promise of the UN Resolution and to prevent a repetition of the atrocities. Once again, the current inaction amounts to a complicity in the project that undermines the state and denies Bosnia’s citizens the possibility of a future."