The Law on the Rights of Veterans will welcome the new government in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, MP in the FBiH House of Representatives Jasna Durakovic told N1. She also said the Republika Srpska entity’s rejection of Commission for Srebrenica’s 2004 Report is an insult to all Bosniaks and genocide victims.
“(The RS Parliament's decision to reject the 2004 Report) is a shameful decision and an insult to all the Bosniaks and genocide victims, as well as the people now living in Srebrenica. It is an incredible discrimination against Bosniaks which is simply unacceptable,” Durakovic said. “This is cheap populism marked by (RS President) Milorad Dodik's warmongering rhetoric, who wants to be capo di tutti capi (the boss of all bosses).”
However, she stressed that this was not the first time the genocide in Srebrenica was denied and added that such actions must be sanctioned.
“In stead of officially recognising what happened now that we have international verdicts, I really don’t know what else they need?,” Durakovic asked.
In April 1993 the UN had declared the besieged enclave of the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica a safe area under the UN protection. However, in July 1995 the Dutch battalion soldiers failed to prevent the town's capture by the Bosnian Serb forces and the massacre that followed.
More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in the genocide committed in the days after 11 July 1995 and so far the remains of more than 6,600 have been found and buried.
Speaking about the Law on the Rights of Veterans which is still in the parliamentary procedure and because of which the veterans from the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and the Croat Defence Council (HVO) have been protesting across the country, she said the law is full of flaws and that some parts are maybe even unconstitutional.
“The politicians are deceiving the public, deceiving the veterans and in the end, everyone will see that this is not the best solution. The question now is whether there will be a dominant majority that would vote for the law. I’m afraid the Law will be left to the new government. I think there won’t be enough hands to pass the law,” she told N1.
Durakovic also pointed out that this is the time when parties are dealing with their election campaigns before the October general election and that the Croat Democratic Union is boycotting the sessions and obstructing the work of the FBiH Parliament.
“Im afraid this will lead to mass protests and I’m afraid the outcome will be far worse than what we’ve seen before,” Durakovic concluded.
