Nobody benefits from denying a genocide confirmed by two international courts and doing so is detrimental to the relations in the region, the head of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia, Bruce Berton, told N1 on Friday, referring to Serbia’s PM denying the 1995 Srebrenica genocide in an interview.
“I don’t think it was a genocide (…) I think it was a terrible, terrible crime. But genocide is basically when you kill the entire population, women, children, and this was not the case,” Serbia’s Ana Brnabic told Deutsche Welle in an interview on Thursday.
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Her statement sparked outrage among victims and has drawn criticism from officials and experts who, among other things, said that denying a genocide is a phase within its execution.
N1 asked the Head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission in Bosnia for comment.
“Verdicts of courts and tribunals, whether national or international, must be respected. The ICTY and International Court of Justice have been very clear, after hearing all the arguments,” Berton’s written statement to N1 said.
There was a genocide committed in Srebrenica, it said, “and any denial of this is trying to change history.”
“When such statements are publicly voiced by individuals of political or social influence, their negative impact on society is even greater. This makes the responsibility for what public figures say even more profound” Berton stressed.
“Denying genocide impedes the reconciliation process and causes unnecessary tensions between neighbouring countries,” the statement said, adding that “nobody benefits from that.”
