The Srebrenica Memorial Centre presented its first-ever Genocide Denial Report on Saturday, which is the result of a year-long study of the denial, minimizing and relativization of the Srebrenica genocide by individuals and institutions across the world, the Memorial Centre said.

“The fight against genocide denial is more important than ever. The time has come for the Memorial Centre to take the lead on that path. Even though the Centre existed since 2001, it's been overwhelmed by the gloomy responsibility of burying the killed and identifying the Srebrenica genocide victims. We are now opening an important new chapter in the development of this institution, striving to position ourselves as leaders in raising awareness and educating people around the world about the genocide. This report is the first step in that direction,” the director of the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Centre Emir Suljagic said.

He thanked Monica Green, the lead researcher and the author of the publication, and the team of people “who made an immeasurable contribution to the realization this publication,” Hasan Hasanovic, Nedim Jahic, Hikmet Karcic, Hariz Halilovic, Admir Mulaosmanovic, Mirnes Sokolovic, Amra Begic-Fazlic and Sefika Djozic.

The report is written in Bosnian and English language and includes research into the context of the war in Bosnia, the policy of “ethnic cleansing” and war crimes in eastern Bosnia that preceded the Srebrenica genocide, the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Court of Justice and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It also analyses the activities of official institutions and individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to cover up the crime of genocide and examines in detail the nationalist narratives concerning the denial of genocide, the number of victims and other messages dominating the public narrative. The report includes several case studies, reviews of the contents of several publications that directly deny the genocide, and provides information on international actors who actively participated in the genocide denial campaign.

As this report is only the first of its kind, the Memorial Centre is working on the development of a project that will allow for the monitoring of the genocide denial, making the publication of reports on this matter a permanent and regular activity of the Centre.

The report will be sent to all the local and international institutions, especially the partners within the academic community.

The English version of the report can be read and downloaded from this LINK.