The Croat member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, discussed the “escalation of hate speech and glorification of war crimes” in Bosnia with the UN Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, on Tuesday, his office said.

Komsic said that the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), as the successor to the Hague war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, has an important role to play in implementing the UN’s strategic commitments, first and foremost eliminating impunity for war crimes and genocide, but also preserving memories of war crimes and genocide victims, such as the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.

Komsic and Nderitu agreed that genocide denial and glorification of war criminals represent a serious problem in post-conflict societies, including BiH.

Nderitu said that she chose to visit BiH because the UN monitoring teams have noticed an escalation of hate speech and glorification of war crimes in which political officials are participating, a Presidency press release said.

She expressed strong commitment for the United Nations to not remain silent regarding genocide denial because it represents preparation for a new genocide and that it will do everything to make the voice of those people who want to live together without discrimination be heard.

The role of the IRMCT and UN should be focused on continuous education on the causes and consequences of war crimes towards the goal of fighting populism and hate speech.

UN Resident Coordinator in BiH, Ingrid MacDonald, also participated in the meeting.