Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies professor at Southern Connecticut State University and member of the Board of Directors of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, Dr. David Pettigrew said that the High Representative in BiH and the international community must be aware that the declaration of January 9 as the so-called "Day of Republika Srpska" is perhaps the most extreme case of denial of genocide and glorification of war criminals in the RS, and both represent a violation of Bosnia’s Criminal Code.

“It is a public celebration of the entity that was created as a result of genocidal crimes and those who committed those crimes. It is an even more perverse triumphant celebration of committed crimes. The presentation of such genocidal crimes as ‘heroic defence of the homeland’ and the claim that the Republika Srpska (RS) needs to be defended again, increase the likelihood that the crimes will be repeated,” Pettigrew warned on the occasion of another unconstitutional celebration of January 9 ad the “Day of RS.”

He underlined that marking the unconstitutional January 9 as a celebration of the entity whose founders were convicted of genocide and other war crimes for seeking to permanently remove the non-Serb population should be universally condemned and unconditionally banned.

“The RS President Milorad Dodik will organize a celebration that he said will be ‘magnificent’, even though it has been ruled unconstitutional. Dodik's insistence on another celebration of the “Day of Republika Srpska” is in line with the fact that he denies the genocide and uses hate speech with complete impunity,” Professor Pettigrew stressed.

He added that the brazen celebration of the so-called “Day of RS” must be a reminder to the international community and the Office of the High Representative (OHR) of their legal obligation to support the process of transitional justice in BiH, facilitate the prosecution of genocide denial and glorification of war criminals, removal of monuments that glorify war criminals, and support survivors in their efforts to erect memorials for the victims.

“The so-called ‘Day of RS’ must remind the OHR of the urgent need to stand up for the right to truth, human rights and justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As such, it is also a reminder of the need to ban the celebration of the ‘Day of RS’, on any day of the year, to prevent the re-traumatization of the survivors and above all the repetition of the crime,” Pettigrew concluded in his statement.