US lawmakers condemn pressure on Srebrenica Memorial Center as Bosnian MPs seek special status

The development has drawn condemnation from US lawmakers from both major political parties, who have urged the administration of President Donald Trump to reimpose sanctions on Republika Srpska officials and criticized pressure on researchers documenting genocide denial.

The investigation was launched by the Zvornik Police Administration and reportedly involves at least 28 people linked to the work of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.

The Center has called on all employees, former employees and associates who receive summonses to contact the institution immediately so that legal representation and other forms of assistance can be coordinated.

“The aim is to provide everyone who finds themselves in this situation with appropriate legal support, including legal representation and other forms of assistance, in accordance with their needs,” the institution said, urging those summoned to contact the Center without delay.

Suljagic: We will not be intimidated

Srebrenica Memorial Center Director Emir Suljagic thanked the US senators and members of Congress who spoke out against what he described as intimidation of the institution’s employees.

“My sincere thanks to Senators Shaheen, Wicker, Grassley and Durbin, as well as Representatives Keating and Turner, for standing with the Srebrenica Memorial Center,” Suljagic said.

“As a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide and director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, I know what it means when elected officials refuse to look away in the face of intimidation and genocide denial. Your support sends a clear message that truth, memory and accountability are values worth defending,” he added.

Suljagic said the pressure was a direct consequence of what he described as a campaign led by Milorad Dodik and Zeljka Cvijanovic aimed at intimidating the institution and silencing efforts to preserve the truth about the Srebrenica genocide.

“We will not be intimidated. We will continue to defend the truth, honor the victims and preserve their memory,” Suljagic said.

He has previously rejected allegations surrounding the Center’s operations, stressing that the institution operates transparently and through Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state treasury.

“The only basis for arbitrary questioning is lawful and transparent professional engagement at the Srebrenica Memorial Center. And that is the message: if you have ties to the Srebrenica Memorial Center, you will have a problem with the police,” Suljagic said earlier.

Bosnian lawmakers seek special legal status for Memorial Center

Meanwhile, lawmakers from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ruling “Trojka” bloc, Denis Zvizdic, Sasa Magazinovic and Predrag Kojovic, have submitted an initiative to the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board and the Office of the High Representative calling for an international process to establish a special legal and administrative status for the Srebrenica Memorial Center-Potocari.

They argue that the recent questioning of employees and associates has demonstrated that the Center’s existing institutional framework does not provide sufficient guarantees for its independence, security and uninterrupted operation.

According to the initiative, a special status would not interfere with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional order, but would provide long-term institutional protection for a site commemorating the Srebrenica genocide.

The proposed framework would include safeguards for the Center’s autonomy in its memorial, research and educational work, special security guarantees for employees, researchers, witnesses, survivors and visitors, international protection mechanisms for the memorial complex, and long-term protection of its archives, evidence and cultural heritage.

“This is not a request for a privilege for any institution or individual. It is a request for the permanent protection of a place where humanity experienced one of its greatest moral failures,” the initiative states.

The lawmakers called on the international community to work with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s institutions on a model of permanent legal and institutional protection for the Srebrenica Memorial Center, reflecting its significance for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe and the international community.