Washington DC, Maryland, and Connecticut declare July 11 a Day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide

At the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations, following the official commemorative program marking the 31st anniversary of the genocide, the proclamations were presented to Emina Sinanovic, a genocide survivor and representative of the Mothers of Srebrenica Association, and to Hasan Hasanovic, a representative of the Memorial Center Srebrenica - Potocari and a genocide survivor himself.

The Maryland–Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council (MBHEC) led the work of securing and coordinating the proclamations, in partnership with U.S. state and local institutions, leaders of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in the United States, survivor organizations, and partners in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Connecticut.

The District of Columbia proclamation was presented by Senija Mehmedovic, a genocide survivor. The Maryland proclamation was presented by Selver Sulejmanović, a Srebrenica genocide survivor and resident of the state. The Connecticut proclamation was presented by Professor David Pettigrew, affiliated with the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University's MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies and a CSU Professor at Southern Connecticut State University, at the recommendation of the Association of Srebrenica Genocide Survivors residing in Connecticut. Professor Pettigrew is also a Connecticut resident.

These proclamations stand as public statements from these U.S. state and district jurisdictions, addressed to their citizens, residents, survivors, victims' families, and all who call these communities home - who carry the responsibility to remember Srebrenica clearly, to honor its victims, to stand with the Mothers of Srebrenica, and to support the ongoing work of education, truth, and accountability. The handover took place in the context of the United Nations General Assembly resolution designating July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. For Bosnian-Herzegovinian communities across the United States and their partners, these proclamations add American state and local civic recognition to a remembrance that survivors, victims' families, and the Mothers of Srebrenica have carried for decades.

Adnan Hadrovic, MBHEC co-founder, expressed gratitude on behalf of MBHEC to the governments of Washington, DC, the State of Maryland, and the State of Connecticut, as well as to the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations, elected officials, survivor organizations, community partners, volunteers, and everyone who contributed to this effort. He emphasized that the significance of these recognitions lies precisely in their public nature, as American state and local institutions clearly name Srebrenica and bring its remembrance into the civic life of their communities.

“These proclamations are an American civic act of remembrance, in the interest of all peoples and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They not only honor the victims and stand with survivors and the Mothers of Srebrenica, but also speak clearly to our responsibility toward truth, toward the dignified burial of all victims, and toward rejecting any attempt to glorify perpetrators,” said Hadrovic.