NGOs call for Srebrenica remembrance day

A group of 100 NGOs has called on President Boris Tadic to support a motion to mark July 11 as a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Srebrenica. NGO representatives gathered in Pioneer Park, near the Presidency, to read out a letter to Tadic, stating that acknowledgment of the victims of “the greatest crime of crimes“ should constitute the first step towards building a common remembrance encompassing all the victims of war crimes perpetrated in the former Yugoslavia. NGOs call for Srebrenica remembrance day Stating that the European Parliament had adopted a Resolution on declaring July 11 a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide in Srebrenica, they said that a similar resolution should be adopted in Serbia, since its citizens wished to become EU members. NGO representative Biljana Kovacevic Vuco said that Serbia had to shoulder moral responsibility and do everything in its power to prevent a repeat of such crimes. “If we fail to mark the Day of Remembrance on July 11, I’m afraid that Srebrenica will be pushed far out to the margins, leaving scope for new impunity of crimes of various ilks,“ said Vuco. Asked whether, instead of a resolution condemning solely the crimes in Srebrenica, parliament should adopt a resolution condemning all other crimes in the former Yugoslavia, she replied: “That would be like marking the day of remembrance for Auschwitz, and then saying that the bombing of Dresden should be included too. All analogies are inappropriate, as is this comparison,“ Vuco stressed. The NGO representatives said that it was Serbia’s duty to commemorate that day as the International Court of Justice had found Serbia guilty in 2007 of doing nothing to prevent the genocide against the Srebrenica Muslims, or sanction the perpetrators. Stasa Zajovic from the Women in Black NGO reiterated that Tadic himself had said after that ruling that Serbia bore a lot of the responsibility for the crimes in Srebrenica, and that it was the duty of the state and parliament to adopt such a declaration. “Since that statement nothing has happened in Serbia. Rather the issue of Srebrenica has been politicized in a very unseemly manner. That politicization has led to Srebrenica once again drifting from our memories,“ said Zajovic. The rally in Pioneer Park, which passed off without incident, was held in the presence of police. NGO representatives carried banners calling for July 11 to be declared a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide in Srebrenica. Today's rally (FoNet) “Srebrenica impacts on international position” Chairman of the Parliamentary European Integration Committee Laslo Varga says that “Srebrenica has a major bearing on the international position” of Serbia. Varga, who is a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, said that in this sense, a parliamentary resolution regarding the events and a condemnation thereof would probably help. “Unfortunately, the opposite happens here, and even Hague Tribunal rulings are met in a very negative context,” Varga told daily Dnevnik. He said that regardless of whether they were just or not, whether Serbian politicians agreed with them or not, these rulings should not be the subject of comment. “Serbia has received many messages that the way those verdicts are commented on does not help soften Holland’s stance. It does just the opposite. I think that it is important, on the one hand, to refrain from comment—from negative comment obviously—on Hague Tribunal verdicts, and to have a clear stance towards the events in Srebrenica on the other,” Varga said. With regards to the lack of consensus and lack of parliamentary majority for a clear stance on the Srebrenica massacre, he said that it was unfair to shift the responsibility to the opposition in search of a consensus, when the possibility existed for the majority to adopt such a document, “though we would have to ask for some room there as well.”

NGOs call for Srebrenica remembrance day

Stating that the European Parliament had adopted a Resolution on declaring July 11 a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide in Srebrenica, they said that a similar resolution should be adopted in Serbia, since its citizens wished to become EU members.

NGO representative Biljana Kovačević Vučo said that Serbia had to shoulder moral responsibility and do everything in its power to prevent a repeat of such crimes.

“If we fail to mark the Day of Remembrance on July 11, I’m afraid that Srebrenica will be pushed far out to the margins, leaving scope for new impunity of crimes of various ilks,“ said Vučo.

Asked whether, instead of a resolution condemning solely the crimes in Srebrenica, parliament should adopt a resolution condemning all other crimes in the former Yugoslavia, she replied:

“That would be like marking the day of remembrance for Auschwitz, and then saying that the bombing of Dresden should be included too. All analogies are inappropriate, as is this comparison,“ Vučo stressed.

The NGO representatives said that it was Serbia’s duty to commemorate that day as the International Court of Justice had found Serbia guilty in 2007 of doing nothing to prevent the genocide against the Srebrenica Muslims, or sanction the perpetrators.

Staša Zajović from the Women in Black NGO reiterated that Tadić himself had said after that ruling that Serbia bore a lot of the responsibility for the crimes in Srebrenica, and that it was the duty of the state and parliament to adopt such a declaration.

“Since that statement nothing has happened in Serbia. Rather the issue of Srebrenica has been politicized in a very unseemly manner. That politicization has led to Srebrenica once again drifting from our memories,“ said Zajović.

The rally in Pioneer Park, which passed off without incident, was held in the presence of police.

NGO representatives carried banners calling for July 11 to be declared a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide in Srebrenica.

“Srebrenica impacts on international position”

Chairman of the Parliamentary European Integration Committee Laslo Varga says that “Srebrenica has a major bearing on the international position” of Serbia.

Varga, who is a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, said that in this sense, a parliamentary resolution regarding the events and a condemnation thereof would probably help.

“Unfortunately, the opposite happens here, and even Hague Tribunal rulings are met in a very negative context,” Varga told daily Dnevnik.

He said that regardless of whether they were just or not, whether Serbian politicians agreed with them or not, these rulings should not be the subject of comment.

“Serbia has received many messages that the way those verdicts are commented on does not help soften Holland’s stance. It does just the opposite. I think that it is important, on the one hand, to refrain from comment—from negative comment obviously—on Hague Tribunal verdicts, and to have a clear stance towards the events in Srebrenica on the other,” Varga said.

With regards to the lack of consensus and lack of parliamentary majority for a clear stance on the Srebrenica massacre, he said that it was unfair to shift the responsibility to the opposition in search of a consensus, when the possibility existed for the majority to adopt such a document, “though we would have to ask for some room there as well.”