Six months ago, in April, hundreds of people took to the streets of the Bosnian Serb town of Banja Luka. His purpose was to refute the “lie” of a Srebrenica genocide. This passage, that means the slaughter of more than 8,000 men and young Bosnians (Bosnias of Muslim faith), it was “wrong” and “a great crime”, but “it was not genocide”, Milorad Dodik, the leader of separatism and close to the Kremlin of Republika Srpska, said, the group of Bosnia-Herzegovina Serbian .
Almost 30 years after the Srebrenica genocide in 1995, legally recognized by two UN tribunals, denial it also has a strong influence on Balkans. The area where the wounds a fratricidal war that they amputated Yugoslavia They never completely healed.
The most obvious case is that of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the end of the war in the country (1995), there have been celebrations many criminal cases Bosnias and other countries against the accused war crimes and various offenders ended up in prison. Also, in 2021, that is head of state in the country, Austrian Valentin Inzko, even ordered the change of the Bosnian Penal Code that forbidden to refuse to kill people about Srebrenica and other war crimes.
Many cases
But, looking closer, Bosnia’s splinter group they have never shied away from the critical rhetoric that is encouraged by nationality, inequality among people, and now fake which circulates on social networks. In the last year, this phenomenon has grown significantly, in the presence of the Srebrenica Memory Center. Only in the first half of 2024, according to the Bosnian government, was 305 anti-homicide sections in Serbian and Bosnian media, ie three times more than the same period of 2023.
This situation, which has also created organizations like Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide they have raised their voices again. According to them, one problem is that the 2021 laws exist on paper, but in practice they are not used properly, as their president, Murat Tahirovic, recently criticized. During these years, “we have been fighting a small war with the Attorney’s Office (Bosnia) for not being opposed by people who refuse murder and other war crimes,” Tahirovic explained.
Slowing down
According to experts, the delay in the Bosnian judicial system is Then one of the major obstacles which is still in place today preventing violent criminals from being detained in Bosnia. denial. So much so that, from 2021 until now, only three cases were filed, according to statistics from the Balkan media BIRN.
Sometimes, when punishment was given, the punishment was very light. This is a countermeasure Hamdija Kocicfound guilty in January this year for “inciting national, ethnic or religious hatred, discord or intolerance.” Kocic, who in 2023 insulted the victims of street musicians – according to the Bosnian press – was. he was sentenced to one year of probation and the Sarajevo cantonal prosecutor’s office.
Ukraine
The very idea of of HIM approval in May this year a decision to commemorate each year the massacre of Srebrenica on July 11, at the request of Germany and Rwanda, is related to the escalation of conflicts. In fact, following the UN resolution, the Parliament of Republika Srpska, a Serbian organization (there are two in the country, one for Bosniaks and people of other religions), decided to approve its statement against the massacre. .
Moreover, Dodik himself, who enjoys the support of the Russian president Vladimir Putin (which he has met several times, including Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine), has recently returned. repeating their threat to separate the truth is from the whole world. Something that can represent a a direct violation of the Dayton agreement which ended the 90s war in Bosnia and is part of conflicts what the community is experiencing due to the instability that comes from Russia-Ukraine war.
