The president of Bosnia and Herzegovina has sent a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari seeking Pakistan’s support for a United Nations draft resolution to declare the Srebrenica massacre a genocide and July 11 the International Day of Remembrance for the victims, it emerged on Saturday.
According to the letter, seen by Dawn.com, a draft UN resolution has been proposed by Germany and Rwanda and co-sponsored by the United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries.
Bosnian President Denis Becirovic is seeking a vote from Pakistan in the resolution’s favour which calls to declare the 1995 Srebrenica massacre a genocide, as well as condemn the atrocities committed against unarmed Bosnian civilians.
The resolution commemorates the 29th anniversary of the massacre, where Bosnian Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys after occupying Srebrenica, which was a designated UN safe zone in July 1995.
The letter said the resolution will be presented and likely discussed in the UN General Assembly session on May 2 when the forum is scheduled to discuss a report by the UN secretary general focusing on promoting the culture of peace and interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation.
The Srebrenica massacre is widely considered Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II and has been classified as genocide in several judgments by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice. The court confirmed in 2007 such a declaration, stating in addition that Serbia failed to prevent the genocide from occurring.
The Serb forces were commanded by General Ratko Mladic, who was jailed for life in 2017 after being convicted by the ICTY of genocide and crimes against humanity for orchestrating massacres and ethnic cleansing during Bosnia’s war.