Institute asks Canada to take measures as PIC member and remove Dodik

The Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada (IGC) has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to act with other member states of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) and permanently ban Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency, from performing any public duty.

The call comes days after the international envoy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who oversees the peace implementation in the country and is assigned with special powers, imposed law changes stipulating prison sentence for genocide denial ban. This sparked reactions among the Serb leadership including Dodik, who announced the “institutional response” of Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-dominated region where the Serb Presidency member is elected.

By rejecting the High Representative's decision on the genocide denial ban, repeated denial of genocide, and the announced dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik seriously jeopardised the peace and security, Ramic wrote in his note.

He asked Canada, as the member of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board, the international body in charge of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords which ended the Bosnian 1992-95 war, to use all democratic tools with other Council members and protect territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of the state of BiH. Also, he asked that the PIC proposes to the High Representative to permanently suspend Dodik and ban him from performing any public duty.

Ramic said that the High Representative's decision was welcomed by many Canadians, human rights activists and many research institutions.

“We are grateful to Canada for recognising the decisions by international and national courts on genocide in Srebrenica with two parliamentary resolutions, for declaring July 11 as the remembrance day for victims of genocide in Srebrenica on the whole Canadian territory, for the permanent exhibition on Srebrenica genocide at the Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, for the monument to Srebrenica genocide victims in Windsor,” the note said.