August 02, 2021
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Re: The Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada (IGC) asks 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.
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
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 Mr. Milorad 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, Mr. Dodik seriously jeopardised the peace and security not only in Bosnia and Hercegovina and region but also in Europe and world.
We 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, we asked that the PIC proposes to the High Representative to permanently suspend Mr. Dodik and ban him from performing any public duty.
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.
Bearing this in mind, we invite you to respond with concrete and decisive measures to these serious threats to peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We call on Canada, as a member of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to request all members to urgently address these dangerous threats to the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Canada, as one of the world leaders in the field of human rights and freedoms has a historic duty to counter the threat in the region by using all democratic means available.
Respectfully,
Professor dr. Emir Ramić
Chairman of the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada
105 Chamomile Drive
Hamilton, ON
L8W 0B9