Institute for Research of Genocide calls for formation of Bosniak Genocide Prevention Task Force

Institute for Research of Genocide calls for formation of Bosniak Genocide Prevention Task Force

 Considering the escalating existential threat to Bosniak people, the systematic and lately institutional nature of denial of atrocities, crimes against humanity and genocide committed against Bosniak population targeted for extinction in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has become paramount that special international Genocide Prevention Task Force be announced.

Today, Srebrenica genocide is being systematically denied in spite of its being legally recognized as a clear case of Genocide committed by Bosnian Serb force from 1992-1995.

ICTY ruling in Prosecutor v. Krstic  has put to rest any doubts about the legal character of Srebrenica massacre. The Appeals Chamber of the ICTY unanimously ruled that it was an act of Genocide. As the Chamber’s judgment states:

“By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general.…The Appeals Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate terms, the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre at Srebrenica by its proper name: genocide. Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act.”[1]

It is evident that unspeakable crimes have been committed in the name of the Serbian people at a moral and material detriment of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Genocide Prevention Task Gorce will call for moral and material indemnity to bring about a way towards the settlement of an inestimable suffering brought upon Bosniaks by the leadership of Republic of Srpska.

Genocide Prevention Task Force will have an exclusive purpose of establishing and disseminating the undisputable public record that the nature and the character of the prosecution of Bosniaks, during the period of 1992 to 1995 concluding with Srebrenica Genocide, has been of equal character on the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina that has been exposed to a direct control of the political regime of Dr. Radovan Karadzic and his government.

Genocide Prevention Task Force will further seek to demonstrate that Serb military and Police forces have operated as an integral part of the systematic policy of the self-proclaimed political entity of Republic of Srpska under Dr. Karadzic leadership; an entity that was later recognized as a full partner in Dayton Peace Accords thus becoming a legal successor of its war time predecessor.

Premeditated and systematically executed policies of the Republic of Srpska during the period from 1992 to 1995 aimed to eliminate a part of the Bosniak people, there by committing genocide larger in scope then Srebrenica alone.  Consequently, the focus areas of the Genocide Prevention Task Force will be historical record in Krajina and Podrinje regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina where the character and scale of atrocities unmistakably amount to qualification of genocide.

The record will show that the actions of the leadership of Republic of Srpska must be condemned by law, and that the deep and lasting injury inflicted on Bosniaks throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina be called by its proper name: Genocide.

It is time that the free society adopts responsibility for perpetuating the pursuit of justice thru civil action as a way to supplement the great work that has been done so far, and that continues to be done by the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia.

Considering its Statute, in particular:

-         Article 2 relating to grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions namely willful killing;

-         Article 3 relating to violations of the laws or customs of war such as murder, unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians, taking hostages;

-         Article 4 relating to genocide, complicity in genocide;

-         Article 5 relating to extermination, murder, persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, persecutions, inhumane acts (forcible transfer).

And given the unmistakably deep and lasting injury inflicted on Bosniak population in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the aggression form 1992 to 1995, the responsibility now rests on the society at large to pursue with staying power the importance of the rule of law as a way of upholding human rights standards. This is the only way to embed in our core beliefs the obligation for indiscriminate respect for human dignity so that the society and its leadership can learn to become accountable for its actions and liable for damages inflicted.

The sustained process of dehumanization, delegitimization, and disinformation, denial of past genocide and continued practice of intimidation now lasting two decades must be stopped.

The target date for institutionalizing Task Force will be November 14^th as a symbolic reminder that goal pursued with conviction yield results.

On Nov. 14, 1935, the Third Reich issued regulations that deprived Germany's Jews of their citizenship and established a system to classify people as Jews based on their ancestry and affiliations.

On Nov. 14, 1945, the International Military Tribunal convened in Nuremberg, Germany, to try Nazi leaders.

On Nov. 14, 1995, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia issued its first indictments on genocide charges over the massacres of as many as 8,000 Bosniaks at Srebrenica. Two of the leaders indicted are now being tried, Namely, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Primarily, the work and desired benefits of this effort will be directed towards Bosniak population as a way to enhance their alertness to undiminishing existential treats.

Secondarily, task force will direct its efforts to establish publishable and digestible record that will be easily accessible to the concerned global community and future generations of Bosniaks.

Thirdly, the work of the Genocide Prevention Task Force will serve  as a constant reminder that there remains an absolute responsibility in a free society, as stated in the Srebrenica Genocide judgment, that  those responsible for atrocities committed against Bosniaks need to accept their historical responsibility and bear the stigma of their actions so that it serves as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such heinous acts.

Perpetuating a culture of Genocide Accountability and preventing fertile conditions for future mass atrocities is a core interest and a core moral responsibility of us all.

There is no better way to do that then holding perpetrators accountable and population aware, vigilant and most of all educated and well informed. Genocide Prevention Task Force will do both

[1] Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic (2004) ICTY 7 (19 April 2004) Case No: IT-98-33-A, In the Appeals Chamber.