Srebrenica Massacre Denials: Is it Time for Further Legal Action?
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The 1995 Srebrenica Massacre, otherwise known as the Bosnian Genocide, was a deliberate culling of 8,000 male Muslims in the town of Srebrenica, a UN safe-protected zone. Even though the Srebrenica Massacre is recognized as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the UN general assembly (UNGA), Serbians, whose army committed the supposed genocide, have been denying—in various forms—about the massacre.
Euracitiv, a pan-European news website specializing in EU policies, states that in an online forum, online users have said the denials extend from “outright denial of the massacre” to the validity of the “number of the murdered.” Some even went as far as to question the “genocide verdict.” This denial has been practiced in Serbia, spearheaded by the Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, a president of the Serb entity called Republika Srpska.
When Valentin Inzko, head of Bosnia’s Office of the High Representative, made changes to the law which strengthened the legal authority over the Srebrenica massacre, Milorad Dodik outright rejected the legal change, saying “Republika Srpska (a separate entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina where a dense population of Serbians are located) rejects this” and that the “genocide did not happen.” Finally calling upon the Serbians, Dodik pressed that the “Serbians must reject this.”
Furthermore, Bosnian Serbians named streets after convicted criminals of genocide charges hailed them as wartime heroes and refused to withdraw decorations awarded to three convicted war criminals.
Why is there such fierce denial of this genocide? The Serbians and Bosnian Serbians have backed the war effort of Bosnian Serbians which makes them the “villains” if they admit they supported mass murderers. They refuse to call this massacre genocide and instead opt to call it a “crime.”The motivations of the denial are not homogenous however, as the Humanitarian Law Center’s Isidora Stakić gives a potential explanation: “People who deny genocide have come up with the idea that acknowledging genocide would mean that Serbs are a genocidal people.” It is likely, however, that one of the primary reasons is the rise of nationalism in Serbia, which it prompts civilians to honor their country and deny or mitigate any wrongdoing.
Why legal action now? The tensions between the political tug-of-war is still going on today as more victims of the massacre are being discovered in 2023, 29 years after the massacre. Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik still has repeatedly refused to call the atrocity a genocide. Dodik signed legislation that weakens the authority of the envoy and the constitutional court in Bosnia’s Serb entity, which can make legislation that made it illegal to deny the massacre—a law made in 2021—constitutionally weaker and thereby allowing the denial of the massacre. The tensions between the Serbians and Bosniaks arise on this matter as time goes on.
It is time for further legal action? On one hand, forcing further legal action can cause division within the communities, which the international community hopes can be avoided at all costs. This argument, some say, should not come to a conclusion with coercion but with genuine acquiescence. However, with Dodik’s encouragement of the denials and the extremely dangerous ramifications that denials can bring for future generations and the present, further legal action should be taken to repress these potential disasters. On the other hand, the tensions will keep rising if there is no action from Bosnia’s side and the constant attacks from the Bosnian Serbs—the war of attrition would be won by the Serbs. There are valid reasons for both decisions to be made.