How did the US preserve the memory of Srebrenica Genocide

On April 13, the Srebrenica Memorial Center confirmed that the United States of America (USA) had joined the list of sponsors of the Draft Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide.

Written by: Faruk Vele, for Radiosarajevo.ba

The clatter created these days by the head of the Bosnian entity of RS, Milorad Dodik, and the president of neighboring Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, spreading malicious lies to manipulate the domestic public for own political needs and causing new accidents in our region, does not allow sufficient emphasis on the fact that the Resolution on the Srebrenica genocide did not "fall out of the sky" in order to allegedly prove that Serbs are  "genocidal", "abolish" the Bosnian entity of RS, etc., but that it is part of the decades-long process of the civilizational culture of remembrance and an expression of the aspirations of all mankind to prevent "the crime of all crimes" from happening ever again.

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"A beacon of hope"

It is simply a civilizational achievement... Professor of Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Southern Connecticut State University, and Member of the Steering Committee of Yale University Genocide Studies Program, David Pettigrew assessed well that the resolution proposing to declare July 11 as International Day of Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica, represents an important contribution to the culture of memory and a "beacon of hope".

The Srebrenica Memorial Center noted well that the United States has supported the "protection of the memory of genocide victims" for years, but also the construction, establishment and survival of the Memorial Center. They pointed out that this support represents a continuation of the US policy advocated by President Joe Biden, which was confirmed previously by President Bill Clinton, but also the then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his 2020 message.

There are two important aspects in this institutionalization of the Srebrenica remembrance culture.

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Namely, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, in June 2005, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States Congress adopted Resolution 199 on Srebrenica. With 370 votes in favor and only one against, members of the US Congress adopted Resolution 199 on Srebrenica late in the night.  As Voice of America reported at the time, the Conclusions of the Resolution, sponsored by 27 congressmen led by New Jersey Republican Rep. Christopher Smith - just one of the heroes of the fight for truth and justice whom we haven’t paid back enough - literally say: The policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing carried out by Serb forces in BiH from 1992 to 1995 corresponds to the definition of Genocide laid down in Article 2 of the Geneva Convention.

"The Srebrenica massacre should be called by its real name – Genocide," Congressman Smith said at the end of 2005, stressing that those responsible should "bear the stain and serve as a warning to those who might plan such a crime in the future." This message is also important in our quest to say once again as a civilization – never again!

Ten years later, in 2015, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed the Resolution on Srebrenica, defining the July 1995 crime as Genocide.

Genocide denial

Resolution 310, which was then adopted by the US Congress without a single objection, confirms that the policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing carried out by Serb forces in Srebrenica is Genocide, and condemns all statements denying the Genocide.

The resolution also called for "recognizing the irrefutable signs of Genocide in future conflicts and preventing such a crime, especially given the conflicts in the Central African Republic, Burundi and Syria," which confirms the importance of the events in Srebrenica in the history of mankind.

The resolution then honored "thousands of innocent people killed in Srebrenica in July 1995, as well as all persons who were subjected to torture during the war and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina".

This Resolution was also proposed by Republican congressman and head of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Christopher Smith of New Jersey. In a speech before the House of Representatives, Smith said that the international community was almost unanimous about calling what happened in Srebrenica a genocide.

"This week, the world will stop in order to remember and reflect on the Srebrenica genocide, the horror, brutality, and mass murder, which began on July 11, 1995. This week, we remember and pay tribute to the brave Bosnians who suffered and died as genocide victims. This week, too, the international community must commit to pursuing justice, once and for all", Smith said in his address.

The Srebrenica prayer

He recalled that Serbian soldiers killed more than 8,000 people in the so-called United Nations safe area 20 years ago.

"They killed Muslim women and children, especially men. These murders were not committed in combat but against unarmed and helpless people who were told by the Dutch peacekeepers that no one would hurt them if they surrendered. Evidence suggests that these killings were committed to exterminate Muslims from the area. This intention is the main element of genocide", Smith said.

He added that the UN forces that were supposed to defend the "safe area" by all available means, including the use of force, were mere observers of the genocide, and even more. Soldiers of the Dutch battalion handed over Bosnian Muslims who sought refuge at the UNPROFOR base to Serb soldiers.

"They watched as they separated men, women and children. These men were never seen again", Smith added, among other things.

While the eyes of the world are on the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, our duty as Bosnians and Herzegovinians is to thank the men and women of the US administrations of the past decades and the representatives of all other countries of the world, from East to West, so that we can all together, as human beings, send a message of hope “May Srebrenica never happen again".