SREBRENICA HISTORICAL PROJECT
Postbus 90471, 2509LL Den Haag, The Netherlands <tel:%2B381%2064%20403%203612> +381 64 403 3612 (Serbia) E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Web site: <http://www.srebrenica-project.org> www.srebrenica-project.org ____________________________________________ SREBRENICA RESOLUTION ALERT IN THE SERBIAN PALIAMENT The Srebrenica Lobby in Serbia yesterday launched a stealth campaign to pressure the Serbian Parliament to adopt a resolution about the “Srebrenica genocide” that allegedly took place in July 1995. The proposed resolution is scheduled to be presented to parliament for a vote following “fast track” procedure, designed to be completed in time for this year’s Srebrenica anniversary ceremony on July 11. Obviously, the timing was designed to ensure that maximum emotional pressure is put on parliamentary deputies, while giving them a minimum of time to hold an informed public debate on the underlying Srebrenica issue. This year’s resolution proposal is a replay of a similar attempt made in 2010 which resulted in a partial gain for the Lobby. They were frustrated, however, in their ultimate goal of making the Serbian parliament declare that what happened in Srebrenica was genocide for which Serbia was bound to suffer political, economic, and moral consequences. As a result of the vociferous public protests and debate which ensued once the terms of the proposed resolution in 2010 became widely known, parliament was compelled to strike the word “genocide” from the text and to express itself in more guarded terms concerning the controversial issue. The Srebrenica Lobby has apparently reached the conclusion that the time is ripe now to try again. Lessons were learned from the 2010 experience and the plan for the next couple of days is to not give opponents sufficient time to organize or parliamentary deputies who are so inclined the opportunity to study the matter more closely. As we have stressed continuously over the years, Srebrenica genocide has nothing to do with the facts of what actually happened or sympathy for the innocent victims who were executed. It is a thoroughly politicized affair which serves an agenda having nothing in common with the interests of Bosnian Muslims and everything to do with inciting enmity between the Muslim and Orthodox inhabitants of the Balkans. The objective is to push them into mutually debilitating strife, with the Western-NATO alliance dominating over both in the strategically important Balkans and plundering their resources in the process, while cynically playing one side against the other. The proposed resolution in the Serbian parliament classifying Srebrenica as genocide and implying that Serbia (and by extension the Serbian people) played a role in that false flag operation is part and parcel of this insidious agenda. We learned about the resolution only yesterday because it was deliberately kept under wraps until the last possible moment in order to ensure its stealth passage in parliament. We are, however, mobilizing all our resources to call for a transparent public debate about what happened in Srebrenica and what Serbia allegedly had to do with it. Deputies in parliament are paid their salaries in order to make informed decisions on behalf of their constituents, not to allow themselves to be manipulated by political pressure. In order to make sure that the Srebrenica issue is properly considered and debated, we need your help. Serbian people highly regard the opinion of qualified foreign observers. We are therefore asking you to take a few minutes and to send us a mail expressing your view of this matter. Is it the business of the Serbian parliament to pass politically inspired resolutions about Srebrenica, thus taking the onus for this crime on behalf of the Serbian people as a whole? Is it correct and in line with provable facts to call what happened in Srebrenica a genocide? Is it proper to ambush a country’s parliament on an important issue such as this without allowing sufficient time for a full and unfettered public debate? If you can comment briefly on this, we are asking you for permission to forward your comments, with proper attribution of course, to Serbian parliament members so that they can take your views into account before voting and make an informed and responsible decision about this very important resolution. We thank you very much for your time and engagement in ensuring that Srebrenica is given proper consideration in the Serbian parliament. Stephen Karganovic Srebrenica Historical Project
