UN will vote on commemorating the 1995 Srebrenica genocide annually — which Serbs vehemently oppose
The U.N. is scheduled to vote on establishing an annual day to commemorate the 1995 genocide of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs, a prospect that has sparked vehement opposition from Serbs who fear it will brand them all as “genocidal” supporters of the mass killing
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. is scheduled to vote Thursday on establishing an annual day to commemorate the 1995 genocide of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs, a prospect that has sparked vehement opposition from Serbs who fear it will brand them all as “genocidal” supporters of the mass killing.
The General Assembly resolution sponsored by Germany and Rwanda doesn’t mention Serbia as the culprit but that hasn’t stopped the intense lobbying campaign for a “no” vote by the Bosnian Serb president, Milorad Dodik, and the populist president of neighboring Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
The 193-member assembly is expected to vote Thursday morning on the resolution that would designate July 11 as the “International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica,” to be observed annually starting in two months.
On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serbs overran a U.N.-protected safe area in Srebrenica. They separated at least 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys from their wives, mothers and sisters and slaughtered them. Those who tried to escape were chased through the woods and over the mountains around the town.
