26th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide: UK statement at the OSCE
Deirdre Brown, Deputy Head of the UK Delegation to the OSCE, commemorates victims and honours survivors of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On 11 July we paused to remember the victims and honour the survivors of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina on its 26th anniversary.
The genocide claimed the lives of over 8,000 mostly Muslim men and boys and led to the displacement of over 20,000 women and children who were forcibly expelled from their homes.
The United Kingdom continues to play a vital role in ending impunity for these horrific crimes as we have shown by agreeing to provide the prison cell so Radovan Karadzic can serve his life sentence following his conviction by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for the Srebrenica genocide and War Crimes.
The Foreign Secretary in his message to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina reiterated the UK’s ongoing commitment to supporting reconciliation across the Western Balkans.
Over the past 26 years, the UK has provided millions of pounds to support projects relating to the Srebrenica genocide, including support for the victims’ families and survivors. We now have an ongoing project with the Srebrenica Memorial Centre to develop its operational capacities and establish a globally relevant centre for genocide research, prevention, and reconciliation.
It remains a great concern that some continue to deny the genocide. Two international courts, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former-Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice, after exhaustive legal processes, have ruled that Srebrenica was a genocide.
We continue to urge political leaders in the region to reject hate speech, to condemn any glorification of the perpetrators of genocide and war crimes, and to respect the verdicts of international and domestic courts.