By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia’s parliament is considering the adoption of a long-awaited resolution whereby the Serbian government would officially condemn the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, said that the resolution should be ready by March, despite wrangling in the Serbian parliament over use of the term ‘genocide’ to describe the mass killings.

The massacre at Srebrenica is the largest mass-murder to have occurred in Europe since the end of the second world war. Despite its designation as a U.N. ‘safe-zone,’ Bosnian Serb forces under the command of General Ratko Mladić murdered roughly 8,000 Muslim men and boys at the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July of 1995. Mladić, wanted by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for charges of genocide and war crimes, still remains at large.

The Srebrenica massacre was designated as a genocide by the ICTY and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In its ruling, the ICTY did not hold Serbia responsible for the genocide, but said that it was responsible for doing nothing to prevent the massacre.

In an interview with the newspaper Blic, Đukić-Dejanović said that sixty-seven percent of Serbians condemn the massacre. “It is our duty to respect their opinion and adopt a resolution [condemning the massacre]. I think it will be done between now and early March.”

Lawmakers in the ruling coalition are reportedly working on the text of the resolution. Opposition Liberal Democrats have singularly insisted that the term ‘genocide’ be used, while other parties have sought alternate terminology. The Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) deputy leader, Aleksandar Vučić, indicated that his party may not support a resolution incorporating the term ‘genocide.’

 When asked whether she would support a resolution incorporating the term ‘genocide,’ Đukić-Dejanović said that she would vote the way her parliamentary coalition voted, and that they were currently satisfied with the term ‘crime.’

 Nenad Prokić, of the Opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said:

 “We are the first country that is entering the EU with genocide in our suitcase – [a] limited territorial genocide. That is a very serious thing in a union based on peace…It is most important for us to recommend to our society and enter it into our schooling…so no one will ever do that in our name again.”

 For more information, please see:

B92 – Still no consensus on Srebrenica resolution – 8 February 2010

Blic – The adequate expression for Srebrenica is ‘crime’ – 8 February 2010

BSANNA – Resolution on Srebrenica to be adopted in early March – 8 February 2010

Javno – Serbian parliament to mull Srebrenica resolution – 8 February 2010