Bosnia's Srebrenica Memorial Center issues report on genocide denial

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Bosnia and Herzegovina's Srebrenica Memorial Center has prepared a report that includes those who deny the genocide in 1995, in which over 8,000 Bosniak civilians were brutally killed by Bosnian Serb forces.

The report was prepared in line with research done between May 2022 and May 2023 into denials and downplaying statements of media outlets and public figures from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro about the Srebrenica genocide.

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, president of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia, was called "the biggest denier of the genocide." According to the report, Dodik denied the genocide 11 times – or nearly once a month – between the specified dates.

Serbia's "Alo!" news portal took second place by denying the genocide 9 times, and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic came in sixth place for denying the genocide at least 4 times.

Report said denial of the genocide fell compared to the previous three-year periods.

It was recorded that the genocide was denied 681 times in 2021, 240 times in 2022, and 90 times in 2023.

More than 8,000 Bosniak Muslims were killed when Bosnian Serb forces attacked Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops.

Serb forces were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.

The UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. But troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic overran the UN zone. He was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing 2,000 men and boys on July 11, 1995 alone.

About 15,000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted them down and killed 6,000 more people.

Bodies of victims have been found in 570 different areas across the country.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that a genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.