BOSNIA NEWS

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – The idea for nominating the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica as a place of genocide for the UNESCO World Heritage List is worth considering in all aspects, the Chairman of the Bosnian Commission to Preserve National Monuments Dubravko Lovrenovic said yesterday.

Namely apart from the places of cultural and natural heritage, the UNESCO List also includes the places where terrible crimes were committed, such as the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, while in the case of Terezin, apart from its cultural-historic value, it was stated explicitly that this is the symbol of persecution of the Jewish people in the WWII.

“Srebrenica carries this type of seal as Auschwitz, because it is a place of genocide. In this context, we should, perhaps consider the manner in which Auschwitz was nominated and included on the World Heritage List. This could be helpful in the Srebrenica case”, said Lovrenovic.

Dubravko Lovrenovic said that camp Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, as well as their protection zones were put on the UNESCO World Heritage List because this camp is the proof of inhumane, cruel and method effort to deny human dignity to groups that were regarded as inferior. These camps are the living testimony of the murderous nature of the Anti-Semitic and racist Nazi policy, because over 1.2 million people were killed there, of which 90 percent were Jewish.

Similar things are stated for Terezin, in the Czech Republic, because the Terezin fortress, apart from its value as a unique technical and urban monument, should be globally recognized as the symbol of persecution of the Jewish people in the Second World War. In the period from 1941 to 1945, the Main fortress was the center of gathering Jews before their deportation to concentration camps of the Third Reich across Europe.

Up to 10,000 Bosnian men and boys were summarily executed in only a few days after the genocidal Serbian aggressor overran the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.Following the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia forensic experts found some 60 mass graves around Srebrenica.

VISOKO,Bosnia - A few hundred Bosnians gathered yesterday in the central Bosnian town of Visoko, some 20 kilometres northwest of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, to pay their respect to the genocide victims from the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.The remains of 465 recently identified genocide victims from Srebrenica were transported by three trucks to the Potocari Memorial Centre, where commemoration and burial will be held tomorrow, marking the 12th anniversary of the massacre in which the genocidal Serbian aggressor executed up to 10,000 Bosnian men after capturing the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The Srebrenica genocide victims, including 464 Bosnian men and boys between the ages of 13 and 77 years and a 75-year-old woman, would be buried alongside about 2,600 other genocide victims in Potocari since the Memorial Centre was opened in 2003. More than 30,000 Bosnians are expected to attend Wednesday's commemoration in Potocari.High profile local and international dignitaries, including the Chief Prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Carla Del Ponte, are expected to attend the event.

The day of funeral of the genocide victims from Srebrenica has been declared the national mourning day in Bosnia.Nearly 3,200 genocide victims from Srebrenica have so far been identified through sophisticated DNA analysis, out of more than 5,000 bags containing the remains of an unknown number of victims exhumed from some 60 mass graves in the Srebrenica area.

The masterminds of the genocide in Bosnia, former leaders of the Serbians living in Bosnia Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remain at large.The ICTY has charged both Serbian war criminals Karadzic and Mladic with genocide, crimes against humanity and severe breaches of the Geneva Conventions.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia - The Bosnian Presidency Chairman Zeljko Komsic and members of his cabinet will attend commemoration and funeral of the Srebrenica genocide victims on July 11 in Potocari.

Komsic will visit the memorial room and the newly discovered mass graves located near the Memorial Center and will meet the mothers of Srebrenica.

Komsic will pay tribute to the victims of genocide on his own and on behalf of the Bosnian state institutions, but will not hold a speech because of the pain the families feel and because of all the events that took place in Srebrenica.

”This is neither the time nor the place. It is not moral for the politicians hold any speeches. I come to Potocari as the Bosnian Presidency Chairman but also as an individual who wants to pay tribute to my fellow fighters and innocent victims”, Komsic said.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – The government of Pakistan decided to donate 1.000 agricultural machines to the genocide survivors from Srebrenica. During the last month’s visit by a senior Pakistani state delegation to Bosnia and talks between the Pakistani President Pervez Musharaf and a member of the Bosnian Presidency Haris Silajdzic an agreement was reached under which Pakistan would donate 1.000 two-wheel tractors with accessories for the region of Srebrenica and the broader Podrinje region.

This donation, worth more than 6 million Bosnian Marks (4.1 million USD), shows that Pakistan has a good understanding of the overall situation in Bosnia, especially the difficult conditions returnees are facing.

Certificate awarding ceremony will take place today, July 10 in Sarajevo. There, the Srebrenica families will receive the certificates individually.

Certificates for individual donations will be awarded by the Pakistani Minister of Food, Agriculture and Farming Sikandar Hayat Klian Bosan,the Bosnian Minister of Human Rights and refugees Safet Halilovic announced yesterday.