BOSNIA NEWS

SREBRENICA,Bosnia - The 12th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica will be commemorated today.The remains of 465 Bosnians murdered by the genocidal Serbian aggressor in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica will be buried.

Up to 30,000 relatives of the Srebrenica victims are expected to attend a religious ceremony and funeral at the memorial cemetery in Potocari.

The Bosnians from Srebrenica are still being found in mass graves around the country, and the Serbian war criminals responsible for the genocide in Bosnia are still on the run. Of the estimated 10,000 Bosnian men and boys mass murdered on the orders of former leaders of the Serbians living in Bosnia Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, only 2,500 are in a proper grave in the Genocide Memorial Centre in Potocari, and 1,000 are waiting for DNA identification.

The Srebrenica massacre is the only episode of the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia that has been ruled a genocide by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague,so far.

For the families of the 10,000 Bosnians murdered by the genocidal Serbian aggressor in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the annual commemoration is a chance finally to bury long-lost dead or visit the graves.

But in this year's ceremony on July 11, there will be as much politics as prayer.Srebrenica's genocide survivors are caught up in a bitter row over their request for Srebrenica to get a special administrative status within Bosnia.

They are seeking "special status" for Srebrenica, away from the authority of the Serbians living in Bosnia, who committed the genocide in Srebrenica.

"Maybe the time framework for our demand was too ambitious, but I hope it will be fulfilled some day.Otherwise, it means there's no international law nor justice "said Sadik Ahmetovic, one of the Bosnian parliamentarians backing the call for special administrative status for Srebrenica.

The Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, a massive cemetery with 3,000 graves and room for as many gained recently a special status under the authority of the Bosnian central government.

SREBRENICA/POTOCARI,Bosnia – The Association of the Mothers of Srebrenica has again this year presented the “Srebrenica 1995” and the “Potocari Charter” awards to individuals who have made a mark in the fight against genocide.

These awards was presented to US Congressman Chris Smith and the Bosnian Missing Persons Institute Head Amor Masovic in the Potocari Genocide Memorial Centre on Monday.

These awards was established by leader of the Bosnian Islamic Community Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric and so far it has been presented to Tadeush Mazovjetski, Paddy Ashdown, Tilman Cilh and former ICTY judge Fuad Rijad.

Explaining the reasons for presenting the award to the U.S. congressman Chris Smith, Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric said: “This distinguished gentleman, this granite of humanity, US Congressman Smith, is a man who fought with all his strength to stop the aggression against Bosnia and to ensure that genocide and Srebrenica are never forgotten. We need to keep in mind that Congressman Smith is fighting for all of this in the world’s capital, the most important parliament in the world, the US Congress. Thank you Congressman Smith on behalf of all people of good will for accepting the “Srebrenica 1995” award and for showing the entire world that you are on the side of truth and justice”.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – Haris Silajdzic,a member of the Bosnian Presidency held talks on Monday in Sarajevo with U.S. Congressman, Republican Chris Smith, the winner of this year’s award “Srebrenica 1995”.

Before the meeting and the joint trip to Srebrenica, where Smith will receive the award, Silajdzic told the press that Congressmen Smith bears the greatest merits for adoption of Resolution 199 in the American Congress on April 6 2005.

This document confirmed even before the verdict of the International Court of Justice in The Hague that genocide was committed in Srebrenica in July 1995, said the Bosnian Presidency member.

When asked about the subjects of Monday’s talks with Smith, Silajdzic said that he would primarily launch the matter of implementing the ICJ verdict.

“The American Congress had established even before the ICJ verdict that genocide was committed in Srebrenica. Now, when the ICJ verdict is official, the question is – what are the commitments of the international community towards the verdict because we have been hearing lately that the verdict should not produce any legal consequences. This raises the question: what is the verdict for, what is the purpose of the Court established by the UN Security Council and why punish all the persons that planned and committed genocide?

Unfortunately, this topic must prevail in the current situation. We shall most certainly launch changing or building a new Bosnian Constitution, so now the question is whether things that were done by genocide can be legalized. The international law specifies that this is not possible, the UN charter also. No country, including Bosnia, can verify what was done by genocide and all countries much engage in eliminating the consequences of such a crime”, said Silajdzic.

When asked by journalists whether the U.S. Congress could adopt another resolution, this time in the sense of implementing the ICJ verdict on Srebrenica, he added: “I think we can. Congressman Smith was very active that Bosnia needed help, the United States had intervened with military force. Smith is a politician and man not interested in the ‘political correctness of the moment’, but in justice and human rights”.

The decision to present this year’s award “Srebrenica 1995” to Chris Smith was issued by the associations of families of the victims of genocide together with the Institute for researching the crimes against the humanity and international law from Sarajevo.

The decision was officially announced on June 29 in Sarajevo, when it was stated that the award would be presented to Smith on July 9 at Genocide Memorial Center Srebrenica-Potocari.

Smith is a proven friend of Bosnia who supported lifting of the arms embargo for the Bosnian Army during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia.