(NE)SANKCIONIRANJE NEGIRANJA ZLOČINA U JAVNOM PROSTORU BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE
(NON)SANCTIONING THE DENIAL OF CRIMES IN THE PUBLIC SPACE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Summary/Abstract: The aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period 1992–1995 resulted in the occupation of a large part of the state territory, which represented an attempt to realize the Greater Serbian project. This expansionist policy was accompanied by the practical execution of crimes against humanity and international law, based on a genocidal policy and practice that aimed at the physical, material, and cultural destruction and collapse of the Bosniak people's identity. Special emphasis is placed on the genocide committed in Srebrenica - a UN safe zone - in July 1995. All forms and scales of the committed crimes are denied and negated in the daily life of Bosnian-Herzegovinian society, including its public space. The most blatant forms of denial are manifested by political elites who follow the political path of those involved in the aggression and the attempt to achieve Greater State ideas. In the thirty-year period since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the establishment of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there has been a continuous minimization, denial, and negation of the committed crimes. Despite numerous judgments by international and national courts which have convicted individuals, as well as bodies and institutions, for committed genocide - judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and judgments of domestic and German courts - the continuity of denial is present in the public space. Attempts to sanction this phenomenon through the adoption of laws by state institutions and parliaments were unsuccessful, which resulted in the imposition of an amendment to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Office of the High Representative (OHR) that sanctions this criminal offense. The first judicial proceeding against Vojin Pavlović is currently underway, which should sanction the public denial of genocide and disrespect for the High Representative's decision, i.e., a violation of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The indictment against Miodrag Malić, for acts of glorifying war criminals, has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation. Milorad Dodik, who is unquestionably the most obvious denier of genocide, has not yet been accused or sanctioned, a fact that points to the weakness of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian judiciary. Although the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has filed an indictment against him for disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it does not contain a point that would initiate the re-examination and sanctioning of denial in the public space, where he persists in using it for daily political purposes. We also place within this entire context Resolution (A/78/L.67/Rev.1) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on May 23, 2024, which should also serve as a tool to prevent further denial of genocide and prevent revisionism of historical facts. Namely, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide, declaring July 11 as the “International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide,” to be commemorated annually. The process of preparing the text of the Resolution and its proposal for adoption was accompanied by a campaign launched against the adoption of the resolution. The campaign was based on the denial of facts and historical revisionism. The leaders of the campaign were Milorad Dodik and Aleksandar Vučić with their close associates and political followers. The leader of Republika Srpska organized protests in Republika Srpska, while Vučić tried to mobilize public opinion in Serbia, presenting the Resolution as an injustice to Serbs at the global level. Hate speech, glorification of war criminals, and revisionism or open denial of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes established by final court decisions threaten the rule of law and represent a direct obstacle to peace, reconciliation, and confidence-building, and ultimately jeopardize the prospects for a safe, peaceful future for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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