Saudi Arabia stands by families of Srebrenica victims
Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Bin
Abdullah affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stood side by side with
their brothers, the families of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre on
Saturday, July 11, 2020.
He said: “Our participation on behalf of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, its leaders, government, and people, is a humanitarian and moral
obligation that the Saudi leadership stands by every year.”
The minister was speaking at an event in which the Kingdom
participated in the 25th anniversary memorial of the Srebrenica Genocide that
took place in the in July 1995.
Prince Faisal delivered the Kingdom's speech via video
conference, where he conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Salman and the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to Chairman of the
Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sefik Dzaferovic and United Nations
Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and other dignitaries taking part in this
occasion.
The minister added: “The Custodian of the Two Holy mosques,
has, and continues to support and stand by Bosnia and Herzegovina which further
confirms the unique and friendly relations between our countries.”
He stressed that the Kingdom, its presidency of the Group of
20 this year, calls for global security, stability, and unity, explaining that
the Kingdom seeks to promote the values of moderation, tolerance, and openness.
A number of presidents, heads of government, foreign
ministers, heads the European Union and Parliament, the European Commission and
Guterres paid tribute, via video conference, in which they stressed on
rejecting denial of genocide and holding those involved responsible and look
forward for a peaceful coexistence to ensure stability in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Earlier, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) too
remembered July 11 as a (Day of Mourning) to honor the memory of those who were
slain in the Srebrenica massacre. “This anniversary is for us a painful
reminder. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims of this tragic event,”
said OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen.
Meanwhile, amid calls for tolerance and reconciliation the
world marked the 25th anniversary of Srebrenica with some speakers at
commemorations on Saturday going further in demanding that Serbian leaders
fully accept responsibility for the 1995 massacre that was part of a genocide
against Muslims during the Bosnian War.
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, UN
Secretary-General Guterres and the British, Dutch and Spanish prime ministers
were among several senior figures to send video messages to the event, scaled
down this year due to coronavirus restrictions.
“Reconciliation means rejecting denial of genocide and war
crimes and of any effort to glorify convicted war criminals,” Guterres said in
his address.
Dzaferovic called for more from world leaders in the face of
attempts to downplay, relativize or deny what happened. "I am calling on
our friends from around the world to show, not just with words but also with
actions, that they will not accept the denial of genocide and celebration of
its perpetrators," he said.
"The Srebrenica genocide is being denied [by Serb
leaders] just as systematically and meticulously as it was executed in 1995...
we owe it not just to Srebrenica, but to humanity, to oppose that," he
added.
A similar call came from Bakir Izetbegović, head of the
Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the main Muslim Bosnia political party.
"The international community did not defend Srebrenica 25 years ago, but
it has the possibility to defend the truth which is called into question,"
he said.
Bosnia is still ethnically divided a quarter of a century
after the brutal execution in July 1995 of more than 8,000 Bosnia Muslim men
and boys, who were singled out and murdered over 10 days by Bosnian Serb
forces. In a pre-planned operation, many were taken away in buses to be
executed; bulldozers were used to push them into mass graves in the forest.
Bosnian Serbs, however, still celebrate their wartime
leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic — later convicted and sentenced for
genocide by a UN war crimes tribunal — as heroes. Serbia has apologized for the
massacre but has not accepted the widespread international interpretation that
it was genocide.
In an opinion piece for Euronews, academic and author Edina
Becirevic said, "It is unsurprising... that Dodik has good relations with
leaders like Putin and Orban. But it is problematic that he is treated as a
legitimate partner by many European diplomats as well," she writes.
"The EU must recognize that opportunities to pressure Bosnian Serb and
Serbian leaders to treat history objectively should not be wasted."
Another prominent figure who denies that genocide happened
at Srebrenica is the town's mayor. Mladen Grijicic has repeatedly peddled
theories, popular among Serbian politicians and media, alleging that the crime
has been exaggerated.
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