The UN draft resolution seeks to declare July 11 "International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica"

Several countries are working on a draft resolution to declare July 11 the International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, according to a document seen by VOA.

Rwanda and Germany are leading this effort, but according to information provided by VOA, the United States, Albania, Bosnia, Chile, Finland, New Zealand, Turkey and other countries are also part of this initiative.

The draft resolution is based in part on the UN General Assembly resolution of 2004, which declared April 7 as the International Day of Remembrance for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi group in Rwanda.

The draft resolution will be presented at a wider closed-door meeting of UN countries on April 17. In this meeting, drafters of the draft resolution can take into account the proposals of other member countries and see what support they can expect for their initiative in the UN General Assembly, which consists of 193 member countries. In the text of the draft resolution , which the Voice of America has seen, condemns, among other things, any attempt to deny the genocide in Srebrenica and to elevate the figures of those who have been convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It also emphasizes the importance of completing the process of finding and identifying the remaining victims of the genocide in Srebrenica and continuing efforts to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.

The draft resolution called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to create a program called "The Srebrenica Genocide and the UN", which would deal with preparations for the organization of activities to mark the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre. in 2025. According to Voice of America sources, Serbia is lobbying strongly against the draft resolution.

On July 11, 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica.

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war for his leading role in the campaign of terror against the civilian population, including the massacre of Srebrenica, among the worst atrocities in Europe since the end of World War II. /VOA