Welcome to the January 2022 newsletter with news from Remembering Srebrenica and the work of our 1,450 Community Champions.
Message from the Chair
May I begin by taking the opportunity to use my first message of 2022 to wish you all a Happy New Year. Despite the ongoing challenges which Covid-19 continues to present, the resilience and innovation shown by our Boards, Community Champions and volunteers has ensured that we have been able to commemorate the genocide and raise awareness about the importance of tackling hatred and intolerance amidst such a difficult backdrop. I am therefore optimistic that this year ahead will once again be a successful one for Remembering Srebrenica thanks to your continued support and dedication and remain grateful for all that you do.
Regrettably, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one of great concern. On 9th January, Republika Srpska in which both Srebrenica and the region of Prijedor are located held an unconstitutional ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of an entity that was created out of genocide which was attended by the Russian Ambassador to Bosnia as well as convicted war criminal, Vinko Pandurevic who was found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.
The ceremony featured paramilitary marching of troops and was preceded by a number of events in the lead up in which returnees had been subjected to intimidation and threats of violence. We condemn this appalling behavior which is an insult to the survivors who have already had to endure so much pain and suffering. Incidents such as this underline the scale of the challenges that still exist when it comes to combating the glorification of genocide and the promotion of hatred. Unfortunately, such acts of intimidation directed towards survivors have become increasingly frequent across many parts of Bosnia and cannot be allowed to continue.
We welcome the decision taken by the German Foreign Affairs Ministry who earlier this month withdrew its proposal to award a historian who headed a commission that concluded last year that genocide did not take place in Srebrenica with the Order of Merit. Genocide denial must not be tolerated in any form and we must come together to condemn those who seek to rewrite the facts of history and engage in pernicious revisionism which promotes division and serves as a barrier to reconciliation.
I am pleased that a delegation of MPs from the UK Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee were able to attend Bosnia last week, which further reinforces the UK’s strong commitment to the country. The visit comes on the back of an evidence session that was held this month to enable the committee to better understand how the UK can support international efforts to mitigate growing tensions in the region.
I am also pleased that the UK Parliament’s International Development Select Committee is undertaking an inquiry into atrocity prevention with Bosnia as the case study which Remembering Srebrenica has contributed to. The aim of the inquiry is to consider the effectiveness of the UK Government’s approach to atrocity prevention, including the government’s work in promoting dialogue and reconciliation between communities.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2022
27th January marked the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Across the UK, communities marked Holocaust Memorial Day with events and activities which brought people together to remember victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
As they do every year, Remembering Srebrenica staff, Board Members, Community Champions and Bosnian survivors participated in Holocaust Memorial Day by organizing and speaking at memorial events and activities which were organized by groups such as local authorities, schools, universities and places of worship.
A flavor of some of these activities included Smajo Beso, Chair of the North East Board sharing his testimony for the UK Commemorative Ceremony organized by HMDT. This was in addition to a number of events which Smajo has spoken at this month from schools to government departments and organizations such as Show Racism the Red Card.
Prijedor survivor, Safet Vukalic spoke at an online event organized by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, whilst Srebrenica survivor, Almasa Salihovic took part in an event hosted by Ards and North Down Council which was chaired by Remembering Srebrenica Northern Ireland Board Chair, Peter Osborne. We were pleased that the Northern Ireland HMD commemoration included our short film ‘Voices from Northern Ireland’ which was released last June in their ceremony, as well as Mid and East Antrim Council marking Holocaust Memorial Day with an exhibition on Srebrenica in Larne Market Yard last week. Co-Chair of Remembering Srebrenica Wales, Abi Carter spoke powerfully in the Wales Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony.
Our Ambassador, Robert McNeil MBE delivered a presentation to pupils from Rosshall Academy at Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow on his experiences in Bosnia as a forensic technician and the need to remember and learn from Srebrenica and the Holocaust. Alongside this, Robert also took part in Wandsworth and Richmond’s Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration which focused on ensuring that all forms of discrimination, racism and hatred are challenged and prevented.
Finally, the Director of Remembering Srebrenica attended a ceremony at Portcullis House hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons and lit a candle to remember the victims of the Bosnian genocide. This was in addition to speaking alongside Minda Hornick MBE , a Holocaust survivor at Birmingham City Council’s civic event.
We would like to thank all our Board Members, Community Champions and survivors for marking Holocaust Memorial Day by standing together in remembrance of those who were killed in the Holocaust and standing together in our resolve to tackle hatred and intolerance in all its forms.
Photo Credit: Speaker of the House of Commons
Peace and Unity Rallies
Remembering Srebrenica joined Bosnians right across the world who came together at 11am on Monday 10th January across different cities right across the UK and the EU in order to send a strong message that those who deny the genocide, promote hatred and division, glorify the perpetrators and seek to destabilize the multi-ethnic fabric of Bosnia must not be tolerated or supported. We were proud to stand in solidarity with survivors alongside the Bosnian Ambassador, Vanja Filipovic and the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bosnia, Alicia Kearns MP at a unity rally that was organized by the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network in Birmingham.
Britain has taken a robust stance to send a strong message to President Dodik who is leading the destabilization of Bosnia. We will therefore work with survivors and parliamentarians across the political spectrum to support Britain’s efforts in the stabilization of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
‘Nations United’ Forensics Project
We were pleased to release a forensics project this month called ‘Nations United’, an international collection of materials from those who helped recover, gather evidence, and identify the remains from the Bosnian Genocide. This project was made possible by our UK Ambassador, Robert McNeil MBE, a former forensic technician who worked in Bosnia following the war, who collected submissions from eminent forensic experts from around the world.
It has been 26 years since the first deployments of forensic experts by the ICTY to gather evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide following the discovery of hundreds of mass graves in Bosnia. In many instances, the bodies of those who were systematically murdered were not only dumped in mass graves but later moved to secondary and even tertiary mass graves as the perpetrators sought to cover up what they had done. Even to this day, there is still a significant number of victims whose remains are missing.
The work of forensic experts has therefore been crucial to providing the evidence that has not only enabled the establishment of the identity of many of the victims, but allowed a compelling case to be constructed which reveals the scale of the atrocities which were committed during the Bosnian War which has formed an essential part of evidence which has led to the conviction of war criminals including Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić.
We were therefore pleased to launch this project and share the stories of selected scientists from all corners of the world, including some of the most eminent in their fields to not just honor their immense contribution but to form part of the ongoing effort of challenging those who continue to deny or minimize the events that occurred in Bosnia.
Commenting on the release of the project, Robert said: “Genocide denial is on the increase. With the recent, negative political developments in Republika Srpska, there is real concern that hostilities could reignite. I hope this project helps serve as a timely message to the genocide deniers that the forensic experts worldwide who came from all religions and from none send a strong message that the evidence they provided, proved beyond doubt what happened in Srebrenica was indeed a genocide.”
We would like to express our immense gratitude to all the forensic experts from around the world who shared their stories and worked with Remembering Srebrenica to make this project possible, especially our Ambassador Robert McNeil MBE who led this project.
Our first National Board meeting of 2022 took place in January which brought together the Chairs and representatives from our eight English regional boards, three country boards, academic board, plus key stakeholders to plan for the upcoming year ahead of Srebrenica Memorial Week which will take place from Monday 4th to Monday 11th July.
We were honored that the Bosnian Ambassador was able to join us to provide an update on the current crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were also delighted to hear about the great work being undertaken across the country in communities that bring about real and lasting change which is being delivered by board members, all of whom form part of an overall powerful movement to tackle hatred and intolerance and unite communities through the lessons from Srebrenica.
Project Officer Recruitment
We are recruiting two project officers who will play a key role in delivering the commemorations of the 27th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. This is a great opportunity to make an enormous impact across the country with an organization that since 2013 has organized over 10,000 community actions across the UK, educated over 180,000 children and created 1,450 Community Champions who pledge to stand up to hatred and intolerance in their communities.
If you would like a chance to make a difference to communities in the UK and help to create a better, safer and more cohesive society for all, then please click herefor further details about the role.
Deadline for applications is 12 noon on Wednesday 16th February, with interviews taking place on Zoom on Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd February. The role will begin at the start of the next project cycle on April 1st.
