A video recording of a horrible crime – the execution of a group of Srebrenica Bosniaks, including adolescents, in July 1995 – was shown in ICTY on Wednesday, 1 June, during the testimony of Serbian police general Obrad Stevanovic in the Milosevic trial. It is difficult to conclude what is more devastating: the massacre and inhuman conduct of the killers, awareness that such crimes were committed in our name, or the irrational refusal by part of the Serbian public to comprehend the proportions of the crime and face the truth. The silence of the country’s officials and the hypocricy of some media, which are doing their best to minimise the significance of this piece of evidence, by ignoring or relativising it, or suggesting it is ‘unreliable’, are beyond comprehension.Yesterday was the first time many of Serbia’s citizens caught a glimpse of the horrific events in Srebrenica yesterday. One cannot remain unperturbed after seeing those images. We are certain that this painful evidence will result in the change of awareness of our recent past and responsibility for the grossest crimes. We hope that the perceptions of alleged ‘Serbian heroes’ will change as well. However, the greatest responsibility rests on the politicians and the media. This is why we call on them to perform their duties responsibly and help Serbia have a future.
The first step on that road would be for the Serbian National Assembly to include in its agenda and adopt the Declaration on Srebrenica proposed by a group of NGOs. The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights on this occasion joins the initiative and calls for the urgent adoption of the Declaration.
