Russia vetoes Srebrenica commemoration draft resolution over "genocide"

Russia on Wednesday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution commemorating the 20th anniversary of the slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Serb Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, a UN "safe area," citing the term "genocide" used in the document in describing the mass slaying as the reason for doing so.

"This year marks the 20th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, in which over 8,000 lives were lost, thousands were displaced and families and communities were devastated," the draft said, noting "Srebrenica and its surroundings was declared as a safe area" by the United Nations and recognized "that there were innocent victims on all sides during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The last phrase made it clear the Bosnian Serbs were not the only guilty factions.

The adoption of a resolution requires an affirmative vote of nine members and the absence of a negative vote from any of the five permanent council members with veto power.

However, the draft cited the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and an upholding appeal that found "genocide was committed at Srebrenica in 1995 and the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of Feb. 26, 2007 concluded that the acts committed at Srebrenica were acts of genocide."

As one of the five permanent members on the 15-member council Russia has the right to veto draft resolutions. The other permanent members are Britain, China, France and the United States. The draft garnered 10 affirmative votes and four abstentions, Angola, China, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Russia, a longtime supporter of the Serbs whose forces were charged with the killings, said the draft was unbalanced and there was no need to bring up genocide. "If we look at the summary of the 10-year conflict in Yugoslavia; when we see that hundreds of thousands of Serbians have been chased away from their traditional places of living, then we can not but conclude that they suffered as many if not more," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia said before the vote.

The "important task" before the council was to "make sure there is full peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that's why we are in favor of the initiative of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Dayton peace agreements by steps aimed at bringing together all peoples in the region to make sure the Balkans can move together towards greater stability, security and interethnic peace, " he said.

"What we need to do is underscore the positive," he said. "The draft submitted by the United Kingdom turned out to be not constructive, confrontational and politically motivated. It contained distortions as a result of which the blame for the past is placed basically on one people."

"The approach according to which you single out one responsible party for a war crime is not legitimate and can result in an even greater division in Bosnian society," Churkin said.

"The United Kingdom is outraged that Russia has vetoed this resolution," said Ambassador Peter Wilson, the deputy permanent representative of Britain. "Russia's actions tarnishes the memory of all those who died in the Srebrenica genocide. Russia will have to justify its behavior to the families of over 8,000 people murdered in the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War."

"This draft resolution did not point fingers of blame, score political points nor seek to reopen painful divisions," he said. " It did not link the crimes of Srebrenica to the Serb people. It recognized that there were victims on all sides. And it sent a clear message that this Council supports reconciliation in Bosnia. "

"But reconciliation," the London envoy said, "must be based on a shared acceptance of the facts; that genocide occurred at Srebrenica. This is a legal fact, not a political judgment. On this there is no compromise."

"So it is of profound regret that Russia has chosen to side with those who, by their actions, are preventing reconciliation moving forwards; those who are unwilling to accept the facts today, " he added.

Ambassador Liu Jieyi of China explaining why he abstained from the vote, said "the draft resolution .. on the commemoration of the Srebrenica event has given rise to controversy within the country and other countries in the region. Some council members have strong reservations on the draft."

"Under such circumstances, forcing a vote on a contentious draft resolution goes against the spirit of promoting reconciliation within Bosnia and Herzegovina and among regional countries," he said. "It also affects the unity among the council members. China regrets that."

"China has always respected the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina," the Beijing envoy said. "We believe a country has the right to choose its own path of development and foreign policy. The international community should respect and support the choice of the government and people of the country and adopt a balanced and cautious approach on the question of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Ambassador Samantha Power of the United States said on learning of the atrocity she couldn't believe what she was told.

"I couldn't bring myself to believe that Bosnian Serb forces would execute every Muslim man and boy in their custody. For all of the brutality of a horrific war, this was a singular horror," said Power, who insisted to call the Srebrenica incident as " genocide" and stressed she couldn't believe Russia will veto the draft resolution. Enditem