Serbia adopt Srebrenica declaration

After 13 hours of debate on Tuesday, the Serbian parliament adopted the declaration condemning the 1995 Srebrenica crime.

The declaration condemned the crime against Bosniak (Muslim) residents of the town in the way determined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Of the 250 MPs, a majority of 127 – one more than the needed 126 – voted in favor of the resolution.

Of the present MPs, 21 voted against the resolution, one abstained.

Representatives of the opposition Serb Radical Party (SRS) and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) did not vote.

MPs of the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), New Serbia (NS), and Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) voted against the resolution.

Along with condemning the Srebrenica crimes, the resolution calls for all countries of the former Yugoslavia to adopt similar resolutions condemning crimes committed against Serbs during the war and continue the process of reconciliation and strengthening conditions for living together, based on an equality of nationalities and the full respect of human and minority rights and freedoms, to make sure that such crimes never repeat themselves.

The preamble of the resolution mentions the international acts that the parliament cited in the resolution, among them the Serbian Constitution and the universal UN resolution on human rights.

Parliament also showed support with the resolution to institutions dealing with processing war criminal and for the conclusion of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, which includes the arrest and extradition of fugitive Ratko Mladić.

The parliamentary collegium, which Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović scheduled for Thursday, will discuss the resolution for condemning crimes committed against Serbs on the territory of the former Yugoslavia during the war.

Đukić-Dejanović said that the ruling coalition has drafted the first version of the resolution and added that the draft will be sent to the parliament very soon.

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