UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥� The United Nations approved a resolution Thursday establishing an annual day to commemorate the 1995 genocide of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs, a move vehemently opposed by Serbs who fear it will brand them all as 鈥済enocidal鈥� supporters of the mass killing.
The vote in the 193-member General Assembly was 84-19 with 68 nations abstaining, a reflection of concerns among many countries about the impact of the vote on reconciliation efforts in deeply divided Bosnia.
Supporters had hoped for 100 鈥測es鈥� votes. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who voted against the resolution, told the assembly the combined abstentions and 鈥渘o鈥� votes 鈥� 87 鈥� was more than the 84 votes in favor. It is also noteworthy that 22 countries skipped the meeting and didn't vote, some reportedly because of the dispute over the commemoration.
The resolution designates July 11 as the 鈥淚nternational Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica,鈥� to be observed annually starting in two months.
The resolution, sponsored by Germany and Rwanda, doesn鈥檛 mention Serbs as the culprit, but that didn鈥檛 stop the intense lobbying campaign for a 鈥渘o鈥� vote by Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik and the populist president of neighboring Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who had a Serbian flag draped over his shoulders as he sat in the assembly chamber during the vote.
Vukic told U.N. members after the vote that all those involved in the Srebrenica massacre have already been convicted and sentenced to prison and said the only purpose of the resolution was 鈥渢o put moral and political guilt on one side鈥� 鈥� the people of Serbia and Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb half of Bosnia.
鈥淭hose people that wanted to stigmatize Serbian people, they did not succeed and they will never succeed,鈥� he said. 鈥淣othing could have ever united Serbian people better than what was happening here today.鈥�
Russia's Nebenzia called the resolution's adoption 鈥渁 Pyrrhic victory for its sponsors,鈥� saying if their goal 鈥漺as to divide the General Assembly ... then they've succeeded brilliantly.鈥�
But the resolution's adoption was welcomed by Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, by family members of Srebrenica victims, and by many Western and Muslim nations.
鈥淲e actually expected more countries to be in favor, but we are satisfied,鈥� Sehida Abdurahmanovic who lost several family members during the genocide, told AP. "Those who abstained and voted against 鈥� we will put them on a pillar of shame that we are building at the memorial center.鈥�
On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serbs overran a U.N.-protected safe area in Srebrenica. They separated at least 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys from their wives, mothers and sisters and slaughtered them. Those who tried to escape were chased through the woods and over the mountains around the town.
The Srebrenica killings were a bloody climax of Bosnia鈥檚 1992-95 war, which came after the breakup of then-Yugoslavia unleashed nationalist passions and territorial ambitions that set Bosnian Serbs against the country鈥檚 two other main ethnic populations, Croats and Muslim Bosniaks.
Both Serbia and Bosnian Serbs that genocide happened in Srebrenica although this has been established by two U.N. courts.
Before the vote, Vucic urged U.N. members to vote 鈥渘o,鈥� calling the resolution 鈥渉ighly politicized.鈥� He warned that it will open 鈥淧andora's Box,鈥� and said it was not about reconciliation. He said it will only 鈥渙pen old wounds" and create "complete political havoc鈥� in the region and at the U.N. He also strongly attacked Germany for trying to give 鈥渕oral lessons鈥� to the international community and to Serbia.
The determination in 2007 by the International Court of Justice, the U.N.鈥檚 highest tribunal, that the acts committed in Srebrenica constituted genocide, is included in the draft resolution. It was Europe鈥檚 first genocide since in World War II, which killed an estimated 6 million Jews and people from other minorities.
Germany鈥檚 U.N. Ambassador Antje Leendertse introduced the resolution, saying her country wants to build a multilateral system to prevent a repetition of Nazi Germany's crimes and to honor the memory of the Srebrenica victims and support the survivors. The resolution 鈥渋s not directed against anybody, not against Serbia,鈥� she said, adding that if anything it is directed at the perpetrators of genocide.
Leendertse noted that there is an official U.N. commemoration of the 1994 Rwanda genocide on April 7 every year 鈥� the day the Hutu-led government began the killing of members of the Tutsi minority and their supporters. The resolution is aimed at 鈥渃losing the gap鈥� by creating a separate U.N. day to commemorate the victims of Srebrenica, she said.
Menachem Rosensaft, the son of Holocaust survivors who is an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that designating July 11 as the official day of remembrance for the Srebrenica genocide 鈥渋s a moral and legal imperative.鈥�
The slain Muslim Bosniaks deserve to have their deaths and the manner of their deaths commemorated and Srebrenica was supposed to be a safe area but was abandoned by Dutch U.N. peacekeepers, leaving the Bosniaks who sought shelter there 鈥渢o be murdered on the U.N.鈥檚 watch," Rosensaft said.
Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group, called the timing of the vote 鈥渦nfortunate, given allegations that Israel is pursuing .鈥�
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Associated Press writers Eldar Emric in Srebrenica and Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia contributed to this report.
Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
