Shameless
Ridicule of Genocide
Press release
Belgrade, March 14, 2007
By publishing a special supplement to its issue of
March 12, 2007, titled "The Identity Card of Srebrenica," the newsroom
of the Belgrade-seated Glas Javnosti daily wanted, as it put it, to
bring before its readership "an interesting study by Mr. Milivoj
Ivanisevic that may stand for argumentation in the event the Serbian
parliament deliberates a declaration /on Srebrenica/" and thus at the
same time respond to "political advocates of all sorts of guilt that are
being ascribed to Serbia."
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
reminds that the Srebrenica case implies not "some sort of guilt" but
the most serious crime named genocide under an international convention.
The manner in which this daily has reacted to the verdict of the
International Court of Justice is shameful but, unfortunately, still not
exempt from punishment in the Serbian society.
Therefore, the Helsinki Committee demands the state of
Serbia to comply with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide - under which it was proclaimed guilty of not
taking action to prevent genocide in Srebrenica - and urgently pass a
law penalizing any denial of genocide. At the same time the Committee
requests journalists' associations and other professional organizations
in Serbia to finally draw a line between the freedom of expression and
free promotion of the culture of non-impunity.
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