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Sierra Leone has supported UNGa Resolution Designating July 11 as International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide.
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 “genocidal” 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.
In an explanation of vote, H.E. Dr. Michael Imran Kanu, the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, noted that “Informed by our difficult experience of a decade of armed conflict, characterized by perpetration of some of the serious crimes of international concern, and our transitional justice process, including the investigation, trial and conviction of those who bore the greatest responsibility for the atrocity crimes by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone voted in favour of draft resolution …, which, inter alia, designates July 11 as The International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide.”
Supporters had hoped for 100 “yes” votes. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who voted against the resolution, told the assembly the combined abstentions and “no” votes — 87 — 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 “International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica,” to be observed annually starting in two months.
