In one of the numerous texts that concern the impending Srebrenica genocide resolution of Serbian parliament, politician and a professor of psychology at the University of Belgrade, Žarko Korać, talks about things that the resolution will bring about and that are mutually exclusive. He says that "it is impossible to think good of Ratko Mladić (commander in chief of Serbian forces in Srebrenica) and condemn the events as genocide, and it is also impossible to justify the war in Bosnia and to have compassion for the 8.000 victims of Srebrenica". Reading
these lines, again, I am faced with a dilemma: If, from a perspective of international law, i think that categorizing a crime in Srebrenica as a genocide is more of a political than a judicial decision, can i truly be in favor of such a resolution? Can i, in some way, reconcile these two seemingly opposite positions?
Reflecting on it now, it was more of a soul searching than a simple dilemma. For a while now i have been considering the events from Srebrenica within the confines of the international law. A genocide is a legal category and should be deliberated as such. By doing so i wasn't entirely convinced, beyond any doubt, that the Srebrenica massacre was a genocide.
I was convinced, and in some part still am, that the decision of the International Court of Justice was stretched by the politicians just enough to justify the involvement of the international community in the Balkan war.
However logical and correct, this kind of deliberation is essentially flawed when used by the Serbian nationals (to whom i accidentally belong). I know that now. For years now virtually all of the prominent political factors in Serbia have, one way or another, condemned the crimes committed during the war. Some sincerely, some quite sanctimoniously. And what the majority of them had in common is the absence of the word Genocide. Massacre yes, war crime definitely, but not Genocide. And Genocide is the key here. Only by calling Srebrenica event a Genocide, and condemning it through a resolution proclaimed by the highest governing body of our country can we truly begin to face our demons. To acknowledge the crimes and the victims doesn't seem to be a problem at all, but to admit that there has been a Genocide on part of the Serbian armed forces, is one hell of a dread. It's time to put the legal semantics aside and truly begin the process of healing for this whole region. Only by admitting to genocide are we going to oblige ourselves, morally and institutionally, never to let anyone again kill 8.000 people in our name. Or one, for that matter.
