News in English     | 30.06.2019. 21:57 |

Pettigrew: What is the High Representative waiting for, it's about time to act

FENA Muamer Selimbegovic

Sarajevo, June 30 (FENA) - Bosnia and Herzegovina is faced with obstacles that are destabilizing to the country and the region, such as denying genocid, glorifiying convicted war criminals, hate crime and succession threats which prevent necessary processes of reci very and rebuilding of the country in a postgenocidal society. 

This was stressed by David Pettigrew, professor of philosophy and Holocaust studied at the US Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), who was a keynote speaker at the session of the Association of Independent Intellectuals "Circle 99". He talked about the subject of the "Blockade of Develoment of a Postgenocidal Societay and the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina".

He warned that the failure of the international community to resolve these problems "allows Republika Srpska (RS) to continue to follow its founding genocidal goal of ethnic homogeneity".

In that context, he critically addressed the lack of activity of the High Representative in BiH, assessing that BiH is a postgenocidal society where priority should be given to the protection of survivors of psychological pain and trauma.

"The greater tragedy of the failure of the High Representative is that all aspects of the continuation of genocide, which are rooted in RS culture, are the classic signs of the next possible genocide against non-Serbs in BiH," Pettigrew said, pointing out that the international community must face the shame of their own failure to take responsibility.

He posed the question "What is the High Representative waiting for", adding that it is about time to act.

In a detailed elaboration of the various aspects of the current situation, Pettigrew concluded that the High Representative failed to respond effectively to a deeper crisis, recalling the contents of his reports submitted to the UN Security Council, in which the High Representative cited his own concerns about RS procedures and statements that pose a threat to peace, starting from denying the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH, saying that Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik is the leading figure in such efforts.

He is of the opinion that the High Representative has repeated his own concerns over the last ten years of threats to peace from the RS, but has not responded effectively to these threats.

He also warned at the same time that the glorification of convicted war criminals, as well as the ban on commemoration of victims in the RS, prevent the possibility of reconciliation at the local level and represent a barrier to the basic rights of returnees.

"Due to the lack of action of the High Representative, survivors are psychologically attacked on a daily basis through cultural practices - like denying genocide and hate speech, preventing non-combatants from returning to their former homes etc. In this way, the founding genocidal impulse of the RS continues to persecute survivors. This genocidal culture with nationalist and fascist tendencies has been continuously flourishing in the RS since 1995," he said.

 

(FENA) L. N.

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