[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 9, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   A TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO SUFFERED THE ATROCITIES OF THE BOSNIAN WAR

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2013

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay 
tribute to those who suffered the atrocities of the Bosnian War. In 
April of 1992, a war of aggression was waged against the newly 
independent and sovereign Bosnia by Serb forces aiming to destroy its 
multi-ethnic and multi-religious character. The International Criminal 
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a body of the United 
Nations, was established to prosecute serious crimes committed during 
the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Due to the efforts of the ICTY, 161 
fugitives have been indicted, including Ratko Mladic, the person 
responsible for the Srebrenica Genocide. April 16th of this year will 
mark twenty years since the United Nations declared the Srebrenica 
enclave a ``safe zone.'' Sadly, the failure of the United Nations to 
protect this safe zone ultimately led to genocide and the death of more 
than 8,000 men and boys.
  I would like to call for the United Nations to properly recognize the 
Srebrenica Genocide declaring July 11th to be Srebrenica Remembrance 
Day. In the 109th Congress, I proudly co-sponsored H.R. 199, which 
affirmed that in Srebrenica, ``the policies of aggression and ethnic 
cleansing as implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 
1992 to 1995 meet the terms defining the crime of genocide.''
  Tomorrow, President Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia will take the floor 
during a United Nations debate on the ICTY. As we mark another 
anniversary of the beginning of genocidal violence in Bosnia, let us 
remember that our work is not yet done. As President Obama has stated, 
``The United States rejects efforts to distort the scope of this 
atrocity, rationalize the motivations behind it, blame the victims, and 
deny the indisputable fact that it was genocide.'' In solidarity with 
April Genocide Prevention Month, let us remember the victims and the 
heroic perseverance of the Bosnian people.