BOSNIAN SERBS MUST GIVE EUR2 MILLION FOR SREBRENICA MEMORIAL SITE

SARAJEVO, March 7 (Hina) - The House of Peoples of Bosnia- Herzegovina on Friday ordered Bosnian Serb authorities to pay two million euros for the construction of a monument in memory of Bosniaks killed in Srebrenica in July 1995. #L# The House of Peoples made the decision at a discussion about lawsuits filed against Bosnian Serb authorities by some families of the killed and missing Srebrenica Bosniaks. Those families had previously unsuccessfully demanded the punishment of the perpetrators of the gravest crime in Europe since World War II, when forces commanded by Ratko Mladic brutally killed at least 8,000 people. The House of Peoples, which is the highest judicial institution for the protection of human rights in Bosnia-Herzegovina, concluded that Republika Srpska had undoubtedly violated its commitment to ensure respect for the right to life and humane treatment as well as that it had failed to launch an investigation into the Srebrenica massacre. The House decided that instead of paying compensation to every injured party the authorities of Republika Srpska should provide funds for the construction of a joint site commemorating the victims of the 1995 massacre. The first payment, amounting to one million euros, is to be made by September 7 this year, while the rest is to be paid in four instalments. The construction of the memorial site at Potocari near Srebrenica started last summer and the first bodies of identified victims should be buried there in late March. The project will cost around five million euros, of which around 50% has been secured so far, mostly in the form of foreign donations and budgetary funds given by the state and the Croat-Muslim entity. The Bosnian Serb authorities have not even offered minimum financial assistance in the construction of the memorial site. (hina) rml sb