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.
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