Attempt to pass UN resolution on Srebrenica was political show

Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry ombudsman for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, has described as political show this week’s attempt to pass a UN Security Council resolution on the tragic events in the Bosnia Muslim enclave of Srebrenica that took place 20 years ago during the 1992-1995 civil war in Bosnia.

"We have recently seen a political show on the theme of Srebrenica that was staged by some permanent members of the UN Security Council. It has nothing to do with strengthening international justice," Dolgov stressed.

Earlier this week, Russia vetoed the British-proposed draft resolution on Srebrenica at the UN Security Council. Ten countries voted for the draft. Another four /Angola, Venezuela, China and Nigeria/ abstained from voting. The draft resolution characterized the murder of about 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica as genocide and stressed that the negation of that fact hindered the process of reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"It is clear that the document was totally unacceptable in its present form because it was politically motivated, imbalanced and pernicious for the process of national reconciliation in the Balkans. The blame for what happened at that time would have been put exclusively on the Serbian side with no account of the fact that Serbs themselves also fell victim to that tragedy," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Accentuation only on one of the numerous war crimes committed at that time while burying other crimes in oblivion is absolutely illegitimate and would have caused a deeper split in Bosnian society," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

Russia stands for investigation of crimes committed against all ethnic groups in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, Russian Ambassador to UN Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council meeting devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica tragedy held on July 8.