IGC Stands with the Srebrenica Memorial Center
The Institute for Research of Genocide Canada {IGC} stands in full solidarity with the Srebrenica Memorial Center and the 26 current and former staff members and associates who have reportedly been summoned for questioning by the Republika Srpska police.
The Srebrenica Memorial Center is far more than a place of remembrance. It is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leading institution dedicated to documenting the Srebrenica genocide, preserving the historical record, supporting survivors, and educating future generations. Its work serves not only Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the international community’s commitment to truth, accountability, and genocide prevention.
Any action that creates fear among those who contribute to remembrance, research, education, or the preservation of historical truth deserves the close attention of the Government and Parliament of Canada and all who value human rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law.
The Institute for Research of Genocide Canada joins the Memorial Center in calling upon Canada and our international partners to follow these developments closely and to reaffirm their support for the independence, integrity, and uninterrupted work of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
We also express our solidarity with the survivors, returnees, researchers, educators, and all those who continue to defend truth, memory, and justice despite ongoing challenges.
The Institute for Research of Genocide Canada invited Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the governor general of Canada Louise Arbour and Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand and all competent institutions of Canada to protect the institutional integrity of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, the safety of its employees and associates and their right to freely research, document and speak about the genocide.
The best response to those who threaten the Srebrenica Memorial Center is the historical scenes from the Toronto Assembly on July 29 of this year, when all councilors and the mayor, carrying the Srebrenica Flower, sent a message to the world that truth does not become obsolete, that the pain of the innocent will not be forgotten, that truth and justice will be the foundation of lasting peace.
Inspired by the work of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, IGC sends a message to the police and prosecutor’s office of the RS entity that soon a monument to the victims of genocide will be erected in the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga, Ottawa, Calgary, a street will be named Srebrenica, and schools will teach about the Srebrenica genocide.
The Institute for Research of Genocide Canada will renew its request to seek District status for the Srebrenica municipality outside the jurisdiction of Serbian politics that deny the Srebrenica genocide, which was initiated in 2016 and renewed again in 2023 and 2024.
Silence and inaction in the face of such pressures would mean giving space to those who want to intimidate researchers, relativize judicially established facts and stop the fight against genocide denial.
Truth must never be intimidated.
