Dear Rector Schütze,
In 1992, when the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina began, the International Community deprived Bosnians of their right to self-defense. Bosnia was subjected to a weapons embargo. When Bosnians managed to offer some resistance, they were disarmed by the International Community and promised safety in the safe areas protected by the UN troops. Despite the UN troops’ supposed role in protecting the Bosnians’ right to life, they ended up being massacred with the UN’s assistance. The UN troops even aided Serb forces by identifying and separating men from their families, facilitating their slaughter. The right to life did not apply to Bosnians.
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. The right to dignity of the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide is now violated by the University of Vienna.
Your predecessor, Rector Engl, was notified by the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada that the University of Vienna was complicit in the Bosnian Genocide. However, the response received from Rector Engl was unsigned and lacked basic letter-writing etiquette. It is concerning that the University of Vienna produced such a flawed and insulting document regarding the supreme crime – genocide. That letter was not only formally insulting, but also factually misleading. According to the article in the Austrian newspaper Falter, Professor Manoschek is now not allowed to teach at the University of Vienna anymore because of his genocide denial.
This shows that the statement by the previous Rector Engl is factually erroneous because it proves that genocide denial was taught previously at the University of Vienna.
We think that the right to dignity of the Bosnian people must be respected. Therefore, we demand a public apology from the University of Vienna to the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide.
Mothers of Srebrenica
