City of Kentwood, Michigan adopted the proclamation proclaiming July 11, 2009, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11, 2009, as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week in the City of Kentwood (see in PDF format).
This is the second year that Mayor Richard Root and the City Council supported and adopted similiar proclamation. Kentwood has a large Bosnian American population. Congress of North American Bosniaks is thankful for the City elected and administrative officials support.
From 1992-1995, Serbs from heavily militarized villages around Srebrenica had terrorized Bosniak civilians and constantly attacked neighbouring Bosniak villages. In July 1995 the Bosnian Serbs took control of Srebrenica and committed genocide. In the course of the Srebrenica genocide, approximately 30,000 Bosniaks had been expelled from their home and 8,372 Bosniaks had been summarily executed.
City of Kentwood, Michigan
Proclamation
Whereas, The United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives passed resolutions in 2005 acknowledging the genocide that the Serbian forces perpetrated in Srebrenica, and all of Bosnia from 1992 to 1995; and
Whereas, July 11, 2009 will commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in which at least 8,372 innocent Bosniak civilians were executed and 30,000 were expelled from their homes in the worst atrocity in Europe since the Holocaust; and
Whereas, This anniversary raises awareness of the tragic suffering of the Bosnian people and honors and remembers those who died as a result of the policies of ethnic cleansing and aggression; and
Whereas, The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) is the umbrella organization representing Bosniaks in the United States and Canada; and
Whereas, The city of Kentwood recognizes the importance of this event to bring closure for the Bosnian people through justice and truth; now, therefore, be it
I Mayor Richard Root of the City of Kentwood proclaim July 11, 2009, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11, 2009, as
Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week in the City of Kentwood; and be it further
Resolved, That we call upon all citizens to work toward ending the cycle of violence and promoting peaceful coexistence among all.