Congress of North American Bosniaks is flooded with letters sent by prominent individuals and organizations from the moment of its demand sent to the organizers of the Congress of European Police in order to bar a certain Darko Trifunovic from participating in the session of the Congress as he shows contempt for the victims of genocide against Bosniaks, while saluting the Serbian crimes and criminals.
Mr. Amor Masovic, as one of the most exemplary and prominent among public figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has sent a letter / statement to the participants of the Congress of European Police and, in so doing, supported the demand of CNAB that a certain Trifunovic “not be given an opportunity to take stand at the session of the Congress of an organization of enormous repute such as European Police is, so that he could continue to show contempt for the victims and salute the criminals”, says Amor Masovic in his letter.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In my capacity as a Member of Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as a former Member of Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as a member of the International Association of Genocide Investigators (IAGS), I express my deep concern with the fact that a certain Darko Trifunovic is allowed to participate in the work of the Congress of European Police.
The public at large throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as I, have followed the public statements issued by Mr. Trifunovic, over an extended period of time and it has become recognizable that he is a person who continually tries to deny, minimize, twist and/or otherwise cloud the picture of the biggest crime committed upon European soil after the Holocaust, the crime of genocide committed by the “Serbian Army and Police” in July of 1995 in Srebrenica.
As a principled democrat I support the freedom of public speech and public discourse, however the organizers of the Congress ought to clearly define, when they choose the participants, whether it is appropriate to allow an opportunity to speak publicly to the persons who deny the facts embodied in the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
I equally support your determination not to allow participation in the Congress to those who deny or minimize the crime of Holocaust (as same are sanctioned by the very laws of the country hosting the Congress), and am of the opinion that the same measure ought to apply to those who negate a similar crime, such as the crime of genocide in Srebrenica. Otherwise, we can all expect that the ghosts of the past will cmoe back to haunt us.
Denial of Holocaust upon the Jews and/or genocide upon Bosniaks does not necessarily have to represent the final phase (E. Stanton), but I am afraid that such hate speech, lack of compassion towards the victims, saluting of the crimes and criminals, indeed, is the precursor of the frist phase of new crimes of Holocaust and genocide.
Having stated this, I support the demand of Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) which speaks in the interests of 350,000 American and Canadian Bosniaks so that Mr. Trifunovic not be given an opportunity to take stand at the session of the Congress of an organization of enormous repute such as European Police is, so that he could continue to show contempt for the victims and salute the criminals.
The public at large across Bosnia and Herzegovina has, with exceptional attention, followed the activities of European Police whose members gave an enormous contribution in dealing with the results of the crimes perpetrated on our homeland’s soil and it would be an immeasurable loss if, due to lack of attention on the part of the organizer, that same public were to be made to revise its attitude because of a person such as Mr. Trifunovic.
Amor Masovic
The author of this statement has for fifteen years been involved in the processes of liberating of war prisoners and search for some 30,000 missing persons (mostly civilians) during the aggression upon the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He lead teams which have, so far, located over 370 mass graves and over 3,000 joint and individual gaves, from which remains of some 18,000 victims (missing persons) have been exhumed. He delivered presentations to local police officials within the Organization of European Police. He is a recipient of many domestic and international awards in the area of protection of human rights and humanism.