The United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Srebrenica and the Struggle Against Genocide Denial

Abstract

The adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/78/282, designating 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, embodies a significant effort in combating genocide denial. However, the Resolution generated substantial preemptive and reactive backlash, sparked by a global network of actors committed to revising the history of the 1990s. This article provides a detailed account of the resolution’s contextual history within the UN, as well as an analysis of the geopolitical and ideological underpinnings of Srebrenica genocide denial as a tool of regional nationalist and revisionist agendas. As a salient example, the article explores the coordinated campaign led by Serbia and Republika Srpska to undermine the resolution, utilizing it to mobilize nationalist tropes, discredit international institutions, and reinforce denialist narratives.

Keywords

• united nations
• bosnia-herzegovina
• srebrenica
• genocide
• serbia
• the yugoslav wars and the year 1995