Against the Institutional Re-traumatization of Survivors of Obmana (the Bosnian Genocide)

Through this petition, we address you as survivors of the Obmana (the Bosnian Genocide) committed between 1992 and 1995. The Obmana does not refer exclusively to Srebrenica. Srebrenica is a legally established genocide; however, it represents the culmination of a broader, systematic and planned policy of destruction carried out throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, as confirmed by international court judgments through the proven Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE).

For war survivors, the war did not end in 1995. It continues through systematic and institutionally tolerated re-traumatization, which today represents one of the most serious forms of human rights violations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Europe.

The official celebration of 9 January in Republika Srpska, despite the rulings of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is not a holiday for survivors of the Obmana, but a symbol of violence, persecution, and death. Each year, this celebration causes renewed psychological harm, deepens trauma, and sends a clear message that the suffering of victims is considered irrelevant.

Re-traumatization is further perpetuated through:

public murals and graffiti of war criminals across Bosnia and Herzegovina,
the open glorification of Ratko Mladić,
the erection of monuments to convicted war criminals, including the monument to Slobodan Praljak in Herzegovina,
the continuous failure of prosecutors’ offices in Banja Luka and Sarajevo to act,
and the institutional silence of international actors, including the Office of the High Representative (OHR).
The repeated expressions of “concern” used in response to these practices represent, for us as victims and survivors, an additional form of deception. Such practices are not isolated incidents, but a consistent pattern of behavior that produces lasting psychological suffering. Institutional inaction in these cases cannot be considered neutrality; it constitutes complicity through omission.

We particularly emphasize that the continuity of re-traumatization could not be sustained without the complicity of international institutions. The European Union, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), and the United Nations are aware of the glorification of war criminals, genocide denial, and public murals, yet through their inaction they directly enable the continuation of suffering of survivors of the Obmana (Bosnian Genocide). This complicity is especially grave because these institutions possess both the mandate and the resources to protect human rights, enforce court rulings, and halt inhumane practices. Their passivity is not neutral; it represents a form of institutional support for what survivors experience as the continuation of genocidal policies and permanent psychological violence.

We find it particularly unacceptable that European institutions respond to the open glorification of war criminals, genocide denial, and continuous re-traumatization solely with expressions of “concern.” Such rhetoric does not constitute neutral diplomatic language, but rather a form of political deception. “Concern” without concrete measures does not mean protection; it prolongs suffering and sends the message that institutional accountability is unnecessary. If the European Union truly rests on the values of human dignity, the rule of law, and the protection of victims, then concern cannot be the final response; otherwise, it becomes part of the problem.

Under international law and the European Convention on Human Rights, states have a positive obligation to prevent inhuman and degrading treatment, particularly toward vulnerable groups such as survivors of the Obmana. Intentionally tolerated re-traumatization, in the context of genocide and a proven Joint Criminal Enterprise, bears the character of a continuation of the crime by other means, as it causes severe mental suffering and keeps the ideology of the crime alive in the public sphere.

If today in Europe the glorification of war criminals from the 1990s is normalized, the inevitable question arises: will posters of Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini become an acceptable everyday occurrence tomorrow? Where is the boundary, and who bears responsibility for the fact that it has already been crossed?

We, who defended European values—human dignity, multiethnic coexistence, equality, and the right to life—and who were simultaneously victims of Serbian, Croatian, and later international political decisions, refuse to permanently carry the burden of institutional silence.

Through this petition, we demand:

that the institutional re-traumatization of survivors of the Obmana (Bosnian Genocide) be clearly recognized as a serious violation of human rights and a criminal offense;
that the glorification of war criminals, genocide denial, and historical revisionism be publicly and unequivocally condemned;
that the consistent implementation of domestic and international court rulings be ensured;
that competent prosecutors’ offices act in accordance with the law;
that the European Union and international institutions assume their moral and political responsibility toward the victims of the Obmana (Bosnian Genocide).
Because peace without truth is not peace, and a society that tolerates the glorification of crimes does not close the chapter of war—it continues it by other means.

PETICIJA
Protiv institucionalne retraumatizacije preživjelih Obmane (Bosanskog Genocida) 

Poštovane dame i gospodo,

Ovom peticijom obraćamo vam se kao preživjeli Obmane - genocida počinjenog u Bosni i Hercegovini između 1992. i 1995. godine. Obmana - Bosanski Genocid ne odnosi se isključivo na Srebrenicu. Srebrenica jeste pravno presuđeni genocid, ali ona predstavlja vrhunac šire, sistematske i planske politike uništenja, provedene širom Bosne i Hercegovine, što je potvrđeno presudama međunarodnih sudova kroz dokazani udruženi zločinački poduhvat (UZP).

Za ratne preživjele, rat nije završio 1995. godine. On se nastavlja kroz sistematsku i institucionalno tolerisanu retraumatizaciju, koja danas predstavlja jedan od najozbiljnijih oblika kršenja ljudskih prava u Bosni i Hercegovini i Evropi.

Zvanično obilježavanje 9. januara u Republici Srpskoj, uprkos presudama Ustavnog suda Bosne i Hercegovine, za preživjele Obmane nije praznik, već simbol nasilja, progona i smrti. Svake godine ovo obilježavanje proizvodi novu psihološku štetu, produbljuje traumu i šalje jasnu poruku da patnja žrtava nije relevantna.

Retraumatizacija se dodatno nastavlja kroz:

javne murale i grafite ratnih zločinaca širom Bosne i Hercegovine,
otvoreno veličanje Ratka Mladića,
podizanje spomenika osuđenim ratnim zločincima, uključujući spomenik Slobodanu Praljku u Hercegovini,
kontinuirani izostanak reakcije tužilaštava u Banjoj Luci i Sarajevu,
te institucionalnu šutnju međunarodnih aktera, uključujući OHR.
Ovakva praksa ne predstavlja izolovane incidente, već obrazac ponašanja koji proizvodi trajnu psihičku patnju preživjelih. Institucionalno nepostupanje u ovim slučajevima ne može se smatrati neutralnošću – ono predstavlja saučesništvo kroz nečinjenje.

Posebno ističemo da se kontinuitet retraumatizacije ne bi mogao održavati bez saučesništva međunarodnih institucija. Evropska unija, Ured visokog predstavnika (OHR) i Ujedinjeni narodi znaju za veličanje ratnih zločinaca, negiranje genocida i javne murale, a svojim nečinjenjem direktno omogućavaju produžavanje patnje preživjelih Obmane - Bosanskog Genocida. Ovo saučesništvo je posebno ozbiljno jer ove institucije imaju mandat i resurse da zaštite ljudska prava, sprovedu presude i zaustave nehumane prakse. Njihova pasivnost nije neutralna – ona je oblik institucionalne podrške onome što za preživjele predstavlja nastavak genocidne politike i trajno psihičko nasilje.

Posebno smatramo neprihvatljivom praksu evropskih institucija da na otvoreno veličanje ratnih zločinaca, negiranje genocida i kontinuiranu retraumatizaciju preživjelih odgovaraju isključivo izrazima „zabrinutosti“. Takva retorika ne predstavlja neutralan diplomatski jezik, već postaje oblik političke obmane. Evropska „zabrinutost“ bez konkretnih mjera ne znači zaštitu, već produženje patnje, šaljući poruku da institucionalna odgovornost nije potrebna. Ako Evropska unija zaista počiva na vrijednostima ljudskog dostojanstva, vladavine prava i zaštite žrtava, tada zabrinutost ne može biti krajnja tačka – u suprotnom, ona postaje dio problema i saučesnik u institucionalno tolerisanoj retraumatizaciji.

Prema međunarodnom pravu i Evropskoj konvenciji o ljudskim pravima, države imaju pozitivnu obavezu da spriječe nehumano i ponižavajuće postupanje, naročito prema ranjivim grupama poput preživjelih Obmane (Genocid) i ratnih zločina. Namjerno tolerisana retraumatizacija, u kontekstu genocida i dokazanog UZP-a, ima karakter nastavka zločina drugim sredstvima, jer proizvodi tešku duševnu patnju i održava ideologiju zločina živom u javnom prostoru.

Ako se danas u Evropi normalizuje veličanje ratnih zločinaca iz devedesetih, postavlja se neizbježno pitanje: hoće li sutra plakati Adolfa Hitlera ili Benita Mussolinija postati prihvatljiva svakodnevica? Gdje je granica i ko snosi odgovornost što je ona već pređena?

Mi, koji smo branili evropske vrijednosti – ljudsko dostojanstvo, multietnički suživot, jednakost i pravo na život – i koji smo istovremeno bili žrtve srpske, hrvatske, a potom i međunarodne politike, odbijamo da trajno nosimo teret institucionalne šutnje.

Ovom peticijom zahtijevamo:

da se institucionalna retraumatizacija preživjelih Obmane - Bosanskog Genocida jasno prepozna kao ozbiljno kršenje ljudskih prava;
da se javno i nedvosmisleno osudi veličanje ratnih zločinaca, negiranje genocida i historijski revizionizam;
da se osigura dosljedna primjena presuda domaćih i međunarodnih sudova;
da nadležna tužilaštva djeluju u skladu sa zakonom;
da Evropska unija i međunarodne institucije preuzmu svoju moralnu i političku odgovornost prema žrtvama Obmane - Bosanskog Genocida.
Jer mir bez istine nije mir, a društvo koje toleriše slavljenje zločina ne zatvara rat – ono ga nastavlja drugim sredstvima.

Esad Sirbegovic

Sana Jakubovic

Halida Uzunovic