The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum withdrew their invitation for former interpreter, principal witness and genocide survivor -Hasan Nuhanović- to speak at a 'Conference to Consider International Community's Role in Srebrenica Tragedy' that is taking place from 29 June-1 July 2015 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Find the press release about the conference here:
Find the news article announcing his withdrawal here:

The aim of the conference is to reconstruct the events in the town in 1995 using the recollections of top political and military people involved and documents not earlier made public.

#WeStandWithHasan campaign demands a formal apology from The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for withdrawing Hasan Nuhanović’s invitation.
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BACKGROUND

• In July 1995, the (in-)action of the United Nation Protection Force (UNPROFOR) contributed to the genocidal death of more than 8.000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, who had sought shelter in Srebrenica, an area declared to be safe from ‘ethnic cleansing’ by the United Nations (UN).
• The fall of Srebrenica, the arrival of the infamous Ratko Mladić in the city on 11 July 1995 and the concomitant apathy of the Dutch battalion marked the beginning of the deportation of women, children and older men and of the genocide of all military-aged men.
• In 2002, the former UN translator Hasan Nuhanović, whose father, mother, brother and uncle were killed during the fall of the UN ‘safe area’ in Potočari and the relatives of Rizo Mustafić, an electrician employed by the UN and killed after the fall of Srebrenica, started a civil case against the State of the Netherlands.
• After 11 years of judicial proceedings, the Dutch Supreme Court affirmed that the State of The Netherlands was responsible for the decision of the Dutch battalion to send away from the UN compound Mr. Nuhanović’s father and brother and Mr. Mustafić.
• Mr. Nuhanović now lives in Sarajevo and dedicated his life to the commemoration of the victims as well as truth and justice for of the Srebrenica genocide. He is the author of ‘Under the UN Flag: The International Community and the Srebrenica Genocide’, a detailed and unique account of the days leading up to the genocidal killing of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and the subsequent period, and takes the lead on the maintenance and development of the Srebrenica memorial centre at Potočari.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT

• Commenting on the decision to withdraw Hasan Nuhanović’s invitation, Cameron Hudson of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum explained that: “In order to find out what happened in Srebrenica, people must be able to speak freely. That would be difficult in the presence of someone who brought legal action in the past and may do so again in the future." It is further argued that "his presence would be ‘uncomfortable’ for other delegates."

What this means is unclear. Since when do victims of atrocities involved in legal battles endanger the freedom of expression of others?
We would welcome a response from The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to this question.

• The decision to withdraw his invitation is beyond unbelievable and its arguments, implying that Nuhanović could endanger the freedom of expression of the other speakers because he sued the State of the Netherlands for the loss of his family, are inacceptable and absurd.
• Prohibiting one of the principal witnesses of the Srebrenica genocide, who lost all his family and fought 11 years to get the judicial recognition of the responsibility of the Dutch bat, to speak at a conference aiming “to reconstruct events in the town in 1995” borders on genocide denial: It purposefully leaves the key witness account out of the equation.

Top political and military people involved will only tell one side of the story. We want to hear the other one.

In the lead up to the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, do we want to commemorate what really happened or the subjective version provided to us by institutions promoting global justice and memory as long as it is not too “uncomfortable”?

The world has to take a stand in this repeated victimisation of an incredible individual whose life is dedicated to commemoration of the victims, their families and justice for this international crime.

Hasan Nuhanović is not a threat but the source to the information you are pretending to unravel.

Please spread the word and sign this petition. Every time this petition is signed, an email will be sent to the institutions.

#WeStandWithHasan campaign demandsa formal apology from The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for withdrawing Hasan Nuhanović’s invitation.

http://twitter.com/Srebrenica2015
http://www.facebook.com/srebrenica2015