The Bosniak American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BAACBH) sent letters this week to members of the Congressional Caucus on Bosnia as well as to Hannah Rosenthal, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism in grave concern over the visit of the Republika Srpska (RS) President, Milorad Dodik.

Mr. Dodik is a genocide denier and tirelessly promotes ethnic division within Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). He has openly stated that "Bosnian Serbs will never accept that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslims was genocide." By denying genocide, Mr. Dodik is actively working against the peace and reconciliation process within BiH. Both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have ruled that what happened in Srebrenica was genocide. In addition, the U.S. Congress passed H.R. 199, which defined the crime as genocide.

Mr. Dodik's morally reproachable rhetoric on Srebrenica and his obstructionist attitude towards Bosnia as a unified state threatens the peace, stability and prosperity of not only BiH but also Southeast Europe. He constantly menaces the country with the possibility of secession by the RS, denies the validity of the BiH state court system in claiming that it was illegally formed, and intensely opposes the prosecution of war crimes committed by the Serbs during the aggression on BiH in the early 1990's.

By allowing Mr. Dodik to spread his destructive agenda in the United States, we are permitting the spread of hate, intolerance and the denial of genocide. BAACBH asked that the letter be redistributed and that serious thought be given to Mr. Dodik's visit. 

BAACBH would like to thank all of the members of the Congressional Caucus on Bosnia for their support and in working hard for a united, multi-ethnic and peaceful Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are also thankful to Special Envoy Hannah Rosenthal for her support and hard work in raising awareness about genocide denial.