The letter of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law from Sarajevo to the University of British Columbia

Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada
Published: February 23, 2011  

The letter of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law from Sarajevo to the University of British Columbia

No: 104/I-11
Sarajevo, February 23, 2022

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
PROF. STEPHEN J. TOOPE, PHD
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
[email protected]

Dear Professor Toope,
Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law from Sarajevo is a public scientific institution engaged in analysis of crimes against peace, crime of genocide, and other grave breaches of international law from the historical, legal, sociological, criminology, economic, demographic, psychological, political, cultural, medical, environmental, and other aspects of relevance for the complete research of crimes.

Studying genocide and other forms of crimes against humanity and international law the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the Sarajevo University raises voice against genocide, and sends the message that will significantly affect and influence the world and moral of the powerful, aiming to save the modern mankind and civilization, preserve the utmost human values, human freedoms, human rights, and lives of the small, weak and helpless groups, human societies and peoples. The current and future generations will finally have to learn, from all the so far crimes of genocide and in the interest of future of contemporary world and civilization, the historical lesson on the need to strengthen, develop and unify all the antifascist forces, irrespective of their national, ethnic, racial, religious, ideological, or political affiliation and determination in the strategy of prevention and punishment of crime of genocide. It is only the scientific knowledge obtained through the research that can serve as a permanent basis for the improvement of our abilities to detect, identify, prevent, and punish the crime of genocide, in which the researchers of holocaust, genocide, and other forms of crimes against humanity and international law play historical role and bear the responsibility. It is the duty of these researchers, as Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel noted, to talk in the name of these victims, to remind the world of their suffering and tears and suppress the fear of oblivion. The researchers must have professional responsibility and sufficient moral courage to research and share with public the scientific truths about genocide.

The Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada is organizational, scientific-research part of the the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the Sarajevo University, which recently sent you a letter to make your aware that Srdja Trifkovic, a Serbian-American scholar, who will speak on February 24th at 5 p.m. at the University of British Columbia, has been denying, openly and frequently, the Srebrenica genocide.

Having considered this, I am writing to you concerning the upcoming Srdja Trifkovic lecture, hosted by University of British Columbia’s Serbian Club. I am shocked and appalled to hear that your world renowned university is hosting an individual who openly denies the Srebrenica Genocide and all atrocities committed by Serbs during the 1992 to 1995 aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr. Trifkovic is not only a Srebrenica genocide denier; he is also a Serb nationalist. During the 1992 to 1995 aggression he was the unofficial spokesman for Republika Srpska government. He is currently a columnist for several conservative and Serbian nationalist publications in the United States. Majority of his work promotes hate and intolerance between the Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats. Mr. Trifkovic’s ideology not only promotes nationalism to Serbian people, it also supports the idea of human rights abuses and genocide for the love of one’s nation. It is unacceptable to teach young intellectuals such hate and intolerance in a country that promotes tolerance, multiculturalism and peace.

We owe it to the victims of genocide everywhere, not just in Bosnia, to honor them by performing our duties as human beings to disengage from those so called scholars who wish to poison us with conspiracy theories and hateful propaganda. Therefore, we strongly urge you to act responsibly and disallow Mr. Trifkovic from holding a lecture at your university, an institution well known internationally for academic excellence and learning.

Faithfully Yours,
D I R E C T O R
Prof. dr. Smail Čekić