HR 113 (LSB 6015YH (2) 85)

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 113

BY  KAJTAZOVIC

A Resolution commemorating July 11th as the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.

   WHEREAS, on July 11, 1995, the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica fell to the Bosnian Serb forces; and
   WHEREAS, during the next several days of carnage more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were summarily executed by Bosnian Serb forces; and
   WHEREAS, approximately 20 percent of Srebrenica’s total population at the time, at least 7,000 and perhaps thousands more, was either executed or otherwise killed; and
   WHEREAS, in spite of the enormous efforts made to date to discover and exhume mass and individual graves and identify the bodies of the victims, the searches conducted up until now do not offer a complete reconstruction of the events in and around Srebrenica; and
   WHEREAS, the massacre at Srebrenica was among the worst of many horrible atrocities to occur in the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ultimately led to the displacement of more than 2,000,000 people, with an estimated 200,000 killed; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives commemorates July 11th in remembrance of the Srebrenica genocide and urges all Iowans to consider the horror of genocide and to actively support efforts to eliminate this most terrible of crimes.