Serbian right-wing campaign to deny Srebrenica genocide

In addition to spreading messages on Telegram channels to deny the genocide in Srebrenica and glorify convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, far-right organizations and informal groups in Serbia have also taken similar actions on the streets.

Through torches, graffiti, posters, and banners in public spaces, they conveyed the same messages.

On the anniversary of the genocide, Telegram channels of informal organizations and groups such as “People’s Patrol”, “Serbian Action”, “Club 451” and “Serbian Sparta” were filled with claims that Srebrenica had been “liberated”, that the genocide was a “myth” and that Ratko Mladic was a “hero”.

Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) has not received any response from Telegram regarding how they monitor content that promotes hate speech and genocide denial.

In parallel with the online messages, far-right groups in Serbia announced that they had organized torchlight rallies, written graffiti in support of Mladic, and prevented the removal of posters glorifying war crimes.

The thirty-first anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Belgrade was also marked by an attack by hooligans on activist and writer Vladimir Arsenijevic, founder of the “Crocodile” association, on the eve of that association’s memorial gathering for the victims of Srebrenica.

Organizers canceled the event due to the incident.

At the place where this commemorative event was supposed to take place, the inscription "Ratko Mladić hero" was written, and under some of the graffiti was the signature of the far-right organization "Club 451".

Such actions and messages, according to Isidora Stakić, a researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, are generally not punished in Serbia because they are “in line” with official Serbian policy.

"The only thing we can hear from Serbian institutions is denial that it was genocide," she says.

Authorities in Serbia do not admit that genocide occurred in Srebrenica, but instead speak of a "horrific crime" and a "massacre."

Meanwhile, in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, the anniversary of the worst crime on European soil since World War II was marked with a memorial and collective burial.

What narrative are far-right groups spreading on Telegram?

The same or similar narrative about Srebrenica can be read in Telegram posts from several far-right groups in Serbia.

The genocide in this part of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina 31 years ago is called "liberation".

"Ratko Mladic (has) liberated Srebrenica with his soldiers, destroying enemy soldiers who refused to surrender," the Telegram page of the far-right and anti-immigrant group "People's Patrol" said.

The far-right “Club 451” also describes the genocide in Srebrenica as a “victory over Muslim forces,” and the Telegram channel “Sparta Srpska” announced that Ratko Mladic’s name “has long been engraved in the eternal history of Serbism.”

The unregistered far-right group "Serbian Action" claimed that the Srebrenica genocide against Bosniaks is a "myth".

These claims were accompanied by street protests.

“Serbian Action” said that, on the anniversary of the genocide, its members organized a torchlight procession on an overpass in Belgrade and placed a banner reading “Long live Serbian Srebrenica.”

Members of this group also posted posters around Belgrade with the image of Ratko Mladic and the message "Hero, not criminal", the same channel reported.

The Telegram channel of "Sparta Serba" published a video of the prevention of the removal of posters praising Mladic in Novi Sad.

That poster with the inscription "General, thank your mother" also appeared in Belgrade, and was signed by the far-right Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj, who was convicted before the Hague Tribunal for the persecution of Croats from Vojvodina during the 90s.

The Radicals announced that their activists had placed posters throughout Serbia "expressing gratitude" to Mladic.

Graffiti denying the genocide in Srebrenica, signed by the far-right organization "People's Patrol", was again seen on the facade of a building in Belgrade's central pedestrian zone.

This group is known for its ties to ideologically close groups from Russia and anti-immigrant actions.

Their graffiti with the inscription in English "the only genocide in the Balkans was against Serbs" has since been erased.

The graffiti "Coffee, sweet, Mladic Ratko" and the inscription "General, thank you for Srebrenica" were signed by "Club 451", which, according to reports, also has members in Republika Srpska, the Serb entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Radio Free Europe contacted the following organizations, whose contacts are publicly available: “Club 451”, Serbian Action and the Serbian Radical Party.

“Club 451” sent a humorous response without a clear answer to the question of what the purpose of their actions was and whether they were denying that more than 8.300 Bosniaks were killed in Srebrenica in 1995. “Serbian Action” responded that everything was “clearly written” in their Telegram post.

What are the facts?

The Srebrenica genocide occurred during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which lasted from 1992 to 1995.

Since 1992, the town of Srebrenica has become a haven for refugees from Bratunac, Zvornik, Vlasenica and other municipalities that had been occupied by Bosnian Serb forces.

In April 1993, it was declared a United Nations safe zone, free from any armed attack or fighting.

The enclave then remained isolated from the territory controlled by the authorities in Sarajevo, with constant shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Forces of the Army of Republika Srpska, under the command of Ratko Mladic, launched an attack on the enclave on July 6, 1995, and on July 11 entered Srebrenica despite its status as a protected area.

In the days following the fall of the city, more than 25.000 people, including children and the elderly, were forcibly displaced from Potocari, while thousands of Bosniak men and boys were separated from their families or captured while trying to penetrate territory controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Most of them were subsequently killed.

The prisoners were taken to several locations around Bratunac and Zvornik, where they were systematically executed and buried in mass graves, many of which were later dug up to cover up the traces of the crimes.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice have determined that the killing of more than 8.000 Bosniak men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica constitutes genocide.

Three decades after the Srebrenica genocide, more than 50 people have been sentenced to a total of around 780 years in prison, with five of them sentenced to life imprisonment, including former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, Ratko Mladic, and former president of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadzic.

Since 2003, 6.782 genocide victims have been buried at the Memorial Center in Potocari.

About 250 of those killed were buried in other places according to the families' wishes, while more than 1.000 people are still missing.

"Atmosphere of denial"

Isidora Stakić, a researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, says that messages from far-right groups that openly celebrate Mladić's heroism are "extreme", but they still "contribute to the official narrative".

He adds that the anniversary of the genocide in Serbia is organized only by certain civil society organizations and that there is no "official commemoration."

"State institutions have never marked this date, not even this year," she says.

The International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Srebrenica Genocide was marked by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, with a candlelight vigil and flower-laying ceremony in central Belgrade. The event was disrupted by several people speaking through megaphones nearby.

The rally of the non-governmental organization Krokodil was not held due to an attack by hooligans on its activist Vladimir Arsenijevic.

Stakić emphasizes that the government in Serbia is relativizing war crimes, denying genocide, and spreading a false narrative of collective guilt.

"The lie is constantly being spread that recognizing the genocide in Srebrenica means that the entire Serbian people are genocidal," says Stakić.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday that it is time to show respect for the Bosniak victims of Srebrenica.

Sarajevo escorts coffins of ten victims of Srebrenica genocide

"Unlike others, we show respect and always bow deeply before the victims, this is our obligation, by doing so we show that we are human," Vučić said.

However, a year ago, the government and pro-government media accused protesting students and anti-government activists of wanting to declare the Serbian people genocidal.

This was the main message of the state campaign against the adoption of the United Nations Resolution on Srebrenica 2024, even though the document does not mention any people or state.

The message “Serbs are not a genocidal people” appeared on billboards across Serbia.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued a ruling in which, among other things, it found Serbia guilty of failing to prevent genocide and announced that Serbia had violated its obligation to punish the perpetrators of the genocide.