119-s2184

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2184 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2184

To designate July 11 as National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of 
 the Srebrenica Genocide.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 June 26 (legislative day, June 24), 2025

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To designate July 11 as National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of 
 the Srebrenica Genocide.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) The United States and the European Community recognized 
 the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state 
 on April 7, 1992, and the United Nations admitted the Republic 
 of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a member on May 22, 1992.

    (2) During a campaign of aggression throughout Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, Bosniaks 
 comprised the great majority of victims of systematic campaigns 
 of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide conducted 
 by Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serb paramilitary forces 
 with the support of the Government of the Federal Republic of 
 Yugoslavia.

    (3) The Senate passed Senate Resolution 134 in the 109th 
 Congress expressing the sense of the Senate that, from April 
 1992 to November 1995, Serb forces committed aggression against 
 the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against 
 Bosniaks, with direct support from authorities in Serbia.

    (4) A primary objective of Bosnian Serb leadership, 
 supported by the Government of the Federal Republic of 
 Yugoslavia, was to establish an ethnically homogenous Serb 
 state within Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as ``Republika 
 Srpska''.

    (5) Serb forces, under the command of subsequently 
 convicted war criminals Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, made 
 a concerted effort to control the town of Srebrenica and 
 surrounding areas, which had strategic importance to the Serb 
 campaign to create a Republika Srpska state from the inviolable 
 territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    (6) The exclusion of the Bosniak ethnic identity as an 
 option for registrants in Yugoslav censuses, including the 1991 
 census, has complicated attempts to conduct a complete 
 investigation of the crimes committed against Bosniak victims 
 in Srebrenica, surrounding areas, and across Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina.

    (7) Beginning in 1992, the humanitarian situation in 
 Srebrenica and surrounding areas deteriorated, with Serb forces 
 placing embargoes on food and critical supplies, which resulted 
 in mass starvation and civilian deaths.

    (8) In 1993, the United Nations, pursuant to Security 
 Council resolutions 819 and 824, designated the towns of 
 Srebrenica, Sarajevo, Zepa, Gorazde, Tuzla, and Bihac, in 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina, as ``safe areas'', but failed to 
 demilitarize or protect the designated areas, including that of 
 Srebrenica in 1995, despite the deployment of the United 
 Nations Protection Force

    (UNPROFOR) to Srebrenica.

    (9) Upon entering Srebrenica in July 1995, Serb forces 
 deported Bosniak women and girls in buses after torturing and 
 raping many of them, following a nearly yearlong siege and 
 starvation of the town and surrounding areas.

    (10) Serb forces separated military-age men and boys from 
 other civilians in Srebrenica.

    (11) In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys 
 were tortured and killed in and around the town of Srebrenica, 
 including those men and boys that attempted to form a column 
 and flee Srebrenica for safety but were attacked and killed by 
 Serb forces.

    (12) The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and 
 Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted at Paris December 
 9, 1948, defines genocide as ``any of the following acts 
 committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a 
 national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

    (a) Killing members of the group;

    (b) Causing serious bodily or 
 mental harm to members of the group;
            (c) Deliberately 
 inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring 
 about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
            (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

    (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another 
 group''.

    (13) The Srebrenica genocide remains the biggest single 
 event of mass extermination in Europe since the end of World 
 War II.

    (14) The bodies of executed Bosniak men and boys were 
 dumped into mass graves, which were subsequently dug up by Serb 
 forces and moved to secondary or tertiary sites in an attempt 
 to hide evidence of the genocide that was committed against 
 Bosniaks.

    (15) Remains of some of the victims of the Srebrenica 
 genocide are still being discovered.

    (16) In 1993, the United Nations established the 
 International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 
 through Resolution 827, succeeded by the International Residual 
 Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, which investigated, 
 prosecuted, and passed judgement on international crimes 
 committed during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, 
 including during the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica genocide.

    (17) In November 1995, the peace agreement known as the 
 ``Dayton Accords'' was concluded by the presidents of Bosnia 
 and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia to end the war in Bosnia 
 and Herzegovina.

    (18) The Dayton Accords resulted in the adoption of a new 
 constitutional regime that created 2 entities, the Federation 
 of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, in Bosnia 
 and Herzegovina.

    (19) In a 1999 report on the fall of Srebrenica, the United 
 Nations expressly recognized that the international community 
 must accept its share of responsibility for failing to stop the 
 Srebrenica genocide.

    (20) Serbia issued an apology for crimes committed by Serb 
 forces during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, including 
 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at Srebrenica and surrounding 
 areas, but did not recognize the mass murders in Srebrenica as 
 genocide.

    (21) In 2004, the Government of the Republika Srpska entity 
 issued an apology for crimes in Srebrenica and acknowledged the 
 deaths of some, but not all, victims and did not recognize the 
 mass murders in and around Srebrenica as genocide.

    (22) In 2015, the Russian Federation vetoed a resolution at 
 the United Nations Security Council condemning the mass murders 
 at Srebrenica as genocide.

    (23) Since the Dayton Accords were concluded, political 
 leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina such as Milorad Dodik have 
 undermined regional stability by engaging in genocide denial 
 and spreading false information about the war crimes, crimes 
 against humanity, and genocide that took place during the 
 Bosnian War.

    (24) Some political leaders have declined to categorize the 
 mass murders at Srebrenica as genocide and continue to engage 
 in harmful ethno-nationalist dialogue.

    (25) In 2021, the High Representative, who oversees the 
 civilian implementation of the Dayton Accords, outlawed 
 genocide denial in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    (26) The European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina

    (EUFOR) oversees the military implementation of the Dayton 
 Accords as a successor to the Stabilization Force, the NATO-led 
 multinational peacekeeping force that was deployed to Bosnia 
 and Herzegovina following the Bosnian War.

    (27) The United States and the international community have 
 made significant efforts to uphold peace and stability in 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina and recognize the Srebrenica genocide, 
 including by supporting the work of local, national, regional, 
 and international nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations 
 that preserve the memory of the victims of the Srebrenica 
 genocide.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE SREBRENICA 
 GENOCIDE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 36, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``

Sec. 149. National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the 
 Srebrenica Genocide
 ``

    (a) Designation.--July 11 is National Day of Remembrance for the 
Victims of the Srebrenica Genocide.
 ``

    (b) Recognition.--All private citizens, organizations, and 
Federal, State, and local governmental and legislative entities are 
encouraged to recognize National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of 
the Srebrenica Genocide through proclamations, activities, and 
educational efforts to--
 ``

    (1) pay tribute to the families of the more than 8,000 
 Bosniaks who were killed in July 1995, the Bosniak communities 
 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the diaspora;
 ``

    (2) condemn the genocide perpetrated in Srebrenica and 
 surrounding areas and the war crimes and crimes against 
 humanity committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian 
 War;
 ``

    (3) encourage continued efforts in Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina, Southeast Europe, and the world to counter efforts 
 to undermine respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms 
 and to promote respect for all ethnic and religious groups;
 ``

    (4) acknowledge the role of the High Representative in 
 promoting truth about the Srebrenica genocide and maintaining 
 peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
 ``

    (5) condemn the denial of the Srebrenica genocide, which 
 has been recognized as genocide by the International Criminal 
 Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court 
 of Justice, and condemns attempts to revise the history of the 
 Bosnian War;
 ``

    (6) reaffirm support for the multi-ethnic and multi-
 confessional culture and territorial integrity of Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina as the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina pursue 
 further Euro-Atlantic integration;
 ``

    (7) condemn inflammatory rhetoric, including that which 
 is meant to destabilize Bosnia and Herzegovina and the broader 
 region, stoke ethnic tensions, and promote social divisions 
 related to denying the Srebrenica genocide;
 ``

    (8) call on the international community to continue to 
 work toward the sustainable return of Bosniaks consistent with 
 Annex 7 of the Dayton Accords throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina 
 and to Srebrenica, including by condemning ongoing violence and 
 discrimination against, and attempts to disenfranchise, 
 Bosniaks;
 ``

    (9) encourage continued political reconciliation in the 
 Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the judicial 
 system, including through the strengthening of democratic 
 institutions and educational institutions;
 ``

    (10) recognize that barriers to political or social 
 reconciliation remain so long as national, regional, and 
 international actors engage in genocide denial and ethno-
 nationalist rhetoric; and
 ``

    (11) further call on the international community to 
 continue educating current and future generations on the 
 Srebrenica genocide, to promote recognition of the Srebrenica 
 genocide, and, within all the legal means provided by law and 
 consistent with respect for human rights, to refute and deter 
 those who continue to deny the facts of the Srebrenica 
 genocide.''.

    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The table of sections for 
chapter 1 of title 36, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``149. National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Srebrenica 
 Genocide.''.
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