GENEVA / BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SERBIA

STORY: GENEVA / BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SERBIA
TRT: 2:54
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 JANUARY 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

14 JANUARY 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We are deeply concerned by recent incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia that saw individuals glorify atrocity crimes and convicted war criminals, target certain communities with hate speech, and, in some cases, directly incite violence.”
4. Close up, hands typing
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“These acts, which happened amid religious holidays last weekend, included large groups of people chanting the name of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić during torchlight processions or singing nationalistic songs calling for the takeover of various locations in the former Yugoslavia. In one incident, individuals fired shots into the air as they drove past a mosque.”
6. Med shot, videographer and journalist in press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“These incidents - some in locations that saw large-scale atrocity crimes during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as Prijedor and Foca - are an affront to survivors, including those who returned to their homes after the conflict. The failure to prevent and sanction such acts, which fuel a climate of extreme anxiety, fear and insecurity in some communities, is a major obstacle to trust-building and reconciliation.”
8. Med shot, journalist listening
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We stress once again the need for the authorities in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina to abide by their international human rights obligations to ensure the rights to truth, justice and reparation. They should also adopt measures to prevent recurrence and to promote further reconciliation efforts. We call on them to condemn and refrain from any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred.”
10. Wide shot, journalists listening in the press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We are encouraged to see that, following some of the recent incidents, officials - including senior politicians, as well as religious leaders - moved quickly to condemn the acts, and police have begun investigations.”
12. Close up, screen with UN spokesperson in the background
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“People who live in areas that were the scene of mass atrocity crimes during the conflict, people who may have returned to their homes but are living in a climate of fear and insecurity; and that is why we, and also other parts of the UN, are repeating and putting our focus on the importance of hate speech and other related incidents, the glorification of war criminals, convicted war criminals.”
14. Close up, viewfinder on camera and big screens in press briefing room in the background
15. Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and speaker at dais
16. Medium shot, journalists

STORYLINE:

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said it is alarmed by recent incidents which took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Serbia fuelled by the continued inflammatory, nationalistic rhetoric and hate speech by individuals and, in some cases, by politicians.

“We are deeply concerned by recent incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia that saw individuals glorify atrocity crimes and convicted war criminals, target certain communities with hate speech, and, in some cases, directly incite violence,” said Liz Throssell, an OHCHR’s spokesperson at a news briefing today (14 Jan) at the United Nations in Geneva.

The incidents took place in several locations in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Bijeljina, Prijedor, Foča, Gacko, Višegrad, as well as in the Brčko District, and in Priboj and Novi Pazar in Serbia.

OHCHR said the fear, and the risk, is that these acts will continue increasing in 2022 when elections are due to take place in Serbia in April, and in October in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“These acts, which happened amid religious holidays last weekend, included large groups of people chanting the name of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić during torchlight processions or singing nationalistic songs calling for the takeover of various locations in the former Yugoslavia,” said Throssell. “In one incident, individuals fired shots into the air as they drove past a mosque.”

Some of the incidents occurred in places where atrocity crimes were committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“These incidents - some in locations that saw large-scale atrocity crimes during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as Prijedor and Foca - are an affront to survivors, including those who returned to their homes after the conflict,” Throssel said. “The failure to prevent and sanction such acts, which fuel a climate of extreme anxiety, fear and insecurity in some communities, is a major obstacle to trust-building and reconciliation.”

According to OHCHR, the rise in hate speech, the denial of genocide and other atrocity crimes, as well as the glorification of war criminals in the Western Balkans highlight the failure to comprehensively address the past.

The OHCHR spokesperson said, “We stress once again the need for the authorities in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina to abide by their international human rights obligations to ensure the rights to truth, justice and reparation.” She added, “They should also adopt measures to prevent recurrence and to promote further reconciliation efforts. We call on them to condemn and refrain from any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred.”

OHCHR highlighted the important role that political and religious leaders must play in speaking out firmly against intolerance, discriminatory stereotyping, and instances of hate speech.

“We are encouraged to see that, following some of the recent incidents, officials - including senior politicians, as well as religious leaders - moved quickly to condemn the acts, and police have begun investigations,” Throssell said.

As Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina are both states to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, they are - according to OHCHR - obliged to ensure that incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence is prohibited in law and in practice. All perpetrators and instigators of such acts must be held accountable.

The OHCHR spokesperson said, “People who live in areas that were the scene of mass atrocity crimes during the conflict, people who may have returned to their homes but are living in a climate of fear and insecurity and that is why we, and also other parts of the UN, are repeating and putting our focus on the importance of hate speech and other related incidents, the glorification of war criminals, convicted war criminals.”