The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-13309, in the name of Ruth Davidson, on remembering Srebrenica. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament remembers the massacre of more than 8,000 men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995; recognises that the International Court of Justice declared it to be an act of genocide, the last recorded on Europe’s shores; acknowledges the Scottish contribution to the aid effort in Bosnia, the identification of victims and the rebuilding of the country; welcomes the work of the Scottish board of Remembering Srebrenica to inform and educate people of the events of 20 years ago; thanks the First Minister for agreeing to participate in a special service of remembrance at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on 10 July 2015, and offers the hand of friendship to the Bosnian diaspora in Glasgow and across Scotland.
17:02
I am thankful for having secured tonight’s debate and grateful to those who have supported the motion.
With so much going on in Scottish politics, it would be easy to turn our gaze inwards and never lift our eyes to the horizon. Nevertheless, some things go beyond the immediate—beyond what is in front of us and beyond borders, divisions and elections. We in this place rightly commemorate Holocaust memorial day. We remember the millions who died across Europe, we watch films and television documentaries, we read of what happened and we learn the names of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Treblinka and Dachau. We are familiar with the grainy, black and white images of that time, of which we are—correctly—taught in school. As the wartime generation passes, we see that genocide as history that is confined to Pathé newsreels—important but removed—and we say, “Never again.”
However, the Holocaust was not the last genocide on Europe’s shores. It was not the last time that the cover of war was used to liquidate a people because of their birth. The genocide at Srebrenica did not happen at a time of black and white newsreels; it happened just a few hundred miles from where we stand, at a time when David Beckham and Ryan Giggs were playing football for Manchester United. It happened at the time of shell suits, Game Boys, PlayStations and satellite news. It happened in front of us but, because the Balkans wars were messy, complicated and hard to understand, we chose at times not to concentrate on what was happening to our world neighbours.
It is important that we raise awareness of that history and how it has impacted here in Scotland. I declare an interest in that I sit on the Scottish board of Remembering Srebrenica—a charity that is designed to explain what happened and to take people over to Bosnia to see it for themselves, so that they can commemorate back home and use that knowledge and experience to build bridges between communities here. I am pleased to welcome fellow board members to the public gallery this evening.
The genocide in Srebrenica happened 20 years ago, at the end of the Bosnian war. The town had been declared a safe zone by the United Nations two years previously, and peacekeepers were deployed there to protect the enclave. In July 1995, Serbian forces under General Ratko Mladic stormed and captured the town, deporting thousands of the young, frail and elderly, carrying out a campaign of mass sexual violence on the women and systematically killing more than 8,000 men and boys.
Many people marched for days through the woods to try to escape, and they were rounded up. The International Court of Justice ruled that the killings constituted genocide. Earlier this year, I, along with a former member of the Parliament, Jim Wallace, and others from across Scotland, travelled to Srebrenica to talk to mothers who lost sons, to the forensic scientists who are trying to match bone fragments from mass graves so that survivors can bury their relatives, and to those who went to extraordinary lengths to escape what was happening and who can never forget what they witnessed.
Scotland has long had links with Bosnia. There are people here who drove aid trucks to bring food to those who were besieged in Sarajevo. A number of refugees who fled the war there chose to settle here and build a new life for themselves in Glasgow, Edinburgh and further afield.
Leading professionals, such as Adam Boys from the International Commission on Missing Persons and the forensic anthropologist Sue Black from the University of Dundee, have dedicated themselves to the painstaking work of recovering the remains of those who died and finding their families, so that the simple need to know what happened can be fulfilled.
What happened in Srebrenica, Tuzla, Sarajevo and the wider Balkans is a story that needs to be told and told again. I am pleased that Scotland is playing its full part in remembering what happened there, 20 years on. The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who visited Srebrenica this year, is leading a service in St Giles cathedral on 10 July to bring together all faiths and people from all backgrounds. Members of the Parliament will have received an invitation to that, and all would be welcome.
I am pleased, too, that the First Minister has kindly agreed to speak at the service and to host a reception afterwards. It is right that the leader of the Scottish Government shows our country’s commitment to remembering what happened. I urge any member here who would wish to do so in the future to make the visit and to see for themselves the graves and the cold storage where people are still trying to match bones and fragments that are filed floor to ceiling and to meet the mothers, survivors and forensic teams. Remembering Srebrenica makes multiple trips with groups each year, and members would be most welcome. All that the organisation asks is that, on their return, people pledge to tell others the story of what happened there.
I ask that those who know of people here with connections to Bosnia—whether as serving service personnel, aid workers or members of the Bosnian diaspora living in Scotland—who might like to be involved in the commemorations to get in contact, as we want as many people as possible to be involved.
Scotland as a nation has always looked outward. We care what happens to others as well as to ourselves. The events of July 1995 are a stain on our continent, and they deserve to be remembered, examined and learned from. I am pleased that work continues in this country to learn the lessons of times past and to use the desperate experience of Srebrenica to bring communities closer together. This time when we say “Never again,” we will mean it.
17:08
I congratulate Ruth Davidson on securing the debate, which will no doubt serve as a poignant reminder of the atrocities of war. It is certainly a stain on the name of many western democracies—not least that of the Netherlands, whose Government must pay the financial compensation to families of the victims—that the massacre was not prevented.
We all know some of the details of what took place in Srebrenica, but the more information that becomes available, such as that provided by David Hamilton of the Scottish Police Federation—a constituent of mine, who I see in the gallery, who was an aid worker during the Bosnian war—following his meeting with representatives of Mothers of Srebrenica, the more harrowing those details become. Parents and children were separated before execution, firing squads worked in shifts to avoid their guns overheating and newborn infants were murdered under the boots of soldiers. It should be incomprehensible to think that that took place in the 20th century at all, let alone a mere 20 years ago.
In 2009 the European Parliament passed a similar, albeit longer, resolution on the issue to one that it is set to pass next month. The United Kingdom is leading the drafting of a United Nations Security Council resolution in what are likely to be similar terms. Those motions and resolutions are the correct thing to do and one of the best ways to ensure that such a tragedy, which the 2009 European Parliament resolution described as a
“symbol of the impotence of the international community”,
is never forgotten.
It is important not to focus solely on the past, and fresh pressure needs to be exerted on political forces in the Balkans and more widely to ensure that progress for countries in that region continues. In an article on the EUobserver website, a Serbian journalist, Dejan Anastasijevic, wrote:
“What Bosnia doesn’t need is another set of resolutions, empty promises of a ‘European perspective’, and haphazard appeals to political scoundrels to reform themselves. It needs a concentrated and serious international (not just EU) plan, coupled with hefty financial investment, to pull it out of its misery”.
Those are strong words. In his article, he repeats the word “impotence”, as used in the 2009 European Parliament resolution. He also refers to the constitutional straitjacket of the Dayton peace accord. Most worryingly, he writes of one country in which a resolution commemorating Srebrenica did not pass: Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Bosnian electoral system is far too complex to explain in the time that I have left, but of note is the fact that the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, does not believe that the events that took place in Srebrenica constituted genocide. Notwithstanding that, this is the first year that the Republika Srpska’s Government will help to finance the commemoration event in Srebrenica. We must hope that that can be a catalyst towards creating a positive future for the entire country.
Bosnia cannot be left in the past and must be assisted if it is ever to join its neighbours, Croatia and Slovenia, in the European Union, for example. Bosnia is still a long way from reaching that goal, with concerns remaining on the Dayton constitution’s viability and the country’s stability more generally.
It is right that communities and nations commemorate the Srebrenica massacre. In Fife, Holocaust memorial day in January helped to commemorate all victims of genocide as part of a remembrance day that marks two significant anniversaries this year. It is 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz and 20 years since the Srebrenica genocide.
Scotland needs to offer the hand of friendship, and I warmly welcome the fact that our First Minister will join a commemoration service next month in Edinburgh to remember the victims of the tragedy; she will be there with many members of the victims’ families, who must live with the horror of what happened that day. We must hope that they find some justice in the process of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and that some progress can be made in helping Bosnia to move on and become a vibrant and successful country.
17:13
I thank Ruth Davidson for lodging the motion for debate and for her role on the Scotland board of Remembering Srebrenica. That organisation’s work is important in reminding us that it has been 20 years since those terrible events took place in the former Yugoslavia, and that society should never forget what happened. The rise of hatred, racism and intolerance should never be allowed. The bitter Balkans war from 1992 to 2001 shattered our illusions that Europe would never again see such bloodshed after the horrors of the second world war. The weakening of communism allowed the rise of ethnic nationalism, which meant that war was not only a battle between armies: communities had once lived peacefully together and married into one another, but those same people then tried to eliminate one another.
Srebrenica represents the largest massacre of unarmed civilians that were part of the ethnic cleansing policies that were pursued to create greater Serbia. Sadly, many other massacres also claimed thousands of lives. Another part of the story is the mass expulsions of populations and the unprecedented levels of sexual violence.
I saw at first hand the impact that the brutal civil war had; on two occasions I travelled by road from Glasgow to Bosnia. On the first occasion, I accompanied Scottish Relief, which was delivering an ambulance full of medical supplies that had been donated by the good people of Glasgow. The second time I went, I was on a goodwill visit, saying prayers at the end of the month of Ramadan, for Eid. We said prayers for peace in Sarajevo’s central mosque, which was riddled with rocket and bullet holes. I also saw Serbia’s central library, which had burned to the ground with the loss of irreplaceable and historically valuable books.
Events such as the one that we are discussing should never be forgotten in the places where they happened. The scars that they leave may never be fully healed, but it is important for all of us to remember and to educate and to pledge, “Never, ever again in our lifetimes.”
One of the lessons that I learned on my visits to Bosnia concerned how ruthless and callous people can be: they did not distinguish between men, women and soldiers. The fact that they could bring themselves to do what they did, in the heart of Europe, shocked me. I have always been scared by the fact that something like this could happen when we had thought that we were living in a peaceful environment. It is not just that it happened: it is that we allowed it to happen, for a time. I hope and pray that it never happens again.
I thank Ruth Davidson for bringing the motion to Parliament for debate. I agree that it is essential that we not only remember past wrongdoings but ensure that they never happen again. I hope that Parliament will support Bosnians who are living in Scotland and those who are living in Europe, because we are Europeans at heart.
17:17
I, too, congratulate my leader, Ruth Davidson, on bringing such an important matter to the chamber, and on her excellent speech.
For some years now I have been acquainted with Samir Mehanovic, who is a film maker and a Bosnian Muslim who has made his home in Edinburgh. Samir came as a political refugee from the war in 1995, leaving his home town of Tuzla, which is where most of the refugees from Srebrenica fled. To his great credit, he worked his way through film school, achieving an MA and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award. I have seen his previous work, which confirms his talents as a film maker and his sincerity as a man.
Samir Mehanovic has produced a new film called “Srebrenica Survivors” which will be broadcast on 11 July on the BBC World Service and “Newsnight” to mark the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide—the only holocaust in Europe since world war two, which killed 8,372 Bosnian men and boys within a week. The film is the testimony of the survivors who struggled to cope with ghastly experiences, including Mehmed Hodžic, who lost more than 67 relatives, and Zinaida, who was only 13 when she lost her five brothers and both parents. Ahmed was 20 when he was forced to make a five-day march in the column of death with 8,000 men, of whom only 3,000 survived. Hatidza and the other civilians sought protection in the UN base at Potocari, which was under the UN Dutch battalion that lost control to Serb troops—the Scorpions, led by Ratko Mladic—who then killed and tortured. Hatidza lost two sons, her husband and more than 200 members of her extended family.
The characters in the film are struggling not only with the loss of family but, literally, to subsist in a world in which they feel forgotten and in which many of the perpetrators not only walk free but hold positions of authority.
Samir Mehanovic says:
“When I started making this film I felt that I opened deep wounds hidden somewhere inside me. While I was filming interviews and my characters were telling their stories tears were rolling down my face.
How can a human do this to another human? This is a question that has perplexed me even further while editing the interviews and listening to those stories again and again. Each time I felt as if fresh wounds were opening and new emotions pouring out.
The characters in this film are also having to deal with the impact of social deprivation in the Tuzla suburbs. They struggle to subsist without welfare in a country where unemployment levels are over 60%. Most have no place to return to in Srebrenica. They are striving to build a new life but they are haunted by their past experience, and have little hope for the future because of the promises that have been broken by the Bosnian government and the international community. However I am grateful to find support in my new country of Scotland in making this film.”
The trailer for Samir’s film can be viewed at www.srebrenicasurvivorsfilm.com.
Fellow members, one reason why I entered politics was to promote fairness and humanity. I was born in 1949, only four years after the end of the second world war. My parents instilled in me absolute horror about the carnage that had killed their relatives and friends, and that had inflicted almost unbelievable inhuman genocide, torture and humiliation on literally millions of fellow Europeans, perpetrated by Hitler and other Nazi war criminals, many of whom were brought to justice at Nuremberg and other courts. Of course, that could never mend the results of their awful crimes.
As Samir Mehanovic asks, where is justice when many of the perpetrators from Bosnia remain at large? The international community failed to protect civilians during the Bosnian war. The UN voted for resolution 819, which promised that civilians would be protected and that aid would be supplied. Sadly, that promise fell far short of the mark.
The tragedy of Srebrenica will haunt the history of the UN for ever more. If, by highlighting the issue today, we in this Parliament can help even a little to secure justice and help the victims of Srebrenica, something of value will have been achieved.
17:22
I congratulate Ruth Davidson on securing this important debate and echo the sentiments expressed by her and by members across the chamber. Rod Campbell and Hanzala Malik made excellent speeches, and we just heard a powerful contribution from Jamie McGrigor.
We do not use the term “genocide” lightly. It is the subject of much contention in various contexts throughout the world. However, in Srebrenica there was genocide, and it is important to use the term, as Ruth Davidson did in her motion.
The Srebrenica genocide is a dark chapter in our story as a European civilisation and I pay tribute to all of those who continue to highlight it, including the organisation Remembering Srebrenica, and Ruth Davidson, who is joined by parliamentarians from across the political spectrum. Angus Robertson MP is very involved in Remembering Srebrenica, as are others from civic society, such as the Rev Lorna Hood, who visited Bosnia when she was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. I pay tribute also to Waqar Azmi, the chairman of Remembering Srebrenica, who I have had the pleasure of meeting. I thank them and many more people who continue to highlight that terrible genocide so that we do not forget its lessons.
The events of 1995 and thereafter are extremely hard to comprehend. The sheer scale of the atrocity and the deep hatred, intolerance and brutality, which Rod Campbell touched on, can be hard to grasp. Numbers and statistics almost become meaningless and abstract, yet that is the danger. As Ruth Davidson said, if we feel removed, unconnected and set apart from an event, complacency sets in.
Our mindset says that this could never happen to us and that we could never do that. That is why the commitment of survivors and the talent of others to share their experiences, as the case of Jamie McGrigor’s friend Samir Mehanovic demonstrates, are invaluable.
I pay tribute to the survivors and in particular the families who were left bereaved and who lived through the horror and pain. They remember that mostly on a daily basis but share the experience with others so that we do not just view this as a time in our history.
I had the great pleasure of reading about the work of Aida Šehovic, which was first displayed in 2004. Her cups of memory project pays tribute to the victims of Srebrenica through a simple Bosnian ritual—gathering for a cup of coffee. Aida Šehovic laid 1,327 cups gifted by Bosnian families from around the world to represent the number of victims who had been identified and buried that year. Visitors were encouraged to place a cup and fill it with coffee in remembrance. Some cups were filled with coffee; some were filled with sugar for the child victims; and some were even filled with roses for single women. That rehumanises what happened by focusing us on individual victims. What is more human than sharing a cup of coffee? The way in which Aida Šehovic described her art highlights the importance of remembering. She said:
“It is not my project, but our project, our consciousness.”
So it should be in our consciousness as well.
Earlier this year I had the privilege of meeting Hasan Hasanovic. Many other members might have met him when he came to the Scottish Parliament during Holocaust memorial day and Holocaust memorial week. The parliamentary reception that took place here commemorated the 20th anniversary of Srebrenica. It is important to put it on record that the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is very good at outreach and at ensuring that we remember genocides and massacres around the world—not just the Holocaust, which it is right that we remember, but many other genocides, too.
Many members will be familiar with Hasan Hasanovic’s story of his horrific experience of the death march to Tuzla. His dedication to share the story so that it can inform the future led him to return to Srebrenica in 2009, where he now works as a curator and interpreter for the Srebrenica-Potocari cemetery and memorial centre. He shares his story five or six times a day—a painful constant reminder of the loss of his family—so that others may listen and learn. I salute and admire his bravery in doing so.
As other members have highlighted, Scotland has a long and proud relationship with Bosnia. Scotland has provided support and assistance to the people there and especially those in need during the Balkans conflict. If it was not members of this Parliament driving ambulances and accompanying aid conveys themselves, there were many others across Scotland who took part in that relief effort.
We have heard about the work of Edinburgh Direct Aid, which delivered crucial humanitarian supplies at the height of the conflict. Many members will be aware of the Christine Witcutt centre, which brings hopes to the children of Sarajevo mostly and offers help and respite for their parents, too. The Christine Witcutt Memorial Fund is an independent body that is closely linked to Edinburgh Direct Aid. Christine Witcutt was an Edinburgh Direct Aid volunteer from Wishaw who was killed by sniper fire in Sarajevo in July 1993. The Christine Witcutt Memorial Fund was set up by EDA with the objective of creating a living memorial to her in Sarajevo. Her son-in-law, David Hamilton, who I had the pleasure of meeting last year, sits on the board of Remembering Srebrenica.
At the time of the conflict, the Scottish Refugee Council helped to evacuate 400 Bosnian refugees to Scotland to rebuild their lives in Scottish communities. My memory of that terrible conflict and the terrible genocide was when, at 10 years old, I was sitting in the mosque during Ramadan and opening the fast with these people I had never seen before, who looked as though they had witnessed the most terrifying brutality. The Bosnians who came to break their fast with us were welcomed by the community with open arms.
Ruth Davidson mentioned the work of Adam Boys, which has been critical in identifying those who were massacred and giving their families closure—perhaps not full closure but some form of closure—by using DNA identification technology to reunite the bereaved with the remains of their loved ones. That is no easy task, because we know that there were many mass graves and the remains were moved from site to site to site.
The Scottish Government supports work to tackle religious hatred and intolerance and works with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to support Scotland’s national commemoration of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. I am pleased that the First Minister will be involved in the commemoration on the 20th anniversary on 10 July, as Ruth Davidson highlighted in her motion and her speech.
I echo what Ruth Davidson and others have said. The massacre—the genocide—at Srebrenica cannot be just a moment in our history. We must not just learn the lessons but continue to inform future generations: those who have no memory of 1995. We must remind them that those horrors occurred, although we hope that they will not occur again.
The Government will not tolerate any form of religious or racial prejudice, because we recognise where it may lead. We will accept no excuses for any hatred or hate crime and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that everybody can feel safe in Scotland’s communities.
Meeting closed at 17:31.Previous
Decision Time