OTTAWA — Bosnian Muslims say they’re surprised that the House of Commons did not include the 1995 Srebrenica massacre last week during its acknowledgment of 20th-century genocides.
Parliament unanimously passed the motion designating April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month.
It cited four atrocities: the Holocaust, the 1915 Armenian massacre by Ottoman Turks, the 1932-33 Holodomor famine of Ukrainians, and the 1994 slaughter of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda.
But the 1995 Bosnian massacre of more than 1,000 Muslim men and boys — the worst slaughter of civilians on European soil since the Holocaust — was left out of the private members’ bill tabled by Conservative MP Brad Butt that led to the motion.
The Congress of North American Bosniaks and the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada asked in a letter that Srebrenica also be included in the recognition.
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler noted the absence of Srebrenica in Friday’s debate, but supported Butt’s motion, saying he would introduce his own motion in coming weeks to recognize the Bosnian tragedy.