IRMCT Principals note the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution on the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica

On the occasion of the adoption on 23 May 2024 of resolution A/78/L.67/Rev.1 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Principals of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), President Graciela Gatti Santana, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz and Registrar Abubacarr M. Tambadou, issued the following statement:

"We note the adoption yesterday by the United Nations General Assembly of a resolution designating 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

As independent judicial institutions, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Mechanism have adjudicated numerous cases related to the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica with a view to determining the individual responsibility of accused persons in the relevant events. Judicial findings made in those cases have both advanced international criminal law and helped to establish an irrefutible historical record.

We observe in this regard that the resolution acknowledges the contributions made by the ICTY and the Mechanism in fighting impunity and ensuring accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as their role, and that of the International Court of Justice, in determining that the acts committed in Srebrenica constituted acts of genocide.

Today, although it no longer has active trials or appeals in core crimes cases, the Mechanism continues to assist national jurisdictions in delivering justice for crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Mechanism also remains committed to consolidating its legacy and that of the ICTY and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), recognising their tremendous value in combatting the divisive phenomena of genocide denial, historical revisionism and glorification of convicted war criminals."

The Mechanism was established by the United Nations Security Council on 22 December 2010, and is mandated to perform a number of essential functions previously carried out by the ICTR and the ICTY.