Science will deal with the genocide in Srebrenica even after the biological disappearance of the generation of victims and their killers. The number of 8,372 victims cannot be "relativized" by any new research. They can only reveal new horrible details related to their liquidations, said Dr. Dr. sc. Amir Kliko.
Speaking about the situation with archival materials related to the events in Srebrenica in July 1995, dr. Kliko emphasizes that only documents that are adequately stored in an archive are archival materials. However, there are many available, and for researchers credible, documents and other sources of scientific knowledge regarding the war in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995. which are not in the official archives.
- If we were to rely only on archived documentary material in our research work, we would not be satisfied with its quantity and availability. Documents about the Great Serbian aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina were created during its duration, but also in the years after it. They were created on different sides and by different institutions. There are documents of legal Bosnian institutions such as, for example, the Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, documents of the aggressor army and police, but also international institutions involved in war events such as the UN and the Red Cross. Considering the leading role of Serbia in the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the genocide against the Bosniaks, it is certain that in the Serbian military and police institutions there are many preserved and important documents for our entire country, including Srebrenica - says Kliko.
He points out that after 1995, many Bosnia and Herzegovina and international institutions intensively investigated the consequences of the war. Some were there in search of missing persons, some for scientific purposes, and most of them were engaged in searching for criminals. The area of Podrinje and Srebrenica has been particularly well researched due to the scale of the crimes committed there by the military and police forces of the Republika Srpska and the Republic of Serbia.
- It is impossible to unite all those valuable sources of scientific knowledge in one archival place. And some archives, which certainly have first-class archival materials, are unfortunately not available to researchers. This is not only the case with archives in the Republic of Srpska and the Republic of Serbia. The archival material of the ARBiH is not available, as is the MUP of the RBiH. However, thanks to the quality work of international legal institutions, many important documents have become available. This is an enormously high number of reliable documents. A far greater problem is the number of qualified researchers than the volume of available historical sources in archives and other places, said Kliko, emphasizing that there are disproportionately more available historical sources than the personnel potential of scientific institutions.
He believes that we should first solve that problem, that is, as soon as possible, strengthen the scientific institutions that are engaged in researching the war events in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992-1995, and these are, first of all, the Institute for the Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law UNSA, the Institute of History UNSA and the Srebrenica Memorial Center in Potočari.
Citing as an example the trial of the leading Nazi criminals in 1946 in Nuremberg, he says that after that year, until today, war crimes for which the court found them responsible were intensively scientifically investigated and are still being investigated. Tens of thousands of books and probably hundreds of thousands - maybe even several million - of scientific papers have been published around the world on the subject.
- They did not "relativize the events" caused by those Nazi criminals. On the contrary, they confirmed them even more thoroughly, giving them scientific credibility. This is also the case with regard to the genocide of Bosniaks in Srebrenica committed by the military and police forces of the Republic of Srpska and the Republic of Serbia. It is quite certain that the new documents, as well as the scientific processing of the ones available now, will only further scientifically confirm what the international court established in its judgments, which it reached using legal methods. As in the aforementioned example with Nuremberg, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the scientific investigation of war crimes will take much longer than the work of the judicial authorities. This is normal because the courts, due to people's lifespan, need to act faster for the sake of legal satisfaction of the injured parties and punishment of those responsible. Science will deal with the genocide in Sreberenica even after the biological disappearance of the generation of victims and their killers. The number of 8,372 victims cannot be "relativized" by any new research. They can only reveal new horrible details related to their liquidations - he said.
Asked about the interest of new generations of historiographical researchers in the events in Srebrenica in July 1995, dr. Kliko says that such interest does not exist only in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is, in fact, international. From July 1995 until the present day, many serious foreign researchers from different countries of the world have been - and are still doing - researching the genocide in Srebrenica.
- As far as Bosnia and Herzegovina is concerned, I have noticed in the last few years that the denial of genocide by those who are - directly and indirectly - responsible for it, has a very stimulating effect on the interest of young researchers. I could even claim that in the last fifteen years, nothing has had such a positive effect on the desire of young qualified researchers to study the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, and especially in Podrinje and Srebrenica, as the denial of genocide. Unfortunately, as I said at the beginning of our conversation, the state does not listen to this and does not provide these people with the opportunity to do what they want and what they can do. And the possibility is achievable only through their employment in the scientific institutions that I have already mentioned. Genocide deniers create a strong incentive for young researchers, and the state should give them the opportunity to use that incentive in their future scientific and research work - concluded scientific researcher dr. Amir Kliko.
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