SR-78, As Adopted by Senate, July 1, 2015

            Senators Schuitmaker and Hildenbrand offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 78.

            A resolution proclaiming July 11, 2015, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11 as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week.

            Whereas, Both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives have passed resolutions acknowledging the genocide that the Serbian forces perpetrated in Srebrenica and all of Bosnia from 1992 to 1995; and

            Whereas, Since 2009, both the Michigan State Senate and House of Representatives have adopted Srebrenica Remembrance Day and Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week resolutions every year; and

            Whereas, July 11, 2015, is commemorated as the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in which at least 8,372 innocent Bosniak civilians were summarily executed, and 30,000 were expelled from their homes in the worst atrocity in Europe since the Holocaust; and

            Whereas, This anniversary, together with this year’s 23rd anniversary since the beginning of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, raises awareness of the tragic suffering of the Bosnian people. It also honors and remembers over 100,000 civilians who died as a result of the policies of ethnic cleansing and aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period of 1992 to 1995; and

            Whereas, The Congress of North American Bosniaks, the umbrella organization representing Bosniaks in the United States and Canada, requested this resolution; and

            Whereas, The state of Michigan recognizes the importance of this event to bring closure for the Bosnian people through justice and truth; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we hereby proclaim July 11, 2015, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11 as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week in the state of Michigan; and be it further

            Resolved, That we call upon all citizens to work toward ending the cycle of violence and promoting peaceful coexistence among all.