UNSC fails to adopt resolution on Srebrenica massacre

The UN Security Council on Wednesday failed to adopt a resolution on the Srebrenica massacre as Russia voted against it.

The draft resolution being put to a vote said: "Acceptance of the tragic events at Srebrenica as genocide is a prerequisite for reconciliation" on which the disagreement is considered to exist.

Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said before the vote that "the draft provided by the United Kingdom turned out to be not constructive, confrontational and politically motivated. It contained distortions, as the result of which the blame for the past is basically placed on one people", Xinhua reported.

The Srebrenica massacre occurred when the army of Republika Srpska killed more than 8,000 people, mostly men and boys, in the town of Srebrenica, Bosnia, over two nights beginning on July 11 1995. The massacre is considered the worst crime committed on European soil since the end of World War II.

The massacre has weighed particularly heavily on the United Nations conscience because UN peacekeepers had designated the town of Srebrenica as a "safe area" before the massacre occurred.

The Russian ambassador asked the 15-member body to mourn in silence for those who were killed in the massacre before the vote. UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson joined the crowd.

Negotiations on the draft text were difficult. The Security Council postponed the vote twice on Tuesday in a bid to get the resolution adopted before the 20th Srebrenica anniversary on Saturday.

The final result for the vote was 10 in favour, one against and four abstained.