Grassley, Shaheen, Colleagues Issue Statement Regarding Escalating Pressure on the Srebrenica Memorial Center and Human Rights Defenders

Grassley, Shaheen, Colleagues Issue Statement Regarding Escalating Pressure on the Srebrenica Memorial Center and Human Rights Defenders

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), along with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), as well as Reps. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) and Mike Turner (R-Ohio), to issue a joint statement after 26 current and former staff members and associates of the Srebrenica Memorial Center were summoned for police questioning by the Zvornik Police Department.

"We are deeply concerned by reports that current and former employees and associates of the Srebrenica Memorial Center have been summoned for questioning by Republika Srpska authorities. The scale and timing of these actions are troubling, particularly because the work of the Memorial Center is central to preserving the truth, honoring the victims and defending human rights. We call on the relevant authorities to uphold the rule of law, respect the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutions and ensure the Memorial Center can carry out its essential mission free from intimidation.

"The House and Senate have been unequivocal: the Srebrenica massacre was genocide. More than 30 years later, we have a solemn responsibility to remember the victims, stand with their families and ensure this tragic history is neither denied nor erased. Rewriting history for political gain deepens divisions, inflames ethnic tensions and threatens peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We call on the administration to implement the mandatory sanctions passed in the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act to hold individuals to account for destabilizing behavior and undermining democratic institutions."

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