The denial of the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica should be a punishable offence, according to an online petition which can be found on the website of Canada's Parliament.

Petition 1837 was initiated by the Bosnia-born director of the Institute for Research of Genocide in Canada (IGC), Emir Ramic, and published on the website of Canada’s Parliament on September 10.

It will be available for signing until January 10 next year.

“All Canadian citizens in Canada and out of the country can sign petition 1837, including minors, under the condition that they have a personal email account,” an IGC statement said.

In order for the petition to be read out in the Canadian Parliament, it needs 500 signatures.

“Within only one month of releasing the petition we have 650 signatures,” the IGC said.

After the signing process is finished and the petition is read out by its sponsor, Canadian MP Briana Masse, it will be forwarded to the Canadian government, which is obliged to respond within 45 days.

“The strategic assumption is that the bigger the number of signatures is, the more it could influence the response and the government’s decision,” the IGC said.

The legal basis for making the denial of the Srebrenica genocide a punishable offence in Canada are rulings by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), resolutions adopted by 30 state parliaments around the world, and above all two resolutions on the genocide in Srebrenica that have been adopted in the Canadian Parliament earlier, Ramic said.

The ICG said that, with the adoption of the banning of the Srebrenica genocide denial, the Canadian government would make a step towards preventing and fighting genocide around the world.

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