The United Nations are deeply concerned by recent incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia that saw individuals glorify atrocity crimes and convicted war criminals, target certain communities with hate speech, and, in some cases, directly incite violence, the UN spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement on Friday, calling for an investigation into the incidents and measures to prevent further ones.

The incidents took place in several locations in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Bijeljina, Prijedor, Foca, Gacko, Visegrad, as well as in the Brcko District, and in Priboj and Novi Pazar in Serbia.

The UN press release said that these acts, which happened amid religious holidays last weekend, included large groups of people chanting the name of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic during torchlight processions or singing nationalistic songs calling for the takeover of various locations in the former Yugoslavia. In one incident, individuals fired shots as they drove past a mosque.

“The fear, and the risk, is that such acts – fuelled by the continued inflammatory, nationalistic rhetoric and hate speech of some politicians – will continue increasing in 2022, as this is a year when elections are due to take place in Serbia in April, and then in October in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the political environment is already extremely tense,” the UN said.

According to the UN, these incidents – some in locations that saw large-scale atrocity crimes during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as Prijedor and Foca — are an affront to survivors, including those who returned to their homes after the conflict. The failure to prevent and sanction such acts, which fuel a climate of extreme anxiety, fear and insecurity in some communities, is a major obstacle to trust-building and reconciliation.

“As we have repeatedly highlighted, the rise in hate speech, the denial of genocide and other atrocity crimes and the glorification of war criminals in the Western Balkans highlight the failure to comprehensively address the past,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “We stress once again the need for the authorities in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina to abide by their international human rights obligations to ensure the rights to truth, justice and reparation. They should also adopt measures to prevent recurrence and to promote further reconciliation efforts. We call on them to condemn and refrain from any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred.“

The UN then stressed that states that are parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – including Serbia and BiH – are obliged to ensure that incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence is prohibited in law and in practice. In addition, all perpetrators and instigators of such acts must be held accountable.

Political and religious leaders have a crucial role to play in speaking out firmly and promptly against intolerance, discriminatory stereotyping and instances of hate speech. “We are encouraged to see that, following some of the recent incidents, officials – including senior politicians, as well as religious leaders – moved quickly to condemn the acts, and police have begun investigations.”

The UN concluded that “serious incidents like these should be investigated promptly, effectively and impartially, to prevent them being repeated and perpetuated, and also to foster the public trust in authorities and institutions, and among communities, that is essential to build social cohesion and peaceful societies.”