It is considered the worst massacre of civilians committed in Europe since the end of the Second World War. Thousands of people are expected, Friday, July 11, in Srebrenica to commemorate the genocide committed thirty years ago by the Serbian forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The day before commemorations, thousands of “Srebrenica peace walkers”, who traveled more than 100 kilometers in memory of the victims and the massacre survivors, arrived at the Srebrenica-Potocari commemorative center.
Srebrenica is the bloodiest episode of the Bosnian intercommunity conflict (1992-1995), which ignited this former Yugoslav Republic after the proclamation of its independence, desired by the Bosnians (Muslims) and the Croats (Catholics), but refused by the Serbs (Orthodox).
Seated for more than three years, the Enclave de Srebrenica, in the east of Bosnia, close to the border with Serbia, however proclaimed “protected area” of the United Nations, was attacked in July 1995 by the Serbian forces of Bosnia of General Ratko Mladic. In the space of a few days, around 8,000 Bosnians were executed there, and their bodies thrown into dozens of common pits.
Attempts to conceal bodies
Trying to hide the severity of the crimes, the Bosnian Serbian authorities had organized operations to move corpses, often shredded by heavy machines and transported to several common pits called so -called “Secondary”according to experts. To date, the remains of more than 80 % of victims have been found and buried. “We are still looking for just under 1,000 victims”specifies the spokesperson of the Bosnian Institute for the missing people, Emza Fazlic.
“For thirty years, we have been carrying pain in our souls. Our children were killed innocent in the UN protected area. Europe and the world have observed, silent, the killing of our children ”explains Munira Subasic, president of the main association of mothers of Srebrenica, whose husband Hilmo and the son Nermin, 17, were killed.
On Friday, survivors and families will bury seven victims, at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center, including two young men who were 19 years old at the time of the massacre, and a woman who was elderly 67 years. Their families waited for several years, hoping that other remains would be found. “Unfortunately, for most of these victims they are incomplete remains, in some cases there are only one or two bones”explains mme Fazlic, specifying that a hundred women, 80 of whom are still wanted, were also killed in the massacre.
Denial persistent
Mevlida Omerovic decided to no longer wait and agreed for the burial of her husband’s remains, Hasib, killed at 33, probably in Petkovci, about sixty kilometers north of Srebrenica. It is one of the five places of mass executions during the massacre, the only episode of the Bosnian conflict qualified as genocide by international justice. About 1,000 people were transported there, locked in a school, then executed.
“His brother was found and buried ten years ago. Thirty years have passed and I have nothing more to expect ”explains mme Omerovic, 55, who wishes to be able to meditate with her children on the grave of her husband, even if, in the coffin, there will only be the Hasib jaw.
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The former political and military leaders of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, were sentenced to life by international justice for war crimes and genocide. But the severity of this crime continues to be put into perspective by many Serbian political leaders, Bosnia and Serbia. “The Serbs did not commit genocide in Srebrenica and it did not take place”said the president of the Serbian entity in Bosnia, Milorad Dodik in early July. While denial persists in the country, still divided between Muslim Bosnians, Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs, the work of memory is far from consensual.
The UN General Assembly created in 2024 an international day to commemorate the genocide of Srebrenica on July 11, despite the anger of Serbia. For families and survivors, this date will never erase.
