5,000 people are participating in this year's march to honor the victims of Srebrenica

About 5,000 people marched this morning from Nezuk to Potocari to pay their respects to the thousands of men and boys killed during the genocide by the Serbian army in Srebrenica in July 1995.
In the next three days, they will cross the route along which 29 years ago the residents of Srebrenica tried to reach a free territory - Tuzla or Kladanj. This year, the survivors of the Srebrenica genocide are once again leading the Peace Walk. Among the participants in the column is the ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Sadik Babur Girgin, N1 TV reported.
The participants of the Peace March are expected to arrive in Potocari on July 10, and the next day they will attend the mass burial at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center cemetery, where the remains of 14 more victims of the genocide will be buried this year. .
The "peace march", organized for the 20th time this year, marks the 29th anniversary of the genocide of Bosniaks from the "UN safe zone" in Srebrenica. For survivors, the march is a way to heal from their trauma and a responsibility to share their experiences and stories with younger generations.
The march aims to build, promote and nurture the culture of memory of the genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica and to prevent the denial, relativization and denial of the crimes of genocide.
The "March" lasts for three days, with the participants walking about 100 km from Nezuk to Potochari. This road was traveled in the opposite direction, from Potocari to Nezuk, by Bosniaks fleeing during the occupation and takeover of the "UN safe zone" in Srebrenica by Serbian military and police forces in July 1995.
The participants walk about 30 km daily, and some parts of the route are extremely difficult, inaccessible and require significant physical training.
Members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (ARS), under the command of then-RS President Radovan Karadzic and ARS commander-in-chief Ratko Mladic, massacred over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys during the genocide in and around Srebrenica in July 1995.
The crime in Srebrenica, the largest on European soil since World War II, has been described as genocide by both national and international courts.
Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to life in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war during the BiH war by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRCM), the successor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
Ratko Mladic was also found guilty of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment by the same court in The Hague.
BGNES recalls that on May 23, 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution confirming July 11 as an international day to honor the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica. | BGNES