Exactly 29 years ago (July 1995), in the Bosnian enclave, Serbian forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic massacred over 9,000 people in just a few days.
On July 11, the international community will honour the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, reported the special envoy of BGNES in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dimitar Ruskov.
Exactly 29 years ago (July 1995), in the Bosnian enclave, Serbian forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic massacred over 9,000 people in just a few days. To date, the bodies of over 7,000 of them have been found. They are buried in Potochari. What happened was the largest massacre of civilians in Europe since World War II. Some women lose their sons, husbands and fathers at the same time.
On May 23, 2024, The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing July 11 as the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocide. Importers were Germany and Rwanda. Bulgaria was a co-author of the resolution.
On July 8, about 5,000 people went on a "Peace March" from Nezuk to Potochari to pay their respects to the thousands of men and boys killed. A few survivors led the crowd.
Mourning has been announced for today in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another 14 victims will be buried at noon. The youngest of them was only 17 years old in 1995. Every year more remains are discovered.
At the same time, today the Parliament of Serbia is expected to ratify the Declaration on the Protection of National and Political Rights and the Common Future of the Serbian People.
The document was adopted at a joint government meeting between Serbia and Republika Srpska /RS/, which took place within the framework of the All-Serbian Assembly on June 8 in Belgrade. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik personally led the campaign to deny the genocide that took place three decades ago. Calls for the separation of Serbia from BiH bring back bitter memories among the local population.
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During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) (1992-95), tens of thousands of Bosniaks from the surrounding areas, fleeing attacks by Bosnian Serb forces on their towns and villages, sought shelter in Srebrenica. For three years, Bosnian Serb forces besieged the enclave and shelled it. They control access routes and impede international humanitarian aid such as food and medicine. People are camping in the stairwells and corridors of apartment buildings, in cars and in public buildings such as the school and sports centre, while others have no shelter at all and huddle outside in temperatures that drop to -25ºC at night in winter.
In April 1993, when the city came under tank and artillery fire from the Serbs, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 819 declaring Srebrenica a "safe zone".
Two years later, on July 11, the Bosnian Serb army led by General Radko Mladic captured Srebrenica, prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the Dutch forces' compound in Potocari on the outskirts of the city.
The peacekeepers retreat ingloriously to the UN base, along with thousands of refugees, mostly women and children.
Urging the Muslim population of Srebrenica to surrender, Mladic promised that those who lay down their arms and submit would be spared.
"Allah can't save you, but Mladic can," the war criminal convicted in The Hague told Ibrahim Nuhanovic, a Muslim civilian interpreter, during a videotaped meeting a few hours before the massacre began.
A systematic extermination by the Bosnian Serbs followed in the next few days. The bodies of the victims were dumped in mass graves. Later, the Serbs dug up many of them and reburied them to cover their tracks. Survivors are counted on fingers. | BGNES
