Bosnia and Herzegovina remembers Srebrenica genocide victims, bids farewell

Bosnia and Herzegovina has finalised arrangements to bid farewell to 14 newly-identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide on the 29th anniversary of the atrocity.

Green coffins with the remains of the victims are ready in Visoko from where they will depart July 9 for the village of Potocari to be buried July 11 at the collective funeral.

Every July 11, newly identified victims of Europe's worst genocide since World War II, which killed more than 8,000 people, are buried in a memorial cemetery in Potocari in eastern Bosnia.

The youngest victim to be buried this year is Beriz Mujic, 17, born in 1978 in Zvornik.

His remains were found 28 years after his death and exhumed in May 2023.

He was killed in July 1995 in the Suceska area near Bratunac and his remains were exhumed in the Srebrenica municipality area.

Mujic will be buried next to his brother, Hazim, who was buried in 2013.

Their father, Omer Mujic, has still not been found.

The oldest victim that will be buried is Hamed Salic, born in 1927. He was 68 when he went missing in the summer of 1995 in the town of Zepa. His remains were exhumed in May 2014 and recently identified.

Thousands of visitors from various countries will attend the funeral service and burials. After this year’s funeral, the number of burials in the cemetery will rise to 6,765.

The bodies, whose identification has been completed, are kept in the Visoko City Cemetery.

On Tuesday, coffins bearing the names of the deceased will be transported from Visoko to Srebrenica.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federation entity passed a decision Friday declaring July 11, 2024, the Day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide, as a Day of Mourning in the entity.

The move came after the UN in late May passed a resolution to designate July 11 as Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day, with overwhelming support from the General Assembly.

The resolution, spearheaded by Germany with co-sponsorship from more than 40 countries, calls for July 11 to be declared "International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica."

The Day of Mourning will be marked by a mandatory display of the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina at half-mast on the buildings of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, public institutions, and other legal entities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Cultural and entertainment programmes cannot be held in public places in the Federation entity. Media outlets operating in the entity are required to align and adjust programming content to the Day of Mourning.

The decision was made to express condolences and sympathy with the families of the victims and to remember the genocide in Srebrenica.

Ibrahim Becirovic, a survivor of the genocide and author of the book, "Genocide in Srebrenica," addressed the Croatian Parliament on Friday during a commemoration for the victims.

''It's not easy to speak when emotions and memories of the brutal suffering of many relatives and friends in the UN-protected zone in Potocari and the senseless killings of previously captured men and boys at mass execution sites flood in,'' said Becirovic.

He said there is still a need for support and understanding for survivors to spread the truth and culture of remembrance despite 29 years since the genocide.

More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed when Serb forces attacked the UN "safe area" of Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch troops tasked with acting as international peacekeepers.

Serb forces besieged Srebrenica, trying to seize territory from Bosniaks and Croats to form their own state.

The UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. Serb troops, however, led by General Ratko Mladic –– who was sentenced to life for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide –– overran the UN zone.

The Dutch troops failed to act and Serb forces occupied the area, killing 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone. Some 15,000 Srebrenica people fled to the surrounding mountains but Serb troops hunted them down and killed 6,000 in the forests.

The bodies of genocide victims were discovered in 570 different locations throughout the country.

On December 21, 1991, the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a federal structure was established within Yugoslavia.

The Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was then declared on January 9, 1992.

Bosnia and Herzegovina then declared independence after a referendum held on February 29 and March 1 in 1992 which sparked a three-year war.

The war in Bosnia Herzegovina lasted until December 14, 1995, and more than 100,000 people were killed and 2 million had to migrate.

The fate of approximately 7,000 who disappeared during the war is still unknown.