Bosnia bids farewell to newly identified Srebrenica genocide victims

Marking the 28th anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Bosnia and Herzegovina has bid farewell to 30 more newly identified genocide victims at a memorial service.

Thousands of visitors from various countries attend the service on Tuesday.

Every year on July 11, newly identified victims of the genocide are laid to rest at a memorial cemetery in Potocari, eastern Bosnia.

The memorial center is the focal point of remembrance for friends and relatives of the victims, mostly men and boys, murdered by Bosnian Serb militias.

After this year’s funeral, the number of burials in the cemetery rose to 6,751.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas, and many local politicians attend the ceremony.

“The genocide must never be denied. The truth sets you free, and I believe that when we all accept the truth, the region will really take a different path, the path of reconciliation and progress,” said Abazovic.

Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic in a video message said the genocide in Srebrenica is the biggest human tragedy in Europe after the Second World War.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on social media said that Srebrenica's Genocide Remembrance Day holds in itself many unspeakable tragedies.

“A day when we remember the murder of 8,372 innocent people and countless crimes of rape and torture. It is also a reminder that the truth is not honored but denied by Serbia, itself an inhuman crime,” said Kurti.

Srebrenica genocide

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed when Serb forces attacked the eastern town of Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops.

The Serb forces were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.

The UN Security Council had declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. However, troops led by General Ratko Mladic, who was later found guilty of war crimes, and crimes against humanity and genocide, overran the UN zone.

Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing some 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone.

Around 15,000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 more people.

The bodies of victims have been found from 570 places across the country.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.

Various events were held to commemorate the genocide in the capital Sarajevo and other cities of the region.

Thousands of people from all over the world come to the Bosnian town every year and follow the same forest path used by the Bosniaks when they were fleeing genocide.

The campaign lasts three days, culminating in the participants' arrival in Potocari.