Latest news with #SrebrenicaMassacre
RNZ News
13-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Europe: Srebrencia remembered, UK-France migrant deal examined
politics world 36 minutes ago Foreign correspondent Seamus Kearney talks about commemorations in Bosnia-Herzegovina to mark 30 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity in Europe since WWII. The European Commission is seeking more information about a controversial migrant deal struck between the UK and France. And EU officials have been taken by surprise over US President Trump's threat to impose 30% tariffs on EU goods.
Al Jazeera
11-07-2025
- Al Jazeera
‘Just a few bones': 30 years on, Srebrenica still buries its dead
Potocari, Bosnia and Herzegovina – In a grassy valley dotted with white gravestones, thousands of people gathered to mark 30 years since the Srebrenica massacre on Friday. Seven victims of the 1995 genocide, some of whose remains were only discovered and exhumed in the past year from mass graves uncovered in Liplje, Baljkovica, Suljici and Kamenicko Brdo, were buried during the sombre anniversary on Friday. Limited remains of one of the victims, Hasib Omerovic, who was 34 when he was killed, were found and exhumed from a mass grave in 1998, but his family delayed his burial until now, hoping to recover more. Zejad Avdic, 46, is the brother of another of the victims being buried. Senajid Avdic was just 19 when he was killed on July 11, 1995. His remains were discovered in October 2010 at a site in Suljici, one of the villages attacked that day by Bosnian Serb forces. 'When the news came, at first, I couldn't – I didn't – dare tell my mother, my father. It was too hard,' Avdic told Al Jazeera, referring to the moment he learned that some of his brother's remains had been found. 'What was found wasn't complete, just a few bones from the skull.' Families like Avdic's have waited decades for even a fragment of bone to confirm their loved one's death. Many have buried their loved ones with only partial remains. The Srebrenica massacre was the crescendo of Bosnia's three-year war from 1992 to 1995, which flared up in the aftermath of Yugoslava's dissolution, pitting Bosnian Serbs against the country's two other main ethnic populations – Croats and Muslim Bosniaks. On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces stormed the enclave of Srebrenica, a designated United Nations-protected safe zone, overrunning the Dutch UN battalion stationed there. They separated at least 8,000 Bosniak men and boys from their wives, mothers and sisters, slaughtering them en masse. Thousands of men and boys attempted to escape through the surrounding woods, but Serb forces chased them through the mountainous terrain, killing and capturing as many as they could. Women and children were expelled from the city and neighbouring villages by bus. Thousands of people attended the commemoration for victims of the massacre on Friday, which began with a congregational Islamic prayer – men, women and children prostrating in unison among the rows of gravestones. After the prayer, the remains of the victims, who have been identified using extensive DNA analysis, were carried in green coffins draped with the Bosnian flag. The coffins were lowered into newly prepared graves. At each site, groups of men stepped forward to take turns covering the caskets with soil, shovelling from nearby mounds in a solemn conclusion to the proceedings. After the remains had been buried, the victims' families crowded around the sites, wiping away their tears as an imam recited verses over the caskets. 'I will keep coming as long as I'm alive' Fikrera Tuhljakovic, 66, attends the memorial here each year, but this year her cousin was among the victims being buried. She said she is determined to ensure he is remembered and that all of the victims are never forgotten. 'I will keep coming as long as I'm alive,' Tuhljakovic told Al Jazeera. Forensic scientists and the International Commission on Missing Persons have, in the decades since the mass killings, worked to locate the remains of those killed. More than 6,000 victims have been buried at the memorial site in Potocari, but more than 1,000 remain missing. In 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared the events in Srebrenica and the surrounding area a genocide. Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic were both convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison. In total, the tribunal and courts in the Balkans have sentenced almost 50 Bosnian Serb wartime officials to more than 700 years in prison for the genocide. But many accused remain unpunished. Denial of the genocide also continues – especially among political leaders in Serbia and the Serb-majority entity of Republika Srpska, which was established in the northeast of the country at the start of the war in 1992 with the stated aim of protecting the interests of the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to Emir Cica, Islamic Relief's Bosnia country director, international institutions have not done enough to prevent events like Srebrenica from happening again, with similar atrocities happening in Gaza at the moment. 'When we see what has happened, for example, in Gaza, it is very painful for us because we understand this [experience],' Cica told Al Jazeera. For Avdic, Gaza is indeed a painful reminder of history repeating itself. 'Today we are burying our victims of genocide, and today in Gaza, genocide is happening, too,' he said solemnly. 'I don't know what kind of message to send; there's no effect on those in power who could actually do something.'
Irish Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Leaders join thousands of mourners in Bosnia to mark 30 years since Srebrenica genocide
International officials joined thousands of mourners in eastern Bosnia on Friday to mark 30 years since Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica . They also attended the burial of victims whose remains are still being pieced together from mass graves. Leaders of western states and most neighbouring countries called for a renewed commitment to prevent genocide anywhere in the world, while Serbia and Bosnian Serb officials continue to reject international court rulings that the massacre was genocide. 'In this moment of remembrance, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to accountability and truth,' European Council president Antonio Costa said. He was speaking at a commemoration ceremony at the vast cemetery at Potocari, just outside Srebrenica, where 6,772 Srebrenica victims are buried after seven were laid to rest on Friday. Srebrenica genocide: Why Bosnia is still divided 30 years on Listen | 39:42 'There is no room in Europe - or anywhere else - for genocide denial, revisionism, or the glorification of those responsible. Denying such horrors only poisons our future. It is our duty to confront and acknowledge the full truth. This is the first step in ensuring that such atrocities never happen again,' Mr Costa said. READ MORE A flower is seen on a monument with the names of those killed in the Srebrenica genocide. Photograph: Armin Durgut/AP 'Even as we are all together to mourn and remember, we also carry the promise of renewal ... A journey from war and genocide to peace and prosperity. The European Union is a project of peace, born from the ashes of a tragic war and driven by a vision of reconciliation. This is the same vision that inspires us on the enlargement to the western Balkan countries. We believe the place of Bosnia ... is in the European Union.' Bosnia's progress towards the EU is stymied by a dysfunctional political system imposed by the Dayton Accords - which ended a 1992-1995 war that killed 100,000 people – and by Serb rejection of deeper integration in the Muslim-majority country and their refusal to accept genocide was committed at Srebrenica. [ 'I'm remembering Srebrenica while Srebrenica is happening in Gaza' Opens in new window ] Serbian and Bosnian Serb leaders acknowledge that grave crimes took place, but deny that it was genocide against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). A woman reacts as she sits among gravestones at the memorial cemetery in the village of Potocari on the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP 'Today marks 30 years since the terrible crime in Srebrenica was committed,' Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said on social media. 'We cannot change the past, but we must change the future. Once again, on behalf of the citizens of Serbia, I express my condolences to the families of the Bosniak victims, confident that a similar crime will never happen again.' The wartime Bosnian Serb political and military leaders, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic , were convicted of committing genocide at Srebrenica by a United Nations tribunal at The Hague, and two international courts ruled that genocide took place. Srebrenica had been declared as a UN 'safe haven' for Bosniaks from a Serb campaign of so-called ethnic cleansing in eastern Bosnia. However, the UN, Nato and western governments stood idle as Mladic's forces overran the area on July 11th, 1995, expelled Dutch peacekeepers and seized thousands of Bosniak civilians. [ 'Facing the past is still our biggest problem': Bosnia divided 30 years after Srebrenica genocide Opens in new window ] The men and boys were separated from the women and executed over the following days in fields, forests, warehouses, farm buildings, cultural centres and other locations. Later, Serbs excavated mass graves with bulldozers, moved bodies across the country in dump trucks and reburied them to hide war crimes. As a result, the remains of many victims were dispersed between multiple graves, and only pieced together over time using advanced DNA identification techniques. 'The mass identification of victims in Bosnia…has demonstrated that the fog of war cannot completely obscure the truth – and when the truth is recovered, justice becomes possible,' said Munira Subasic, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica movement and Kathryne Bomberger, director-general of the International Commission on Missing Persons, in a joint statement.
France 24
11-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Bosnia commemorates Srebrenica genocide 30 years on
The Srebrenica massacre was the bloodiest episode of Bosnia's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s The remains of seven victims of the massacre will be laid to rest during Friday's commemorations, marking the bloodiest episode of Bosnia's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s. The war broke out after Bosnia declared independence, a move supported by the country's Muslims and Croats but rejected by Serbs. On July 11, 1995, after a siege of more than three months, Bosnian Serb forces captured the eastern town -- a UN-protected enclave at the time. A Bosnian Muslim observes graves at the Potocari memorial cemetery outside Srebrenica, where around 8,000 people were killed three decades ago © ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP They killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the following days and buried them in mass graves. Around 100 women were killed in the massacre, 80 of whom remain missing. So far about 7,000 victims have been identified and buried while about 1,000 are still missing. In a bid to cover up the crime, the Bosnian Serb authorities had the remains removed to secondary mass graves, causing many of the bodies to be shredded by heavy machinery, according to experts. Thirty years of pain "For 30 years we have carried the pain in our souls," said Munira Subasic, president of the association Mothers of Srebrenica. Her husband Hilmo and 17-year-old son Nermin were killed in the massacre. "Our children were killed, innocent, in the UN protected zone. Europe and the world watched in silence as our children were killed." A man tries to read names on coffins containing the remains of victims © ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP The seven victims to be buried on Friday at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Centre include a 19-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman. "Unfortunately, the remains of most of these victims are incomplete. In some cases there are only one or two bones," said Emza Fazlic, spokeswoman for Bosnia's Institute for Missing People. The families waited for years to bury their loved ones, hoping that more remains would be found. But Mevlida Omerovic decided not to wait any longer to bury her husband Hasib. He was killed at the age of 33, probably in Petkovci, around 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Srebrenica. A photo shows the site where remains of Sejdalija Alic will be buried during a mass burial ceremony Friday © ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP Around a thousand people were transported there and locked up in a school before being executed. It is one of five mass execution sites of the massacre, the only atrocity of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war that was qualified as genocide by international justice institutions. "Thirty years have passed and I have nothing to wait for anymore," said Omerovic, 55. She wants to be able to visit the grave of her husband, even though only his jawbone will be in the coffin. Serb denial Bosnian Serb wartime political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic were sentenced to life imprisonment by an international tribunal, notably for the Srebrenica genocide. But Serbia and Bosnian Serb leaders continue to deny that the massacre was a genocide. Last year, an international day of remembrance was established by the United Nations to mark the Srebrenica genocide, despite protests from Belgrade and Bosnian Serbs. "July 11 is a day of great sadness and pain," Ramiza Gurdic, whose husband Junuz and sons Mehrudin and Mustafa were killed in the massacre, told AFP. "But for me, every day is July 11, every night, every morning, when I get up and realise that they are not here." © 2025 AFP
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Thirty years on from Srebrenica and communities remain divided
The silence is shattered by a guttural scream. A group of people scrabble on the ground, sifting through the soil. One of them holds up a watch they have uncovered; another, a scene on stage at Sarajevo's War Theatre is uncomfortably familiar for the audience at the world premiere of the Flowers of Srebrenica. The play reflects the grim reality of the events not just of July 1995 – but the ensuing decades of unresolved grief and divisions in Bosnia and Srebrenica Massacre remains the most notorious war crime committed in Europe since World War Two. Bosnian-Serb forces overran Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia, where thousands of Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, had taken refuge, believing they were safely under the protection of the United Dutch soldiers stood aside as Bosnian-Serb General Ratko Mladić directed his troops to place women and the youngest children on buses for transport to majority-Bosniak areas. Then, over the following days, he oversaw the systematic murder of around 8,000 people – most, but not all of them, men and boys. Mladić's troops dumped the bodies in mass graves. But later, to cover up their crimes, they exhumed then reburied the remains in multiple a result, body parts were distributed across multiple graves, causing endless anguish for the victims' families. Many of them are still searching for their relatives' remains decades later, though DNA testing has helped thousands of families to bury their family members at Potočari Cemetery, adjacent to the former UN have been able to identify body parts through scraps of clothing or personal belongings – as depicted in scenes in the Flowers of play also reflects the apparently deepening divisions in contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina. While the audience in Sarajevo delivers a standing ovation to the cast and crew, in majority-Serb Republika Srpska, political leaders repeatedly deny that genocide took place at Srebrenica, despite Mladić's conviction for the offence at an international tribunal in The Hague, as well as the earlier conviction of the Bosnian-Serb political leader Radovan Karadžić."I thought that when 30 years passed, we'd come to our senses," says Selma Alispahić, the lead actress of the Sarajevo War Theatre – herself a former refugee from Bosnia's conflict. "People get tired of proving the truth that's been proven so many times, even in international courts. The story of the hatred and spinning of facts serves only the criminals who profited from the war and who want to preserve their fortune today."Genocide denial is not the only symptom of the country's divisions. The Dayton Peace agreement brought an end to the war, just four months after the massacre. But it also divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into two "entities", on ethnic grounds. Most Bosniaks and Croats live in the Federation, while the majority of Serbs are in Republika is also a state-level government, with a member of the presidency for each of the three main ethnic groups. But most of the power lies at the entity recent months, Republika Srpska's president has been exploiting that to make mischief. Milorad Dodik has been pushing through legislation to withdraw from numerous national institutions, including the judiciary. This has brought him into conflict with Bosnia's ultimate power, the international High current holder of that position, Christian Schmidt, annulled the laws concerned. But Dodik refused to recognise those this year a court sentenced him to a year in prison and a six-year ban from public office for ignoring the High Representative's decisions. The verdict is currently under shenanigans have ensued – including legislation to establish a "reserve police force". The same terminology was used for murderous Serb militia during Bosnia's conflict."This is dangerous, playing with the memory of those who have experienced the 1990s," says Mr Schmidt."I see the irresponsible part of the political class playing with this. We need a clear presence of the international community on a military level – so EUFOR [the EU peacekeeping force] gets more responsibility in the sheer presence, promising people they will be supported in a peaceful manner." In the centre of Sarajevo, reminders of the anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre are hard to miss. Hundreds of people huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain to pay their respects to the convoy carrying the remains of seven recently-identified victims who will be buried at Potočari Cemetery during the commemoration. Outside the city's shopping centres, video screens urge passers-by to "Remember Srebrenica".But just 15 minutes up the road, in East Sarajevo, there are no public references to the massacre. The Cyrillic script signs and Jelen Beer umbrellas indicate that this is Republika Srpska. And in the entity government's building, there is little enthusiasm for the state-level foreign trade minister Saša Košarac – a leading member of Dodik's SNSD party – claims that Srebrenica is used to deepen divisions and prevent reconciliation."In this country, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs were killed – and crimes were committed on all three sides. It's important, when thinking about the future, that all the perpetrators, on all sides, should be held accountable," he says."Bosniaks insist on talking only about Bosniak victims. A crime has been committed in Srebrenica – no Serbs deny that – but we have the right to point out the crimes against Serbs in and around Srebrenica."But thousands of other people are focusing on solidarity with Srebrenica. On the eve of the commemoration, the Memorial Centre and Potočari Cemetery were already busy with people paying their respects. And they cheered the arrival from around the country of groups of cyclists, runners and motorcyclists. Mirela Osmanović says this support is crucial to Bosniaks who have returned to live in the area where their family members died. She was born two years after her two brothers were murdered at Srebrenica and now works at the Memorial Centre. But the recent tensions have left her rattled."The intense atmosphere produced by Republika Srpska's leaders really disturbs us, making us feel we're not protected anymore – and we're really worried about our future.""My parents say it looks the way it looked in 1992."For Milorad Dodik, manipulating the cycle of tensions is just part of his strategy to remain in power. But for people in Srebrenica, the ongoing ethno-political games only make the healing harder.
