Srebrenica massacre: Bosnia Muslims mourn their dead after 25 years
After 25 years of the Srebrenica massacre, Bosnia Muslims mourn their dead on Saturday. The proceedings started on Saturday morning but the turnout of attendees was lower than usual, due to the pandemic.
Bosnian Muslims on Saturday marked 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II.
Bosnian Muslims on Saturday marked 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II.
(Photograph:AFP)
Number of attendees was less due to the pandemic
Organisers said the number of people attending the anniversary — usually in the tens of thousands — was less this year due to the pandemic.
(Photograph:AFP)
On July 11, 1995, after capturing the ill-fated town, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in a few days.
On July 11, 1995, after capturing the ill-fated town, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in a few days.
The episode — labelled as genocide by two international courts — came at the end of a 1992-1995 war between Bosnia's Croats, Muslims and Serbs that claimed some 100,000 lives.
(Photograph:AFP)
A lot of leaders, in the past, have stayed away from describing this tragedy as 'genocide'.
On Friday, the town's Serbian mayor Mladen Grujicic -- who was elected in 2016 after a campaign based on genocide denial -- said that "there is new evidence every day that denies the current presentation of everything that has happened".
However, Muslim member of Bosnia's joint presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, said: "We will tirelessly insist on the truth, on justice and on the need to try all those who have committed this crime. We will fight against those who deny the genocide and glorify its perpetrators."
(Photograph:AFP)
;
On Saturday at 1100 GMT the remains of nine victims identified over the past year were laid to rest
On Saturday at 1100 GMT the remains of nine victims identified over the past year were laid to rest at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, a village just outside Srebrenica that served as the base for the UN protection force, FORPRONU, during the conflict.
(Photograph:AFP)
People light candles forming the number 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, in Pristina on July 11, 2020.
People light candles forming the number 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, in Pristina on July 11, 2020.