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Bosnia remembers Srebrenica victims today
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by amyjudd | July 11, 2008 at 08:52 am
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Over 30,000 Bosnian Muslims gathered today to remember the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and bury the victims of over 300 newly identified victims.
The funeral ceremony for the 308 Muslims, who were among 8,000 killed in Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, was held at a memorial site just outside the eastern town.
The remains of the victims, aged between 15 and 84, were exhumed from mass graves after the end of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war and identified by DNA analysis.
"It was so hard when they informed me that my father has been identified,"Vanesa Mehmedovic, who is to bury her father Mevludin, said.
"However, since he is not with us in a way, I'm glad that his soul will finally find peace," she said.
Symbolic march
Almost 220 buses ferrying around 10,000 people converged on Srebrenica, while many more arrrived in other vehicles, organisers said.
The commemoration was held amid fears of possible anti-Muslim violence due to Bosnian Serb anger with a UN court's decision last week to clear Naser Oric, the former commander of Muslim forces in Srebrenica, of war crimes.
Refik Dervisevic, a massacre survivor, arrived in Srebrenica late Thursday after taking part in a 100-kilometre "March of Peace".
Some 2,000 people participated in the symbolic march from the village of Nezuk, near the eastern town of Tuzla, to Srebrenica, the route taken by many Muslims seeking to flee Serb forces.
This is the 13th anniversary of the massacre, but the pain is still real and with the burial of new remains; the mourning is far from over.
Freshly dug graves with nearby caskets and thousands of crying people on Friday marked the 13th anniversary of the 1995 massacre in the former eastern Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica.
This brings the total of Srebrenica victims buried in Potocari will total 3,215.
The youngest victim to be buried today was a 15-year-old teenager and the oldest an 84-year-old man. “Our pain is huge, immeasurable,” Srebrenica’s mayor Abdurahman Malkic said starting the commemoration ceremony. But instead of being a symbol of horror and suffering, Srebrenica must become a symbol of peace and prosperity, he said.
Here is a little bit of background:
The Srebrenica Massacre, also known as Srebrenica Genocide,[1][2] was the July 1995 killing of an estimated 8,000 Bosniaks, in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by units of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of General Ratko Mladić during the Bosnian War. In addition to the Army of Republika Srpska, a paramilitary unit from Serbia known as the "Scorpions" participated in the massacre.
It is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II, and in 1997 the International Court of Justice confirmed that the attack was genocide.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (10)
at 08:55 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 14:42 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 15:37 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 16:08 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 16:09 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 16:12 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. Great photos!
at 16:17 on July 11th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 16:18 on July 11th, 2008
Lest we forget ...
at 16:44 on July 11th, 2008
Everyone's saying "good stuff", so i'm going to say something different. Great story, there is no point in forgetting history, but to remember it, learn its lessons and move forward is the way to go.
at 05:27 on July 12th, 2008
Agreed. However, such ceremonies also serve as a pause to remember what the lesson is all about as well as pass that lesson along to future generations.