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Bosnia-Herzegovina

Thousands Gather To Commemorate The Srebrenica Genocide And Bury Victims

Thousands of people have converged on Srebrenica to mark the 27th anniversary of Europe's only recognized genocide since the Holocaust and to attend the funeral of 50 newly identified victims.

In the closing months of Bosnia’s 1992-95 fratricidal war, over 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were summarily executed in Srebrenica. The Srebrenica killings were the only episode of the war -- in which some 100,000 people died -- to be legally defined as genocide, including by two United Nations courts.

Coffins containing the remains of 50 newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide are lined up inside a hall in Potocari as Bosnia-Herzegovina marked the 27th anniversary of the killings of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serbian forces during the Bosnian war.
1 Coffins containing the remains of 50 newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide are lined up inside a hall in Potocari as Bosnia-Herzegovina marked the 27th anniversary of the killings of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serbian forces during the Bosnian war.
In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces rounded up and killed over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the eastern town of Srebrenica, the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II.
2 In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces rounded up and killed over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the eastern town of Srebrenica, the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II.
A Bosnian Muslim woman mourns beside a coffin containing the recently identified remains of a family member.
3 A Bosnian Muslim woman mourns beside a coffin containing the recently identified remains of a family member.
An aerial view of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial Center and the newly dug graves in Potocari, Bosnia on July 10.  
4 An aerial view of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial Center and the newly dug graves in Potocari, Bosnia on July 10.
 
Numa Jahic (center) mourns next to the coffin containing the remains of her son, who is among the 50 newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide.
5 Numa Jahic (center) mourns next to the coffin containing the remains of her son, who is among the 50 newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide.
Both the wartime Bosnian Serb army commander, Ratko Mladic, and former political leader Radovan Karadzic were subsequently sentenced to life in prison by the UN war crimes court in the Netherlands for genocide in Srebrenica.  
6 Both the wartime Bosnian Serb army commander, Ratko Mladic, and former political leader Radovan Karadzic were subsequently sentenced to life in prison by the UN war crimes court in the Netherlands for genocide in Srebrenica.


 
Bahta Aljic weeps next to a coffin containing her husband's newly identified remains.
7 Bahta Aljic weeps next to a coffin containing her husband's newly identified remains.
The massacre was labeled as genocide by international courts, but Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials refuse to accept that wording. 
8 The massacre was labeled as genocide by international courts, but Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials refuse to accept that wording. 
A woman prays next to a monument with the names of those killed in the Srebrenica genocide at the Memorial Center in Potocari. So far, 6,671 people have been identified and buried.
9 A woman prays next to a monument with the names of those killed in the Srebrenica genocide at the Memorial Center in Potocari.

So far, 6,671 people have been identified and buried.
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