The Burial of Ten Victims Marks the Conclusion of the 31st Anniversary Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide

The 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide was commemorated today at the Memorial Center in Potočari.

Following the commemoration at the former Battery Factory, a collective funeral was held for ten newly identified victims of Srebrenica.

The youngest victim buried this year is Senad (Zaim) Jusić, who was twenty years old at the time of his death.

He disappeared in July 1995 in the Bratunac area, and his remains were exhumed in 2022 at the Kameničko Brdo site.

The oldest victim buried today is Ramo (Mustafa) Dautović, born in 1939, who disappeared in the Zvornik area.

His remains were exhumed in 2001 after the discovery of the Kamenica – Čančari mass grave.

The religious ceremony was led by the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (IC BiH), Husein Kavazović, who, among other things, stated that „may sorrow become strength, revenge justice, a mother’s tear a prayer, so that Srebrenica never happens again to anyone, anywhere.“

„Here we do not see only the interrupted lives of fathers, sons, and brothers, but we also recognize the immeasurable courage of the mothers of Srebrenica. They chose the path of truth and justice instead of the path of revenge. Their strength and exemplary conduct is a lesson to the whole world on how to bear sorrow with dignity and fight for truth and justice,“ Kavazović emphasized.

The commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide was attended by the highest officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federation of BiH, representatives of the diplomatic corps, and thousands of citizens.

No officials from the Republika Srpska (RS) were present in Potočari today.

While media from the Federation of BiH covered the events in Potočari minute by minute, most media in RS ignored the event.

The Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), under the command of General Ratko Mladić, captured the UN-protected zone of Srebrenica in July 1995.

According to official data, more than eight thousand Bosniak men and boys were killed in the Srebrenica genocide, while around thirty thousand women, children, and elderly were deported from the area to the territory of what is now the Federation of BiH.

The Institute for Missing Persons of BiH has announced that it is still searching for 900 Srebrenica victims.

The International Court of Justice determined that genocide occurred in Srebrenica, as did the Hague Tribunal and domestic courts in BiH, which have convicted 54 individuals for crimes in Srebrenica to a total of more than 781 years in prison, including five life sentences for genocide.

Former wartime president of RS Radovan Karadžić and RS Army commander Ratko Mladić have been sentenced to life imprisonment.