Thousands Honor Victims Of Srebrenica Massacre On 24th Anniversary

RFE
11 Jul 2019

Thousands of people have gathered in Bosnia to pay homage to the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II.

Relatives of the more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys rounded up and killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 were among those attending a ceremony at a memorial site near Srebrenica on July 11.

The ceremony, marking the 24th anniversary of the massacre, included the burial of 33 newly identified victims of the massacre, joining the 6,610 others who have already been identified and buried there.

A joint statement issued by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn described the 'genocide' in Srebrenica as 'one of the darkest moments of humanity in modern European history.'

In a statement on July 11, the U.S. State Department said 'this painful chapter in European history must never be denied nor forgotten.'

'We stand with those who continue to seek justice," it added. "We reaffirm our sustained support for those working to honor the dignity of all of the victims, including those who still await their final resting places.'

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A commemoration ceremony that was held in Sarajevo on July 9 was attended by international guests, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.

The massacre is recognized as genocide by international courts, although Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials refuse to accept that wording.

Brnabic said on July 9 that Srebrenica was a 'horrible crime.'

Nine Serbian rights groups said in a statement on July 9 that it was 'shameful' that no ruling Serb official has ever called what happened in Srebrenica a genocide.

Thousands of people joined a peace march on July 8 through forests in Bosnia in memory of the massacre.

Every year forensic experts find more bodies in the nearly 100 mass graves located so far. The remains are identified through DNA analysis before they are buried again at a memorial center near Srebrenica, where the victims were last seen alive.