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“Newly Identified Victims Of Srebrenica Genocide Buried As City Marks 27th Anniversary, UPDATED July 11, 2022 By RFE/RL’s Balkan Service https://www.rferl.org/author/rfe-rls-balkan-service/okymi

Coffins with the remains of 50 victims of the Srebrenica genocide who were recently identified were buried on July 11, 2022.

The remains of 50 recently identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide were buried on July 11 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.

More than 3,000 people participated in the March of Peace 2022 that culminated on July 10 following a 110-kilometer, three-day hike to the Potocari memorial cemetery ahead of the ceremony. Commemorations the past two years were limited because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Participants in the march crossed the route that Srebrenica residents took in the summer of 1995 after the fall of the city to Bosnian Serb forces. 

Thousands were expected to attend the commemoration, which most Serbs and their leaders refuse to recognize in the ethnically divided country. Still, in Belgrade, some groups said they will organize a gathering in the Serbian capital with the goal of having July 11 declared as the Day of Remembrance in that country.

 In Srebrenica, Hamdija Fejzic, chairman of the organizing committee for the commemoration of the anniversary and deputy head of the Srebrenica municipality, said he was fortunate to have survived the genocide, which he called a “defeat of humanity.”

He said the horrific event must never become just a footnote in the history of mankind and that only by recognition can reconciliation be realized.

 He urged officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina to take concrete steps to make Srebrenica “a city of life, not a place of death.”


“In Srebrenica, children born after the genocide grow and they are our hope,” he said. “It is our obligation to provide these children with normal conditions of life. We do not need big words but concrete steps that will allow children to grow up together, regardless of national and religious affiliation. “

Michael Murphy, the U.S. ambassador to Sarajevo, said the killings represented “a dark event in history, not only for [Bosnia-Herzegovina] but for all of humanity. “

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhely honored the Srebrenica victims in a joint statement, saying, “We stand together, in grief, with their relatives and friends who survived the genocide.”

“It is more than ever our duty to remember the genocide of Srebrenica as part of our common European history…to stand up to defend peace, human dignity, and universal values.”

In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were rounded up and killed by Bosnian Serb forces in the eastern town of Srebrenica — the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II.
 
So far, 6,671 people have been identified and buried. 

The massacre was labeled as genocide by international courts, but Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials refuse to accept that wording.

 The episode came at the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian War pitting the Serbs against Bosniaks and Croats that claimed some 100,000 lives.

 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. Copyright (c)2022 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036” https://www.rferl.org/a/bosnia-srebrenica-anniversary-burials-victims/31937820.html

Russia and Serbia know which side they are on. English speaking media appears to be on the side of Russia and Serbia, as well. It’s very difficult to research this period: “How Google Has Allowed Fake News About The Srebrenica Genocide To Flourish”“The Srebrenica Memorial Center said the Google search results are not surprising because most people “in Serbia and the Republika Srpska entity believe that no genocide was committed in Srebrenica, that only legitimate military targets were killed there.” “What I can say is that people who want to investigate Srebrenica, and come from a region that denies genocide, prefer to find untruths, to make it easier for themselves and then stop their research there,” Memorial Center spokeswoman Almasa Salihovic told RFE/RL. “The fact is that people in these areas often prefer to believe myths and unverified statements rather than facts and assessments.” https://www.rferl.org/a/srebrenica-google-genocide-fake-news/31919931.html