Sarajevo
Thousands of people were gathering in Srebrenica on Friday to commemorate the genocide committed 30 years ago by Bosnian Serb forces, one of Europe’s worst atrocities since World War II.
On the eve of the commemorations, thousands of Srebrenica peace marchers who have walked more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) in memory of the victims and survivors of the massacre arrived at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center.
The remains of seven victims of the massacre will be laid to rest during commemorations, marking the bloodiest episode of Bosnia’s inter-ethnic war in the 1990s.
The war broke out after Bosnia declared independence, a move supported by the country’s Muslims and Croats, but rejected by Serbs.
On July 11, 1995, after a siege of more than three months, Bosnian Serb forces captured the eastern town, which was at the time a UN-protected enclave. They killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the following days and buried them in mass graves.
Around 100 women were killed in the massacre, 80 of whom remain missing.
So far about 7,000 victims have been identified and buried while about 1,000 are still missing.
In a bid to cover up the crime, the Bosnian Serb authorities had the remains removed to secondary mass graves, causing many of the bodies to be shredded by heavy machinery, according to experts.
“For 30 years we have carried the pain in our souls,” said Munira Subasic, president of the association Mothers of Srebrenica. Her husband Hilmo and 17-year-old son Nermin were killed in the massacre.
“Our children were killed, innocent, in the UN protected zone. Europe and the world watched in silence as our children were killed.”
The seven victims buried on Friday at the memorial centre included a 19-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman.
The remains of most of the victims are incomplete and in some cases consist only of one or two bones, experts said.
