Bosnia commemorates Srebrenica genocide 30 years on
The remains of seven victims of the massacre will be laid to rest during Friday's 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 -- a UN-protected enclave at the time.
A Bosnian Muslim observes graves at the Potocari memorial cemetery outside Srebrenica, where around 8,000 people were killed three decades ago
© ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP
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.
Thirty years of pain
"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."
A man tries to read names on coffins containing the remains of victims
© ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP
The seven victims to be buried on Friday at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Centre include a 19-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman.
"Unfortunately, the remains of most of these victims are incomplete. In some cases there are only one or two bones," said Emza Fazlic, spokeswoman for Bosnia's Institute for Missing People.
The families waited for years to bury their loved ones, hoping that more remains would be found.
But Mevlida Omerovic decided not to wait any longer to bury her husband Hasib.
He was killed at the age of 33, probably in Petkovci, around 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Srebrenica.
A photo shows the site where remains of Sejdalija Alic will be buried during a mass burial ceremony Friday
© ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP
Around a thousand people were transported there and locked up in a school before being executed.
It is one of five mass execution sites of the massacre, the only atrocity of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war that was qualified as genocide by international justice institutions.
"Thirty years have passed and I have nothing to wait for anymore," said Omerovic, 55.
She wants to be able to visit the grave of her husband, even though only his jawbone will be in the coffin.
Serb denial
Bosnian Serb wartime political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic were sentenced to life imprisonment by an international tribunal, notably for the Srebrenica genocide.
But Serbia and Bosnian Serb leaders continue to deny that the massacre was a genocide.
Last year, an international day of remembrance was established by the United Nations to mark the Srebrenica genocide, despite protests from Belgrade and Bosnian Serbs.
"July 11 is a day of great sadness and pain," Ramiza Gurdic, whose husband Junuz and sons Mehrudin and Mustafa were killed in the massacre, told AFP.
"But for me, every day is July 11, every night, every morning, when I get up and realise that they are not here."
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
'Not backing down': activists block hydro plants in N.Macedonia
For over a month, protesters have blocked roads into Hydro Dosnica's remote construction sites on Mount Kozuf, where two small hydroelectric power plants are proposed on what activists claim is one of the last healthy rivers in the country. "Until the licenses are cancelled and all machines are removed from the river Dosnica, we will not move," environmental activist Marina Tomova told AFP at her mountainous campsite near the southern border with Greece. Opponents have been fighting developers for years, fearing the plants will ruin a vital ecosystem in a basin already stretched by decreasing rainfall and hotter summers. Hydro Dosnica has rejected the allegations of damaging the river, and said the project follows environmental standards. In recent years, Balkan governments have welcomed hundreds of hydro developments with lucrative subsidies, drawing a flood of investors who promise to harness a potentially reliable and renewable energy source. According to a 2024 report from conservation groups EuroNatur and Riverwatch, the Balkans have around 1,800 hydropower plants and over 3,000 planned. The vast majority are small-scale plants like those being built on the Dosnica. In response, protest movements have sprung up too, arguing that the ecological footprint and impact for those living on the rivers far outweighs the output from the small plants. But the report also notes that hundreds of slated plants have since been axed and the booming number of planned builds has slowed slightly since its 2022 peak. North Macedonia has around 125 small plants, with plans to almost double that, according to the report. Much smaller than huge hydroelectric dams, the stations divert water through a pipe into a turbine kilometres downstream. An 'extinct' river On Mount Kozuf, protesters accuse Hydro Dosnica of breaching its licence by illegally felling swathes of forest and irreparably damaging the river's upper basin. Protester Kiril Ruzinov said that during summer months, the river's flow slows and any redirection of the stream would run it dry. "It is too small; it cannot fill a tenth of the pipe. If it is put into a pipe, the whole riverbed will be extinct," the 65-year-old told AFP. The law requires developers to leave at least 10 percent of the stream to flow naturally. The developer Hydro Dosnica, in a statement to AFP, said the activist's allegations were "incorrect and tendentious" and the project was "being carried out transparently, respecting all environmental and technical standards". The firm said it was ready to engage with environmental experts and institutions regarding any new findings at the site. The environment ministry did not respond to requests for comment. These small plants, with a capacity up to 10 megawatts each, accounted for just four percent of North Macedonia's overall energy production in 2020, according to the latest available data from the state audit service. At the time it had around 90 small hydro plants already in operation, according to EuroNatur and Riverwatch. Hotter, drier summers coupled with more extreme flooding events driven by climate change are posing a challenge to hydropower generation around the world. A 2023 study of a different river basin, which begins in North Macedonia and flows into Albania and Montenegro, found that climate change could cut yearly hydropower generation there by up to 52 percent by 2050. The research, funded by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, warned that hydro-reliant Albania would be worst impacted by changes in the Drina basin and suggested investing in other renewable sources to secure its grid. 'Not backing down' One of the few rivers in North Macedonia still clean enough to drink from, the Dosnica is a small tributary to the Vardar, which flows into Greece. It is home to "exceptionally" valuable animals -- including several protected species, according to environmental non-profit Eko Svest. Along with a group of prominent scientists, the NGO has appealed to the government to officially protect the river. In a previous statement published online, the government said it was "closely monitoring public reactions and is ready to encourage an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders". The government recently extended the license for the development until April 2026. "The devastating projects here have to stop," Risto Kamov, from environmental activist group Changemakers4All, told AFP. © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Ion Iliescu: democratic Romania's first president
The influential politician was last seen in public in 2017 when he was questioned by prosecutors. That probe related to his role in the violence during the fall of communism which led to more than 850 deaths and saw him face charges of crimes against humanity. Fallout with Ceausescu regime A communist party apparatchik born on March 3, 1930, Iliescu served as former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's minister for youth. But in the 1970s he fell into disgrace and was marginalised. He rose to power during the December 1989 anti-communist uprising that toppled Ceausescu, under circumstances that remain unclear, becoming the self-appointed leader of the National Salvation Front, an interim governing body. Iliescu then won a landslide victory in the country's first democratic elections in May 1990. He was reelected for a four-year term in 1992, but was defeated at the polls in 1996, only to return to power in 2000 for a third term -- the most allowed by the Constitution. During this last term Romania joined NATO in 2004 and signed the European Union accession treaty, with membership becoming effective in 2007. The former Moscow University graduate was elected to Romania's Senate in 2004 but did not run in subsequent elections, arguing that a secondary role in politics was more appropriate for a man his age. He nonetheless continued to be revered by many Romanians, especially in impoverished rural regions. His advice still counted when his Social Democratic Party -- -- a successor to the National Salvation Front -- was faced with major decisions. "Iliescu was a man of dialogue and not a bit confrontational. He would rather try to convince people than give orders," sociologist Vasile Dancu, a fellow Social Democrat who knew Iliescu well, told AFP. He said "consensus" was one of the former president's favourite words. 'Canny politician' "He was an affable, well-read man, who knew how to flatter people but who could also be manipulative," a former French ambassador to Romania, Henri Paul, told AFP. "A canny politician through and through." Iliescu never disavowed his hardline leftist views and blasted the "bloodsucking" western countries and international financial institutions. Over the past two decades, Iliescu had faced charges of crimes against humanity over the violence during the fall of communism. In a separate case, he was also indicted over the decision to call in miners to crush student protests after his election in 1990. The crackdown brought widespread international condemnation. But due to legal wranglings, Iliescu has not stood trial in either case. Iliescu has denied any wrongdoing, at one point describing it as "a disgrace for Romania to indict the head of state who played a major part in its democratisation". Though he was one of the few top-ranking Romanian politicians not to be suspected of illicit enrichment, high-level corruption flourished during his terms in office and analysts said the independence of the judiciary was often trampled on. "I'd rather be poor but honest than rich and a thief," he used to say. Iliescu, who spoke fluent English, French and Russian, was married with no children. His wife Nina was only seen in public when the couple went to the polls, once every four years. The government announced his death in a statement on Tuesday, after he was hospitalised with lung cancer in early June. It declared August 7 a day of national mourning in his memory.
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
S.Africa urges more countries to stand up to Israel's 'genocidal activities'
Pretoria has been a leading critic of Israel's actions in Gaza, bringing a case before the UN's top court in December 2023 arguing that its war in the Palestinian territory amounted to genocide. As some of Israel's allies "are now also saying, no, this can't continue, it means that it is bringing us closer and closer to the Israel regime to stop the genocidal activities", Lamola said. This will also boost efforts to "allow humanitarian access to the people of Gaza" and "to agree to go into a negotiation table to cease the fire", he said. "We really welcome this development, and we call for more countries to continue to recognise Palestine." "We welcome the intention to recognise by France, Canada, and all countries of the world. This will put the pressure so that we can end up with ceasefire," Lamola said. South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice argues that the war in Gaza, which began with the militant group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention. Israel has strongly denied that accusation. Several nations have added their weight to the proceedings, including Spain, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Turkey, Chile and Libya. The leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada have meanwhile said they plan to recognise a Palestinian state in September, and urged other nations to do so. The announcements by some of Washington's closest allies have displeased US President Donald Trump. Lamola said that had the world acted when South Africa made its case at the ICJ, "we would not be where we are". "It's clear starvation is emerging, famine, and all these are things we warned about in our ICJ case -- that this will lead to famine, will lead to complete cleansing of the population," he said. © 2025 AFP
