Bosnian Muslims bury 35 Srebrenica massacre victims
srebrenica — Thousands of Bosnian Muslims gathered in Srebrenica on Wednesday to mark the 23rd anniversary of Europe’s worst massacre since World War II and attend the funeral for 35 recently identified victims.
The remains of the men and boys slaughtered at the enclave in July 1995 were laid to rest in the town whose name has become synonymous with the brutality of the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The coffins covered in green cloth were lined up at a memorial centre and new burial pits were dug at the massive graveyard that already holds 6,575 victims found previously.
Srebrenica was a UN-protected, Muslim-populated town in eastern
Bosnia besieged by Serb forces throughout the war. Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic overran the enclave, separated men from women and small children and executed about 8,000 men and boys within a few days. Some 30,000 people were violently displaced.
Dutch UN peacekeepers were undermanned and outgunned and failed to intervene. “Srebrenica has become a global symbol for genocide, a warning that no more genocides should happen anywhere in the world,” said Nermin Alivukovic, the president of the commemoration’s organising committee.
Experts are still excavating more victims’ bodies from hidden mass graves throughout Bosnia. Many of the remains were torn apart and experts have had to use DNA analysis to put a body together from bones found in locations miles from each other, as the perpetrators tried to hide the war crime.
Although an international court has labelled the Srebrenica killings as genocide, Serbs have never admitted their troops committed the ultimate crime. — AP