Remembering the Genocide, Seeking Justice, and Honoring the Victims 30 Years Later

In Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, thousands have gathered to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the only acknowledged genocide in Europe since World War II. The events of July 1995 are deeply ingrained in the memories of those who survived.

Adem Mehmedovic, who was eight years old at the time, recalled the chaos. Srebrenica, then a Bosnian Muslim enclave, was a UN-designated safe area. However, Dutch peacekeeping troops failed to prevent Bosnian Serb forces from overrunning the area. Men and boys were separated from women, who were transported to areas under Bosnian Muslim control.

Mehmedovic described a harrowing moment when a Bosnian Serb soldier attempted to separate him from his mother. Another soldier intervened, allowing him to remain with her. Shortly after, Bosnian Serb forces massacred approximately 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.

The mass killings have been recognized as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Despite this, denial of the genocide persists. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in a social media post marking the anniversary, referred to the events as a terrible crime, but did not use the term "genocide."

At the United Nations, Denis Becirovic, the Bosnian Muslim member of the country's tripartite presidency, condemned genocide denial in Serbia, emphasizing the pursuit of truth and justice, not revenge.

The Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center is the site of ceremonies honoring those massacred in 1995. The remains of seven more victims are being laid to rest. Almedina Kadasevic came to bury her brother, whose incomplete remains were found in 2010. She expressed the family's longing for more remains to be found.

Every year, more remains are interred at the site as efforts continue to locate and identify victims. Bosnian Serb forces initially buried the victims in mass graves, later exhuming and relocating them in an attempt to conceal their crimes.