Bosnian Muslims on Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. Arab News reports that the ceremony to mark the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II, was significantly reduced due to the tighter restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Organizers have invited people to visit the memorial centre over the whole of July, so as to avoid overcrowding.

The remains of nine victims identified since July 2019, were buried at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, a village just outside Srebrenica that served as the base for the UN protection force during the conflict.

On July 11, 1995, after capturing Potocari, more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered by Serb forces within a few days. Bosnian Serb troops led by Ratko Mladic entered the Srebrenica enclave before systematically massacring Bosnian men and adolescents. Mladic had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a UN court in 2017 over war crimes, including the Srebrenica genocide. Radovan Karadzic, a Bosnian Serb wartime political leader, was also sentenced to life in prison in The Hague.

The remains of nearly 6,900 victims have been found and identified from more than 80 mass graves.

Labelled as genocide by two international courts, the slaughter took place at the end of a 3-year war between Bosnia’s Croats, Muslims and Serbs. On Friday, the Muslim member of Bosnia’s joint presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, said: “We will tirelessly insist on the truth, on justice and on the need to try all those who have committed this crime.”

Arab News reports that the Srebrenica massacre is the only episode of the Bosnian conflict, which saw 100 000 lives lost, to have been described by the international community as a genocide.

It appears tensions still run high in the region. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, has never publicly called the massacre a “genocide.” On Friday, Potocari’s mayor Mladen Grujicic, claimed “there is new evidence every day that denies the current presentation of everything that has happened.” Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik labelled the slaughter of Muslim men and boys a “myth.”

Dzaferovic, however, said, “We will fight against those who deny the genocide and glorify its perpetrators.”

Umm Muhammed Umar