As Bosnia and Herzegovina marks the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, we take a look back at the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the heart of Europe.
The context to the Srebrenica genocide was the disintegration of Yugoslavia.
On Dec. 21, 1991, Bosnian Serbs proclaimed their own republic after voting against independence from Yugoslavia in a referendum.
A few months later, they proclaimed the Republic of the Serbian People in Bosnia-Herzegovina but did not officially declare independence.
Then, on February 29 and March 1 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina formally declared independence following a referendum which ultimately sparked a three-year war.
The war lasted until December 14, 1995, and more than 100,000 people were killed and two million had to migrate.
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The UN Security Council in the spring of 1993 declared Srebrenica a “safe area.” But Serb troops led by General Ratko Mladic – who was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – overran the UN zone.
The fate of approximately 7,000 people who disappeared during the war is still unknown.
In a case heard at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, the Netherlands, Serbian commander Mladic was sentenced to life imprisonment for many crimes, including genocide. The sentence was approved at an appeal hearing on June 8, 2021.
Radovan Karadzic, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the Bosnian War, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for many crimes, including the Srebrenica Genocide, and then to life imprisonment in an appeal case.
In the Srebrenica cases heard at the ICTY, former Serbian officials Ljubisa Beara and Vujadin Popovic were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
In its decision in 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague described what happened in Srebrenica and its surroundings as a “genocide,” based on evidence from the ICTY.
Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic died in prison while his trial was ongoing.
To date, 45 Serbs have been sentenced to a total of 699 years in prison in cases heard in different courts.
Most of the Bosnian male civilians who took shelter in a battery factory used as a base by Dutch UN soldiers were killed by Serbs there.
Despite the passing of years, the role of Dutch UN soldiers in the genocide continued to be debated.
In images taken after the occupation of Srebrenica, Dutch commander Thom Karremans was seen meeting with Mladic on July 11, 1995. It was noted that Mladic bought Karremans a drink at the end of the footage and the two toasted together.
While Karremans was never tried for what happened, the Dutch state was found “partially” guilty of the genocide in Srebrenica.
The Dutch government in 2022 apologised to Bosniak families who lost their relatives in the genocide.
In 2017, then-Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic apologised for all “crimes” committed by Serbs during the break-up of Yugoslavia, including Srebrenica.
But he refused to call the killing of thousands of Bosnian Muslims an act of genocide.
Serbia has never accepted the killings as genocide.
Nikolic said he was kneeling and seeking forgiveness for Srebrenica.
In 2015, then-Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended the commemoration ceremony on July 11 and paid respect to the victims. However, he quickly left the ceremony after being attacked by a stone-throwing mob.
A Council of Europe body in 2017 called on Serbia to officially recognise the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as a genocide and to punish those responsible.
The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its annual report on Serbia and also said that hate speech and hate crimes were on the increase in the Balkan state.
It said Belgrade should “actively implement” a strategy to punish those guilty of war crimes.
