SARAJEVO/SREBRENICA, March 31 (Hina) - The remains of 600 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre were buried at a memorial site at Potocari outside Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia on Monday, which was proclaimed a day of mourning in
the entire Bosnia-Herzegovina.
SARAJEVO/SREBRENICA, March 31 (Hina) - The remains of 600 victims
of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre were buried at a memorial site at
Potocari outside Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia on Monday, which was
proclaimed a day of mourning in the entire Bosnia-Herzegovina. #L#
The victims who were today buried are just some of 8,000 Muslims
killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 when they overran the
area of Srebrenica, at the time a UN safe haven. Several Serb
officers are being tried by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague
for their involvement in the Srebrenica massacre. The chief
culprit, Ratko Mladic, who commanded the occupation of the Muslim
enclave is still on the run.
There were almost 10,000 people at Monday's commemoration, held at
Potocari, the site where UN Dutch troops had their command base
while Bosnian Serb forces attacked the enclave. Potocari was also
the site where Serbs organised the first executions of Muslims
(Bosniaks) while they were trying to find shelter on the UN premises
at the time.
Present at today's commemoration were officials from state and the
two entities' authorities, international representatives and
ambassadors of almost all the countries which have embassies in
Bosnia.
Addressing the event, the Muslim member of the Bosnian three-man
Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, said he was sorry to say that after
eight years since the Srebrenica tragedy, he had to hold a speech on
his own behalf, given that the Bosnian state leadership still had no
unanimous view on the events in July 1995 in Srebrenica.
"We are being advised not to look at the past too much but to direct
to the future. We, however, must speak about Srebrenica for the sake
of truth and justice and for trying to prevent the recurrence of
Srebrenica anywhere and any time again," Tihic said.
The leading Muslim politician reiterated that it was beyond any
doubt that former authorities in the Bosnian Serb entity as well as
the then Yugoslav authorities were responsible for the slaughter in
that eastern Bosnian town, adding that verdicts made by the UN war
crimes tribunal (ICTY) corroborated that statement.
The international community's High Representative, Paddy Ashdown,
relayed a message of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said
that the World Organisation remembered the horrendous events in
Srebrenica with deep grief.
For Annan it is also worrisome that messages of Srebrenica have not
been understood fully and that the most responsible persons for
those atrocities have not yet been brought to justice.
The head of the Islamic community in Bosnia, Mustafa efendi Ceric,
urged the gathered to preserve the memory of the Srebrenica victims
and appealed for not thinking of revenge as this is a precondition
for the absolution from one's own sins.
The head of the Federation's commission for missing persons, Amor
Masovic, said some 5,000 corpses had to date been unearthed, and
according to some estimates, the entire number of Srebrenica
victims, including those killed by Serb forces before the July 1995
slaughter, climbs to 10,701.
The exhumed corpses have been placed in morgues in Tuzla and Visoko
awaiting the identification process, which must be carried out with
a DNA analysis in most cases. This is so as Serbs tried to cover up
the crime by transferring them from mass grave to another. Thus,
many important pieces of evidence were lost which could have helped
speedier identification. Currently only ten corpses can be
identified per day.
It is planned that all the victims of the Srebrenica tragedy be
eventually buried at the Potocari memorial site.
Today's funeral in Srebrenica was covered by the Croat-Muslim
entity's media live.
(hina) ms