SARAJEVO/SREBRENICA, July 11 (Hina) - More than 3,000 Bosniak refugees from eastern Bosnia and survivors of the Srebrenica massacre gathered on Wednesday in Potocari to remember the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. Exactly
six years ago, Bosnian Serb units, under the command of Ratko Mladic, ran over the former U.N. safety zone and started mass killings of captured Bosniaks. It is believed that in less than five days 8,000-10,000 Bosniaks, including a large number of children and elderly men, were killed. Today's commemoration to the Bosniak victims of Srebrenica started under unprecedented security measures with a Muslim noon prayer, followed by a prayer for the dead and the unveiling of a foundation stone for a memorial centre which is to include a graveyard with the remains of the victims discovered so far. The white stone block bears a simple inscription - "Srebrenica - July 1995". The foundation stone
SARAJEVO/SREBRENICA, July 11 (Hina) - More than 3,000 Bosniak
refugees from eastern Bosnia and survivors of the Srebrenica
massacre gathered on Wednesday in Potocari to remember the worst
massacre in Europe since World War II.
Exactly six years ago, Bosnian Serb units, under the command of
Ratko Mladic, ran over the former U.N. safety zone and started mass
killings of captured Bosniaks.
It is believed that in less than five days 8,000-10,000 Bosniaks,
including a large number of children and elderly men, were killed.
Today's commemoration to the Bosniak victims of Srebrenica started
under unprecedented security measures with a Muslim noon prayer,
followed by a prayer for the dead and the unveiling of a foundation
stone for a memorial centre which is to include a graveyard with the
remains of the victims discovered so far.
The white stone block bears a simple inscription - "Srebrenica -
July 1995".
The foundation stone was unveiled by five Srebrenica women who lost
almost all male members of their families during the Serb siege of
the enclave and upon its fall.
The head of the Islamic community in Bosnia-Herzegovina, effendi
Mustafa Ceric, who conducted the religious ceremony, said crimes
must not be left unpunished but it must be known that there is no
collective guilt because every criminal has a name.
He also warned that it was inadmissible that Srebrenica survivors
suffered injustice even today, which was best proved by the fact
that six years after their exodus they were not guaranteed a safe
return.
"Our greatest wish is for Srebrenica to never happen again to
anyone, anywhere," Ceric said.
After the ceremony, which lasted less than an hour, the gathered set
out toward buses which took them back to the other Bosnian entity,
where most of them are still living in other people's houses or
refugee centres waiting to return to their homes in eastern Bosnia
or leave for third countries.
The Bosniak refugees were safeguarded by almost 1,500 Bosnian Serb
policemen in cooperation with colleagues from the Croat-Muslim
Federation.
All access roads to Potocari and Srebrenica were blocked during the
day so as to avoid any incidents. Most of Srebrenica's current Serb
inhabitants ignored the gathering.
They announced that they would stage their own ceremony on Thursday
to unveil a monument to the Serbs killed in eastern Bosnia during
the war.
The commemoration at Potocari was nevertheless attended by a
parliamentary delegation from the Bosnian Serb entity, which is the
first such case since the end of the war.
In a statement issued by the office of Republika Srpska Parliament
Speaker Dragan Kalinic, it is said the Serb delegation attended the
gathering "to pay tribute to the Bosniaks killed in the war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina in which all three peoples suffered."
This Thursday already expert teams will continue digging up mass
graves in the Potocari area in an effort to shed light on the fate of
some 8,000 people who have been held missing since July 1995.
(hina) sb rml