BAŞAK GÖK
30 years since the Srebrenica massacre
It has been 30 years since the Srebrenica massacre, which the United Nations (UN) calls a genocide.
The massacre happened during the Bosnian War (1992–1995).
After Yugoslavia broke apart, Serbs, Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), and Croats started fighting.
Between 11 and 22 July 1995, Bosnian Serb soldiers killed more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in the town of Srebrenica.
The town was under UN protection.
About 1,000 victims are still missing or not identified.
Last year, the UN declared 11 July as the “Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Srebrenica Genocide.”
What happened in Srebrenica?
The Bosnian War started in the early 1990s after Yugoslavia collapsed.
Yugoslavia was a federation of six republics and included many groups like Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Albanians, and Slovenes.
After Yugoslav leader Tito died in 1980, many parts of the country wanted independence.
Bosnia became one of the new countries, and three groups started fighting: Serbs (supported by Serbia), Bosniaks, and Croats.
At that time, about 40,000 Bosniak Muslims lived in Srebrenica.
Many of them had escaped from other parts of Bosnia to find safety.
In 1993, the UN said that Srebrenica was a “safe zone” and sent peacekeepers to protect it.
But on 11 July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladić attacked the town.
The UN soldiers could not stop them.
About 20,000 Bosniaks, mostly women, children, and the sick, ran to a UN base in Potocari.
The peacekeepers later gave up.
The women and girls were taken away by bus to safety.
But the men and boys were kept and later killed.
Some were shot together, others were killed while trying to escape through the forests.
In total, over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed.
What did the court decide?
The UN court in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), found many Bosnian Serb leaders guilty.
Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić were both sentenced to life in prison for genocide.
The court heard terrible stories.
Some men were buried alive.
Some parents had to watch their children being killed.
Many victims were buried in the Potocari cemetery.
There are thousands of simple white graves on a hill, surrounded by forest.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said,
“The Srebrenica tragedy will never be forgotten in UN history.”
Denials
But many Bosnian Serbs and people in Serbia still say the massacre was not genocide.
In 2024, Bosnian Serb lawmakers accepted a report saying the killings were not genocide.
Their leader, Milorad Dodik, said the killings were a “big mistake” but not genocide.
He said, “It was a crime, but not genocide.”
Some Serbs claim that many of the dead were soldiers and that it was revenge for Serbs killed in nearby villages.
The UN resolution that declared 11 July a remembrance day also said that denying the genocide and praising war criminals is wrong.
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